Sunday, February 17, 2008

Draw a Writing / Write a Drawing

This is my personal "theory and practice" for drawing abstract line art.

1) Writing is a form of drawing.
All of us have "drawn" writings. It happened when we first learnt to lay down the strokes of an unfamiliar handwriting. The scenario can be a child learning to write A-B-C for the first time, or a Westerner learning to write Chinese or Kanji characters.


2) Drawing is a form of writing.
All of us have also "written" drawings. We call them stick figures. The convention is simple. The head is drawn as a circle. Body, arms and legs are simple straight lines.

3) The Theory
Drawing stick figures is no different from writing A-B-C.
To "write" more elaborate drawings, we need more "writing parts" - besides circles and straight lines, and be adventurous in how to put these parts together.
Just as we are capable of learning A-B-C and drawing stick figures, (my theory says) all of us are also capable of creating complex abstract line art - by treating it as a form of writing.

4) In Practice
Based on this theory, I have been experimenting with drawings that I collectively refer to as the The 10,000 Page Colouring Book. Through the experimentation process, I began to establish a set of frequently used "writing parts".

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Undrawing 9654

Systematic erasing (left) and unerasing (right) of an abstract line drawing.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Unerasing 9690

IF: Grow
"Grow" is often the term I use when I think about drawing. I see drawings as results of spontaneous growth of lines. To turn that growing process into performances that I can sit back and watch, I take finished drawings and rework them into videos. Below is an example.

Unerasing Doodeo 9690 from Pixo Hammer on Vimeo.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Doodeo 2007-08-17

Different ways to connect.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Monday, July 2, 2007

Doodeo 2007-07-01

The making of 44 abstract drawings in one continuous session.

Unerasing 9758

Reverse playback of the systematic erasure of an abstract drawing.

Unerasing 9754

Reverse playback of the systematic erasure of an abstract drawing.

Saturday, June 30, 2007