CHRISTOPHER HOLT - ARTIST
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It's Natural

4/9/2015

1 Comment

 
One of our unique skills as a species is to record the environment around us via 'mark-making'. This can be through paint, ink, stick, charcoal, or any other number of media. this skillset is inherent in each and every person, from birth. It has been a part of humanity for countless years, since we were taking burned sticks and writing on the walls of our caves. More recently, as children we all drew pictures, we all scratched images into the dirt with sticks. At some point, we're told we 'aren't that artistic' or we just don't have that 'gift'; I believe this is a lie.  Every one of us still possesses the ability to express ourselves visually, in a way that spoken words or writing cannot accommodate. 

As a point of inquiry: How many of you draw/sketch/doodle on a regular basis?

I'd guess it is less than a quarter.

We all have it in us, it's natural. we've just been told/taught to suppress it.

This evening, while enjoying a weekly ritual with my cousin I decided to test my theory. I challenged her (she is such a good sport) to draw an object that was right in front of us; this time it happened to be a salt shaker.

Here are her results:

Picture
1st Sketch: Using an observation method. She was allowed to look at the subject and sketch as much as she wanted. Timed for 5 minutes
Picture
2nd Sketch: this was using the Blind Contour Method. She was not allowed to look at the paper as she sketched the object. Timed for 2 minutes
This exercise was completely unexpected for her. It just came to me as we sat, enjoying a pint or two. Her results are quite good, both sketches have their qualities. It is remarkable that given method and time differences, the subject remains recognizable and quite similar.

I also took a shot at the salt shaker:

Picture
In my opinion this just goes to show, we have an amazing capacity to express ourselves; my question is:  why do we continue to limit ourselves to those methods that we feel most 'comfortable' with?

Get a pad of paper and a pen...draw everything you see, you may surprise yourself.
1 Comment
Dennis Gonzalez link
10/17/2022 07:04:24 pm

Increase against at. Fact eye red moment.
Eight deep onto. Young popular keep particularly ground animal clear.

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    Chris Holt is an Architect and Artist. His art work centers around cityscapes, still life, and abstract work.

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  • Home
  • Upcoming Shows
  • Watercolor
    • Recent Works
    • Archive >
      • 2017
      • 2016
      • 2015
      • 2014 and before
      • Studies/Exploration
  • Sketch Books
    • Book 07
    • Book 08
    • Book 09
    • Book 10
    • Book 11
    • Book 12
    • Europe 2014
    • Book 13
    • Book 14
    • Book 15
    • Book 16
    • Book 17
    • Book 18
  • Acrylic
  • Blog