Looking at old drawings: "Orb" (Indestructible)

I began this one, as usual, by finding the center of the page. From that point on, it’s a fuzzy memory. Somewhat of a trance, really. However, I always try to stick to the same principles for every drawing.

Perhaps 90%, if not all of the drawing is ‘relevant’; few lines or circles are applied without having some kind of relationship to the existing drawing. The axes emanating from the center are clearly guiding this one, as they guide most of my drawings. Several large circles centered on the page also seem to provide guidance.

I assume that the primary structure emerges from the interaction of the vertical and horizontal axes, and the larger circles centered on the page. (I drew it well over a year ago and its been a loooonnngggg year)

After the principle geometry is established, it simply becomes a kind of meditation, a conversation with the drawing (yeah, we’re going there, talking to drawings). The naked design really does speak to the eyes. Stare at what’s there for minutes, sometimes hours, and a subtle message of what to draw (or erase) will eventually make its way to the artist’s imagination.

Eliminating the noise from all of the suggestions that have been made is key. I work with a 0.1mm mechanical pencil using hard lead to lay down suggestion lines. In the case of this drawing, I erased over half of it at one point. I removed and redesigned the center vertical axis and everything that was tied to it, and took my time to replace it.

This design works well in black and white, too.

Geometry started as a way to exercise my old artistic muscle, but quickly became a spiritual exercise for me. I have been prone to fits of depression and despair, which has led to the destruction of my own work in the past. However, even in my darkest moments, these drawings somehow remain off limits.

At one point in the last several months the depression became quite severe, and the urge to… reduce my self, was overwhelming. I looked at the drawings, and even in the abyss of my delirium I could clearly see that they were guarded. They were not mine… I didn’t ‘create’ them, I only exposed them, so they played no more of a conscious role in my desire for self-reduction than, say, the grass growing outside.

I did, however, delete my Instagram (which I regret…)

For some good steemit content on meditation, check out:
@steemit-health
This post by @sascha
@ericvancewalton

Keep on drawing
 
Thanks for viewing!
 
 
-Kabba