Drawn on Monday 14th February 2011 at Residential cafe with the boys sleeping in the pram by my side.

And yet it happened. And the look of dismay was so good that instead of rushing to let him in, we rushed for the camera. Which might, just might, make us bad people. We let him in after that. I’ve shifted the context to a rainy puddle-strewn day and a ever-shrinking rock. Just because it makes for a little jeopardy.

Mondoodle drawn at 9pm in the lounge, warm spring breeze blowing outside, Monday 4th October, 2010.

When I got home it was time to finish my sketch (Mondays are proving difficult) and as soon as I started sketching it was clear I had to do a little girl. Now… yes, she’s looking a little grumpy. Which wasn’t intentional. But I found I just couldn’t make one look happy when we’d just found out we were not having a girl. So they’re going to have to keep coming alive in my drawings. Which is pretty easy really, because in my mind they are so real and capable of anything

Drawn in the lounge in front of the heater on Tuesday 21st September 2010.

Expect to see a lot more boys in future though!

And the short of it was I forgot to do my drawing.

So here’s one I prepared earlier I think it’s alright to pull one from the vaults occasionally. This is a drawing I did when working on ideas for The Night Garden. I wouldn’t mind doing a book like this one day. Topiary is my friend.

AND now for my other news.

I’m pregnant. With twins.

There, best to come out and just say it. Which will mean… in February when they come, a little slowing down. (Understatement!)

But not yet. I have lots of work to do in the meantime! Lots of markets, painting, working on my graphic novel and, on Mondays, writing my children’s novel. And when they do come, doing my damnedest to keep working when I can. It’s not like the ideas will stop coming.

]]> http://www.elisehurst.com/journal/2010/08/mondoodle-big-news/feed/ 8 http://www.elisehurst.com/journal/2010/06/mondoodle-14-06-2010/ http://www.elisehurst.com/journal/2010/06/mondoodle-14-06-2010/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:27:34 +0000 elise http://www.elisehurst.com/journal/?p=1670 I was writing today in a cafe and (everyone who has ever workshopped with me can laugh now) I did a new beginning to my novel. This is something I do (shuffles awkwardly) well, quite often. In fact I am known for multiple first chapters. It’s a talent. Someone’s got to have it. One day I will write a final chapter. Now that will be an exciting day! Anyway, I was writing a dream sequence. Yes, I know. Don’t worry, it won’t get into the novel, I was really just trying something out. But I liked the imagery. The character was walking on the ocean, blind fish beneath his feet and a huge moon hanging impossibly low overhead. It was day, but night as well.

And then I drew this. It happens a lot – I have a theme or an idea and it keeps coming out in different things until I am done with exploring it.

Drawn in my fifth moleskine, on the afternoon and evening of Monday 14 June, 2010. This was not a quick one – but as it was my last present-to-myself day off after the exhibition, I thought I’d just keep going.

Although I didn’t know what else would be in the picture when I began with the walrus’ head, I made sure it was placed in the upper right third so that there would be plenty of room for the rest of the picture, whatever it was. Unless I am doing a character study where I want the main character to be staring out at us, front and centre, I usually place main features off-centre. Here’s my reasoning for it: nature is generally wonky – most things that we see are in flux – the sun moves across the sky, people move through their environments, shadows lengthen and flutter, stars in clusters wheel across the heavens, rain falls, wind blows, observers glance about and what we see with our peripheral vision is usually as important as what is in front of us when forming our feelings about a scene. Balance, when it occurs, is something that stands out. If you capture it in a picture it is there forever. Three boats scuttling past each other may line up for a second but that is one moment in a minute of drawing-closer. What moment would best describe the scene? Showing them in a regular line? That suggests that their natural state is order, predictable and stable. That would be false. No, I would draw one dipped, one turning, one close, one far and one passing… Where we place things tells us about their natures.

In this scene, although I started with the walrus, the real focus is on the environment – the whole ensemble. The bird-lady is central but absorbed, she is not engaging our attention. The walrus, although dominating by his size and plainer form (amongst a mass of pattern), is not king of this scene. He is off-centre and asleep. It is not a portrait, it is an illustration. It shows you a moment of a story – it allows you to glance in a carriage and wonder who these people are, where they are going and what their individual stories might be.

As for design… the shapes lead us around the picture fairly evenly.These below images are blurred to signify a trick Ido all the time when I’m painting or drawing… if I make my vision blurry I can better see the shapes, darks and lights and the structure of the piece, rather than getting distracted by the details. So, looking at the picture again, I’ve drawn in some of the things that are intended to direct your gaze a little. Here’s a summary…

All three main figures face the same way and create a diagonal sweep up to the right (arrows). Although the inside of the train is fairly dark, there are passages of light on the figures which are a counterpoint for the outside light. In the same way, outside, there are darker shapes and the dark point of the balloon. Where possible you want light against dark or dark against light. After all it is the presence of shadows that define shapes. It is the clustering of shapes and the passages of light that show us where to look, what is important, and how things relate to each other. In any picture, especially one with lots of detail, you usually need to have something that stands out that says – look over here, I’m important! There are three punctuation points for me here (circled). Three things that intentionally draw the eye: his bowler hat (very dark on a light background), the dark of the lady’s hat in the centre of the picture and the ship outside the window. There are also three small details of similar type, tone and size that hopefully form a chain, leading you into the landscape outside the window.

How much of this is designed and intentional? As I said, I didn’t plan it. But I am drawn to certain ways of doing things. I know I like threes in uneven clusters. I know I like lines that skirt the picture. I know I like to use a rule of thirds for where important lines and shapes should occur (a third up/down and in from an edge). I know that a white space needs a fleck of dark and a dark space needs a fleck of light. I know that relentless detail must be harmonised by something plain. And so whether it is intended or simply occurs, it is much the same. This visual expression is a language we speak with greater fluency the more we practise it. The exciting thing is that every artist speaks a slightly different dialect and would draw the same scene in so many different ways… I love that.

This is a Part One style mondoodle. Let’s see where it goes from here… there’s a whole blank page to the left still to be filled.

Drawn in the lounge at 10.50pm, Monday 4th January 2010.

Paris Cat, Melbourne 11pm, 11-12-09

&

The studio, Monday 14th December 2009.

And, of course, my Moleskine sketchbook.

Which made me much much happier.

Trotters, Lygon St, 4-6pm Monday 7th December 2009.

All that remains is to ask – what caption would you give it?

Monday 30 November 2009