GYSO Drawing Part 6 - Erstwhile

Published: 2019-05-26

Introduction

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What went right?

Tim:
Thor is back! Say hello, everyone! We can now get back into the swing of things, so don’t worry about anything.

Can you smell that? That’s right, it smells like boxes! I have been drawing boxes like they they the only thing that could bring my friend back, and i’m finally seeing progress! I think the “mental shift” that was most useful during my practice was imagining that I was drawing my lines to the vanishing point. What I mean is I imagine that i’m drawing the lines in 3D space, instead of a straight line on flat paper.

My line wobbly-ness has increased, not due to nervousness, but due to lack of practice. I think I will want to go back to some of the earlier Draw A Box lessons just to have a bit of a refresher. In the end I think knowing how to draw 3D forms will be more important than line stability due to how you can easily use computer drawing programs to help you with straight lines, which is something I plan on doing in the future.

Thor:
I went to art! There was an audio/visual Van Gogh exhibit near me, so I went. As it turned out, the local art museum had free entrance this day as well. The Van Gogh experience was really great. So the premise is that you go into a room full of video and audio projectors that show off Van Gogh’s paintings around the room, rotating them and putting inspirational Van Gogh quotes in there too. Logically, it’s a terrible exhibition. Not because it’s any worse than just having the paintings on location with a little text box next to them, arguably it’s better because there’s audio and sound and stuff. But man, I did not realize I had been standing up for 40 minutes straight when the thing looped back around. It took me for an emotional ride through Van Gogh’s life in chronological order. It was nice. Would slice ear out of 10

So then the art museum was pretty cool too. There was an exhibition from four art students. The premise was more nebulous and there were some audio connected to some of the art. Three big paintings were spread out across the room, and the audio was somehow aesthetically relevant to the paintings. But then, there was a television. It wasn’t on, no lights no nothing. It looked like it had just arrived from a half-assed shipment, with bullshit tape and protective whatever material around it not being able to save it from the post handling it. The audio coming from that was silent. Because it’s not on. Wasn’t working. In that moment I laughed out loud at an art exhibition. It felt liberating. There was one piece that really shook me emotionally. It’s impractical to describe it to you, and I didn’t take a picture, so I figured I’d just mention it.

You’re right me, I was left no other option than to go back center field and add some positivity to my practice. I got some boxes done. It felt better than jumping the time-continuum like this. Right now you are in a text-paradox that will only resolve if you keep reading.

What went wrong?

Tim:
I’m actually writing this section a bit later than the previous. I’ve had a few drinks and completely forgot about this post for a bit. The thing that went wrong is that I saw a large spider running around on my carpet, and instead of getting rid of it with a well place boot, I decided to laugh at its stupid legs for a good few minutes. By the time I recovered the spider had hidden itself somewhere in my room. Now i’m freaking out because I don’t know where this large spider is.

Other than that drawing boxes is fun, but I messed up a lot of perspective and shit. Here, look:

Thor:
If there’s one way to destroy a man’s spirit, it’s through modern art. There’s one last exhibition that was merely kind of okay. But I think I’m coloured by the fact that there were art students at the museum having discussions and sharing notes and discussing. I really only wanted something to use the first sentence with (Source: Staying Positive in The Apocalypse). Well, because they were there they were blocking the entire background info that was written on the wall, so I went around guessing what it was about. It was much better in my head, dealing with existentialism and identity and values and family and time and status and all these other cool things. Later, on the bus home, I saw a commercial for the exhibition. Apparently it was about my region. Who built it, when, why, and so on. They tried to make art into history!! Not cool.

I’ve been starting to get along with practicing again. Slow progress. I wonder if it’s a psychological effect of putting “the practicing” in the what went wrong section, and if we instead focus on what part of practicing went right instead. Because really, nothing about the practice “went wrong”, it’s just that it hasn’t lived up to my personal standards I want to place on myself. Now I’m going to go back and write some positivity about my practice! YOu are now saved from the text paradox.

What happens next?

Tim:
There is a bonfire going on, I think i’m gonna roast some s’morse. I always liked fire.

Thor:
So there were actually some more stuff I saw and thought about on that day. Like the root of all things. But the whole point of the story being that you never know where the waters take you. Because it was raining like crazy. I didn’t have as much as a hood to cover myself with. You could maybe figure out where the water takes you if you’ve got a map and compass. Or a compass and just know in which direction you need to go. Or a map and directions for navigating with it. Or maybe just checking the weather app on your phone before you leave on an adventure. This art adventure was a method for me to externally engage with art. Hopefully there will be more moments like this.

Practically, just keep drawing boxes. I don’t know why this section is even here, we’re following a rigid learning program. You do the stuff, and then you move on to the next thing. Do the stuff there and move on, ad infinitum-inus-nasium.