Friday Drawing

Like the during previous unit, I've found Friday drawing this term hugely beneficial. Sometimes I get really bogged down in my project work and can't produce work that I like or feel ties in well with the theme - every avenue I explore seems to be a dead end. This is where Friday Drawing has come in useful. It's so nice to take two hours to completely switch off from what I've been doing all week, whilst still doing something creative which furthers my artistic development. I usually find the next few days work after Friday Drawing are much more productive from being encouraged to think outside of the box.

Drawing created after reading a poem brought in by someone else.

One of the things I find most challenging about drawing is committing pen (or pencil, charcoal, gouache...ect.) to paper and having to just work with it. Usually I'll start a drawing in pencil, with a rubber close to hand for the swift erasure of any line deemed to be 'wrong'. Since doing Friday Drawing I do this much less, and can usually fathom something worthwhile out of my mark-making, even if it doesn't directly contribute to the trajectory of my project.  

The shapes on the blue paper were cut out from the blind drawing above.

From the really amusing tasks such as playing Consequences and Heads, Bodies and legs, to the more intensive reportage task, I've most enjoyed the unexpected nature of each week's activity. The bemusing equipment list of 100 items smaller than a 10p, 25 the size of a hand and 5 the size of a football led to building interesting 3D compositions. This task was also great because our constructions had to be temporary, so taking good photographs was just as important as creating an aesthetically pleasing installation. I think the most helpful thing I've learnt from Friday Drawing is that a drawing isn't necessarily just pen or pencil on paper, and can be anything from a photograph to a sculpture.

My group's 3D composititon.

Overall my favourite tasks have been the ones where we have used lots of materials and have been able to use collage to create texture and contrast. I will definitely be using the techniques learnt in Friday Drawing to help next time I get stuck in a creative rut!

My favourite collage piece.