Ink Spill/Midnight Doodle Art

Ink makes you commit to it.

There are some parts of this image that probably wouldn't be there if this was done with a pencil, but instead it became part of something else. Nothing about this was planned (something that I usually do) but casual doodles and other casual drawings can be very relaxing.

The more chaotic the picture got the more comfortable it became as messy lines blended in more. Maybe it works the same with bodies of work overall. The same way that "the worst thing you ever wrote is still better than the best thing you ever wrote" creative block can fade the more you just do it anyway.

Once Upon a Neume

In grade 10 a substitute English teacher asked us why we thought so many old pieces of literature were written in rhyme, and the answer was because it is easier to remember and pass on, especially when you don't have the printing press. Each line is a clue to what the next one is.

A lot of the posts currently here are older pieces as I've been looking through old folders and this is one I found from a project for medieval and renaissance music history. It was thrown together the night before because our group wasn't really feeling the old idea. What was originally supposed to be a humorous fairy tale-styled way of presenting neumes, the old notation system, kind of accidentally started rhyming and it ended up just being a fun way for us to remember.

Once upon a time...

When only sacred music was allowed and even the thought of music for recreation was forbidden, after the fall of the Roman empire, the people of Rome were scattered and dispersed amongst the lands, taking their songs with them, passing them along with nothing but the raw power of one’s own voice.

Although this tradition was what started the spread of music itself, it was not recorded. Songs were changed as they were passed on from ear to ear, and there was need for them to be recorded... before they were lost in time forever.

They needed a hero in the form of pen and parchment, and a hero was indeed found. This is the story of this hero, and this hero is called notation.

Our story starts, where notation first began.

Neumes was the name, on relativity it ran.

Of humble origins, French grammatical markings,

Kept the music flowing and the churchgoers harking.

These marks did lack rhythm, this we must say,

it became the memory of music, that we all hear today.

Neumes began without even a path to walk,

not even a line, general pitch with no lock.

This attempt was feeble, so neumes was given a road,

a single red line, which the note “F” showed.

This red line, entitled “the line of pitch”

although still relative, made precision slightly more rich.

Below the red line, a yellow was added,

With line meaning “C,” notation was padded.

A century later, the two lines would double.

Cutting in half, all notation’s trouble.

There was also Solfege, the first way to learn,

a music-teaching method, which singers did yearn.

By Guideo D’Arezzo each note was given name,

ut, re, mi, fa, so, and la, on a different octaves pitch does remain.

Guido assisted notation by literally lending a hand,

The Guidonian hand, for singers to understand.

They were taught to sing intervals, where teacher would point,

They new each note, by it’s finger and joint.

As notation developed, over many many years,

even rhythm grew, and threw away the fears.

Clefs and the staff, really did grow,

and become the notation, we today love and know.

Now we near the end, of our medieval story,

Maybe less intrigue, but still one of glory.

For musicians around the world to appreciate,

And listeners, and dancers, to this very date.

Passing on countless tales, and songs through the nations,

To thank we have neumes, now known as the hero, notation.

DECEMBER 20, 2011

Be better than your life.

Don't retaliate/seek revenge when others treat you badly.
Forgive others.
Forgive someone even if they're not sorry.
Forgive yourself.
Give the benefit of the doubt.
Be creative even if it doesn't turn out the way you want it to.
Try things again that you aren't good at.
Apologize sincerely when you make a mistake; you will.
Don't become indignant for injustices done to you.
Fight injustices done to others.
Be kind to a stranger.
Give when you can get nothin in return.
Be there for people who aren't there for you.
Appreciate what you have.
Be resourceful.
Don't complain. Be proactive.
Find a reason to smile even if you are in pain.
(You'll never know how far you can go until you go until you can't anymore).
Listen.
If life gives you something to cry about, do something worthy of a smile.
Write someone a card, even if you're not good at it or can't think of lots to write.
Don't play the blame game.
Play fair even if others cheat.
Never compromise your values.
Be a beautiful person regardless of the way you look.
Move forward.

Rise above what life gives you. Be better than your life.

Doodling Growing Stubbly Lines

Earlier tonight I had some fun experimenting and bleeding little hairy lines around a page. It started off portrait then it slowly rotated to landscape, and I'm thinking of using it as a background for a Feel in Colour picture (hence the large blank space). It's lacking in colour but that's okay... not all words feel very colourful. 

One of the things about doodles is that they're not usually thought out ahead of time, are relaxed, absentminded, reflective, and impromptu and to keep them that way it's probably best to not to over-analyze this. It's probably no coincidence that most of my favourite doodles are in the margins of music theory worksheets, not on staff paper or actual sheets of music.

This page had to be removed from my sketchbook for safe keeping in the folder where the graphite won't get smudged. Lesson learned: Avoid using pencil inside a sketch book with tiny light strokes.

Next time I would like to try with a very thin marker or pen, but this was a fun doodly experiment with pencil to start.

What do you see?

Turning a New Leaf With Surrealism

There are so many different types of visual art, and recently I've been admiring works in surrealism, where dreams and realism intersect.

When I was younger I drew almost exclusively from my imagination until I was older and decided to try a bit of realism and still life so that what was on paper could actually start to match what I mean to draw more often. I'm still working on it, but below is a sample of one of my first experiments with surrealism. Today, my love of Art and English are also going to be at a draw. The English language sometimes gives the same word different meanings, but the word "draw" is an interesting one. 

This is a drawing, or a sketch.

Back to Imagination. This definitely counts as a sketch...

"To draw" may be synonymous with "to sketch". Generally people don't call a drawing a "sketching" but simply "a sketch" (English is funny that way) but you wouldn't call it "a draw".

A draw is a tie, or an equality. In surrealism, neither realism nor a dream will win over the other, but they settle for a draw.

However to draw that dream in a real way, the artist takes of draws from the vision in his or her imagination and draw from reality to visually convey it.

Drawing from a vision or idea or object, and communicating it visually is essentially what drawing is.

Just a thought.

To My First Crush

There are too many jokes and inside things that we shared

To write them in rhyme, but the memory's still there.

Even if someday when visions begin to blur,

If you don't remember my name but just as a "her",

If you don't remember the names that we invented in those years,

Remember what was in our eyes when we fought back our tears:

Reflections of our own darkness as clear as the day,

Know I still hold to that growth, supporting growth in other ways.

All the ways we helped not just accept who we are 

But all we can be to know we can make it that far.

Though the future was uncertain our time together's written in stone,

All of our light and our darkness, we didn't have to go it alone.

Perfect enough to have no regrets, instead feel joy,

A perfect friendship while you were more than "just a boy".

Imperfect enough to not regret what could have been,

Glad for what we never lost, and for the friendship that we win.

Gossamer Strings

Paint a seashore with sand and debris From all things that fade away.

Songs that echo from the past, All the words we didn't say.

Colours drained by the sinking sun On the wallpaper of our dreams.

Storied tapestries woven through, Cut time unraveling at the seams.

A steady rhythm pulses through Until rejoining the beat of the Earth.

Tears must dry to the time we die From the moment of frigid birth.

Noone mourns a single morning For the dew that disappears.

Short life of arachnia goes by While her web may stay for years

Collecting dust in cornered caves Until it's pulled by a passerby.

This woven tale gone gossamer, But she isn't there to cry.

Only the wind that carries it away Will remember its frail face.

But shares it all in cirrus clouds In memorandum of the silky grace.

Imagine words that would be revealed If tongues were gifted to trees?

But then where would we go when we outgrow If there were no more mysteries?

Watch visioned clouds to decipher Stories only the sky will know.

So as you walk remember to take in What only a moment will show.

Beautiful on the outside

Deep conversations are great, but I also like it when people feel comfortable asking sincere, normal questions even if it's flippant, without worrying about being judged.

FAQ: Based on looks, is there an ethnicity you think is most beautiful as a group?
A: Yes, Tamil
     All my Tamil friends throughout life have also happened to be exceptionally good-natured people which may have impacted my opinions, but I also think objectively each one of is beautiful inside and out.
     Whenever I've told any of them this they've gotten super bashful, so to avoid any embarrassment, even though I'm finally publishing this FAQ on April 16, 2018 let's hide this among old archives.
     This thought was actually first expressed sometime around Feb 2015 to the first girl who asked me this... and guess what? She happens to be Tamil, and one of the sweetest people I know so she deserved to hear it so I'm so happy that she was the first to ask.