Weez Blog

Tabla Rasa Blues

Daily rituals. Note to self - devote at least a half hour to the body, to the mind, to creation. I've committed myself to writing daily - and have an hour left to squeeze in today's bit.

A white page, a canvas, beginnings in general are tough.

Before you is the zenith of potential. Pristine, pure, malleable.

Freshman year of college, I had a drawing class with Sodervick. For weeks we had been sketching on newsprint. Cheap stuff. 1 minute lightning gestures. Adding more time. Trying new media. Then one day, we were told to buy a large sheet of Arches for the next class.

This is rag paper, archival. At the time $2.40 a sheet.

We faced our precious paper with 4 hours of model time. "Go!" As a group all broad gestures evaporated. Shit. $2.40 a sheet! After an hour of little tiny marks, and tentative pencil scritches, Sodervick told us to stop. He walked around the room scratching his chin.

"Okay, take the drawings down"

We did.

"Put them on the floor."

We did. Slowly. Carefully.

"Now step on them." What? One girl was pissed. She glared at him. Then she stomped and jumped on her drawing.

"Great!"

Fine.
Just fine.
We all did. Thrashed. Danced. Scuffed.

"N o w, draw."

All preciousness was gone. Shoe prints became part of the drawing. Dirt was lifted with kneaded eraser to make highlights. It was good. A good day for drawing.

And there.
It happened again.
The act of just doing is sufficient to getting it done. And the attempt alone is worthwhile.

Posted by at August 28, 2003 11:18 AM | TrackBack