My Creativity Spigot
My creativity spigot is turned on because I drew my first trial image for my collaboration on the 723 mural in Oakland Chinatown yesterday. Warmed up my drawing skills by listening to a guided meditation (very helpful) prior to my approximately 2.5 hr drawing. I was totally immersed with my “looking”and “making mark” skills. To revisit my drawing skills, I was comforted that it was lying dormant within me and that it was willing to be called upon again. I have always enjoyed building values of light to dark.
Today, I completed a second practice drawing exercise, in preparation for some final drawings for the Oakland Chinatown 723 Webster Street mural project with muralist Desi Mundo.
Having warmed up my drawing skills (first day yesterday) I started working earlier today after I had practiced another guided meditation for creativity. The guided meditation kept me in a positive mindset because I haven’t drawn for about 9 years now.
Once again, I reviewed the images I am using for this mural and decided to render the same photo I used yesterday. It is one of a couple whose daughter, Denise Chinn, is now the owner of the building our restaurant, Great China, was located in from 1943 to 1961.
Looking at the photo on my computer, I wondered what my drawing hand would create today. I took a few deep breaths and started filling the paper with lines to focus on placement of Denise’s parents.
The rough sketch of her mom ( she sits next to her husband in the photo) went smoothly. Placing a few lines to define her head space, I drew her image without too many challenges, which did surface when I started working on her father’s likeness.
Liking her parents smiles in the photo, I decided to start with her mom, complete with a bouffant hairdo. A few contour lines defined Denis’s mom whose jet black hair provided a mass for me to draw and to layer the hairdo with different values of the graphite pencil. When I started Denise’s dad’s image I tightened up, not too sure if what I wanted to see what would evolve. Being self-compassionate, I drew her mom instead.
After an hour’s time, I took a break to rest my eyes. The 30 minute rest provided me a bit of energy to put in additional details of the hairdo and her mom’s face. There was much more definition than my first practice yesterday. After using an eraser as a drawing tool I yawned. I stopped soon because it was make for lunch.
What comes next? I won’t know until I hold the graphite pencil again on another day, for my third practice exercise. I want to put in the beautiful smile on her mother’s face. Can I do that?