Many patrons ask me how I create my work, so I thought I would share the creation of a drawing as I am working on it. Now the hardest part and what takes the longest cannot be shown, which is the time I spend thinking about the idea behind the work of art. For this particular drawing, being one in my Star Series, I explained my idea behind this series in my previous post “Why did I title this series, Star Series?”. This is what I wrote:
The idea behind this series was to portray a variety of different animals that have for some reason or another grabbed our attention and become Stars, in a sense. Stars in that they have become icons that are used widely in stories and popular culture. In taking on the series, I decided I also wanted to create a complementary pair through the use of color and other characteristics that symbolically connected them. Maybe in this way, I could gain another level of insight into why these particular creatures hold such a high place above their counterparts. And besides, I love challenges and there is something about working in doubles that I love, yin yang and all that. Thus, Evening Star and Morning Star seemed the appropriate titles to honor and to communication a sense of wonder in these related works.
My paired works, dog and cat or really their wild counterparts, tiger and wolf, were shown in that post.
The drawing that I created while writing this post is the panda not part of a pair but a masked yet adorable creature that embodies a gentleness of spirit and have such a clumsy yet delightful way of moving. Below, I am showing the finalized state of Midday Star, just to show what is usually the first exposure a patron gets to the work. Here Panda is shown as the final drawing and ready to be used to make a serigraphic print. The serigraph will take it one step further by adding a flat area of color around the ears and the texture of the screen to add further meaning and beauty.
But it started as a simple line drawing. The image below is this line drawing in which I set the basic composition. The line drawing for me is like the foundation of a house. If it is good, the rest of the drawing has a strong probability of success. All the lines and shapes must be aesthetically pleasing and work to communicate the idea behind the drawing. If the subject matter is a fellow creature, early on I add some shading to the eyes, nose and mouth to the line drawing to make sure it will come alive. It is no use going any farther if it does not. Luckily, I can see the gentle nature shining through even in this early stage, so I continued. Note: This image is at a slight angle so the bottom part of the drawing looks larger than it is, but it gives you the idea of what the drawing looked like in this state.
The next state shows the refinement of the lines and additional shading as I start to develop the drawing. I should say that I don’t always add shading because some line drawings end up being the finished state. I always determine when a drawing is finished when it communicates the idea and doesn’t need anything else. But in this case, the idea was a little more complicated and the drawing needed more. So, I continued. First, I shaded the darkest areas to determine the different values that I wanted and where, to give a balanced and visually stimulating image. As I worked on the shading, additional shapes started to evolve. This tends to happen while I am thinking about the subject matter and the idea behind the drawing. Note: At this point the shading is still pretty rough and undeveloped but I can see potential and felt it was a good start.
As I continue to draw, the abstract shapes start to play off one another leading to further abstraction and a more balanced overall feel to the work. While it is pretty much developed by now and has fully come alive in the sense that it is more than a bit of graphite on paper, it has a long way to go to be a complete statement. Still I liked its simple beauty, and this made the next stage a challenge. It is easy to get sucked into the beauty of forms and forget what one is trying to communicate.
So, I had to step back and again think about the idea behind the work. This drawing is about more than representing a panda bear but is really an attempt to understand the reasons why we are drawn to this species. I felt I needed to expand the abstract passages a bit more to add a deeper meaning and a bit of mystery before it was a completed work of art. When ideas are complicated and mysterious, the visual language used to communicate them often needs to be too. Thus, I continued and as I finished the drawing, I was happy I continued because it did become a complete visual statement.
The last stage consisted of cleaning up the white areas, refining the shading, reinforcing certain lines and expanding on the abstractions. Below is again the final state in the evolution of this particular drawing. I hope this post helped readers get a look behind the work seeing it as this artist sees it. I will post the serigraph once it is finished and available for adoption, ha-ha.
PS - I think there are two things I would say that are extremely helpful to me when working on creating a work of art. First, my work is at its best when it balances the intellectual idea and the aesthetic beauty. Second, I always need to take the time to step back as I am creating so I am forced to consider if it has everything that it needs to say what I want it to say yet has nothing it does not need. For me, this is always the signal that the drawing, print or sculpture is a completed work of art.
Kathleen Zimmerman
Later additions: As promised, I am posting an image of the serigraph, Midday Star. I used a bright green ink to represent Pandas’ forest habitat and harmonious, optimistic personality. It was created in 2020 along with the above video.
