Are we there yet?

It’s been about 5 months since I got hold of my oil based markers and a few weeks since ‘Imperfect Balance’ was conceived. The set has moved on a bit but there’s still work to be done.

And as I am still exploring my own style and direction, I would like to share with you the process in which one of the canvases takes form.

For my first project, I decided to venture into the world of canvases. Previously, almost all of my doodling was done on paper so this will be a good test to see if canvas is a good medium for me. To start, I decided on the 10 x 10 inches medium grain. Masking tape is used to loosely manage borders and a couple of fine pencil lines are added to further guide the concept. The rest of the canvas (and majority of the work) is created freestyle using only the Pebeo oil based markers.

And here is my progress to so far. Enjoy!

Imperfect balance

I mentioned in my last post that I set myself two creative challenges. My first was creating a couple of bespoke birthday cakes. My second challenge since the new year was to get cracking on my doodling project.

I had initially wanted to go back to my roots and do a piece that showed the journey that got me to where I am today. After weeks of brainstorming, planning and prepping I came to the realisation one sunny afternoon that I worked better when I gave myself less creative boundaries and less structure. Sounds like a bit of a copout, right? I thought so too at first until I found myself procrastinating and started looking back at my previous attempts.

When I am doodling, what gives me the sense of stillness is creating something that is cohesive, flowing and to some extent symmetrical without being restricted by numbers, rules and measurements. Yes, I did use several fine lines to guide the overall concept but most of the work is freestyle.

And here is a sneak peak of what is planned so far for the body of work ‘Imperfect Balance’. The plan is to create a body of three pieces showing that we can create in our everyday life the illusion that we are in perfect balance and holding things together. Look closer. OK, maybe not too close and you will see that there are small but visible differences (or cracks) among the shapes, lines and so on.