I have been compulsively drawing for as long as I can remember. I found it essential to everything creative I do. When doing sums I imagine them and manipulate their forms. Before doing and while doing nearly everything, there I am imagining, even if just for a split second. I have always kept my imagination alive and drawing is an excellent way of increasing ones imaginative capabilities.
My passion for mark-making also goes back a long way. I can’t quite describe where it has come from. I am, and have always been a very tactile person, compelled to take in as much sensory information as possible in any given scenario. However I often get overloaded with information especially in loud, crowded, highly detailed places such as a supermarket, towns or cities. It also sometimes effects me in quiet and intimate places, if there is something constantly moving in a I may easily lose my focus. This has often been a disadvantage for me in general life but by harnessing my ability to draw, I was able to slow the world down even just for a short time. The longer I sat drawing at a road junction, a place I’d normally be completely overwhelmed, I would begin to notice the things that remained the same over a longer period of time. This observational ability that I nurtured gave me something to focus on when intensity overshadows.
I often compare my painting technique to this line of thought. I paint quickly but confidently, with careless abandon, until things begin to slow down. I start to feel minute differences in the paint’s surface and feel the suction of the paint from the painting tool. I always think when painting with a brush that you cannot actually see what your brush is doing until it has happened. This is exactly the same when using my other painting applications. It’s about feeling the pressure, movement, and language of the paint. It is quiet and easily drowned out, thus requires a lot of attention and patience. I feel a parallel with my painting process to that of a bustling city full of distractions yet one still manages to find the gap through the crowd. If one were to paint timidly, the crowd becomes a wall. When you hold your head up, focus on the horizon and stride forward, the crowd begins to separate. That’s not to say you won’t bump into people from time to time, it happens!
When I used to doodle I would often unfocus my eyes and stare at one spot the whole time. The rest of the drawing would emerge from my periphery but more importantly would be a result of my awareness of what my hand is doing and where it is going, rather than what my eyes dictate is happening. It’s about treading a fine line of perfection, usually falling far from the mark but having the knowledge of when you’ve hit it.
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