by Henk ter Heide on Wednesday June 11, 2008
Understanding how an artist feels.
This must be one of the most exciting drawings I’ve done up till now.
Two weeks ago, just before I went on holiday, I did a little drawing to experiment with flowing colors. Just starting to draw, I hoped that I would get some sort of idea of what I was doing.
Orange fish
Half way through the drawing I realized that I should have started in a corner. I didn’t jet know what the drawing would be about. But I did know that the colors should flow down. Not up.
I started a new drawing with a few blue drops in the right upper corner and went on holiday.
I knew that I would have a few lazy days during my holiday so I brought my drawing set.
Still not know were the drawing would go I drew more blue and gray drops and started wandering about the color I should use in the background. Should I leave it white or maybe color it yellow.
And what should I call this drawing?
“Blue drops”? “Blue drops on yellow background”?
As I drew more drops in different hues of blue and gray I began to feel a little tension.
Should I use different colors?
I should use different colors!
Thinking about this drawing I experienced something I’ve never have. The notion that I can use an abstract drawing to tell a story.
It’s only a short story. Even without using words I found that the story is so short that I ran out of things to say before I ran out of paper.
But it is still a very exciting feeling. To know that I can use (abstract) drawings to tell about my life.
I finally understand what artist are talking about when they say “just listen to my music” or “just look at my paintings” when asked about their life.
Escaping blue
by Henk ter Heide on Tuesday January 8, 2008
Understanding perspective by drawing perspective.
A few years ago I read a story about the first person to get a sight saving operation.
This man was born with a form of cataracts. By the time he was forty he was chosen for the operation that made it possible for him to see for the first time in his life.
You would think that he was ecstatic, but he wasn’t. He was bombarded with colors and shapes he didn’t understand and only confused him.
At first he tried recognizing shapes by feeling them and that did the trick. But only if he was in a confined environment with limited visual information. Very soon he found to go to his work he had to close his eyes and move around by touch to be able to understand the world.
After a few month visual his cortex shut down and he was blind again.
The last few weeks I’ve been reading and working from the book “Drawing at the right side of the brain” which theorizes that if you can learn to see enough detail to draw what ever you see.
That always seemed to be a reasonable theory. Even though being autistic means that I already see a lot of detail I thought that this book would help me to improve my drawing skills.
But a few days ago I got stuck.
Early last year I took a drawing course and read a lot about vanishing points. To draw a cube in perspective you have to extend the line into a imaginary vanishing point.
Sound logical. But as such things go. If you don’t use them you forget them.
So when I tried to draw a picture of my chair a few days ago I knew that something was wrong. Lines that I knew to be parallel didn’t seem to be. Parts of the chair I knew to have the same dimension didn’t seem to have. I didn’t understand why I didn’t have room to draw some ornament.
Doing this perspective drawing made me realize that you can look and measure all you want, but if you don’t understand what it is that you’re seeing. You won’t be able to draw it.
Perspective practice