Tendencies

Tendencies. Tendencies we all have that are good to learn and understand ourselves better so we know how we can better ourselves in the whole working together—whether it is with a group of people, at work, or just seeing the whole picture put together in our art and among all artists. We each have a part. Tendencies can be good, and can get in the way, so it is good to study ourselves to know how we work.

I took a figure sculpting class at the Atelier I studied, and when the instructor came around to me for critique, he pointed out my figure was very lean. Now, why was my figure too lean, I asked myself later. Comparing my tendencies in my drawing and my thought process and so forth, I am very linear. I love lines! It may not be the full answer to this issue, but it was an eye opener to understanding what I love, and how it can be a strength or weakness. —Back to the sculpture, my instructor grabbed a ball clay and slapped it on the back of my figure. He grabbed some more and did this a few times to show me (and while the other side still needed some!) that I was far too skinny. It is this “mass” thinking I needed to work on. He told me to “push my boundaries and put on more than I think, it is usually right. If you go too far, you will know it”. I have found that very true! We tend to uplay things in our heads and so it seems like too much. Well, it needs to corelate with our actions. Even in drawing, I have found that if I push it “just a little” more, it is more accurate. The value that is pushed just a little darker, or the line that is pushed a little more angled in the gesture, anything really. Thinking of this as I have a preconceived notion, if I just look for the first time, I come further away from my tendencies and closer to understanding better what is before me. And it is very uncomfortable at first! You need to understand this, and that it does not mean if you are uncomfortable then you have gone too far. Change is uncomfortable. You will know when you go too far. Like stretching, you feel the strain so you know are going further and getting somewhere. If you go too far, you will certainly pull a muscle, and that you definitely will know!