Monkeys: slow and fast

Ah yes, the monkey.  To be clear on what I'm talking about, check out Danny Gregory's short piece today--he's writing a book on what he calls "the monkey on our backs" when it comes to doing art.  He includes a very brief illustration of his own monkey at work in the post. 

In my case, it's monkeys, plural.  I appear to have several of them.  I don't think I'm that unusual. 

So here are two pieces of my Sketchbook Skool (SBS) assignment for last week, called "Fast and Slow."  The assignment was:  pick something reasonably complex, really LOOK at it and, using watercolor and a big brush, do a FAST DRAWING in one minute or less.  Just a fast gesture to get the overall picture. 

Can I tell you how long I put this off, how many excuses I made not to try it?  I couldn't find my watercolors.  I was too tired.  I needed to do other things I was responsible for.  I wanted to finish the library book that was due in just a few days (actually I had two more weeks).  And on and on.  Monkey-monkey-monkey.  Ugh.

I used a pine cone for a model, so here's my fast drawing.

After doing that, I went out and ran some errands to let the paint dry, then came back and did the slow version, using a brown micron pen and a black micron pen to create a sketch (on top of the watercolor) where I really looked at the pine cone and tried just to record what I could see.  I lost track of time so have no idea how long this took but am guessing 30-45 minutes.

The outcome, while not a masterpiece, was really fun and I rather like it.  The process was also fun.  I'm not quite sure I've grasped the concept of why we did this...I am thinking that it's all about seeing "fast," and then really moving in and seeing "slow," and how both processes can add to really being able to see the object.  Once we learn to see it, then drawing it becomes simply a process of copying.  Ok, that makes it sound boring, which it isn't--copying very precisely takes one completely out of one's thinking mind and is ridiculously satisfying.  It's anything but boring.

Here are photos of:  1) the real pine cone; 2) the "fast" watercolor; 3) the "slow" sketch.

This is only my second try at doing a pine cone.  Curiously, I tried doing the exact same thing in a long-ago watercolor class that I took, a three-hour one-shot class.  I was horrified by the result, which I was absolutely certain looked more like a turd that a pine cone.  I somehow managed NOT to throw it out, though (a fact I can't explain to this day, because I remember being really embarrassed that I had apparently drawn a turd).  Years later I found it in an old journal and was really surprised to see that it looked like...a pine cone!  And was actually quite good.  (It's possible it resembles both pine cone AND turd, but who cares)  If I can find it, I'll try to get a picture and post it in here.

That's one time the monkey managed to utterly convince me that I'd never learn to draw.  I am so thankful that I kept that old sketch, and could look at it more objectively years later.  Monkey mind, monkey mind--something most of us need to firmly ignore when we try to create.  So right now, I'm going to go off and do a bit of mindfulness meditation, which always helps with monkeys, slow or fast.