Work on the drawing exercises, post your drawings on the blog. Write about your previous experiences drawing and your comments on the video.
Abstract: The Art of Design | Christoph Niemann
The idea of abstracting the art is alluring to me. I have a bad habit when creating artworks. I always spent too much time on each piece, thinking of adding more things to make it more “perfect”. I believe the practice of abstracting is actually the hardest thing. Instead of adding irrelevant details, subtracting things to their essence can usually form better results, both conceptually and artistically. Now, it almost feels like I am still stuck in the obsolete object/product-related aesthetics of the Renaissance. Just like what Jack Burnham said, in a world of technological shifts, artists should focus on system-oriented aesthetics, prioritizing the information and concept conveyed, rather than the visual syntax and output created at the end.
“The one thing that is dangerous about focusing on craft and working very hard is that it can keep you from asking the question: I am trying to get good at something but is that thing that I’m trying to get good at the real thing?” This sentence from the documentary resonates with me a lot. I find myself facing the same problem when creating not just illustrations and paintings, but any forms of artwork, sometimes even for essays. I think Christoph Niemann’s suggestions of slowing down the paste and “breaking down the things you know into elements and rearrange them into a statement” could also be the appropriate solutions for me.
My Drawing Experiences
Drawing and painting have always been my passion. I remembered that I spent the majority of my leisure time doodling when I was a kid. At that time, I draw for fun, on literally anywhere, notebooks, desks, textbooks, walls, and even my friends’ faces. In high school, I started to practice a more academic or systematic approach to art, which is extremely helpful for polishing my skills. At one time, I was almost determined to go to an art school and study architecture. However, I ended up spending two years at NYU majoring in Liberal Studies. For two years, I nearly didn’t draw at all and my skills retrogress greatly. Luckily, I was admitted to IMA. Although I still fall behind my peers, I am glad that I am practicing art again, a new form of multimedia art.
To be honest, the last session was one of my favorite classes at NYU. Although I didn’t follow the exact rules of the assignment, I was drawing freely and was actually having fun, just like what I did when was a kid.
Drawing Exercises
Exercise 01
Exercise 02 & 03
Exercise 04 & 05
