According to Dictionary.com, the word blob means a number of things, many of them inspiring to a lover of words and Rubenesque shapes (like moi). They're wickedly fun to draw and as a woman, feel very familiar.
Compare the blob to the elegant and sophisticated sphere, a "self-controlled" geometric form that gets bouncy only when full of hot air. Blobs, the proletariat, evolve from spheres and morph into something organic.
In a recent expressive drawing class, I asked my students to draw blobs. My courses are given in both French and English simultaneously but sometimes I find translating terms a bit of a challenge. Blob in French via Google Translate or Linguee is goutte or tache, more like "droplet" or "splotch" (interestingly also English synonyms for the word blob), but something gets lost in translation. After some discussion, my students and I arrived at a decent French approximation for the word, "une forme ramollie", a softened form. By the end of class though, everyone was talking about BLOBS because the word sounds so darn funny.
Funny leads to creativity, at least in "Collet Land" it does. As a person who rarely stops at pure observation drawing, I then asked my students to draw "blobs with attitude". In my quirky associative mind, I imagined an army of blobs coming out of the woodwork (paper).
Let it be said that my students are patient souls who tolerate, perhaps mildly enjoy, an instructor who encourages unorthodox interpretations. They made some discoveries but I felt that at least three classes were necessary to really get into the world of blobs. Unfortunately, that wasn't part of the plan for my 8-week course.
I was jealous. I wanted to be in a class where the instructor asked me to draw blobs with attitude. So what did I do? I rushed home after class and headed straight for my studio. I grabbed a 18" x 24" watercolour pad and started drawing furiously in charcoal. During this period of pure blob lunacy, "Standoff" below was born.
As I contemplate the blob, tons of ideas swim in my noggin. Maybe it's time to offer a Wild Blob Workshop Weekend. Then again, maybe not.
Compare the blob to the elegant and sophisticated sphere, a "self-controlled" geometric form that gets bouncy only when full of hot air. Blobs, the proletariat, evolve from spheres and morph into something organic.
The abstracted connecting blobs below conjure up humanity. I am tempted to curl up in a nook and rest for a while. The forms will either hug or consume me. They look especially bulbous in contrast to the rectangular parallelepipeds or cuboids (this terminology from a person who is clueless about geometry), aka the two box-like shapes under the blobs. Contrasts excite me, light vs dark, round vs angular, textured vs smooth, and more.
In a recent expressive drawing class, I asked my students to draw blobs. My courses are given in both French and English simultaneously but sometimes I find translating terms a bit of a challenge. Blob in French via Google Translate or Linguee is goutte or tache, more like "droplet" or "splotch" (interestingly also English synonyms for the word blob), but something gets lost in translation. After some discussion, my students and I arrived at a decent French approximation for the word, "une forme ramollie", a softened form. By the end of class though, everyone was talking about BLOBS because the word sounds so darn funny.
Funny leads to creativity, at least in "Collet Land" it does. As a person who rarely stops at pure observation drawing, I then asked my students to draw "blobs with attitude". In my quirky associative mind, I imagined an army of blobs coming out of the woodwork (paper).
Let it be said that my students are patient souls who tolerate, perhaps mildly enjoy, an instructor who encourages unorthodox interpretations. They made some discoveries but I felt that at least three classes were necessary to really get into the world of blobs. Unfortunately, that wasn't part of the plan for my 8-week course.
I was jealous. I wanted to be in a class where the instructor asked me to draw blobs with attitude. So what did I do? I rushed home after class and headed straight for my studio. I grabbed a 18" x 24" watercolour pad and started drawing furiously in charcoal. During this period of pure blob lunacy, "Standoff" below was born.
As I contemplate the blob, tons of ideas swim in my noggin. Maybe it's time to offer a Wild Blob Workshop Weekend. Then again, maybe not.
Hola Diane, love your blobs, wish I could be with you in class. I'll take this idea (if you don't mind) to my children's art class - ages 4 and up - next Saturday, and see what they explore. The classes are at LCS ( Lake Chapala Society in Ajijic, Mexico) and have been running for 61 years. I've been volunteering there for four years every Saturday.
ReplyDeleteI'm a friend of Susan Pluta, miss her and our fun together making art.
Hi Robina! I've heard so much about you from Susan and Claudine. How I envy you living in Mexico, one of my favourite places. You must be so inspired. By all means, have fun with blobs and let me know how they turn out! Cheers!
DeleteMy mind, blobbing around your blobs, comes up with 'Blobopholy', the philosophy of Blobs, a fluid, globular, gooey, ever-changing view of life. A good antidote to current events.
ReplyDeleteWe need Ghostbuster slime.
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