Openness and Truth

This picture was taken a few weeks ago in my studio.  It’s my group from the drawing retreat I led in September at Emandal, A Farm on a River.  

During the retreat this group of individuals came together and bonded in a sweet, and humbling way.  For four days they shared their experience of looking at and being in nature.  They were authentic and honest and grew together with humor and care.  

To continue the work from Emandal I began the drawing period with warm ups where we looked at light moving across basic shapes.  I like to call this looking at The Light Story. When we draw light we draw three-dimensionality, and this is a strength in drawing.  

 In the prolonged study I asked them to lay down an area of middle grey and then use charcoal to put in deeper darks, and erasers to take out the stronger lights – all while looking closely at the person opposite them.  The exercise is to draw the face by drawing the light and the shadows we see.

I love this assignment.  It works best when the participants have spent some time together as it can be uncomfortable to look closely at another person.  When I have drawn with my students on this project I’ve found the impact of noticing another human to be profound.  It’s most helpful to do this with an open willingness to see what’s in front of us. When we draw our best work comes from authentic looking rather than purely analytical thinking.  (Some analysis IS good, but not as the main intention.) Drawing light and shadow, and letting a drawing slowly build to completion, can take the focus off of intense critical thinking.  It allows us the freedom to observe light with less of that critical self-talk that’s so easy to slip into.  

It’s very powerful to draw with openness and truth,

to notice someone else with curiosity and not judgment,

to be with other people in the middle of the same kind of close looking,

to awaken attention, and connection with another, and with oneself, 

and to share the experience of sameness.