Week four from my Royal Drawing School Drawing:Ink and Watercolour evening course.
(Week one here, weeks two and three here)
October 12, 2022
Week 4 – Stephanie Forrest
This class was about playing with ink in relation to gesture and sound and we did lots of experiments!
We looked at the paintings of John Cage and his River Rocks Watercolours (See video below) from the Mountain Lake Workshop. He drew around found objects like rocks, and invented new types of tools for mark making instead of paintbrushes. Each drawing was considered an experiment. We channelled his vibe for our class.
We also looked at artists such as Fabienne Verdier, Brice Marden, and Fiona Robinson, who have made art in response to sound.
Exercise – responding to sound
We took six long sheets and listened to music (by John Cage, Edgard Varèse, and Stravinsky) and make abstract, intuitive responses.
Exercise: Labanotation
We started looking at Labanotation – a system of recording movement and gesture through line and make a series of drawings –
Gliding/Pushing; Floating/ Wringing; Dabbing/Thrusting; Fluttering/Whipping. We use the brush until the ink runs out before reloading. Moving my brush in an unfamiliar way is loosening up my brain a little.
Exercise: 10 minute sketch with straight lines
We had to draw something in our room, getting instructions every few minutes to change the type of line we were making eg gliding or pushing.
Exercise: 10 minute sketch with curved lines
We had to draw something else in our room – here’s my Kitchen sink.
Exercise – Draw from reference
A slow curved line sketch copying from a Lascaux cave painting, with a quick thrusting line sketch copying from Raoul Dufy.
