I think it takes great bravery to draw “badly”. Sometimes I feel brave and sometimes I don’t. The only way that I become better at drawing is to draw more.
I doodle in notebooks. Sometimes, I do little quick sketches on index cards. And I am often surprised at how these little stolen moments of drawing pay off.
As a mixed media printmaker drawing helps me to create expressive and personal tools and images. I have learned to love my wobbly lines and perfectly imperfect images.
Once in a while I will go to a drop in figure drawing session. And I usually end up with a couple of line drawings that I can use in my printmaking or book making project. The images above are trace monoprints, one on rusted paper and the other with added pastels.
I love how I can take a sketch and:
- create a matrix for a trace monoprint
- burn an eZscreen for screen printing
- make a stencil for gelatin printmaking
This ability to use a drawing as a tool for printmaking helps me to like drawing a little bit more.
