by today’s class, i was moved
to write a poem. (as you’ll learn about me,
this is not something by which to be shocked.)
well, i figure it might be interesting
to put here. do comment, please, but remember:
i did just write it and it is still
but a sketch, sketchy. that said, be harsh
if you can/want (as long as it’s constructive)!
thanks! here it is–
How to Draw a Chicken
Learning to draw is a process
of learning to see. Action-
based, it requires your full
presence. Exercise 1: Blind
contour drawing. Look
at the chicken. Draw what you see,
not what you think you see.
Fully engage with the chicken.
Spend most of your time
looking at it. Think of the chicken
as an oval. Loosen precision
grip on HB pencil – the slightest lead.
Think of the chicken as a former self.
Draw as though it is, not as though it were.
Think of the chicken as
a well-digger digs a well-hole –
a beautiful even perfect abyss –
thirty seconds too late and too far
to the left. A well-digger must never do this; so, too,
this a drawer must never do. This is why you draw
with your eyes and not your soul.
You know nothing, you are filled
empty. You are nothing
but you see
every thing:
every detail, every hair. You identify the angle
of the breast, skin-on, bone-in. You squint
to see less clearly more clearly. You identify
the chicken: its relationship to the left ledge of the
coup. And that relationship to foot, to forequarter,
to pheasant. Even to the man behind it
who you hope doesn’t move. You change
to the 2HB – a more self-assured gizmo,
as higher numbers have it. You identify
with strengthened shades, especially at 4, 6, and
8HB. But remember: the thing on your paper
is not you, it’s just something you drew.
by today’s class, i was moved
to write a poem. (as you’ll learn about me,
this is not something by which to be shocked.)
well, i figure it might be interesting
to put here. do comment, please, but remember:
i did just write it and it is still
but a sketch, sketchy. that said, be harsh
if you can/want (as long as it’s constructive)!
thanks! here it is–
How to Draw a Chicken
Learning to draw is a process
of learning to see. Action-
based, it requires your full
presence. Exercise 1: Blind
contour drawing. Look
at the chicken. Draw what you see,
not what you think you see.
Fully engage with the chicken.
Spend most of your time
looking at it. Think of the chicken
as an oval. Loosen precision
grip on HB pencil – the slightest lead.
Think of the chicken as a former self.
Draw as though it is, not as though it were.
Think of the chicken as
a well-digger digs a well-hole –
a beautiful even perfect abyss –
thirty seconds too late and too far
to the left. A well-digger must never do this; so, too,
this a drawer must never do. This is why you draw
with your eyes and not your soul.
You know nothing, you are filled
empty. You are nothing
but you see
every thing:
every detail, every hair. You identify the angle
of the breast, skin-on, bone-in. You squint
to see less clearly more clearly. You identify
the chicken: its relationship to the left ledge of the
coup. And that relationship to foot, to forequarter,
to pheasant. Even to the man behind it
who you hope doesn’t move. You change
to the 2HB – a more self-assured gizmo,
as higher numbers have it. You identify
with strengthened shades, especially at 4, 6, and
8HB. But remember: the thing on your paper
is not you, it’s just something you drew.
Awesome work! Just read it to my wife and we both quite enjoyed your work. Next time, how about a haiku?