Some days its good just to play and that's what I was doing when I had some time to myself. This was the result.
It was inspired by a section of a book about creating imaginary creatures out of sidewalk cracks. Remember I told you it was play. :) The book is called Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals by Carla Sonheim. Anyway, in this chapter the gist is that you find a complex crack in a sidewalk or path, photograph it, make several copies of the image, then find all the shapes you can within the crack and gesso around them. Its quite interesting to see just how many shapes you can find, especially if you keep turning the paper to view from all angles. Try it for yourself with this tutorial - Blob Hunting.
In the crack I used, a dog seemed to be the dominant shape that I saw so I figured I'd go with that theme. I used pen and ink to create the shape outline, then watercolour and more pen to complete it. There was no plan which is the beauty of playing. The unknown result is part of the appeal.
Of course the name "Cracky" Dog immediately sprang to mind for a couple of reasons. One, because the piece was inspired by cracks in the sidewalk and two, because "cracky" is the Newfoundland name for a small, noisy mongrel. It seems a common phrase in Atlantic Canada and I've heard endless times. Usually reserved for those little "purse dogs" who bark constantly at everything and everyone - also known as "ankle biters". :)
Its a fun thing to do and pushes creativity without pressure. So next time you're walking on a sidewalk (I live in the country so I have to go to town to get sidewalks), grab a shot of some cracked pavement and see what you can create with the shapes.
4 comments:
thats actually a really good exercise, really works your eyes and imagination :)
he is a cute little dog :)
I thought so too. I may use it in a drawing class for creativity.
He's a solid fellow for sure :)
Love your little cracky dog! A great exercise. It seems our brains are programmed to see these things, as well as faces in any random markings. Several people could have seen the same cracks and seen different things - I may have to play with this someday soon. And thanks for the little bit of Newfoundland info, too :)
Its a bit like looking into a fire and seeing shapes. Its fun to play around with shapes.
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