Courses and workshops at InStitches are all about building up people’s confidence in their abilities and one of the things that many people are often really underconfident about is the D-word!
People can’t draw: or at least that’s what they think.
But actually, we can all draw. We can all make marks on paper (did you have a go at the mark-making challenge in #institchescreative2020 week one?). As children we made marks on paper without thinking about what they looked like or whether they were realistic, and without listening to that inner critic. When did we lose that?
People can’t draw: or at least that’s what they think.
But actually, we can all draw. We can all make marks on paper (did you have a go at the mark-making challenge in #institchescreative2020 week one?). As children we made marks on paper without thinking about what they looked like or whether they were realistic, and without listening to that inner critic. When did we lose that?
As Hazel said in her post on the subject: have you ever watched young children when given a selection of paper and coloured pencils/ empty boxes and glue/ scissors and a bag of fabric scraps - there’s no hanging back! They’re straight in and off into their own creative world, making up drawn stories, building the next generation of intergalactic space craft or crafting clothes for teddy. To them they are just having fun, seeing what they can do, enjoying themselves: there’s no ‘I can’t draw’, ‘I’m no good at…’ or ‘I don’t do art’.
So this exercise is a great one for putting you back in contact with your inner child. It’s one of our favourite creative warm-ups and we use it frequently with our students. And I make no apologies for the fact that Hazel wrote about it on the blog a couple of years ago (and I have shamelessly recycled some of her words and images – well we all have to do our bit for the planet…) – it’s definitely worth repeating often!
The great thing about drawing without looking is there can be no expectations from the inner critic; you’re not looking at what you’re drawing so how can it possibly look like the thing you’re trying to draw? You have permission to let yourself off. Dare I say it, you might even begin to have fun!
What will you need?
- A large sheet of paper about A3 size
- A couple of pens, one fine-nibbed (eg a fine liner or a biro) and one thick (we like Sharpies, but they will go through the paper). We’d encourage you to use pen rather than pencil – a nice bold line and no place for rubbing out here…
- A few things to draw. Keep them simple, everyday items – we like to raid the kitchen: mugs, jugs, bananas, spoons. Or pens and art supplies, your other hand etc. Many of our images here have been done with our Inspiration to Stitch students in Autumn, so seed pods and leaves feature highly. [You can even use a picture as Carla Sonheim demonstrates in her video here, but we prefer to do this with real objects.]
Wait a minute – how do you draw without looking? Isn’t that a bit counterintuitive? Here’s how…
1. Park your eyes at a point on the outside edge of your object. Park your pen nib on an appropriate place on the paper.
2. Without looking at your pen or your paper, use your eyes to very slowly “trace” the edges of the object, while, at the same time, using your pen to draw the outline in a steady, continuous line.
1. Park your eyes at a point on the outside edge of your object. Park your pen nib on an appropriate place on the paper.
2. Without looking at your pen or your paper, use your eyes to very slowly “trace” the edges of the object, while, at the same time, using your pen to draw the outline in a steady, continuous line.
3. Don't look at your paper, and don't lift your pen!
Tip: if you have difficulty not taking a sneak-peek at your paper, hold another sheet over the one you’re drawing on so you can’t see what’s underneath.
4. Go very slowly... much more slowly than you think you need to.
5. Keep going until you get back to where you started. If you've got a group of objects you can keep the line going between one and the next.
Tip: if you have difficulty not taking a sneak-peek at your paper, hold another sheet over the one you’re drawing on so you can’t see what’s underneath.
4. Go very slowly... much more slowly than you think you need to.
5. Keep going until you get back to where you started. If you've got a group of objects you can keep the line going between one and the next.
Your drawing probably won’t look anything like the object. That’s okay! However you’ll find that if you repeat the exercise several times (no need for a new piece of paper, turn your page around, over or upside down!) you’ll find your accuracy improves – you may even recognise the object you’ve drawn!
Moving on…
Don’t just draw once then give up. Do several and you’ll notice more details to include and refine what you draw. It's fine to put them all on the same sheet; maybe use a different weight pen and draw over the top of those you've already done.
Below you can see a series of drawings of tree seeds - lime, hornbeam (our favourite) and sycamore - in different weights of pen and in different directions.
Don’t just draw once then give up. Do several and you’ll notice more details to include and refine what you draw. It's fine to put them all on the same sheet; maybe use a different weight pen and draw over the top of those you've already done.
Below you can see a series of drawings of tree seeds - lime, hornbeam (our favourite) and sycamore - in different weights of pen and in different directions.
Tree seeds - lime, hornbeam and sycamore
You can progress if you like by looking at the paper maybe 10% of the time – to line things up better, or prevent falling off the edge.
What’s the point?
Well, to start with, it’s fun and a bit addictive, and the lines you produce have a lively spontaneity. Our students often trace one or two to repeat across a page of collage and taken out of context they make great hand-stitched lines. If you do your drawing on tissue paper they make great collage papers.
You could scan or photocopy them onto coloured papers - we especially love the paper created by accident when you put a 'sacrificial' piece of paper under others you're painting to save your work-surface. Or you could monoprint or paint blocks of colour over your drawings. Or you could use them as a kind of colouring book for adults! Experiment, play and have fun!
Well, to start with, it’s fun and a bit addictive, and the lines you produce have a lively spontaneity. Our students often trace one or two to repeat across a page of collage and taken out of context they make great hand-stitched lines. If you do your drawing on tissue paper they make great collage papers.
You could scan or photocopy them onto coloured papers - we especially love the paper created by accident when you put a 'sacrificial' piece of paper under others you're painting to save your work-surface. Or you could monoprint or paint blocks of colour over your drawings. Or you could use them as a kind of colouring book for adults! Experiment, play and have fun!
But it has other practical applications too. All you machine quilters out there will probably have realised that this makes a continuous line drawing, and anything you can draw without taking your pen off the page you can also free motion quilt.
I have used this exercise in a series of quilts I made about walking and collecting from beaches. I’ve always been a ‘head-down’ walker (either on the way out or the way back; ‘look up’ for the opposite direction) and consequently most of my coat pockets are full of pebbles, sea glass and bits of rusty metal! A workshop with Alice Fox several years ago was an epiphany: don’t just collect these things, catalogue them in some way!
I started tight and formal (as is my wont) but then remembered this exercise and started drawing groups of things – three scruffy feathers, 7 mermaid’s purses, 15 weathered oyster shells etc. As I drew, it occurred to me that these would be ideal FMQ motifs. So I practised – kept drawing so I really knew the details of the objects (with a tiny bit of looking to line up starts and finishes). Then I started stitching: you do have to look for this part - machining without looking is not recommended!
And if you want to, it’s a great tool for actually learning to draw:
Drawing without looking or, to give it its formal title, blind contour drawing, is used in art lessons around the world. It was apparently first popularised by Kimon Nicolaides in his 1941 book The Natural Way to Draw, but I came across it in Betty Edwards' book The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (1999). It is really an exercise in looking. By slowing right down and forcing our eyes to follow the outline of the object we are drawing, we actually begin to see the details. The shape of the top of the mug, the angle of the sides, how the handle joins at the top, and the bottom, how wide the handle is and does it taper. All of these details usually just disappear in your brain’s shorthand: 'Mug = circular thing with a handle for tea'. It’s your brain’s way of getting through the day without overwhelming you. You don’t need all that detail to make a cuppa! More about this in a later post...
Before you go...
... here are a couple of other things to inspire you this week.
Photo © David Parry/Royal Academy of Arts
Picasso and Paper
One of the exhibitions I was planning to see before all this happened was the Picasso and Paper exhibition at the Royal Academy. He didn't just draw on paper (although there are plenty of drawings too), he burnt it, collaged with it, tore it and made it three dimensional.
The RA has come up trumps and you can now watch a virtual tour of this exhibition on their website. It's 40 minutes long so settle down with a cuppa (after you've drawn it) and enjoy!
One of the exhibitions I was planning to see before all this happened was the Picasso and Paper exhibition at the Royal Academy. He didn't just draw on paper (although there are plenty of drawings too), he burnt it, collaged with it, tore it and made it three dimensional.
The RA has come up trumps and you can now watch a virtual tour of this exhibition on their website. It's 40 minutes long so settle down with a cuppa (after you've drawn it) and enjoy!
Kettle's Yard
Another place I was planning to visit this year (it’s been on my wishlist for a long time), Kettle's Yard is the former home of Jim and Helen Ede, collectors of 20th century art, craftsmanship and natural objects. It’s now owned by Cambridge University and open as a modern art gallery, but in the house many of the artefacts are ones that the Edes collected and arranged themselves. The collection has work from St Ives artists, among them Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Alfred Wallis, and sculpture by Henry Moore and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska among others. One of the things that visitors always notice is the play of light through the carefully arranged objects, and how the patterns created by the light and shadows change as the day progresses. This is no accident; Jim was fascinated by the way light could transform rooms in the house at Kettle’s Yard, and deliberately placed objects so that they interacted with the changing patterns of light falling into the house.
Another place I was planning to visit this year (it’s been on my wishlist for a long time), Kettle's Yard is the former home of Jim and Helen Ede, collectors of 20th century art, craftsmanship and natural objects. It’s now owned by Cambridge University and open as a modern art gallery, but in the house many of the artefacts are ones that the Edes collected and arranged themselves. The collection has work from St Ives artists, among them Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Alfred Wallis, and sculpture by Henry Moore and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska among others. One of the things that visitors always notice is the play of light through the carefully arranged objects, and how the patterns created by the light and shadows change as the day progresses. This is no accident; Jim was fascinated by the way light could transform rooms in the house at Kettle’s Yard, and deliberately placed objects so that they interacted with the changing patterns of light falling into the house.
image © Kettle’s Yard
You can have a virtual tour of this remarkable house and also view their webcam – set up in a strategic place to show the changing of the light as the day progresses (much calmer than watching 24/7 news!).
We’d love to hear how you got on with this creative warm-up … take a quick snap and post it over on Instagram and use the hash tags: #institchescreative2020 and #institches2013. Don't forget to follow both us and the hashtags to see what everyone else is creating too!
On Facebook reply to the relevant week's post with your comments and images. And don't forget to actually follow InStitches on Facebook to see what everyone else is up to.
Until next time - keep the creativity flowing...
Terry & Hazel
On Facebook reply to the relevant week's post with your comments and images. And don't forget to actually follow InStitches on Facebook to see what everyone else is up to.
Until next time - keep the creativity flowing...
Terry & Hazel
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