Ballpoint pen drawing for porcelain sketch.

Forest Island. Ballpoint pen drawing.

Another day at home, recovering. I thought I would keep myself busy with another attempt at the Forest Island. Very kitch indeed, but all the reference you need, when doing a porcelain hand built sketch. The thunderbolt and lightning symbols are weak formally and the overall tonal qualities are too similar. It will have to do, unless my creative urge gets the better of me, before I return to the studio.

Forest Island. Ballpoint pen drawing for porcelain sketch.

Being sick, with the flu, has it's advantages; nothing better than to stay at home, ensure you are warmly dressed, take the necessary drugs, and get down to some art therapy. That is, if you don't have a splitting headache and or feeling too drowsy from the drugs that you cant see the wood for the trees, excuse the pun. Well I was up to it and got stuck into it, a drawing I wanted to do for sometime now. What made matters worse, yesterday was the first day of the winter recess. I was planning to spent sometime in the studio, making more rats, however that was not to be. Instead, to boost my confidence, not to feel too sorry for my self, I decided to embark on this drawing. Inspired by the blog entry on Skronked, post entry entitled Wild thing I made the following series of drawings for a porcelain sketch, one of three for my exhibition. One is already completed, whilst the drawing of the second piece, featured on a previous post entry.

Forest Island. Ballpoint pen drawing for porcelain sketch, second phase.

Symbolism

The tree's leaves are drawn to represent clouds and will have lightning bolts, axes and hammer heads protruding from it. Lightning is the symbol (JC Coooper Encyclopedia of Symbols) of spiritual illumination; enlightenment; revelation; the decent of power; sudden realisation of the truth cutting across time and space, the Eternal Now; the destruction of ignorance; fecundation, nutrition,; the massculine power. Lightning, like the urays, is regarded as both fertilizing and destructive, also like the lance of Achilles which could both heal and wound. It is associated with all storm and thunder gods and is symbolised by the zig-zag, trident, axe (the sky axe) hammer, thunder bolt, arrow and bird of prey. In Hinduism "in the thunder flash is truth".

Forest Island. Ballpoint pen drawing for porcelain sketch, first phase.