First Class: Improvised Line
EXERCISE 1
Begin by looking at the white (or color) of the page. Run your hand over it. Feel its height, its width. Sense its proportions. See if you can begin to sense its depth. (It can hold great depth.) Close your eyes. Begin anywhere on the page and SLOWLY make a continuous, random line. See in your mind’s eye whatever vision presents itself. Follow that vision while your hand travels to the far corners of the page. Let your hand respond in kind to the world behind your closed eyes. Whatever you feel or see can be reflected in the marks you are making. Be sure to travel to all four edges of the paper.

When you feel ready, put down your charcoal or pencil or whatever mark-maker you have chosen and open your eyes. Now you have come to one of the most critical parts of the painting process, (and dare I say, the life process.) LOOK where you have been, but MAKE NO JUDGEMENTS! Turn the page in all four directions and observe how balance, tension, depth and rhythm change with each new vantage point. Get some distance. Sit quietly and squint at the paper. If you were connected, your marks will feel and look genuine. Let them suggest the next move, be it erasures, or adding more lines. A representation of something familiar may suggest itself. Or allow the painting to become completely abstract.

If you truly hate what you see, toss it. Do it again until there is something there you can hook into.

WANT MORE?
Do another. Follow the same procedure.

Then put one piece directly in front of you and one just at the edge of your vision. Begin working on only one piece at a time, choose an area to lay in dark paint or other dark markings (charcoal, graphite, pastel, etc.) within or on top of your lines at first. But be don’t be afraid to color outside of the lines!! Stop, look and ask yourself where you need another area of dark for balance. Turn the page, continue to add more areas of dark that relate to the first area. Then alternate adding darks, lights and mid-tones. A way to see how a composition changes without committing paint to the page, is to color a piece of scrap paper and move it around to see how it affects the whole.

When you run out of gas on the first one, switch to the second, keeping the first one at the edge of your vision. When you are ready, look at them both. Move back and forth between each one. If you discover at any point that either one inspires a vision you want to develop, follow that lead. It is ok to grab any other visual reference to aid in the development of each piece. In other words, if you have a photo of a favorite honeymoon spot or if you have a juicy fruit bowl in front of you, feel free to incorporate it, as it feels appropriate.
Play with it, it is only paper!