Large drawing started 11-10, 2009
36×31, pencil on paper

During the process of the experimental drawing, I realized two very important things.

First, they should be larger. Larger because the larger the paper, the larger I can make the constant box, allowing for an even smaller box to occur in relation, thus providing what I hope to be a deeper visual texture.

Second, the boxes should vary in both size and pressure. Since the “map” drawings are based on memoir, I feel that the variegated pressure allows to reiterate a dreamlike state that mimics a partially fictional reality rather than a fully representational one.

To give the maps-as-framework a fair chance, I decided to use the same map in Drawing 4 on this much larger paper. So far I’ve been able to get some of the marks so light they’re barely visible and somewhat blend into the paper as half mark half tooth. This quality allows me to exploit certain terrain as a more figurative suggestion, allowing the geography to reference a skeletal structure which I think will add to the both the physical and conceptual depth of the drawings.

Update: November 23, 2009.

The drawing is taking on an ethereal effect that I’m very much enjoying.

When discussing it with Justin, he noted that it felt like “clouds” or “fog” which is the same sort of “vaporous” idea I was aiming for in Drawing Three.

I recognize that the image is difficult to see online. If it makes any difference, it’s difficult to see in person, too. As I’m drawing, I’m erasing back areas to shift the reality from representational to abstract, also aiming to reiterate the idea of memoir/fictional reality.

Like memories, areas shift in and out of focus offering a disruption in logic in recollecting past experiences. Further, Justin mentioned that this drawing reminded him of some images he saw of brain synapses. The physical patterns of our minds are oddly similar to topographical maps, snapping in and out of function by the nanosecond.