Art Journal Entry

I find that when I work on a piece that is not time based, I like to listen to audio stimuli. I do not like listening to music most of the time. I usually enjoy listening to books on tape or CD, while working on drawing or sculptural pieces. I used to try listening to movies in the background; however, I found that the visuals distracted me. I can still use movies after I’ve seen the film and listen to the commentary instead. Books on tape are still my preferred background audio. 

 

Several months ago, I worked on two pieces that were at least 4 feet by 6. Both pieces shared a concept of hyper detail, and required that I spend hours working on small drawing details for hours at a time. The subject of these images consisted of anything I could imagine, and often took the forms of creatures, landscapes, abstract forms, icons, symbols, and several nonsensical forms. As I worked on this project, I listened to several books on CD including Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and assorted collections of short stories. One night I realized that when I looked on a portion I had finished a few nights before, the story portion I was listening to at the time started playing in my head. It was not my intention to link the outside stimuli to the piece, but it happened regardless. I may try to use this in the future. What if I made a piece that was intended to let the external influence penetrate the concept of the work? If I attempt another high detail drawing like the two listed above, What if one patch was influenced by a love story, another patch by an action adventure story, an another patch by a history? This is just a thought now but I may readdress it.