Drawing is an interesting process. It is essential to art practice, whether you are figurative or abstract or anything in between. It trains the brain and the body. The hand, the arm, the shoulder, the torso, whether you are sitting or standing, the placement of your feet - all are important in the production of a drawing. I tend to hold my pencil so that my whole arm and shoulder get involved in what I am doing. It gives me greater expression and fluidity. Yes, I do sometimes hold it like a pen, when I need those fine, accurate lines, but for sketches something livelier is needed. Sketches are quick things.,accuracy and speed come with practice, but it is something you need to keep working at, or you rapidly become rusty, and slow.
I try to draw and sketch every day. It doesn't always happen, sometimes the rest of life gets in the way, but it is what I aim for. Part of that aim requires carrying paper and pencils with me most of the time. Yesterday was no exception.
My son loves Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. He has most of their books. I was looking through the newspaper back in early November and Son noticed an ad (he reads over the shoulder - sigh) for "26 Storey Treehouse - The Play" at the Opera House. Cue much excitement and longing. Unbeknownst to him, spouse and I talked about it later and then I got online and booked seats- one for Son, one for me, one for my mother-in-law. Imagine the Son's face on Christmas morning when he opened a plain looking envelope containing the magic tickets.
Yesterday was the day to go.
Train trip down to Sydney. I love train trips - great opportunity to draw people who have little choice but to sit still and do nothing for a couple of hours. Only I was having such a good time chatting to my mother-in-law that I didn't get out my sketch books. Okay.
We had a nice lunch together and then made our way to Circular Quay and round to the Opera House. And arrived over half an hour early. Oh well, I thought, we can sit quietly and I can sketch the milling masses. Not so.
Given the number of children coming to see a play by their favourite funny author and illustrator, the Opera House had wisely arranged entertainment beforehand - something called Build the Music. Basically, it's a Lego table which the children build on with different coloured bricks. Then a laser reads the creations and translates the colours, shapes and shadows into music. Son had so much fun experimenting and seeing how his different ideas translated into sound.
And I got some sketching done.
The people running Build the Music were fabulous. They were great with the kids - so engaged and encouraging. Keeping things under control without being bossy or didactic or appearing controlling. Expert child-wranglers. They were also good musicians. When not helping with the children, they were wandering amongst them playing ukuleles, just quietly, as background. No "look at me" qualities. Happy to answer any and all questions, show the children the many instruments they had with them, let them try them out. Great ambassadors for their profession.
And they were steampunks.
Or at least dressed as them. All browns and blacks, and muted colours. Top hats and flat caps and scarves and waistcoats and boots. Fantastic goggles, too.
 |
| Goggles, Megan Hitchens, black chalk on buff paper, 2015 |
I didn't have my camera with me, and my phone was out of juice, so there were no means of photographic recording. Which was a good thing, because it meant that I HAD to draw.
There is a knack to drawing people who are constantly on the move. You have to go for the very quickest methods, often only hinting at what is going on. Detail has to go by the board, which is a good thing, because it means I cannot get bogged down. Detail has been something of my Achilles' heel in the past. Too much attention to it can kill a drawing stone dead (mind you, just about every drawing can be revived if you know how. All dead drawings have the potential to be Lazarus).
A lot of things got crammed on one page because I couldn't afford the time to flick over. I've chosen a selection for this post. The subjects were constantly on the move, so these were lightning sketches. Speed was the key. Then one of the performers realised what I was doing and pulled a weird face every time I looked at her. So that's how she got drawn. Go with what you get.
 |
| Reminds me of Goya, Megan Hitchens, black chalk on buff paper, 2015 |
Another sketch was a composite. The chap kept moving (doing his job), so my sketch ended up a bit of a mash - the nose at this angle, the eye at that, the chin at another. Each bit looks like him. Together it looks like someone else. I keep thinking about this, brain ticking. There's something...
 |
| Composite, Megan Hitchens, black chalk on buff paper, 2015 |
I was just wearing my ordinary everyday clothes, which I often feel aren't steampunk enough. Yet I got asked several times if I was with the performers. Was I their director? How can they be booked for other events? Sorry, I'm just a parent. But it did make me feel good.
 |
| This set up hid all the computer equipment. There were glowing wires too, but I didn't have a blue pencil with me. This is not a lightning sketch, but was worked up from one. Black, white and sanguine chalk on buff paper. 2015 |
The doors opened and it was time to go in. Son and I thanked the performers. They asked to see the drawings. Thankfully they liked them, and the face-puller laughed. I did some more sketching in the play, but it was quite dark, and I was laughing a lot, so they were less successful. But it was an interesting experience, and one I enjoyed. A different set of challenges.
Today's drawing was much more sedate. I have actually started working on a series of Tomographs, and the drawings for them are of a very different nature. They require detail. I shall have to be careful I keep them alive.
