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| Mexican bowl with soup |
“I cannot rest, I must draw, however poor the result, and when I have a bad time come over me it is a stronger desire than ever.”
― Beatrix Potter
A couple of years ago I decided to write and illustrate a journal as a special present for a friend. The drawing would be a challenge for me as I had no experience or practice of doing it. My first illustrations were tentative. I drew with a black pen and introduced colour with water colour pencils. My intention was to draw each day for a month and as the days passed I found my level of absorption deepening, and that I looked forward to the time I set aside for drawing.
A friend once introduced me to the practice of Zen tangling. Basically, this is abstract and intuitive line drawing using a black pen on white paper. The paper is meant to measure 3.5 inches square, and the process is like a type of mindful and meditative doodling. I enjoyed this drawing too.
As F M Alexander said - 'End gaining is a universal habit'. It is the
tendency we have to keep our mind and actions focused on an end result whilst losing sight of, and frequently at the expense of, the means-whereby the result is achieved. Zen tangling is meant as an antidote to this.
I would like to reintroduce both these types of drawing back into my daily routine.
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