“Drawing” Me Out of My Skull

I was doodling, drawing at the dinner table in the kitchen at 1 o’ clock in the morning. I’m on night watch for our twin baby sons, when my wife wakes up and walks by me to get a drink of water.

If we are all hard-wired to think a certain way, can we change our interests and individual perspective about stuff?

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More than food: the kitchen table.

She notices that I’m in the process of doodling.

I’m playing around with a new black ink I got that is supposedly waterproof. It’s similar to the Speedball acrylic black ink I use for painting the bases of my miniatures (see Gallery).

Except the Platinum Carbon Black Ink I’m now using in my tiny sketchbook.

I’ll jump ahead a little and say that I only started taking snapshots closer to the end of the drawing.

And, only when she asked me: “So, that’s what is in your head?”

That literal question made me stop and think about what I was doing. Usually, when I’m just putting ink on paper I’m just making as many marks that make sense as possible.

I’m trying to fill the page with “things” that seem to fit together.

A cohesive form.

And I try to do that with only a single medium and color. Mostly, because I’m lazy and don’t want to bother with color and other tools (though that’s changing).

So snapping a few photos, you’ll notice that I made what looks to be sinew or fleshy bits falling down from some place.

Then, when my wife walked in she asked me what was going “there”, pointing to the right side of the page.

Of course, given that I’m trying to fill the page, I said “something”.

I didn’t know what. But, then I pulled out a pencil and drew the easiest thing that came to mind. A skull, or part of one.

Why a skull?

I don’t know.

Maybe, it’s all the instagram stuff I’ve been seeing. Or, my pinterest page on inking and drawing, which does seem to have a lot of tattoo illustrations.

Everyone is influenced by something.

Me, perhaps my recent dive into looking at other peoples’ work for inspiration or ideas.

I scour the internet looking for tutorials and technical help for painting (and now drawing). Along the way, I discover lots of cool things, which sometimes goes into this blog.

The doodles and drawings I create are reflections of those visual experiences looking at the world, others’ work, etc. Maybe?

Here’s a counter-point.

We are never a passive observer.

I’m also drawn to look at particular pieces of art.

So, maybe this influential effect on me and what my mind likes to see, is “bidirectional”.

This makes sense.

Art is a point of engagement. I’m engaged mentally, emotionally, and intellectually with the art or whatever “thing” is around me, that interests me.

Anyway, the thought that I would draw a skull surprised me. But, I placed no editorial constraints. (I’m half asleep anyway).

I added some radio antennae and gears to the fleshy bits. And, I finished stippling out the skull.

What is this?

Does it mean anything?

Personally, it means very little. But, maybe one day I’ll come back to this page in my notebook and it’ll spawn some new introspective thought.

At the end of the evening, it’s just another page in my Book.

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Do you ever wonder why certain things draw your attention? Is it because we all follow our ‘personal interest pathways” in the brain?

If we are all hard-wired, can we change our interests and way of thinking?

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