Wednesday, May 8, 2019

My Mark Making Obsession


Art for me is not totally about creating works of art.  Art for me is about mark making, the act of using an instrument, such as a pencil, and making an impression on a substrate, such as paper or board.  The artwork is incidental to this process.  I’ve heard it said that a great artist never really looks at his or her art after it is done, that the admiration for the art is in the process, not the art itself.  I’ld say the admiration for the art process is why I stare at my art afterward, and also at other art I enjoy. I look at the art not only for the art itself, but also to admire the process that created such a piece of work, each line of pencil, each stroke of brush, each dab of ink pen.  Until I realize making marks is actually an obsession for me, I never fully understand my need to create.  I never have the full image in mind when I start, only fleeting thoughts sometime, if even anything at all.  When I hold a pencil or a pen and place a mark on the paper, each mark is placed by feel.  Each subsequent mark change the image in various ways according to my mood and thoughts.  I add marks until I see things I like and tease them out some more.  Often times it is hard to know when I’m “finished”.  Sometime, there is no end.  Maybe a deadline ends the piece.  Otherwise, it might go on.