What does your drawing board say?
written by Julie R. Neidlinger 1 comments link this post
My drawing board says a lot.
Or, because it doesn't actually make noise, I could say it tells me a lot.
On the back, written in permanent marker, is my name, a reminder that I first had this huge piece of masonite cut to fit large Daniel Smith sheets of paper for my art classes in college and that I didn't want someone to walk off with my board.
I can see the borders of every piece of art I've ever created on the board outlined where the taped edges stopped and the paint and charcoal slapped across the board.
On the edges, the margins, of the board, I can see notes to myself about various pieces, the reminder to "add more gesso" and "paint over the red area" written in bitmuth charcoal. I can see heavy scribbling from trying to work bits of dried acrylic from the surface of a water crayone that I'd used to draw into the paint the day before, or the hardened scum of an oil pastel.
There are always bits of tape stuck on my board, distracting quick-release blue masking tape that used to drive my art instructors mad because they were certain that the electric blue temporary border was throwing off my color choices during the process of creation. I kept using the blue tape. I still use the blue tape. They could have been right, of course. I do use a lot of blue in my work; maybe it's tape-induced.
There are brush strokes and squiggles and the faded water paint markings from wiping an excess load off of a brush or testing to see what I was working with before I committed it to paper.
I can see how often I worked in vertical, horizontal; how often I let things drip.
Both sides of the board are covered in markings, the corners of the soft masonite board rounded and frayed from being drug around and set up on easels or across another surface out in the field.
My drawing board tells me about 13 years of use and all the color combinations I've worked through. I see my red phase, my cobalt blue phase, my black phase.
My drawing board tells me about 13 years of use, and when it's warped or worn beyond practical use, I'm going to hang it up and let it be its own art.
What does your drawing board say?
Copyright (c) Julie R. Neidlinger 1/06/2006 11:12:00 AM
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1 Comments:
My (figurative) drawing board says a great deal. Right now, I'm in the process of going back to it.
I really liked this piece. You should consider submitting it somewhere. The ending is awesome!
By 
Jim, at
January 06, 2006 12:02 PM
