Starting Points, material experimentation.
With the Scroll piece in the previous post I am finding myself drawn to the initial marks of a drawing, the moment of action that begins the process of the drawing process, so far I have been relatively limited in my choice of drawing materials, thus I have chosen to experiment with various starting points with a selection of familiar and new materials to explore what might occur in the first few minutes or hours of a drawing. as these new materials are explored there are new potentials and limitations, for example, my tendency is to start with light marks and too build the surface with stronger colours and marks, much like the sketch to drawing or sketch to painting process that is the tradition of representational art, but when dealing with non-representational drawing, which does not have a readily conceivable outcome there is no necessity for preparatory sketching, instead the lighter marks are possibly based in issues of confidence. There is a strong necessity for confidence in drawing in this way, when the outcome is not certain and the process or development of the drawing takes precedence, there is a worrying danger of being inauthentic by making light marks that could be construed as sketching and thus describing some sort of preconceived goal.
In defence of lighter mark making in the initial stages of the drawing when we make bold and harsh marks there is a permanence to them that limits the illusion of depth of field that can be achieved through the layering of marks which in my opinion is a natural unpredictable occurrence when using a variety of materials, for example, with water colour paints, as we load the brush with the mixed paint and apply it to the surface of the page the colour will lighten or darken and the mark will change in size depending on the mix that has been picked up from the palette, there is always a strong element of chance each time we load and unload the brush.
Patrick Milsom
2015
Starting Point 4,
Charcoal on Paper with erasing.
With Starting Point 4 I began with a strong charcoal mark in the bottom right hand corner, and as discussed above, we can see the impact of the bold first action, its presence is clear even though there has been multiple layers of erasing and white charcoal applied, but this does have an interesting effect. the depth of field that I mentioned earlier is achieved and the initial mark has successfully been layered on top of.
There is a lot of potential in the use of charcoal in these drawing processes as it is a quite an unpredictable material, it is constantly in a state of transition until fixative is applied to it, with continuous contact with the paper and hand it is smudged and blurred easily and the opportunity to spread the material out and make marks happens very quickly. You must be constantly present in the making as the temporary nature of the material means the whole drawing is constantly shifting and if you are not attentive you may miss interesting shapes that develop in one instant and are gone in the next.
Patrick Milsom
2015
Erasing Blue 2
Graphite, Pencil, Charcoal and Eraser on Paper.
Erasing Blue 2 is a clear continuation of Erasing Blue which I greatly enjoyed making, though this version was much less enjoyable, I started with very hard mark making with a soft graphite stick and then a harder graphite stick over the top, which can be seen in it's raw form in the top right hand corner. rather than a small initial mark the starting point was this much broader action which from the outset was problematic, the density of the graphite on the paper was so thick that I found it difficult to effect it with erasing and it took a very long time of pulling it back by hand, instead I used an electric eraser which managed to strip the graphite, which has created exciting tensions between the dark graphite and the erasing in the centre of the page but to the left I have managed to return to the ambiguous shapes of the previous Erasing Blue.I would like to explore this style of drawing in the scroll format that I am currently working with.
Patrick Milsom
2015
untitled (First At Arms Length)
Ink on Paper.
With this experiment I tried a new technique which in comparison to usual method of mark making is much less controlled but still similar. Rather than being very close to the paper and carefully making marks I instead stood at arms length from the paper and made the marks at the point of straining to reach. after a period of time passed I found myself being drawn in closer to the paper and began making marks up close. Though I am not keen on the particular results of this experiment I am interested in the action of moving from a far to up close. The desire to be drawn in to the work is strong and it is difficult to, once up close, to pull away from the paper.
Patrick Milsom
2015
Patrick Milsom
2015
Starting Point 3
Pencil, Pastel and Erasing on Paper.
There is an immediate variation with this drawing, this being the use of black paper, the marks in this drawing are very much in the same vein as most of my recent drawings, the starting point of this experiment is quite different to the other experiments in this series though. I had cut a square hole into the paper during another experiment but decided not to use it. Instead I chose to re-purpose it for this experiment. To have this sort of break in the purity of the paper at the start of drawing creates an immediate tension, there is a need to preserve this square hole and looking at the marks surrounding it I can see an almost neurotic avoidance of the void. It seems like one mark is touching the edge of it and another approaches then quickly sweeps away again.
The tension also seems to extend to any attempt at illusion, we can look at the marks and begin to see potential for depth of field, perspective or representational images in the marks made but as our eyes pass over the page we are inevitably hit by this void in the centre of the drawing, which causes us to snap out of the hypnotising suggestion of illusions. It makes me think of the breaking of the fourth wall in theatre, it is as though we are in the drawing trying to see the narrative but then this hole snaps us back to reality, we see through the image and see the wall behind and the illusion is broken.
Patrick Milsom
2015
Starting Point 8
Ink on Paper
Returning to my tradition of fields of individual marks but rather than using a controlled tool like a pen I have used watered down ink and a brush, though the starting point of the marks is not necessarily visible the over all drawing serves as in interesting starting point for a larger drawing, with the higher opportunity for chance that arises with the flow and soaking in of the liquid ink and the unpredictability of pressing the brush onto the surface the emerging shapes in the overall field of marks becomes much more active than the relatively similar marks that are achieved using a pen. therefore the whole drawing maybe much more exciting than previous works.
Patrick Milsom
2015
Starting Point 6
Graphite on Paper
This next drawing is much simpler than others in this series and is constructed using much strong confident marks and then blending has occurred. This is a very quick drawing which at odds with my usual durational drawing works, which I immediately feel opposed to. I do enjoy the hints of light and dark in the lower portion of the drawing but I also feel a tension that it is just some marks and very little else. As a starting point it suggests too me the potential for a much larger work but at this point I find it difficult to particularly say anything positive about it.
Patrick Milsom
2015
Starting Point 5
Charcoal, Pencil, Graphite and Chalk on Paper
As with Starting Point 5 I find this drawing difficult to align myself with. The marks are certainly much more confident but there is very little consideration or control to them thus I find them at odds with my personal values, though in regards to my research, they do present a much more active physicality. I just cant get away from my obsession with controlled mark making and find this drawing ugly.
Patrick Milsom.
2015
Starting Point 7
Ink on Paper
As with Starting Point 8 I was experimenting with liquid ink and paint brushes in this experiment, Though rather than being controlled with each mark I allowed myself to work quickly which is clear, though I found myself being drawn into the drawing and slowed down for various areas of controlled marks.
The starting point for this experiment are the three large blue marks in the centre, which were made by dropping ink from a height and the scrapping the ink away. Though they act as a starting point there is a certain disconnection from the starting point marks and the proceeding marks, as if they are made then the following marks are not following them directly. I think With Starting point 8 there is a clearer connection between all of the marks where as with this drawing the marks are to disparate. I think this is an issue is becoming more prominent as my work is progressing, and I am creating much more layered marks the process is becoming lost. with the standard a2 a3 a4 paper formats the flow of process is less distinguished where as using a scroll paper format there is an obvious suggestion of temporal and unfolding process that is much stronger and attractive for the method of my work.
Patrick Milsom
2015
Starting Point 1
Ink on Paper
Starting Point 1 Is an immediate progression of starting - starting point which in turn is a progression of my previous practice especially show and listen 2. It is very much a return to the focus on clear individual marks but using the free movements in the earlier impressions of music works and exploring the starting point idea. In this work the first mark is very clear, as we read from left to right the starting point is a unique non representational mark which is then responded to by a proceeding mark and quickly, like the self referential tree or Strange Attractors that are part of Chaos theory and Mandelbrot sets.
graph showing curves relationship
I really like this self referencing or maybe Atypical self referencing in mark making and draws back to the question of spatial relationships of individual marks creating an unexpected greater whole, though admittedly this drawing experiment is certainly not as strict as an drawing that purely attempts this.
Patrick Milsom
2015
Starting Point 2
Charcoal and Pastel on Parcel Wrapping Paper.
Starting Point 2 is an experiment with new paper and different drawing materials, following on from the use of charcoal in previous works but also using pastels, the opportunity for chance occurrences is great in this work, the temporary nature of the materials makes for a potential of constant change whilst on action and due to the softness of the drawing materials there is a higher chance of unpredictable outcomes each time the charcoal and pastel touches the paper, there is very little possibility of control that is a strong feature of many of my other works and thus my desire for working up close is not really an option at the point of primary action, the first marks cannot be delicate, as with a pen or pencil, therefore the tension of making the first mark is diminished, being safe in the knowledge that there is very little control in the mark making the obligation to make the first mark just right no longer has any relevance, so there is a freedom in the physical action straight away at the beginning of the drawing.
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