Abstract Drawing - Tumblr Posts

Joan Mitchell

Pastels on paper

A small, abstract pencil drawing. I do these right before I get into bed, when I'm tired and have stopped thinking.

A small, abstract pencil drawing. I draw these at night just before I get into bed.

A small, abstract pencil drawing. Drawn late at night just before getting into bed.

A small abstract pencil drawing. I draw these last thing at night before getting into bed.

A small, abstract pencil drawing.

I draw these at night when I'm tired and have stopped thinking. They have become my (almost) daily art practice.

Today's pencil drawing.

The tiny drawings I do last thing at night are the equivalent of working in a sketchbook.

Daytime drawings like this one have more time and space to grow.

The paper is approx A6, twice the size of my nighttime drawings.

A new liminal drawing.

I draw these just before getting into bed when I'm tired and have stopped thinking. Although they are drawn on individual pieces of paper they are more like drawings from a sketchbook, finished but raw.

I like working this way because each one evolves in its own space without being directly influenced by the drawing(s) next to it.

A small, abstract pencil drawing. I draw these last thing at night right before I get into bed.

This one has a sci-fi feel to it. Is that a helmet at the top?

I use a 6B pencil because I love the really dark lines it makes and the powdery-ness of the graphite.

A small, abstract pencil drawing. I draw these late at night just before I get into bed.

I never know what I’m going to draw. I simply make a mark and see what happens. This looks to me a bit like a fossil… or maggots having a feast!

This drawing was directly inspired by a photo by @robertpallesen. It was a black and white image of coiled wires and cables hanging against a wall. When I saw it my fingers itched to draw my interpretation of it and Robert kindly gave me the go-ahead.

I rarely use any real images for my drawings because I find it daunting and inhibiting but when I do, I spend a few minutes looking at the image and absorbing it, as a whole and zoomed in to smaller areas. Then I put the image out of sight and draw the ‘feel’ of the image from memory. Working this way opens a portal to my subconscious and removes the pressure of re-producing a realistic copy.

A very late night drawing.

These have become my (almost) daily art practice. Drawing when I’m tired and my brain has stopped functioning fully is an unpredictable process. But that’s exactly why I do it. There's no pressure and that's liberating.

Last night’s drawing. I make these tiny drawings right before I get into bed.

I use a 6B pencil and any paper that’s to hand. I have to make drawing as easy as possible, especially at that time of night, so I have a pencil and paper ready on my desk all the time.

This is one of those times when I look at what I've drawn and it creeps me out. My subconscious was obviously working overtime!

Small drawing, approx A7, using Derwent Inktense pencils.

Trying something different for a change: colour(!), using water, and waiting for paint to dry. Thought this might be a problem but it's been a bit of a revelation cos I can still create in breaks from working at the computer.

Future experiments: neater edges and stretch paper.

Some things are still the same: it's small, unplanned and intuitive and I have no idea what it is.

Another very small, late night drawing of I don't know what.

Another odd drawing. Insect? Flower? Hybrid of the two?

Hmmm, I can't think of anything new to say about how these little drawings are made.

I do think of them as something coming up from my subconscious into my consciousness and I'm curious to know what they are, or at least, what their message is.

But how do I find out?