PUTTING MY MONEY WHERE MY MOUTH IS

When you use the work of another as a starting point, it is amazing how quickly what you are working on becomes your own.

I get great enjoyment and inspiration from the paintings and drawings of Amy Sillman.

Type Amy Sillman into Google Images.

I’m not sure how her work came to my attention. Yet I find in her work a great synthesis of geometric forms, organic integration, wonderful use of line and always colorful.

Using Ms. Sillman’s work as an example, I typically look at a wide range of her drawings and paintings using Google Images until something hits me. Then I take the basic geometry of her work and draw on my paper some type of three dimensional version based on the composition of her two dimensional composition. I might use the basic geometry of her entire work. Or I might find a part of her drawing particularly interesting.

The drawing at the top of this page is one of my transparent studies based on this method. My drawing was done in February of this year. So the only reason that I know that I was looking at Amy Sillman’s work is that I wrote her name on the drawing. And as I was preparing this post, I tried to go back thru the online images of her work to find exactly what I was looking at. And I could not find her drawing that inspired me. Nothing that I saw looked familiar at all. Which only goes to show what I said at the top of this page; ownership comes very quickly.

Now, to take this one step further. Here in the office I was recently working up some forms for a new residence. So I was looking back thru my drawings to see if any of them might fit the basic program; single story, long south exposure, etc.

The drawing at the top of the page was one that caught my eye. And because it was drawn transparently, the entire form was resolved. Which permitted me sufficient information to quickly build this massing model, photo below.

Based on my transparent drawing, I drew a few simple lines on the chipboard, started cutting, and in about 30-45 minutes I had this model. And this model was part of my presentation to actual clients. This is a form that I would not have been able to generate by any other method. And it yielded for me a unique form.

Will it get built?  No.  Another form was selected.  Did the form fit the program?  Yes.  Would it be worth building?  Yes, after the typical design development process turned it into a problem solving building.  Are most buildings that get built worth building?  We all know the answer to that.

So there you have it folks. I’m putting my money where my mouth is. This is how I, for one, use the principals and methods of Transparent Drawing in my real architectural life. I use the work of others as inspiration. I make a Transparent Drawing. I build a massing model from my Transparent Drawing. My clients enjoy the work. And I get paid.