Face #21

4X5" Ballpoint pens

There is a difference between drawing what we see and drawing what we know. When we are younger, we tend to draw with symbols--the sun is a big yellow circle with lines sticking out, the house is a triangle on top of a box, etc. These symbols can follow us as we learn to draw more realistically. In these last three drawings, I started to notice some of the symbols that I use when drawing a face. The particular way I draw the nose, the shape I tend to use for the eyes, the line I use to mark the chin--all of these are my symbols. If I want to get closer to a likeness of my subjects, these symbols will have to be abandoned for what my eye actually sees.

Face #20

4X4" Ballpoint pens

Drawing requires practice and discipline. The practice part is what I tend to skip out on. And what exactly do we practice in drawing? I think it's more a matter of practicing how to see things. If you don't see something well, how do you ever expect to draw it well? Before drawing faces 19, 20, and 21, I tried to stop and really take a look at what I was about to draw. I looked at the lines, the shadows, the negative space...I tried to see it all before I put the pen to the paper. Even if I couldn't see a drastic difference in what I drew, I could feel a difference while I was drawing. It's all about the seeing, much like music is all about the hearing.

Face #19

4X4" Ballpoint pens

I recently finished the book "The Undressed Art: Why We Draw" by Peter Steinhart. It is a wonderful book about drawing that challenged me in many ways. Why do I feel I have to wait for exactly the right moment to draw? Drawing is a way of seeing, of exploring, of discovery. I don't have to wait for the perfect conditions to draw. Heck, I don't even have to wait until I have "traditional" drawing utensils in my hand. Pick up the nearest writing implement and go to it! That's what faces 19, 20, and 21 are about. No fancy tools, no fancy studio, no fancy subject--just pen and paper at a simple desk.

Face #18

8X10" Pencil

What can I say? This project seems to have slipped away from me. It's been way too long since I've posted anything, and my original goal of completing this project before the end of the year seems utterly ridiculous. But, ah, here's my mischievious little friend beckoning me back. "Where have you been?" he asks. "We've been waiting for you." I'm so happy to put pencil to paper again, and he seems to be happy, too. I wonder what is going on inside that little head of his? He won't tell me just yet. I will have to coax it out of him later.