This week I decided I would begin a sort of month-long experiment; once a week I will go and do some kind of art in a "public" space (shops aren't really considered to be public, but we'll go with it) and see what happens.
Me, I am a shy type who always hated when people watched me draw things. It's a natural thing, I don't know anyone who actually likes to have a live audience. Yesterday I bought a sugary drink and claimed a table near the window and doodled for a bit. Two interesting observations:
1) It was surprisingly crowded and full of people just milling about and socializing. Extremely socializing. The weirdest part to me, was how professionally dressed they all were. It was, like, 9am or something. Business dress but no one was working. Where do I sign up?
2) Sit around long enough and you'll end up with free samples of things! Look at that baby frappe up there! So cute! I am also so incredibly buzzed from the coffee and the sugar that everything is an exclamation!
So anyway, if you ever follow me on the facebook, you might know that I signed up for some kind of Mystery Project from the Co-op. They send out a prismacolour marker and participants make some kind of art with it and leave it in a public place for some stranger to find. I haven't heard much online from other participants except that someone got Cinnamon Toast colour. Lucky! I got Crimson Red.
I have no idea what I'm going to make with it. Even less idea of where I will leave it. I don't much want to litter, and also this is Surrey. I don't think anyone will find a drawing and go "omg this is cool I'm going to keep this, I'M HAPPY!" I'm pretty sure a more realistic response would be "What is this? Who left this here? Into the recycling bin with you!" Which is kind of a shame.
It's such a vague project and the theme I got was also so incredibly uninspiring ("The Future of the Year" - wtf does that mean?) so I decided just to sit and play with the pen and some watercolour paper.
Which, btw, is probably not a good paper for markers. It sucks the ink right out of that marker.
I love the brush tip because of how "stiff" it is, I guess. I've had brush markers in the past that were just too wobbly, but this one is pretty easy to control. It has a medium tip on the other side as well.
I made a large zentangle and now I don't know what to do with it.
I signed up for the project too. And I'm kind of in the same boat -- wondering if anyone would say, "WOW, this is AWESOME!" I've been looking for inspiration and I thought it was cool that you've been drawing in public ... that's a huge fear of mine so I made myself do one page in my Scrapbook project in a public place. After I got over the "ah, what am I doing?" feeling, I really enjoyed it. Good luck on your project.
ReplyDeleteOh I'm glad to hear it! Sitting in public makes me feel kind of stupid, almost in a trespassing sort of way. I really enjoyed a session on a cafe patio this week, and perhaps it was the sunshine that made the most difference?
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