The blog of photographer Kim Ayres

Pursuit of the Line

Back in April I wrote about my experiences of life drawing (see Life Drawing, Panic and Exploration).

After 2 excruciating terms of trying to coordinate my eye with my hand via a pencil and pad of paper, I suddenly hit upon distilling the line - rather than seek ever more detail, I decided to strip it back. It was quite an exciting discovery, marred only by the fact it was in the last session and it would be nearly 6 months before I'd get the chance to pursue the idea further.

A couple of weeks ago I completed the autumn run of sessions, where I took the opportunity to explore the flow of line. With each pose of the model, I would begin with a more formal, rough sketch, then start to try and work out where I could sweep the line in a satisfying curve. I would then keep running over the line with my pencil until the flow felt right. If there was time I would then see if I could repeat the pattern on a new sheet of paper.

Often it ended in frustration, and at least once every session I wanted to run screaming from the room and never pick up a pencil again.

But every now and again something clicked and it felt wonderful, like I was tapping into some primeval delight our ancestors must have felt creating animal representations with sticks of charcoal on cave walls.

I have no desire to abandon my photography in pursuit of the drawn line. But as another creative outlet that forces me to view the world in yet another way, I am content to continue with it.

Below are a few of my favourites from the last 10 weeks.

Feel free to click on the images for larger versions.










7 comments

Hindsfeet said...

reminds me of a quote by Antoine de Saint Exupery in his memoir, "Wind, Sand, and Stars"....

"Perfection is attained, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

Beautiful Simplicity, Kim,
Sweetest, Merriest, and Happiest for you and yours my dear,
Liz ~*

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Your lines remind me of wood carvings by some of our artists!

I've found that looking at the world through different media has helped me. Is it the same for you?

Kim Ayres said...

Liz - thank you :) Great quote! Wishing you all the best for the festive season too :)

Guyana-Gyal - it was why I decided to do this. There's no doubt it's having a subtle effect on my approach to photography :)

savannah said...

lovely! somehow what my eye sees and what my hand draws are never even remotely connected! ;) xoxoxoxo

Kim Ayres said...

Savannah - mine's got better with practice (why should I be surprised? It's what I was always telling the children...) :)

Yaya Snaps said...

Well drawn Kim...a multi-talented man!

Kim Ayres said...

Theanne - thank you :)

Actually I have very few talents, it's just they are the ones I write about. Don't ask me how to put up a shelf...

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