TUESDAY TIPS & TRICKS
As a visual person, I have often
wondered why two or more people can look at the same object and have a wide
range of opposing reactions. Take for example the gas meter and construction site below:
Reactions to these photos might be
mixed, ranging from "that thing is ugly!" to "so what?" Perhaps
the only person who might think of the gas meter as a thing of beauty is the guy
who designed it. How you think about something as mundane as gas meters or construction sites is largely
dependent on your personal experience with them. Now let's look at each of them as a
sketch:
Did your reaction change at all?
Of course I am hoping that your reaction was a positive one. It reminds me of
my favorite fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen called "The Ugly
Duckling." When I chose to sketch this gas meter, I must have passed it a
hundred times to and from picking up lunch, but one day something caught
my eye. Did this gas meter suddenly become beautiful or interesting? Or was it
always interesting but I had failed to see it before? According to Denis Dutton
in his TED Talk "A Darwinian Theory of Beauty," he suggests that
"beauty is an adaptive effect which we extend and intensify in the
creation and enjoyment of works of art and entertainment."
What would happen if, instead of
walking up to a sketching location and pacing for a half hour (in search of the
perfect subject to sketch), we just closed our eyes, spun around and sketched
the first thing we saw when we opened our eyes? Regardless of its beauty or
ugliness you have to sketch it. Imagine how that soiled plastic bag and paper
coffee cup sitting in that murky puddle will look as a sketch by you?
I would love to see the "swan" that
comes out of your "ugly duckling."
The Ugly Duckling" (Danish: Den
grimme ælling) is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and
author Hans Christian
Andersen (1805 – 1875). The story tells of a homely little bird
born in a barnyard who suffers abuse from the others around him until, much to
his delight (and to the surprise of others), he matures into a beautiful swan,
the most beautiful bird of all.
References: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugly_Duckling
