Critiques of drawings are always a challenge because we have to use the inefficiency of words. I left out the words pregnant and fecund from my descriptions of space in the drawing crit this week. They seemed loaded with extra baggage that just made me file them as they slipped into my mind. I’m protective of images and their meaning and I’m conscious of the slippery slope of words and how they might undermine the reading of the picture. Don’t get me wrong, I use words all the time to punch holes or wholes into images. But when we are in the serious business of talking about pictures—-choose your words carefully
. This was the last week of drawing class and we had small group crits focused on a drawing problem with 2 people, aptly named, Two is a Crowd. The space between the 2 subjects or the lack of space delivers a message about content. Composing is about thinking and making decisions about space and interval, too many students draw what sits infront of them—that is composting— copying shit in the hope that something fertile happens.
Space is critical for thinking. Horror vacui, Latin for the fear of open space is a useful art school term for the filling up of the negative space, but I am more interested in Aristotle’s use of the term, which translates to; nature abhors a vacuum, or where ever there is a void matter will pour in to fill it. It’s that void we need. Open roads let you see the way forward, but we are always stuck in traffic.
I have had a ringside seat as the walls of space have closed in over the past 10 years. From the margins of drawing pads filled with anime characters and critters to the screens on campus with animation reels of stock characters, the capture of culture continues its juggernaut of glut. The sheer magnitude of what we can watch, scroll, and swim in has increased exponentially. We had this naive belief that more information would lead to more knowledge, yeah we know where that has driven us. Just spend 5 minutes on X, if it doesn’t make you concerned for our future you have a stronger stomach than me.
Back to the studio and the drawings pinned to the wall. We had a great discussion about the drama each person had created through the simple acts of scale, cropping, placement, coupled with tone and markmaking. But the majority of our time was focused on the spaces without drawing. The voids were pregnant with meaning. Make some space for yourself today.