Automatic Drawing - Continuous Line - DIY Notecards

1. Introduction: Welcome to another meditation, drawing game that you can either play by yourself or play with one person, another person, or even play with more people. This is an extension of the original connect the dots game that I presented before that many of you seem to really enjoy the the peaceful as the relaxation of it. And the fact that the eye-hand coordination took the focus away from the thinking process and allowed you to just respond to either the thoughts going through your head that were not so much logical thoughts, but maybe memories that would flash through your head. Or it was just a relaxing, calming activity. And then you ended up as a project. You could use these drawings to make wonderful note cards that you can share with people. And I want to just give you an example of where we're going with this continuous line game. Just as a little bit of a review. Here are some of the connect the dots that also went to this. This is a connect the dots. And these are all my sketchbook because normally I work in my sketch book, but you can make cards with these two, which you'll see in the lessons. And then these also are connecting the dots. This one was really fun at now is using different fountain pens filled with various colors of ink. Then that led me. That's my thought. Okay, this is one of my favorite kinds of automatic drawing. Usually I'm listening to meditation music, which unfortunately I can't share in the lessons because I don't have a license to them. But I will put other music to it. And you can listen to whatever music you want, or just listen to the birds singing or no music at all. It's all this is really up to you. And this is up to the kind of movements that you're feeling at the moment that you're doing it. And they can vary greatly. Really. There's no limit to the possibilities. Welcome to another game class that also functions as a meditation and a honing of your eye-hand coordination. I'm Chris Carter. Let's begin 2. Materials: The materials for this class are very basic. You need some card stock, which you can get it a stationary store like Staples. Just a little bit thicker than than your regular printer paper. Folded in half to measure 5 " by 7 " and an envelope for a five by seven inch card. These are also standard. You can make any other size card. You wish, as long as you have an envelope to go with it or you can make your own envelope. Those are methods taught in another class. You can check back to the connect the dots class and you'll see the other size cards that I generally make when I do this. As far as drawing goes, I use either a fine tip permanent marker or a relatively fine tip fountain pen. I prefer a fountain pen. But you want to make sure that if you are using a fountain pen for this, it's one that, that the ink flows very freely. You want to make sure that it's not one that's kinda stop and go. Basically a really cheap fountain pen sometimes doesn't flow as well. That being said, this is a preppy fountain pen and we'll see if it flows or not. This is a very, very reasonably priced fountain pen. And what I like about it is that you can get it in different colors. And you can get the ink to match the color of this. And this came as a whole set. Actually, there are more, I think that there are 6123456. And I actually use converters in these when I'm done with the ink that's supplied. And then I fill it with my own ink that's of green or red or pink. Any of those because I have an enormous supply of ink. But you don't need all of these. You'll just see in some of the examples that I do change the color of the ink. And that's kinda fun too. But a fine tip marker is fine and just one color is fine. I'm going to show you to begin with just one color, but you'll see some other examples. And one of the later videos that will show you what I've done with multiple colors. 3. Technique No. 1: I'll start off in real time and then I'll speed it up because it would be dreadful to watch this in real time. There are no rights and wrongs about how to go about this. You might work at a faster pace on a piece of scratch paper. I'll show you in real time. The, the difference in speed that, that's fine. It depends on how busy your brain is. If your brain is really, really busy and you want a quiet it down more than I suggest you move much slower in a more determined way. Similar to this. If your brain is relatively calm and you may still want to move with that speed, but you might also feel like dancing. So in that case, you might move at a speed like this and you'll find that then you get kind of a rhythm with your hand and your wrist. And everyone will move in a different way. But you can see the difference there. And maybe partway through, you switch from going very slowly, going more quickly, and then more slowly again. In this continuous line technique, we don't cross over the lines. We may run into the line, but we don't crossover. Okay, so let's go back to our card now, I often listen to meditation music, especially if my mind is too busy because that will distract me from my logical thoughts. Often, I'll do it in complete silence. You'll see what works for you. Try it in many different ways. If you're doing this yourself, you'll just create it all on your own. If you're doing it with someone else, you'll do one continuous line until you feel as if you want to stop. And then the other person will use either the same pen or a different pen, possibly a different color, and add to it with their own shape. You'll see that you can either create the entire card with one line or you can do several continuous line shapes on the same card. I really like the way that it begins to look like a contour map as the spacing between the line changes and allow the line to go where ever it wants to go. Trust that in the end, it will be quite wonderful. I'm getting close to the edge. I want to go in another direction because I may want to leave room for myself to get around this shape. So I'm going to go off in another way. And maybe I'll even create a border of some kind. If you want to turn it, you can stop turn it. You might also want to use a piece of paper to rest your hand so that you don't smear the ink. And then you can go right back to the line and continue it. As far as my brain is going. If I get the urge to see what will happen, I follow that are one of the benefits of doing this is that when you're in a quiet state, a meditative state, you can learn to recognize when your brain is in thinking mode and when the lines you're making are responding to more of your emotions and your thoughts. And with enough practice, you really feel the difference. The more you do it, the easier it is to get into that responsive mode when you're in the studio or when You're doing any of your other art practice. Now, when you make another shape inside, you will find that you have to plan a little bit ahead so that you can get back out of your shape unless you're going to end your shape. So I'm leaving a wider path, wider space between the lines and you'll see why in just a second. Because I have to get back out. So now I'm retracing my steps going between the lines I just made. And that allows me to get back out. Now I could just end the line and start another one. But if I want to have it totally continuous, then I'll want to make a shape. The way I just did. I had lost track of where I was and I see that I really ended up there. That's fine. It's not a big deal. It looks as if I haven't allowed myself a way out of the inside. Which is alright to there's nothing wrong with having a nice corner like this empty. You can also leave it like that and write a message in here. I mean, that's a nice pattern just as it is. You can stop at anytime and go back to it. But I suggest because you're always going to be in a different state of mind when you return to something. My suggestion is to complete one and then leave it as it is, whatever that is. And when you want to do this again, start a different one. Remember that this is about watching your body respond both mentally and emotionally to making marks on the paper. It's not so much about this beautiful finished card. Beautiful finished card is the end product. The side effect of the meditative automatic drawing. A little bonus for you for having taken the time to tap into your inner artist in a way that allows the inner artist also be quiet and contemplate if I'm really liking the open space in there. And it's fine to stop and take a look at what you're doing and respond to that. I think I'm really almost done with this. And I'm going to end it in a very narrow area because they don't want a totally loose ends. So there is a card created from one line. Now, I did stop and start it. And then over in here somewhere right here where I turned it and then couldn't find where I was. So there is an end there and there's an end in there which you don't see. But look at this difference between that and this. And it's nice to have those differences 4. Technique No. 2: I'll show you one more variation. I like to start it with these contour like swoop bees. And I'm letting my hand just dance around the shapes that you come up with when you let your handouts will most likely be very different from mine, is like our signatures. The way that we move our hands are unique. There's one. I'll do this in two colors. Now this could be the next person taking a turn there at skipped. That's what happens when the ink isn't flowing nicely. My thoughts are going to being an aquarium and watching the jellyfish move. And just watch Where are your thoughts go and what the shapes bring to mind. That too could be a finished card. You may want to add a little spiral in here. With a dog. You can add into this. What I'm doing now is just responding to what I've made. Here are two very different cards, both of which can be written in, put it in an envelope, addressed a beautiful stamp, and sent on their way. Another nice thing to do if you are going to use this as a card to send to someone, is to personalize the envelope a little bit. In the same way. Remember that the other option is to put a nice bow on it and give it as a gift, or to make several of them, bundle them together, and to give a set as a gift 5. Review: So to review really simple materials, a card, blank card, blank envelope, a pen or a marker fine tip is best. And the time it takes to relax, settle in, and give yourself the opportunity to get into a calm state of mind, either with music or without music, and to create a pattern that comes from where ever your mind is wandering. This can be done either by yourself, For you can play with a partner where you're making separate shapes, taking turns. You can also make separate shapes yourself. And then you can go back and add to it if you wish. It's all about tuning in to what your inspiration is, into what your urges are, and to recognize that feeling. Whether it's your brain thinking, trying to make something work well, or it's your heart and soul inspiring you to make a mark somewhere where maybe you think it's not a logical place to make it, but go ahead and make it there anyway, and then move on. Keep moving on. Keep moving on. If your guts tell you to stop, then stop. Start with another blank card. Do this in a sketchbook where you're not feeling that this card is precious and be playful. How fun to receive playful envelope in a real mailbox or wrap them up as a gift. This can be looked at as an exercise. It can be looked at as a practice. It strengthens your eye-hand coordination while alerting you to your inner feelings. It can be relaxing during times of stress, or it can just simply be fun. So remember there are many methods of automatic drawing. This is a method using continuous line. In another class, I show you several ways to make other patterns by connecting dots. And you can make your own rules. Along the way. Feel free to make up your own games and please post your project in the project area, feel free to invent one of your own and post it there too. We learn from one another and that's the best way. Remember that an art roles are meant to be understood and then broken. So make up your own rules, ones that suit you and your inner artist. Thanks for participating in this course.