Continuing with the 30 Day Get Your Art On Challenge, I have been experimenting with a technique taken from Cas Holmes’ excellent book “The Found Object in Textile Art“. The technique is a DIY-style way of making paper something like Japanese momigami paper. After oiling your hands, you crumple and stretch paper for several minutes until you arrive at a fabric-like piece of textured paper. I tried with some brown wrapping paper, a paper napkin and a magazine page and was pretty pleased with results. Here’s a little rock friend holding the papers down for me:
I have also been continuing with the exercises in Dodson’s Keys to Drawing. This exercise was to first draw a pepper from memory, and then to draw one from life. As you can see, there was quite a marked difference between my “remembered” pepper and a real one!
You got such interesting results from your paper. Seems like the stretching process could be a little therapeutic! And I love the seeing the contrast between your pepper from memory and your pepper from sight!
I think you could be right re the therapeutic aspect!
These are wonderful ideas to experiment with! Your peppers are inspiring me to try this too! Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks Carolyn – it’s a great exercise to try!
Thanks for stopping by my blog, and the compliment. Just as a demonstration of the randomness of things, I’ve recently signed up to go to a 5 day workshop with Cas Holmes, but not till next April, and here in Western Australia! Small world!
I will definitely be reading more of your blog.
Oh wow – bet a workshop with Cas Holmes will be great. I met her at the Knitting & Stitching Show – she seems like a very interesting and passionate person.
What will you be doing with the paper? For the drawing exercise what if you were to slow down and study in your mind the remembered object, imagine it with lighting and atmosphere? Maybe the results would be more realistic. I’m tempted to try this myself. Thanks for joining this weeks art linkup.
I will probably use the paper in collage – maybe with fabric too, as it should take stitch quite well.
I think you are right re the pepper – I probably should have spent a bit more time studying the remembered object in my mind first, for a more realistic comparison.
I’ve got that book. Must try this. I love your results
Thanks Beth – would be interested to see if you did try this exercise.
Thank you for sharing, I am going to try momigami, and your drawing exercise is insightful, no?
I think the drawing exercise was very insightful. It made me think (again) about how often we think we “know” something, but when we really look at it, it’s actually quite different…
Love the drawings – both of them! One is an impression of a pepper; the other is more a replication, but still with your own style and interpretation. I think both approaches have a place in art … =D
Oh, I think you are right that both approaches have a place. I think I am hoping that by learning to draw what I see, it will also help me to draw from my imagination. If that makes sense!