I've been reading about circle dancing and have been surprised to find so much history and meaning to it.
"The circle in a symbol for unity, for community"
"The energy in the dance bring up emotions that may have been blocked"
(Is drawing a form of dancing?)
" Growing organically out of culture, land and life experiences of people"
(Treading old ground, connecting with it, but also with our past. People do this today but our ancestors did also).
I had a strong instinct today that I needed to do some circle mark making again to see what came from it. I looked at key symbols and shapes behind circle dancing and used these to inform how I applied the paint. It was almost like a dance!
I made some notes as I went along:
I added these lines and instantly felt it took on too much of a geometric quality.
So I tried to soften and blur them with a wash. While the softer blurring worked quite well and showed some interesting layers - I still don't think the angular quality is right. I definitely feel drawn to more fluid and softs forms that appear to collide naturally.
I am
I wanted to try and define some of these circles, and connect with the symbolism of mandalas and how their meditative significance. I think I made the lines a bit too thick and black, and I don't really like how the grain of the watercolour paper has been picked up by the charcoal.
I think this one worked the best out the lot today. I think the balance of the different circles works quite well. I've tried to capture a feeling of movement in a circle and the pale grey lines are supposed to represent people moving together around a space, with the circular forms generally communicating a sense of energy and flow.
Having worked largely in a way that allows the paint to dictate the form (albeit with reference images to refer to) - I got to a point with them when I think "shall I go in with some pencil or charcoal now?"
I look at them and know that something more is needed but I don't feel sure what it is. I want to create lots of interesting layers - a feeling of repetition and revisiting. I think I'll try some much larger sketchy pieces and see if it helps to step away from the watercolour paper (I'm often conscious of the cost of this paper and that I don't want to waste too much of it).