I was mostly pleased with how my first batch of fluid drawings turned out but I felt that I wanted to experiment with this technique a little more. I wanted to try a runnier mix of paint to see how it changed the process. I also wanted to see how the process was changed by a different time of day, with a different mind set. The time I picked to create my new fluid drawings was late in the evening, just before bed. I thought this might be a therapeutic task for me to do before sleep. I chose to use black, watered-down acrylic on white paper, partly because I thought it appropriate for expressing the time of day that I had chosen (as darkness makes everything seem monochrome) but also partly out of necessity. The lighting was quite dim at this time of day and I thought it would be easier to see and work in black and white.

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Interestingly, the first fluid drawing I produced (as seen above) has a lot of energy which I did not expect to be present at that time of day. I made a lot of bold, angry, crescent-shaped strokes initially. These turned into looping, wavy strokes. This looks a little like hair but messy hair and maybe represents me. This could represent me getting in a bit of a stressed state. I think the energy and anger that is present in this drawing comes from the fact that I could hear loud noise from an adjoining room to where I was drawing. This noise was upsetting me and preventing me from relaxing before bed. This stress has obviously come out here. Once finished I hung this drawing up to see if it dripped (which it did a bit).

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The next painting (as seen above) is more controlled and you can see that I have calmed down a lot by the time I get to the second drawing (maybe partly because expressing this anger was therapeutic). In this, the theme of crescent shapes continues and this is clearly a reference to the moon. I am fascinated by space and love to look out at the moon. I find it relaxing to look out into the night sky and see how small we are. I feel that it puts things into perspective for me. I applied a lot of runny paint to this drawing so hung it up to let it drip.

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The last drawing I made (as seen above) is much more flowing and gentle than the others. It is more like the first group of fluid drawings I created. The crescent shape here has turned into marks that look like hair, feathers or a nest and reminds me of the crows that visit my garden. It makes me think of a cosy nest at night; keeping the crows safe and warm. Here I am starting to feel sleepy and in need of my warm nest.

Dry Media

I decided to add dry media to just two of these drawings. Having learned from my mistakes previously, I decided I liked the second drawing enough to know that it is complete and needs no further additions.

I added to the first and third drawings with chalk as I was interested in using a natural material with a different, rougher texture. I added shapes that look like star constellations to both drawings. These are not constellations that we already know but imaginary constellations that may exist somewhere far away in a different part of the universe. This is my sleepy imagination transporting me to a different part of the universe and imagining what other life might be out there.

I have noticed in retrospect that the dry media I chose is reminiscent of childhood and school. This is an interesting choice as I do feel a child-like wonder when I think about space or learn about some new discovery that scientists have made about our solar system. I think, therefore, this dry media is even more appropriate for the task than I first realised.

Self Assessment

I am pleased with how these turned out; in particular the second drawing I created. Not only do I like the way it dripped but I feel that I made the right call in not adding dry media to it. This shows that I learnt from my previous mistake and was able to identify when the drawing was complete.

I like the use of dry media on the third drawing as it adds an interesting element to it and stands out well. Disappointingly, as the first drawing is so busy already it is hard to see the dry media on it. This is a shame but I don’t think it ruins it, I just think maybe a different choice of material may have worked better.

I like these drawings as a set and I think one of the most interesting things about them is how they progress. The transition from stressed, angry mark making to calm, flowing strokes can be seen in these drawings. You can see that this process obviously helps calm me down and is very therapeutic for me.