Tales from the Archive: Drawing a “Big Spirit Dancing”

16 years ago a drawing professor gave me an assignment that would become the center of my entire creative practice.

It became my path.

The assignment was deceptively simple: Create 100, 3-minute drawings without breaks or interruptions.

No questions, no demands, no intentions. Just draw!

It didn’t take long for me to understand the powerful idea behind this exercise:

I learned to draw while trusting the intuition in my movements so images and energy could be revealed. 

I learned to draw fast enough to outsmart myself.

I learned to draw so fast that my fear couldn’t catch up with me. 

I learned to draw with such ferocity that the marks seemed to will themselves into existence.

I learned to draw.

Looking back at my work, I now see the series of drawings called “Big Spirit Dancing” as the starting place for “The Guardian” series.

Like most of my work, “Big Spirit Dancing” sprung from my “warm up” exercise.

By the time I’d reached the 25th drawing my marks had gone from energetic marks to the shape of a dancing spirit.

Somewhere around 40 drawings, I’d created a whirling dynamic figure that seemed to dance and move and radiate a kind of vibrating, radiant energy.

When I made it to 70 drawings, the spirits I was drawing started to remind me of the legends of the Hopi deity Kokopelli and of Shango, the Orisha of justice, dance, and strong, powerful energy. 

By the time I’d reached the 100 mark, a cast of powerful characters had revealed themselves. Each with their own personality and presence.

You can see more of the “Big Spirit”, “The Queen”, “The Dancer”, “The Suitors” and “The Hard-Headed Brothers” on my website. 

This is how I draw.

Big Love,