Monday, November 11, 2013

Art Journal #36


Art Journal Monday Heading

I find it really hard to see my sketchbook as a place to play and experiment. More often than not I start something, fall in love with it and want to finish it off...perfectly. Which, of course, defeats the point of a sketchbook. But this 'sketchbook perfection' stems from doing GCSE Art, where your sketchbook is submitted as part of your assessment so it always had to be impeccably presented. It wasn't a place to practice, but rather show your thought process and development of your final piece.

I'm still trying to shake this way of thinking, but I still find myself starting to draw something, and subsequently erasing and re-drawing it until it's perfect. I find it hard to start over despite the fact that these days there is nothing wrong with having 3 pages of half finished, wonky or shitty sketches. That's what my sketchbook is for now. 

Art Journal Page #36

I spend a lot of time fighting with the perfectionist within me. Trying to find a comfortable balance where this, sometimes irritating, personality trait works for me instead of against me. I like things to be neat and tidy- even my abstract work has a sense of coherency and order.

I do however regularly try to do something outside of my comfort zone that challenges my perfectionism- paint with my left hand, get all the colours muddy and dirty, hold the pencil at the end to allow for looser drawings. I don't usually like the end result but I'm beginning to enjoy the process as it helps me unlock new ideas and can lead me in a direction I wouldn't have otherwise taken.

Rhiannon xx
**I really enjoyed this post by Samie (a.k.a Journal Girl) where she writes about a similar feeling and was the inspiration for this weeks page

1 comment:

  1. oo, i like the idea of painting with your non-dominant hand. i think i'll give it a try!

    ReplyDelete