Following the experimentation with paint and ink I looked to try to create some drawings where the marks were made using tools in which tried to remove direct human interaction. To do this I thought of ways in which pencils, graphite sticks or felt tip pens could be pulled or dragged across paper. I started with a fairly simple contraption which I gradually adapted and created a series of drawings. The process and results and my reflections are discussed below.
Method 1 – Three graphite pencils were pushed through apiece of cardboard and a paper clip connected to the cardboard and then a length of string tied to the paper clip. The contraption was then pulled across a piece of paper.
The resultant drawings have marks that are quite faint, an empty glass jar was added to provide more weight later, mainly consisting of dragged circular marks. There were some interesting shapes.
Method 2 involved adding more graphite pencils, now 6. The result was similar but more interesting. Their was more vigour to the marks.
Method 3, a new design for the contraption was designed. This involved four graphite pencils which were secured to the cardboard to make the whole thing sturdier.
It can be noted that pebbles were added to the contraption to provide more weight. In addition two further paper clips were added so that it could be pulled in different directions by different people. I had been assisted with the building phase by Marian, my wife and we now used Angus to assist with the drawing phase.
The first of the drawing above was made with a few pebbles as weight and then more were added for the second drawing. The resultant drawings have lost the circular motions of the previous one paper clip method and produced drawings that have zig zagged lines which have a scratchy look to them.
Method 4 involved replacing the graphite pencils with felt tip pens. The same three person drawing method was employed. The result was similar to that of method 3 but now with colour. The amount of colour was largely dependant upon how the weight was distributed and the direction, motion and strength of the person pulling.
The resultant drawing has the same zig zagging scratchy lines and is shown in two different orientations below.
Reflection on the experiments
During methods 3 & 4 I found myself becoming frustrated with the other pullers as I felt that their movements weren’t random enough. On reflection I note that I feel happy to allow both random mark making and chance drips, splats etc to create my paintings but feel less inclined to allow others to be involved in the creation process. A question that I now ask myself is how much am I willing to allow collaboration in the making of my art. Can I relinquish part of the process and if so how much.
Mark Taylor 'Studio Practice' 