Monday, September 21. A changing drawing and a revelation.

Some 3 weeks ago I started a detailed HB pencil drawing from a photo of lichen on a twig. I was trying to to work in a steady careful way. As it grew I got increasingly bored with it and put it to one side.

Two days ago I retrieved it and thought it might be fun to start doodling on it. So it started to grow into something else. I used a 6B pencil along with the HB to increase the tonal range

As it developed I inverted it and enjoyed seeing it in a new light. Perhaps it suggests two weird figures, not just some kind of fungus. I confess to liking an open-ended approach to drawing. Who knows where it will lead? I might do more.

Two nights ago I caught a good programme. Simon Scharma's “ The Romantics and Us”. A good series- worth a look on Catch-up. I was surprised to see the experimental drawings by the 19th century writer Victor Hugo ( Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Apparently he did over 4000 drawings, never for public view.

He was interested in the workings of the mind, of the unconscious mind. This was half a century before Freud, 70 years before the Surrealists.

He did ink blots, blew soot onto paper, drew with his left hand without looking at the drawing etc.

I knew none of this. I like the personal, private search for internal understanding.

Art activities are great for self examination. How do we see? How do we think?