AUTOMATIC FORM 2

Automatic Form was introduced a few pages ago. That page also touched on historical precedents, which include automatic writing, automatic drawing, etc. I now want to break this down by taking a closer look at the four steps of Automatic Form, which are called Shape, Projection, Assimilation, and Resolution. And I want to say that this four step process is merely what I landed on. I have every confidence that there many, many variations on this theme which can be used for Automatic Form.

TOP LEFT – SHAPE: From a graphic that I happened to run across and was intrigued by, I drew a basic shape. I used a Pentel Arts Color Brush, which is a water soluble felt tip pen. Notice that this is a shape, rather than a form. I then applied a light wash around the shape with the goal of an emphasis of the basic outline.

TOP RIGHT – PROJECTION: Then, with a permanent blue felt tip pen, such as the Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen, I projected some lines which might then suggest form. This step is nearly identical to Form Projection. Some of the lines followed the first outline and some of them did not. Another term for this step might be armature, as this is the first step in dimensionality. As this is only a first move toward form, just go with what you feel.

BOTTOM RIGHT – ASSIMILATION: Using the basic lines drawn from the first two steps, I then started to fill in between them. In this step, I was starting to knowledge holistic forms. Some of the lines that I drew supported this holism. Some of the lines did not. Yet as you draw, some basic forms will start to form on your paper. The lines will start to resonate and reinforce each other: when that happens, forms will take shape. There is no wrong line. Most of the lines were drawn with a permanent thin line felt tip pen, such as the Sakura Pigma Micron.

BOTTOM LEFT – RESOLUTION: The application of wash tones provides the final rationalization. These tones could be either watercolor or acrylic ink. Some of the tones picked up the water solubility of some of the lines. With the dense line work, you will have great flexibility on where your tones will be applied. My goal for this final step was to produce as rationalized a form that I could, while still keeping the energy and freedom that is implicit in this mode.

As I said above, this is simply what I did. Your approach will likely be very different. You might utilize a more flowing line. All of the lines that you apply might be water soluble. You might draw with a conte pencil. You might elect to not move, in this drawing, toward holistic forms. It does not matter. What does matter is that a fresh and exciting form was created more or less automatically. From a very simple graphic, a multi level / layer knowledge set was produced on the paper.

This holistic form is unexpected. The form is as free as it can be from cultural barriers. It is as free as it can be from your own personal barriers. The result is emergent: this can be an end state or serve as a fresh starting point.

“…what if the drawings we create were less predictable, less deterministic and less stable? Could the act of drawing be elevated to something occupiable, emergent and participatory – existing with a temporal as well as a spatial flesh? Can a drawing, through indeterminacy and orchestrated chance, trigger a more engaged form of perception and, as a result, provoke a more active occupation?”

Andrew Walker. Drawing Futures. p 63.