"Why do painters like those drips
so much?"
This is the question I've heard twice from my good
friend Julia
Burr in the last couple of months. And after thinking
about it I've got an answer for her.
Drips function as line. A drip can occur individually
and function as an object. But drips can come in groups as well
and create a shape or shaded area much like a set of hatched
lines are used traditionally in drawing and printmaking.
 And
finally, drips can come in groups off the edge of a stroke
laid across the contour of another shape which shares the same
contour,
as shapes c. and d. do in the diagram of the today's work in
progress. The white wedge of drips overlapping the upper right
edge of the
hanging
stone
shape (d)
help
to create
a spatial ambiguity. Without these particular drips the round,
dark shape of the stone (d) dominates the space and creates
an unyielding figure-ground relationship.
Further, shapes a, b and c all share the contour
line of the hanging linear shape, yet the combined lines of strokes
help to keep the space from being static and predetermined. Strokes
and drips in shapes b and c are vertical in opposition to the
horizontal marks in shape a. Further, the combined vertical lines
in shapes
b and c create a slight movement and added weight pushing down
on shape d which is met and buffered by shape e.
But after this long-winded and terribly academic
answer to a question I felt I couldn't answer with any confidence
before, I have to say that drips just feel good to make. And
intuition also plays a large part in deciding whether they
live or die once committed to the canvas. I can draw my diagrams,
intellectualize my motivations as much as possible, but the final
word is my overall feeling about the work. So if it doesn't feel
right, it dies. Be it a drip, a line, a shape, a color.
And my thanks to Julia for turning my mind to this
design problem. I hope you find satisfaction in this answer. |
