Sunday, May 27, 2012

Rainbow Tanks




Hattie is out of town with her Momma so I welcome a few guests to the blog: Jared and Eric Chamberlain. I spent a little while hanging out with Jared (8 yrs), Eric (6 yrs) and their brothers today. We were drawing and I asked Eric what he was making. He said, "A rainbow tank." A rainbow tank? That's the funniest thing I imagined all day. So I copied Eric's idea and then Jared copied mine.

That really is funny for a little boy to want to draw a rainbow tank. Why would he want to draw a tank? Does he even understand what a tank is? Does he comprehend the many meanings of a rainbow? No. I think he wanted to draw a tank because that's what boys do. He's probably seen his older brothers/cousins/friends draw tanks so he does it too. Buy why make the tank rainbow? Because that's what he really wants to draw. He wants to see colors! He wants to be dazzled by the dreamlike movement of such colors side by side. Then he combines the colors inside a tank because he doesn't know how else to contain them. He puts the colors in what his little boy mind thinks is the appropriate container, but boy, was he wrong, in such a wonderful way.

This dichotomy is most unusual but I love it. It's very powerful. It brings to mind this iconic image: 






Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Why Not Throw Your Crayons?




Hattie's unique drawing techniques inspired this Jackson Pollock-esque piece. She and I (mostly me) spend quite a while tossing handfuls of crayons at the paper. Probably Hattie's least favorite drawing so far - way too tedious for her. But the end result is very cool. Check out this detail




Way to hang in there as long as you did, Hattie!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

The Benefit Of Capoeira



I was making some sketches on the benefits of capoeira for a school project when Hattie decided to share the task. She began scribbling on my homework, so I went with it and this is what we turned up. This piece was particularly fun because of the interaction between Hattie and I. If I may direct your attention to the little "P" texture in the bottom left: every time I drew a "P" Hattie would be close behind with the red pen. She followed me and scribbled over all the "P"s that she could.