On Friday, we did another five-minute drawing session. This time we let Alden pick the topic, and she chose “painting.” We feverishly scratched, scrawled, and painted as the brief allotted moments ticked away, Alden, Robbi, Tilly, Alden and me. Actually, Alden made a few halfhearted swipes of the pencil and then decided that five-minute drawing wasn’t her cup of tea. I made an awful drawing that I honestly can’t find at the moment (though my inability to locate it is truly your gain). Robbi, working on her iPad, came up with this.
Robbi + iPad painting program = mood. It’s fun to see her work with big, dark blocks of color when her usual approach is to float her subjects in white space. I love the intensity of that red, leaping up like a fire. And, of course, I love the combination of image and word even when the word in question is not my own.
And Tilly, drew this wonderful piece—a painting of Alden painting. And of August hanging from the beam in his bungee bouncer behind her.
I love it. She perfectly captured them both. August’s blank wonder, Alden’s intensity. And hair. Let’s not forget the hair. I love the blue ballpoint and watercolor combo. I love how loose and yet confident it is. I love that August is nothing but a few loose strokes of the pen, but that he’s there, his big round head defined by a simple circle of paint that defied even the lines that endeavored to contain it.
It’s a pleasure to spend my days surrounded by people who can conjure images out of nothing, translating a few simple gestures into expressions of beauty and intrigue.
And all in five minutes.
