Part 2 Project 2 Exercise 2 Detail and simple line

Tactile Exploration

In order to improve the connection between the tactile quality of objects and my ability to record visually what I sensed, I undertook the exercises explained in Drawing Projects which aimed “towards a feeling response.” (Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014) I blind-folded myself and sought to draw my shoe based purely on the sensory detail I was getting from feeling the shoe with my left-hand. I found this exercise to be extremely interesting. After initially studying the shoe extensively, I blind folded myself and tried to draw with my right-hand exactly what my left-hand was feeling. When blindfolded I became disorientated and found it initially hard to imagine what I was drawing and where I was positionally on the picture plane. I even found myself losing my sense of balance. With increased practice, it became gradually easier, although I found it fascinating that what I visualized my drawing to be and what it actually turned out to be, were totally world’s apart.

Initial tactile drawing



Second tactile drawing

Third drawing with written description of shoe

Fourth tactile shoe drawing

After my initial four drawings, I drew the shoe from memory. It was very intriguing to see how for sections of the shoe, I had to actually close my eyes to try to invoke the feelings I had felt when exploring the shoe purely through touch. For the central section, I had absolutely no recall of how the shoe went. It was rather disturbing that a shoe I wear on my feet at least three times a week, and I had just studied at length, could still be so unknown to me visually. It made me appreciate even more the artists of old who would go outside – before plein air painting – memorize a scene, and then replicate it indoors. I fear that our generation has lost the art of visual memorization.



Shoe drawn from memory

Final tactile study

Contour line drawing

This morning I cut off the lettuce leaves from its root stock to soak. After doing so, I thought the root stock was very intriguing. So, after looking at the driftwood I have in the house and deciding that they were not suitable for the contour drawing, I dug the lettuce stock out of the trash and decided to draw it.

The initial contours of the top of the lettuce proved to be interesting to draw and I was encouraged that although I was barely looking at my page, my lines correlated and described what I saw with detailed contours. However, when tackling the tangled of bulbous roots, I found that it was so easy to get lost and disproportionate. I also found that my A4 paper ran out. I ended up in gluing a piece on the bottom to enable me to finish off the root system. I have found that my concentration span when it comes to intense observational drawings is gradually improving, but I do find that after about thirty minutes, I find contour lines hard to keep a track of.

Contour drawing of lettuce root stock

I feel as if all of the work I am doing to try to improve my observation skills and hand-eye co-ordination is starting to pay off. I believe I am close to the place I was twenty something years ago when drawing was so much a part of my life. I so long to be able to get back to the sensitivity and knowledge I had of drawing material, and to be able o push my ability way beyond where I left off. It will come, I know.

Works Cited

Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014. Drawing Projects - an exploration of the language of drawing. London: Black Dog Publishing.