Good Morning Sunshine! How about some perspective?

Perspective, within the confines of drawing that is! Not the same as “the state of one’s ideas!” And! Then the next leap is___? When it comes to creating a Shibui Found Image Art where is the perspective in what seems the random chaos of spatters, drips, drops, and runs of the medium across the paper’s surface?

The approach to perspective when it comes to a Shibui Foundation is to study those spatters, drips, drops, and runs of the medium. When you find what is there, and have decided on those that will become the main event of your image, and what will become supporting images; then you can examine the perspective of these possibilities.

First of all, what will these become? When you begin working on the foundation you find something that looks like something. There is no pre-drawn understructure. This is imagined, and so is the perspective. You can say they are built into the foundation using what is there. Your choice and your imagination.

Say you find an animal-like shape. A fish. The only thing lacking is a bit of a fin, and you would need to create an intentional tail. You decide some of the islands of watercolor ( spatters, drips, drops, and runs of medium) can be supporting smaller aquatic things. You can see how to add a horizon so there is the illusion of distance. The main event is just off-center. A blemish reminded you of the eye of a fish, the shape reminded you of a fish. It just needs a bit of intentional line work to make it be a simple line drawing of a fish.

Once you have established the outlines of your image, and after adding a horizon line you have a perspective. You can build that perspective to give the illusion of a vanishing point in the distance or you can have a closer horizon line.

By creating perspective your image will not feel flat, or two-dimensional. There is more you can do to build your image and that is to use shading. Shading will help you turn things into a three-dimensional image. Adding shadows will also add to the illusion. What is in your foreground is bigger and what you want to recede into the background you create smaller. This applies to all the smaller islands of spatters, drips, drops, and runs of the medium.

What you do to these will solve the problems of the Shibui. A run that is turned into a tree or vine can be made to go behind something or run through it. Sometimes you can add to the runs by making stems with leaves or thorns. It is always working with the edges of the watercolor that keeps a Shibuiest true to the nature of the Shibui Found Image Art.

It is a matter of allowing the mind to have its way with what is found; with what something appears to be. The problems solving part is in creating the illusion of what you want what is found to be. If it is to be a flower, then how will you do it? If it is to be a fish? How will you do it? If it is a person? What features will that person have? Will he or she be realistic or fanciful? A huge nose and small eyes? A pointy hat? Is it a butterfly? Is it a group of things or beings? And can they be attached somehow a whole something that is doing some sort of activity?

The more you learn to find in a foundation, the more your mind works; the easier it is to find and create.

Although sometimes it is simply what it is, an abstract. In following the edges of the watercolor and think of simple lines, and design work I can try. Sometimes by using absorbing materials I have texture and often leave it for what it is. It aids the illusion. Sometimes I blot the wet medium and work it to my advantage. Often it helps me to have a deeper perspective, depth within the image that works for the viewers’ advantage point.

Like basic drawing techniques, perspective should be taught by an instructor who has untrained art students. Clients of art therapists would fall into this category. What kind of Shibui Found Image Art will work for such a client will be in part of the insights of the art therapist.

As an example: I learned of a young child who had autism. Getting wet in his or her mind was traumatic! Clothes need to be changed immediately. A therapist would likely help the child with this, and if the child were to overcome the problem of wetness then he or she could work with wet mediums. This said, it is possible that the color may, the act of spatters, drips, drops, and runs of the medium may help the child to get past water and wet mediums. The promise of what comes next in the future.

The art therapist may also show several dry foundations, where the child could have the experience of Shibui using the micron pens and pastel pencils. It may be watercolor pencils a water brush that may aid in working with water to such a child. My point is Shibui is versatile.

Action art takes place through the action of the wet medium, but it could be done with dry powered mediums, things that could be smooched on the surface, and under plastic which is lifted. It is Shibui in this case too. Let say it is several blackberries, and plastic film wrap over, a mallet is introduced. The berries smashed! The film lifted and the chaos and randomness is there! When dried it can be scraped. The point is you set it up, but you did not control what happened when the berries were smashed. That was chaos and randomness.

Such creations are not likely archival. They won’t keep as they will likely mold. However, they can be turned into photos and prints. The use of small berries might be used, and glued onto the surface to enhance what is there. And how do blotting and bleeding come into play? This will be written in another blog.

Best wishes! Pejj

Pejj Nunes

9/26/2021