Exercise 3.1. Staging Chance.

We are asked to select two pieces of exploratory work and consider how we might develop these further by bringing chance into your processes.

This kind of exercise is included in every course from Level 1, so this is not the first time I have had to explore the possibilities of inviting chance into my drawing. I don’t get engaged with constructing a special device to distribute the medium. Last time, I used the “chance power” of wind and gravity. This time, I decided to use the chance factor, such as drawing, covering my eyes with a scarf without looking at the drawing and the colours I took. I continued the theme of flowers since this exercise is an opportunity to explore a new visual direction of the project I have been working on.

My first trial was with soft pastels. The result was not interesting; you can look at it below.

That made me choose a different medium, so I did the drawing with a black ink pen and with the black ink using a brush.

Then I added the red-brown hue ink.

I have circled the red areas where I liked the outcomes made “by chance”. It was interesting to observe that when you don’t see what you are drawing, you tend to draw with much longer lines to keep consistency in the linework and make an object recognisable, in my case, to create a flower and foliage. Thus, the blind drawing fundamentally changed my linework, producing interesting, unconventional shapes. It is a great direction to explore since it has enormous new potential for visual effects. The outcome reminded me of the “Peonies and Stone” by Gal Fenghan ( 1683-1749), who painted with his left arm since the right one was not functional.

Below are some collages to check how the composition and overall idea can be developed further.

This exercise made me think about producing a separate “flower” project with black ink and a black ink ball pen.