This topic was all about mark making that can be done while moving the body and using all parts of the body to create pieces of larger-scale artworks. As a disabled student, with a chronic illness that saps my energy, and as a wheelchair user I have had to approach it slightly differently than the materials were originally written. After a discussion with my tutor, who was incredibly helpful, I have focused more on smaller every day movements and gestures, rather than the large, full-body, movements that were required. It has resulted in some interesting artworks, and a different way of thinking about things that didn’t include using traditional tools or particular paper sizes.
Exercise 5.1- Mark marking though every day movement
For this exercise in particular I threw out the idea (with my tutor’s go ahead) of using large body movements like walking, dancing, or jumping as none of these were feasible to me. Instead I started to think about ways in which I could create marks with the movement of my hands. I came up with a selection of things I do, or could do, in my daily life and used a couple of different mediums to try out different effects.
My chosen mark making gestures were to imitate
- typing
- strumming or plucking a stringed instrument
- gesturing (as if while talking)
- writing
- hand sewing
I like the finished look of this piece, and how it tells a story, not just of the steps I took to make it but that there is a pattern of repeating marks, that if you could decode by overlapping with a keyboard, it would tell you what I “typed”.
For my second piece I started making marks my pretending I was plucking guitar strings, and then placed both hands on the page and gestured like I would if I was talking, smearing the ink that had already been laid down in the original movements. The next day I came back and did the same thing with blue ink, to try and add more layers and depth to the piece.
One of the things my tutor and I talked about was that as I couldn’t change my mark making by using extra large surfaces areas, I could go the opposite way and restrict myself my going smaller. As I wasn’t full happy with the way this artwork turned out compared to the other pieces in this exercise I decided to try something different and cut out the sections I thought were most compelling and dynamic and turn them into a series of very small artworks, arranged as though they were on display somewhere, or as a series of small thumbnails. I played with a lot of compositions before settling on the final one.
I like that it became a snapshot of the various marks and gestures I made, cut off from the rest of the paper they stand alone as mini artworks pretty well!
For this next piece I made marks in two separate rows, the top I imitated strumming a guitar, and the bottom I gestured as though talking. It combined the gestures from the previous exercise, but presented in a different way.
It finished the artwork two rows of related marks, overlapping and complimenting each other. I enjoy that it looks a little like ink blots, I can see lots of patters and make images out of the shapes there, but that also it looks like an abstract depiction of sheet music, which is fun when I was imitating using an instrument to create some of the marks.
For my fourth piece I used powdered charcoal, spread it over the page and then began moving as though I was writing to erase and smudge parts of charcoal as I moved. And then I imitated the movement of sewing by hand, imagining pushing the needle in, dragging the thread down and lifting the needle out again, moving in vertical lines over the top of the horizontal writing.
Though the previous piece worked okay I decided it might have been better to start with the charcoal in on section and move and smudge it across the page as I made marks rather than starting with the page already covered. So I started again on a fifth piece doing just that. It turned even more into temporary pieces; I was able to do one, tip the charcoal back into the middle of the page and start again.
I really like how this one ended up looking. With the way the charcoal spread without being uniform, and how my writing only shows up best in the darkest parts, it appears like part of a rescued document, only partly legible, or as though some of the artwork has been erased before viewing. And the fact it was mostly my name signed over and over, seems symbolic, and gives it a personal touch at the same time.
I was pleasantly surprise to find the limited choices available to me (working while seated, and not over stretching my body) still felt creative and freeing, as I wasn’t sure it would feel that way in comparison to some of the research I had done.
The main things I took away from this exercise was that all of these mark making choices and results are an extension of me–my movements, my body. Though the movements themselves were small in scope the variety of marks they created is fairly large, it was nice to realise I could create differing and interesting shapes with only several ways of moving.
Hopefully I can bear both of these things in mind as I approach the next exercises, that restriction doesn’t equal boring (should be helpful for 5.2), and that my hands and body is a tool that I can utilise to manipulate media around the page regardless of what other tools I am using (should follow on nicely into exercise 5.3!)
Exercise 5.2: Restricted movement during mark making
For this second exercise I had to find some ways that I could restrict myself while moving to draw that wouldn’t cause pain or put pressure on my joints. I settled on three simple possibilities: bubble wrap, clothes pegs, and a cardboard box.
I began by making an arm wrapping with the largest pieces of bubble wrap, covering my arm around the wrist to impede movement and flexibility and then securing it with masking tape.
I wanted to start this exercise by following on from some of the actions I completed the previous one with. So I settled on imitating gestures and handwriting again, while wearing the large wrapping on my arm so I couldn’t bend each joint very much.
The restriction of the wrapping around my wrist wasn’t too impeding, as it was malleable, but it meant I had to work in larger, more exaggerated movements, creating bigger and more spaced out marks.
I like the differences between the marks made by the bubble wrap and the marks made by the paintbrush, but how they compliment each other by both being made with sweeping motions and the ink being laid down in lots of thin lines (by the bristles, or the crinkles in the bubbles).
For the second piece I used a similar method of restriction, using a cardboard box to slip my arm into and trying to draw whilst it was on my arm. This time was a much stiffer restriction, and it went all the way past my elbow.
I also decided to take this idea a bit further, and as well as having a large restriction, have a very small drawing area to work on. It was fun to try and deal with both thing at the same time.
This piece seemed to be going somewhere, so I began again with another even smaller piece of paper, a7, and used pencil to create the marks this time.
I was still excited about where this was going, so I got another smaller piece, half of an a7, and used both pencil and pen for the next one. Again using sweeping motions to get the drawing implements to travel across the paper.
I’m not sure which of these four I like the most, but it was fun to see what was created with basically one type of movement develop into four distinct pieces.
For the last attempt in this exercise I took a bubble wrap pouch, put my hand inside, and then attached pegs between each finger to pinch the bag in place.
I think the last one was the least successful of the three methods, even though it has some interesting overlap of marks, it looks less dynamic and organic than the previous two methods, at least to my eye.
What I like about this set of work is how the final results mirror the way I was restricted. On the first piece the mark making looks softer, and the wrapping was softer. The second has harsh lines in only certain directions, showing how I could only swing my arm like a pendulum, and the third is sort of squishy and indistinct, kind of like the odd–not entirely successful!–restriction around my hand.
I feel it is worth mentioning that although I enjoyed certain aspects of the challenges in this exercise I feel like I worked around the restrictions fairly well and managed to lay down marks I was happy with without the mark making results seeming particularly odd. Family members pointed out to me that because of the restrictions I live with on a daily basis because of my health problems I am used to thinking outside the box when trying to problem solve, and that I do this with artwork myself already–if my joints are bad I will change how I hold drawing tools to compensate, for example. I don’t know if this had a large effect or if this might have been a very different exercise had I been able bodied to start with, but it was interesting to think about.
It was especially noticeable during my last piece, where I worked out how to hold the pen and still create smooth uninterrupted lines within a few minutes!
What I have learned is that repetitive mark making can be very effective and have a variety of results even when only using one method to lay down the marks, but the effectiveness really depends on the medium in use, and the amount of repeats used. As seen in my test sheet at the start of the exercise, too many overlapping repeats create a mess of dark splotches that don’t look much like anything; compared to the piece done entirely with pencil while using the box, where one type of mark was carefully constructed to create a variety of tones.
This will be worth remembering as I head into the next exercise.
Exercise 5.3:
This exercised followed on nicely from the previous one, having drawn with restrictions I now had to draw with extensions to my body.
I started with a large extension, which didn’t feel too different from drawing with my arm in a box at the end of the previous exercise, and slowly moved down to small extensions. First an extension of my arm, then of my wrist and hand, and finally added drawing implements to my fingers.
The first piece I completed fairly quickly, using one of my crutches I attached a large chunk of charcoal to the bottom and sat down to use the crutch to draw all over the paper. I had to move in large arcs, no fine movement available in the way I held the crutch, and could swing in circular motions or back and forth in lines.
Once I had completed a covering of the page in random movements I took a few minutes to look and see what I thought of the piece. I decided to go back in and darken up some areas by holding the crutch slightly differently, and with two hands, and rubbing the charcoal over the areas that had more marks on already. This just darkened some areas and added more contrast and made me happier with the piece overall.
For the second exploration I decided to use some flowers and hold them between my fingers while making a fist. It meant that the movement available was by either just using my arm, or by flexing my wrist. It created slightly more finesse and control, but still dictated that I moved in certain ways.
The flowers themselves added a new dimension as they weren’t just a stick of charcoal. I dipped them into ink and then dragged them over the page, I could also use them to print certain shapes. The unpredictable nature of the ink collecting and pooling or soaking in to the flower heads and petals in different amounts created a fairly random sense of mark placement.
You can see on this first piece how I attempted to make a pattern out of the marks I could make. I wasn’t sure I liked this effect in the end, it felt too much like trying to control something that should be more free and unplanned.
So I grabbed another piece of paper and used one method of making marks in a repeating motion; first sweeping up from the bottom and then adding some sweeping curls by rotating my wrist.
I’m much happier with the more organic feel that this second attempt created, and the way the ink mixed to create different shades adds even more randomness and depth. Working the same parts of the page over and over to make an effect that grew organically and I didn’t hold back on letting the ink blur and smudge was sort of liberating, especially compared to the first attempt.
The last method I wanted to try was to attach things to my fingers, which I had the most fun with. It meant I could move my arm, hand, and also wiggle my fingers to create marks in different ways.
I used dried leaves first (picked from the garden), masking taped onto my fingertips. I dipped them in ink and moved my hand across the page while moving my fingers in a wiggling motion, curling and uncurling them.
I added a second colour ink to add more depth, and having started the piece with two pieces of paper stuck together I was able to take them apart and see the result like a diptych.
For the last attempt I switched to sticking q-tips on my fingers and dipping them in ink to draw with. I did a practice sheet first and then switched to an actual piece.
I used one motion, starting with my fingers spread and drawing them together as I moved my arm across the page in an arc.
I added a second colour and worked from the opposite side to create a mirrored effect.
I don’t think it was my most successful piece but I enjoyed playing and creating something different from the others in this exercise.
What I’ve learned in this exercise is to embrace the random. That the sporadic marks and unintended effects are something I like the look of more than when I tried to control or turn my mark making into patterns.
Using one or two methods to create an effect, and repeating it, ended up more enjoyable and pleasing to look at. I liked working from large (moving my arm) down to small (using my fingers) and it was a nice reminder to make marks using more than just hand motions–even when drawing with traditional tools it’s good to cast a wide net and not be confined to drawing with small details.
It was also fun to work with some colour again, and let the colours drip, bleed, and soak into each other.
I want to take this playful experimentation forward into the next section– and all my work from now on–but learn how to really make the best use of it. Maybe by creating random mark making, but controlling where the repeats of those marks are placed; but also by finding the best way to mix different mediums and overlapping differing marks in the most pleasing way so that nothing gets lost in a “noisy” page.
Rebekah's OCA Learning Log 