Undertaking complexity and detail by sketching is challenging yet perhaps we need to approach it rather simply. Sketching sometimes has to come from a place where our hand moves, sometimes habitually or instinctively, without much input from the mind. When sketching we don’t necessarily make conscious decisions but link lines and even shapes via faint markings made in haste or afterthought. As mentioned in part 1 and part 2 accidental marks and lines become part of the sketch but also give you new ideas as they create anchor points and foundations to the growing expanse of the sketch.
The complex sketches here are of cities yet to exist. These sketches grow through conscious and involuntary decisions with variation of forms from one area to another. This is a parallel with cities having different boroughs whether through programmatic or historical circumstances. It’s as if sketches and cities both grow through means that can be planned and well as through unrestricted propagation. Whether sketching and cities are actually alike, perhaps this is just a coincidence.
These kinds of grand landscapes evoke thought as well as stories, producing something artistic to mesmerize not only the sketcher but others who see the sketch welcoming them to explore and visit the various portions of the sketch. Each stroke is a building with its own story, each groups of buildings are their own neighbourhood known for what they excel in. Micro scale stories such as what’s it like living there and how residence go about lie within the drawing at a macro perspective.
Sometimes conscience effort interferes with the grand representation prior to it being conceived, yet that representation is there, it’s alive and dynamic; you and your hand just have to get there. Therefore we need to find a balance where we shift in and out of conscience decision making, chiming in when we’ve reached a certain point of the page, planning graphically and artistically, all to phase out again and let the hand do its thing. It’s a balance that takes time and discipline while simultaneously requiring almost no effort at all. This is where the difficulty lies, knowing when not to make it difficult. Knowing when to tune in and tune out. There needs to be direction for the composition yet the body should arise mostly by itself. This tuning out is not apathy or disregard but the protection from over analysis and forcing gestures for the sake of them.
Perhaps it’s these visual undertakings combined with story making that sketches can be considered creative. Yet creativity is not about us, it’s about achieving something wonderful through means beyond our own. Therefore if anyone asks if you’re creative; don’t say yes, say I will be, for if you remove yourself creativity will find you.
