Jen Jovan Art Musings and Random Thoughts

On Your Mark

6/14/2018

"On Your Mark" - mixed media on mat board, 14" x 14". Inquiries.

On your mark, get set, GO!

This piece is the result of a mark-making exercise. Begin with a mark, then help it have a conversation with another mark. And another. And so on. And then edit the conversations. Abstract instructions for making abstracts.

At first I didn't really get it. So I played around with different marks, and tried to get them to speak to each other. Mostly they just stuck up their noses and were silent.

Or they thumbed their noses at me like these two starts:

So I consulted my new favorite art book, Drawing and Painting People, by Emily Ball. And yes, the book begins with exercises on making marks! Woot! Ball calls marks "dynamic little cluster of information" and stresses the importance of overlapping the marks. She also shows how marks aren't just something you make with a writing implement or a tool, but finger swipes and smudges of paint, blurred blobs and fuzzy shapes. Ooooooooooh.

It began to click. I created a small stack of mark-making conversations and managed to avoid any angry arguments (although those would be interesting, too). As my confidence grew, I made marks on larger and larger supports until landing on a 14" x 14" size.

The piece with marks alone (below) isn't very interesting. But when you "edit" the conversations (as in the final piece "On Your Mark"), the marks become juicy bits of overheard gossip or pearls of wisdom, depending on the remaining conversation.

Perhaps this is an exercise in the construction of an abstract, mark-making and editing a piece. But it could also be a metaphor for conversational consensus building! Bring a number of interesting but different people together over a topic. Let them fully express their opinions and then boil it all down to common themes and areas of agreement while editing out the bits that clash or are off-topic.

Which I will not be able to attempt as I leave for a brief holiday in Italy, given my grasp of the language is limited to the helpful pocket guide to Italian in my bag. I will be delighted if I can clearly ask for the bathroom. Dov'è il bagno?

Until July, Addio!

Head on over to The Storyteller's Apprentice page on my website for a sneak peek an illuminated novel coming this fall! Written by author Dana Kumerow, and illustrated by Brittany Tate and me. We're thrilled! More information coming soon.

7 Comments

Carl Stoveland

6/14/2018 08:04:19 am

Hmm. That's a very interesting exercise. When I finally have time to paint I will give that a whirl to warm up my brushstrokes and get me thinking in color. Enjoy Italy! When I was there Everyone spoke plenty of English and were more than helpful especially if I made the effort to try Italian first. When we were in Rome I wanted to shoot Trevi Fountain early in the morning before the sun was fully up for that soft warm light mixed with cool blue shadows. I dragged Wendy and our friends there between 6:30 and 7:00. It turns out early Monday AM is when they scrub the fountain clean and empty the change tossed in it. So I got some great photos just not what I was expecting to shoot.

jen

6/14/2018 08:14:19 am

Carl! I would love to see what you create with marks and color! Thanks for the tips about Italy...I am sitting here chuckling over the fountain debacle. A memory to be cherished!!!

Carol Edan link

6/14/2018 11:37:59 am

As I sit here writing, Ludwig, my daughters cat tries to go between the screen and my keyboard. Now sitting patiently on the side. Now he is lying down between the two so at least I can see the screen. I am cat -sitting for my daughter, and sadly one cat wandered off too far and got lost. So now Ludwig follows me like a lost puppy. Isn't it so frustrating when the marks refuse to speak, either to themselves or to me. Talk, tell me something.... nada... Love that little bit of malarkey that snuck in there. Love the freedom and the color palettes. Have a great vacation. Take great photos and sketch a lot!

6/14/2018 11:45:36 am

Ludwig!!! Maybe some paint on those little paws and some canvas to walk upon? Marks have a mind of their own, just like paint. Sometimes they converse and other times they are such snobs! Thank you for your feedback. This piece was great fun and quite an adventure. Photos for sure! Sketching whenever I can...

6/15/2018 01:23:50 pm

Short reply Some one found Mishmish! They remembered that they saw her photo on the community google groups. A miracle!. Its a month. She went to the other side of the community, She looks well fed.

6/18/2018 07:07:13 am

Oh thank goodness! Having a lost pet return, let alone return well-fed, is cause for celebration!!!

Dotty Seiter link

6/23/2018 07:12:11 am

On Your Mark—thank you for the invitation to to get ready and go! I've read through your wonderfully illustrated wonderful discussion here several times, and now it's time to get on my mark!

On Your Mark

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