why make marks?

My books are packed in boxes, so I have no easy access to Malraux’s Voices of Silence; I’m left to my own speculation. So when, and maybe more importantly why, did early man start to make marks? Shamanism is important, and the cave paintings in Europe are clear milestones, but before that, someone discovered they could make marks. Was it the personal sense of making that pushed them on or was there a witness and reaction to the mark or the act of marking that somehow made us do it more? Whoever painted the beasts at Lascaux must have come from a tradition of craft. Was there a need among early hunters to record, to worship, or to build teams? Were paintings a purposefully developed solution? Or did a vision and skill exist that was called into use as an application arose?

I guess what I’m really looking for is a handle on understanding my own mark making. What ever that has developed in my behavior patterns has its roots in something that feels primal. Dragging a soft pencil across a piece of clean toothsome paper feels good. Building tones and controlling the line satisfies something in me. Experimenting is fulfilling whether the act brings about a desired result or not. If someone sees the result, everything changes. If they watch the act, it causes other changes. If there’s a performance or a communication, there’s outside expectation to be addressed. That’s fine, and sometime necessary. But what about my primal intent?

What if it came about as an early way to refocus the consciousness outside of the self? I disappear when I draw. There’s a definite flow; a fugue state. I’ve read artists who call painting a religion; others claim it’s a deeply spiritual activity. They’re the words we have now. Before we had religion, could making marks have been early man’s first meditation? The first attempts to touch something larger?

I think I need to dig out that Malraux. And go out in the woods and make some marks. Clearly, working for anyone other than me would be wrong for now.

Mouse in Millheim 03

Mouse at the counter in the inn cafe, getting room key.

This took a long time to stage, getting the lighting the way I want it, showing an unmistakable Inglebean connection. I want it to be late, inside a wall, comfortable… I still might tweak it. The chandelier may be confusing if you’ve never been to the Inn: a hunter’s trophy lamp- tacky, maybe, but a bit of america I think.

Mouse in Millheim 02

Mouse pauses before entering the Inn, and is observed by a young rat or mouse with two pet crickets.

This took a while. I tried a variety of layouts looking for something that placed the scene in Millheim and let me show the characters. After nine false starts, I set up the perspective to give a nice shot down the main street. It showed the curving hill leading out of Millheim, a few more buildings on the left, and the “tram” passing under the traffic light in the distance. At first I thought including the tram was a good way to move through the scenes, but then I started thinking that even though it advances the story in my head, if I want others to be able to write and rearrange things it should be a tad more open ended. Initial layout of the main drawing with different perspective. So, I may regret that. The broad shot, even in a vertical lay out, is good for placing things and setting the stage. The final view has the advantage of its open-ended-ness, certainly, but lets me push in closer to the actors. I’ll get some broad shots in later.

I’m also thinking that as the story moves forward, shots are going to need to relate to each other. Maybe that’s okay. To generate images, I need to have my own coherence and logic in place. There’s no telling how some one else would arrange, relate, or even include the steps I show when they write their own story.

new stuff

Cartoon drawing of a sock monkey using a camera.

I’m still feeling my way through this. This is a drawing of one of the characters in my current facebook header. I just finished several, and it was handy. I’m thinking that the blog will be a good spot for new work, but I currently lack a way to convert hardcopy work to digital or digital work to hardcopy. This is something I drew in Photoshop and lets me test how it’s going to work.

Plus, it lets me get rid of the old and bring in the new. Happy 2013.