Lynne Rae Perkins | Lynne Rae Perkins

Drawing, Fast and Slow (Part II)

Lynne — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:14:12 +0000

When I read that Paul McCartney composes without ever having learned to read music, it surprises me. Not because I don’t think it’s possible. It just seems to me that a person who loves music might have found the time and the interest, in a fifty year period, to explore how fellow musicians have communicated their ideas through time and distance.

And yet, here I am, writing and illustrating books when my formal training is in fine arts: drawing and printmaking. Related, but not identical. There are plenty of times when I think I need to go back to school, to learn all that stuff I missed, the stuff everyone else in my field already knows.

So last November, when I came across a small book called Cartooning, Philosophy and Practice, by the cartoon artist Ivan Brunetti, I snapped it up. It turned out to be a “classroom in a book,” a 15-week course in telling stories with pictures.

I calculated that I would work my way through the book and have lots of new skills by February 24. Which is tomorrow.

So far, I have done 2 of the exercises. I got distracted. By good stuff: I am in the middle of writing 2 stories. And those first exercises, which involve drawing a series of subjects in time periods from 3-4 minutes down to 5 seconds, and then a whole series of 5-10 second drawings, led indirectly to this blog, where I am going to try to regularly share drawings that I complete in 1-2 hours. For me, that is superfast. I think it will be challenging, stimulating and fun.

To quote Mr. Brunetti out of context, “. . . when we really have too little time to think about the drawing, we get closer to the ‘idea’ or essence of the thing being drawn.”

How the moon looked that night

Will I get back to the 15-week course? I don’t know yet. I kind of hope so. Maybe it will be the diploma from the Wizard of Oz that I have been missing.

Drawing fast and slow, part 1

Lynne — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:22:42 +0000

After my first book was published, I was surprised to find out that part of the job was going to schools and talking to large groups of children about being an author. I did not actually think of myself as an author yet, and I definitely had no idea how to talk about it for an hour at a time to a lively, squirming audience.

At one point, a friendly local bookstore owner suggested that setting up an easel and drawing was a tried-and-true approach.

“Oh, I can’t do that,” I said. “I’m way too slow.”

Which is generally true. A drawing like this (my grandmother planting beans) can take me about an hour.

But I think speed isn’t really the issue. A staple of figure-drawing classes is the “gesture drawing,” where students try to connect with the essence of a pose in as little as 5 seconds. I always loved doing this. I remember vaguely (and inaccurately?) hearing that a good draftsman can draw a man falling from a building before he hits the ground. And sometimes I find that a scribble I put down has a satisfying rightness to it.

I have watched Chris Raschka (recently announced winner of this year’s Caldecott Medal) draw for an audience. His drawings were quick, fluid and wonderful, and he was very funny, telling a story as he drew. I think this is a specific genre and skill: Performance Drawing. I think its opposite isn’t necessarily Slow Drawing, but instead, Exploratory Drawing. Which I’m sure Chris R. does plenty of, too.

I don’t have a desire to Performance Draw.

But I do think I could stand to shake myself up a little. Which might mean picking up some speed.

But you might

Lynne — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:48 +0000

Here are two phrases I have seen with my own eyes, on actual real-world maps:

Experimental Forest

Linear State Park

I don’t even want to try to draw the pictures that begin to form in my mind. I like to keep the possibilities open.

White Goose

Lynne — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:29:59 +0000

This white goose grew up with brown duck friends. They are inseparable, swimming around in the pond across the road. They float silently as we walk by at night with our dog. You might not notice they are there except that the big white goose glows, even in the darkest night. She watches us pass with her beady eyes, ready to defend her pals.

As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth

Lynne — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:08:30 +0000

My latest novel, to be released in paperback soon.

We’re getting there…

Lynne — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:52:15 +0000

I’m currently revamping my website, but we’ll be up and running in no time!