New Years Eve at Woodford, and I was invited to create one of my drawings in situ. In Artisania, a very public display. One of my large works can take up to 4/5 weeks to complete, so in order to do anything meaningful in a two hour evening performance, I got myself organised.
- The first day of Woodford, I went along with camera in hand, and photographed things that I thought captured the spirit of the place.
- The next day in my studio, I collaged the images, and drew them with a 7B pencil, onto a large (200cm X 120cm) sheet of brown Kraft paper. The drawing was allowed to be free and distorted, to add to the drama and accentuate feelings about various objects in the work. Fluid, menacing, whimsical etc.
- In the studio I then toned in all the grey/black areas with Extra Soft Pitt Compressed Charcoal, using my photos as references.
After a couple of hours I had crudely filled in about a quarter of the area, then headed home. There was a lot of passer-by interest, lots of questions and photos, and often people standing two or three deep watching. Even a couple of interested buyers.
I've decided to complete the work at home.
It's the first drawing I've commenced that doesn't have a European theme and I've found it really interesting to work on. Below is where it's at at the moment, but there's probably another couple of weeks work involved. I will post further photos of it's development.
The public performance was daunting.
Visual Art is somewhat unique amongst the Arts.
Rarely collaborations, so vital to other disciplines.
We tend to squirrel ourselves away in very private studios,
preferring isolation,
loud music and particular rag-tag clothes that become our uniform of intent.
Puts us in the mood, all necessary to create.
No phones, no visitors.
The world can, and often does, disappear for hours.
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