83
In this exercise, you will be drawing under the
influence of sound. By focusing on a wide range of
different noises and responding on the page to what
you are hearing, you can create a drawing that is
defined by highly personal abstract marks.
I find that I have to be very careful about what music
I listen to when I’m in the studio, as it really affects
the quality of line and types of marks I create in my
drawings. Drawings are a portrait of both the subject
AND the person who is drawing. It is clear in the work
if the person was feeling relaxed, rushed, or anxious,
and music can provoke these and many other
emotions. On the whole I tend to avoid music while
I am working, as it just has too great an effect on my
line. Instead I listen to talk radio, as I find I can zone
out, focus, and maintain a constant approach to my
work. In this exercise, however, we will experiment
with the effect that music can have on the types of
marks we create. We might be able to discover new
ways of drawing that can be added to our toolbox
of techniques.
You will need your 2B pencil, and a WIDE selection of
music. Don’t worry if you don’t own lots of different
music; you can access diverse musical genres by
either tuning in to different specialized radio stations
or entering a variety of music genres into YouTube.
For this adventure we are focusing on creating lots
of abstract marks by allowing the sounds to inspire
the pressure of the pencil on the page, the speed at
which we draw, and the shapes that we use.
Drawn
to Sound
Birdsong
Drilling
Traffic
Classical
Folk
84 > Fearless Drawing
SOUND AS ART
Here you can see my range of marks; I’ve also noted the sounds I was listening to when I created the marks. I found it helpful to close
my eyes, adjust my pressure, and change my grip on the pencil to enable the widest range of marks.
Heavy metal
Jazz
Soul
Reggae
Gregorian chanting
Drawn to Sound > 85
86 > Fearless Drawing
PRACTICE: YOUR TURN
Now it’s your turn! Fill this spread with marks, remembering to
make note of what you were listening to when you created the
drawing. Try this exercise more than once, listening to a very
wide range of noises and forms of music each time, as this will
provide the greatest contrasts in your drawings.
Have you made marks that seem alien to your hand? It’s really
exciting to be able to tap into an entirely new way of mark
making, which may inspire you to use a wider range of marks as
we go on.
Birdsong
Drilling
Traffic
Classical
Folk
Drawn to Sound > 87
TIPS
I found it helpful to close my eyes. Then I was able to really focus on the music and make more
spontaneous marks.
Write down the sound heard next to each drawing for future reference.
Heavy metal
Jazz
Soul
Reggae
Gregorian
chanting
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