Art making as an act of meditation

Seeing - Drawing

A non-creative environment is one that constantly bombards us, overloads our switchboard with noise,

with agitation and visual stimuli. Once we detach ourselves from all these distractions, and find a way of

centering, the same environment becomes creative again.

SEEING / DRAWING is a way of recovering from the overloaded switchboard.

It establishes and island of silence,an oasis of undivided attention.

PROCESS

Let your eye fall upon some object.

Step 1

Gaze at this object for one to two minutes without drawing.

Step 2

Close your eyes and imagine a line traversing the nooks and crannies of the object. A single line that is like the path on an ant walking the surface.

Step 3

Open your eyes and begin to draw without ever looking at the paper. Relaxing and constructing a vivid memory of the objects surfaces is the goal of this type of drawing.

Step 4

Look only at the object. Imagine that the tip of the graphite on paper, and the contact of your eye with the contours of the object are one.

Step 5

Go slowly. Make sure your hand doesn’t race ahead of your hand.

If your line runs off the page, simply drop the graphite back onto the paper without looking at it.

Step 6

Don’t look at the paper.

Don’t worry what the drawing looks like.

Don’t space-out allowing your mind to wander to outside thoughts.

Seeing Drawing “Don’ts”

Do relax, both in mind & body.

Do concentrate on the object as if it’s the only thing in the world.

Do slow down both the eye & the hand.

Seeing Drawing “Do’s”