Cover Image Day H, *The things You Told Me Today* (2014)

Focus on a particular drawing(s). Weave together thoughts on drawing as a process and an outcome…..End with thoughts about hopes for your future relationship with drawing.

Here is a series of drawings by Heather Day.

The drawings are made using pastels, pencil, and acrylic pouring paint. But once on the paper the mediums embody the properties of their subjects.

They are created outside, on site, which influences the spontaneity of the mark making.

The exposure to the elements informs the others senses present – sounds, stillness, wind, rushing water, weather, temperature, heaviness or lightness of the atmosphere.

Fig.1 Day H, *Making My Way To Canada* (2016)

The drawings break the views down into their raw elements, creating a language that narrates the scene. With a few compositional gestures I can feel what it’s like to be in that place at that time.

Fig.2 Day H, *Making My Way To Canada* (2016)

I delight at the contrast of mark making, and even without the prerequisite of a photo or title, these drawings would still arouse a sense of landscape. Invoking memories of familiar patterns and environmental tapestries.

They actualise in abstract form the essence of the panoramas.

Fig.3 Day H, *New Drawings From Ireland* (2016)

My drawing has systematically had a prescriptive nature. I’ve used it as the means to map out an idea.

I have drawn in both an abstract and realist style, and found that the two styles compliment each other. The expressive nature of abstraction gives life to academic practice, and the traditional skills bring quality to abstract work.

I feel overwhelmed when I want to draw. There is so much information to take in, and senses to process. The act of drawing usually brings clarity and control. But, I would like to evolve the more spirited methods, and use the challenging aspects that I encounter to investigate the subject.

This process would be a reverse of how I would usually approach a project. Instead of seeking control I would start by sourcing the raw elements in an unconstrained way, and then allow them to instruct the final piece, be it abstract or realist.

List of Images

Cover Image Day, H. (2014) The Things You Told Me Today. [Mixed media on canvas] At:https://design-milk.com/modern-paintings-heather-day/(Accessed 25/07/2023).

Fig.1 Day, H. (2016) Making my way to Canada. [sketch] At: https://heatherday.com/news/2016/12/5/solo-trip-to-alberta-canada(Accessed 25/07/2023).

Fig.2 Day, H. (2016) Making my way to Canada. [sketch] At: https://heatherday.com/news/2016/12/5/solo-trip-to-alberta-canada(Accessed 25/07/2023).

Fig.3 Day, H. (2016) New drawings from Ireland. [sketch] At: https://heatherday.com/news/2016/12/16/the-wild-atlantic-way-drawings-from-ireland (Accessed 25/07/2023).