The Messy Mediums
My favorite mediums are the messy ones. These are the materials whose point is imperfection. Although we may not like to think so, some of us can be controlling or perfectionist in how we would like our outcomes to be (ahem). Working in the messy mediums; watercolor, charcoal, runny inks, allow us to let go and accept what happens on the page. I used to start over when things didn’t work out as planned. Now I just continue and draw and paint over it. I decided a while ago to let go, and to look at everything as part of the process. This is how we experiment, how we discover new techniques and new ways of expressing ourselves. It takes practice.
That said, some days are indeed, just difficult.
Things will come out strange or weird or Not in your Perfect Handwriting. But, that’s also the point.
We have so many preconceived ideas of how things should be, in our Art and in our Lives. I noticed that the more I let go, the better the results are, and the more pleasure I feel during the process. When I start trying to control or fit some idea into a container, it feels flat. Contrived. It lacks expression. I used to be drawn to hyperrealism, in pencil, and then realised that this, for me, was more a method of control. There is something freeing about spreading out many pieces of paper and then frantically making marks, on one page after the other. Try it!
Charcoal is a wonderful medium. You can break it and smear it, and rub it out when you get frustrated with the results. This just adds more texture, and helps you to relax as you smudge and scratch and get everything dirty. What a joy!
My favorite experiments are when I lose myself in the medium itself. Haven’t you ever delighted in the way that watercolor pools onto different areas on the page? If you turn the paper it starts to run off in one direction and then you quickly turn it in another, like a child, playing. We can still play, even though we are grown up.
Sometimes I think that we are afraid of looking childlike, as if we have to prove ourselves by creating in a particular way. A serious way. Being serious means that we are Professional. Technology is so pervasive that we are used to seeing perfect, flawless images. I am an advocate for serious mess. Flaws. Taking our time and trying new things. You sew something by hand and it’s a little wobbly, a little crooked. And every time you look at it, you’re reminded that you made it yourself. While sitting in your garden. Or watching a movie with your kids. Or sitting in your studio cursing out loud for not being able to sew a straight line and why did we choose not to use the sewing machine, anyway?
These are experiences, this is living. Everyone can tell AI how to make something for them. But only you can put your mark, your heart out there. This doesn’t mean that you have to throw out your iPad, I have changed my attitude towards digital drawing, and now I rarely erase what I've put down. I cover it up with a new layer, I approach it like I approach paper. I think the results are better. I am certainly enjoying the process a lot more. I feel free.
Instead of trying to be careful and prevent ourselves from falling, maybe we should embrace the mess, let ourselves swim in it, let our hands get dirty and enjoy the bumpy roads ahead.
