For my homework for Jonathan Twingley in Sketchbook Skool 4th semester, I did many pages of imaginary drawings and then selected a few, cut them out, and made a collage. The background was created with paste paper that was leftover from my bookbinding projects.
I loved this week, both the ink blots to make into imaginary drawings, and the pages of imaginary drawings that I did each night for the collage. Thank you Jonathan Twingley for "Stretching" me.
I didn't realize that my 100 day project, in which I would make one sketch from my imagination each day, would suddenly explode. Last Friday Sketchbook Skool Semester 4 began with Artist Illustrator Jonathan Twingley. And his work, and his homework assignments, are all about challenging your imagination. Assignment #1 is to make ink blots and use them as the basis of art. My first ink blot was large and the only thing I saw in the shape was a bear head, hanging on a hunting lodge wall.
Assignment #2 is to draw from your imagination every day for 6 days, and on day 7, to select some of the images and make a collage page. I filled 11 pages in the first 4 days and was surprised at the sketches that came only from my imagination. My only observation, is how dependent these sketches are on my decades of drawing my world from observation.
This sketch started with a table and then I started to see it as a desk, and eventually a comfy library. But suddenly I realized that I finally had a setting for a metadrawing, a homework assignment of Mattias Adolfsson's in Sketchbook Skool Semester 3. And I sketched a pig, lying comfortably on the floor, making a drawing. I had to look up the concept of metadrawings, which are drawings about drawing. Mattias also called this type of drawing "enhanced reality."
Another one of these pages captured a sailor, an artist, and a chef. I have no idea where this character developed, but I hope to use him in other drawings.
I'm also still sketching from my imagination daily for 100 days as part of the 100Day Project and just completed 16 days. Here are two of the more recent sketches.
I'm so interested to see where this "drawing from imagination" takes me. I am still drawing from direct observation which I love, but I'm also having fun stretching my imagination with Sketchbook Skool Semester 4.
It is semester break at the Sketchbook Skool and faculty from the first 3 semesters are posting weekly challenges on the Sketchbook Skool Blog http://sketchbookskool.com/blog/. This week Brenda Swenson challenged students to do watercolor paintings on toned paper, using white gouache to add whites to the painting if needed. I did two paintings and collaged them into my sketchbook to reduce the paper buckling for scanning.
A stylized bouquet of flowers on brown wrapping paper - watercolor and white gouache.
One of my elephant series drawings that I redrew on Bugra brown paper:
Lots of students are waiting impatiently for Sketchbook Skool Semester 4 to begin - and the blog is providing some relief with interesting videos and these challenges. Happy Holiday weekend to all!
Sketchbook Skool Semester 3 overlapped with our vacation last Fall, and I still want to do homework assignments from Weeks 3 and 4. I was too busy, that is my excuse. But really that is subterfuge. Both Mattias Adolfsson and Jean-Christophe Defline assigned us homework that required drawings from our imagination. YIKES! That is not easy for me - I draw what I see. I can combine my subjects into new compositions, but I rarely draw anything completely from my imagination.
So for 6 months I've been periodically thinking about my first day of school - many, many years ago for sure. I had no specific story to tell, I can't even remember my kindergarten teacher's name. But I did have an image of a corner of the room, with a rug, tables, chairs, and toys. And I knew that my mother walked me to school and dropped me off in the classroom on my first day.
So I finally just sat down and started drawing. I knew my hair style, and my Mother's hair style and the clothes I probably wore. So here, finally, is a story about my first day of kindergarten.
Our second homework assignment from Mattias is to do a meta-drawing. I think I need to let that roll around in my brain for awhile too, but hopefully not for 6 months. I am even confused about the exact meaning: Meta-film is a film about making a film. Mattias elaborates on the assignment by calling it a drawing with enhanced reality.
Danny Gregory was the last artist in the 6 week Sketchbook Skool Semester 3 "Storytelling" online course. He moved from LA to NYC immediately before, driving the entire way. So his sketchbook tours and demonstrations were all from his cross-country journey. His parting gift to us was a full PDF copy of his travel journal!
Our homework was to take a trip, even around our home or neighborhood, and to document it in pictures and words. My journey was one day in my life - and I have 3 Sketchbook pages for the "trip."
I left my apartment at 8AM, and took a bus and subway to my ballet class. After ballet, I did a few errands and then took the Subway to the NYC Garment District to meet my daughter who needed advice on supplies to make for her childrens' teachers' holiday presents. We had lunch on the Upper Eastside and then I returned home - leaving several hours later to go to the Theater District in midtown for a play reading. Here are the pages - the writing is probably unintelligible!
The part of Cora Flood was played by Annie Parisi who I really love!
I took Sketchbook Skool Semesters 2 and now 3. Even though I belong to Everyday Matters, and am familiar with many of the teachers, I find the format of the course incredibly interesting. This semester I still need to work on homework from my imagination by Mattias Adolphson, A poster or book cover from Jean-Christophe Defline, and drawing bodies in motion like Veronica Lawlor. These are wonderful challenges for me and should keep me busy until Semester 4. Can't wait for the announcement of the next theme and lineup of teachers.