The third week of Drawing Philosophy has been an interesting mix. Our drawing workshop with Natasha Mayo consisted of us going to the botanical gardens in Roath Park and having drawing conversations there. The task was to draw an object and he second person was to draw an action that that object did. I found this task difficult: how do you represent a fish that swims? Or a duck that quacks? Honestly, my conversations turned into thematic and concept drawings regarding the area around me.
All in all, the weather was absolutely miserable! This led to the last task being postponed. The task was to trace a route through Roath park, and then go back and liven up the drawing of he route with items that catch your attention.
I adapted this task for myself, in a way that better suits how my brain works. I am absolutely hopeless at navigation, maps and directions, this is why I rely on Josh to get me places! If I have been somewhere a few times, I build up a visual database of landmarks and objects that I use to tell myself where to go.
So I decided to visualise my walk into uni. I do this every day, it takes about 15 mins, and as I have done it since September, I have been able to gather a rich database of images and items.
I have decided to be somewhat selective with the items that I draw, focusing on the ‘bigger’ objects, the main ones that stand out in my mind like buildings and colours rather than objects that can be in flux, such as the piece of half eaten lobster, the dog mess, rubbish bags and cars.
Thursdays workshop with Chris turned into more theory than practical! His musical interludes were pleasant to listen to at least!
We talked about how rubbish our brains are at remembering things. There are strategies to help remember, but we have to actively engage our brains to achieve this. It helps to make your brain be aware of things, even simple things like colour, the play of light. I find for myself that it helps to link a thought or activity with an image or a colour. For example, remembering that I have to do a bronze pouring today, it has a feeling of warmth, nervousness and a bright orange light.
Chris also talked about Evelyn Glennie, who has a video on Ted Talks. She is a musician who was mostly deaf by the time that she was 12. Despite this, she has fought to be a musician, and has learned to ‘hear’ with senses other than her ears. It is a wonderful video, amazing to watch.
Jade Jenkins 