Thesis - The Cartesian System

According to Maurice Merleau-Ponty, "The blind, says Descartes, “see with their hands.” The Cartesian concept of vision is modeled after the sense of touch." "For Descartes it is unarguably evident that one can paint only existing things, that their existence consists in being extended, and that design, or line drawing, aline makes painting possible by making the representation of extension possible. Thus painting is only an artifice which presents to our eyes a projection similar to that which the things themselves in ordinary perception would and do inscribe in our eyes. A painting makes us see in the same way in which we actually see the thing itself, even though the thing is absent. Especially it makes us see a space where there is none."

The Cartesian system may not lend itself to painting but it most definitely lends itself to architectural drawing. This is an area that needs more research before I can say more.

The Act of Drawing

The act of drawing just as important as the end result. The evidence that the act occurred is, of course, the drawing itself. It is a remnant. Evidence that the act occurred.

But what is the “act”?

What occurs during the drawing process?

It is an exploration and a record at the same time.

Act: take steps, react, move, work, function, serve, have an impact on, action, feat, exploit, move, gesture, performance, undertaking, stunt, operation, achievement, accomplishment.

It is the movement of the body as the result of of the mind. The communication between what we see in our mind and the paper. The body, the hand, is the tool.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty agrees, "The painter “takes his body with him”, says Valéry. Indeed we cannot imagine how a mind could paint. It is by lending his body to the world that the artist changes the world into paintings. To understand these transubstantiations we must go back to the working, actual body – not the body as a chunk in space or bundle of functions but that body which is an intertwining of vision and movement."

How do you document the act?

Thesis - Etymology

The etymology of thesis topics came up in conversation the other day and I thought it might be interesting to investigate the matter a bit more fully.

From "An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language" by Rev. Walter W. Skeat:

Draw - to pull along. Merely a variant of drag; the form draw dates from about A.D. 1200

Draft - the act of drawing, a draught. A corruption of draught, by the usual change of gh to f, as in laugh. See Draught.

So I went and looked up Draught:

Draught - Not found in Anglo-Saxon, evidently derived from Anglo-Saxon dragan, to draw, drag. In Dutch; dragt, a load, burden. From dragen, to carry. In Danish; dragt, a load. In Icelandic; dráttr, a pulling, a draught (of fishes) or draga, to draw.

Also draughts, a game in which alternate draughts, i.e. "moves", are made. Chaucer uses draughtes, in the sense of moves at the game of chess, in the Boke of the Duchess.

The Bed - Lighting and Shadows

I have returned to a previous project that was started and then left behind to explore other avenues. Mainly sketching, but now back to full drawings.

The original post for "The Bed" can be found here:1000 Hours of Drawing: The Bed - In Progress 1

In order to continue with this drawing (fill in the rest of the space) I need to figure out where the light sources are. The bed was first drawn without consideration for the rest of the room. That was the point, if you go back and read the original post. Let the drawing dictate the space. With shadows already established in the bedding and as a result, the bed is dictating the light sources for the room. Below is my way of figuring out those sources.

Sketches - Sandcastles etc

Here are two more sketches from the sketching class. No real theme here, just some interesting examples of different types of subjects.

The first is a sandcastle that Hugh Thompson had built previously. I tried something a little different with this one. More just a recording of shadows. Differing depths of shadow generating the form. There were very few (read "one") materials to render so it fell on a different technique to get it across.



The second is just another house from the west side of Cambridge.

Sketches - 25 Wentworth

Another from the sketching class. I am actually quite proud of this one. To me, it is the most successful to date. The perspective is correct. It is set nicely in the landscape around it. There is sufficient detail to understand most of the materials and elements.

Sketches - People and Hockney

From a previous post, you can see how Hockney, with a few lines and gestures, can create a compelling sketch of another person. I had tried to do something similar with the 25 Second Sketches. I was a little bored one day during sketching class. Maybe "bored" isn't the right word; distracted may be better. I was distracted one day and thinking about the Hockney sketches that I had been looking at. I was a little envious of the ease by which he seems to be able to sketch people. As a result, I thought maybe, instead of just trying it with buildings, I should see what I could do with people. Below are 3 sketches of people who were around me (and unaware that I was sketching them).

Sketches - O'Donovan House

More from the sketching class:

25 Second Sketch - Collection 2

These are the second grouping of sketches from the "25 second" idea. They are drawn under the same guidelines are the previous set so I won't go into the explanation again. As per many peoples comments, these are posted in chronological order. Starting from the bottom of the set, up.

There is, however, one change to criteria for this set. From now on, all of these sketches will be done with one line. The lifting of the pen was always a moment of indecision; a pause in the process. This allows the mind to better filter to the hand.








These are the second grouping of sketches from the "25 second" idea.

25 Second Sketch - Collection 1

I had been thinking about this project recently, after looking into the sketches of Hockney (there is an image in an earlier post). His sketches of people seemed so loose and off-hand, yet they still carried a definite impression of the subject. I started doing the same thing with people around me; really quick, free-form images. Normally without their knowledge, I would take 30 seconds and quickly sketch out what I was seeing. I will post some of those once I get that sketchbook back. Could the same thing be done with buildings? I didn't see why not.

Staying within the confines of previously used numbers, I would give myself 25 seconds to sketch out a building. To see what was recorded, what were the major elements were and what the eye immediately identified. It is very much about the connection between the eye, the mind and the hand. How fast can you process certain information and then record or translate (transcribe might be a better word).

This is the first collection to date; House - Cambridge. I hope to come up with a better name than that, but that is what it is called for now.