Drawing on the Hidden Keys of Perception

Accentuate the Positive

A workshop for designers, calligraphers, letterform artists and students of Conscious Deliberate Awareness
2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

Introduction: Modes of Perception

e eye doesnt see black on the page, it sees the white. Ieuan Rees
e Right Brain or R-mode provides the 'negative' space against which thought (Left Brain or L-mode) marks time, sequence and order. is is the quiet space, the empty vessel which holds the mind, yet is the mind. It is the complementary, the ground on which the gure plays, yet is also primary, for without it, thought itself could not exist, nor could we perceive form without its context. We can think of L-mode as Logical and Linear, while R-mode is Reective, Receptive spacial and immediate. Meditation, Music, Art, Sex, Exhaustion, Trauma, 'Psychoactives' all are paths to R-mode awareness, yet it's eeting. Betty Edwards, as with all good Zen teachers, developed practices designed to quiet really to bore or stun the chattering, 'rational,' sequential, symbolic mind, allowing the intuitive perceptual mind to come forward. e conscious recognition of entering R-mode is as a light turning on! In fact, enlightenment is a term used for the attainment of that continuous conscious state, when both R & L modes are fully engaged! Drawing (letterforms) is as good a practice as any! Our approach will be to inform the 'rational' mind, but to prefer the pattern-recognizing, synthesizing, relationshipappreciating mode of the 'empty' mind, which takes what the eye oers without judgement, in order to see 'negative' space as something real and substantial. To perceive the substance of emptiness.

Day One Drawing on Emptiness

What do you see?

Practicum : Day One Drawing as a physical activity, making deliberate marks and expressive marks Paper Bag Studies :e haptic sense feeling our way to spatial relationships, haptic : of or relating to the sense of touch, in particular relating to the perception and manipulation of objects using the senses of touch and proprioception (awareness of the position of the body and its parts) Viewnder studies with the Oak Leaf; of a Wood Type Letter Heuristic Studies of rules and patterns in letterform construction heuristic : enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves : a hands-on or interactive heuristic approach to learning. Jonathon Hoeer's exercise in 'tweening' forms between the 'known' letters Sketching and renement, iterative process in the "Letters Mingle Souls" design Mac demo? Finish Day One with a review of progress and perspectives.

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

Betty Edwards: Strategies for Perception, Saturation

Perceive the Edges Perceive the Negative Spaces Perceive the Relationships and Proportions Perceive the Lights and Shadows Perceive the Gestalt e ingness of the ing. Edge is a shared boundary - Liminal Study of edges, boundaries - Scribble / string studies Pure Contour Drawing, ve minutes of the wrinkles in the hand. Toning the paper w/graphite Sighting has to do with constants: Reason, Ratios and Relationships St. omas Aquinas: e requirements for BeautyIntegritas, Consonantia, Quidditas (Wholeness, Harmony & Essense) What is the hardest letter to draw? To see? Which is harder, drawing or seeing? Haptic (touch, fasten) perception of negative space. [Wood Type Exercise Large Small ] Heuristic (self-discovered) perception of shape & space [Non-Alphabetic Symbols ( Jon. Hoeers exercises)] Drawing for Design Progressive Renement, Iterative Process [pin-marks for registration, overlay] Using the computer for renement Hidden sources of problems, kinks in curves, vector entrance & exit

Day 2 Applied Perceptions of Space

If negative spaces are given equal importance to the postive forms, all parts of the drawing seem interesting and all work togerher to create a unied image. If, on the other hand, the focus is almost entirely on the positive forms, the drawing may seem uninteresting and disunied even boring no matter how beautifully rendered the positive form may be. Betty Edwards (e New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, p120) Practicum : Day Two Putting esh on the bones or wrapping the stone? Watercolor Postcards Calligraphic Writing Letterform Design Ann Hechles Aspects of Language : Sound panel, etc. (http://vads.ahds.ac.uk/learning/csc/hechle/essay.html) Platonic Ideals enter the Material World e Eye, the Mind, the Hand, the Heart.

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

Bibliography
e best bet for nding these books is online. Try searching for the ISBN number at abe.com or amazon.com

Books
Betty Edwards Drawing on the Artist Within: A Guide to Innovation, Invention, Imagination and Creativity (Simon & Schuster ISBN: 0671493868 / 0-671-49386-8) Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (ISBN: 0874770882 / 0-87477-088-2) Color by Betty Edwards: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors (ISBN: 1585422193 / 1-58542-219-3) Nicolette Grey Lettering as Drawing ISBN 0800847296 Micheal Harvey Creative Lettering : Drawing and Design ISBN 0-8008-1997-7 (Taplinger)

Websites
Ann Hechle http://vads.ahds.ac.uk/learning/csc/hechle/essay.html Peter Fraterdeus http://fraterdeus.com/lettering http://semiotx.com/ is document: http://slowprint.com/dbqba/accentuate/ Ieuan Rees http://www.ieuanreeslettering.co.uk/ Lao Tzu Tao te Ching http://www.terebess.hu/english/tao/gia.html Jonathon Hoeer Introduction to Typeface Design 110 http://typophile.com/courses/type110intro.swf

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

Supply List
is is a list of important tools and materials. Most will be in your toolbox already. Pencils, soft, medium and hard ie: 3B HB 2H 4H Technical Drawing Pens size 0 or 00 (.35 or .30 mm) (the higher priced rellable pens can be used with subtle colors...) with appropriate inks. Watercolor inks (light-blue, purple) for rellable pens. Black waterproof ber pens Rapidograph or Mars pens or equivalent high-qualityber tipped like Zig Millenium) http://www.dickblick.com/products/staedtler-mars-technical-drawing-pen-set/ http://www.dickblick.com/products/koh-i-noor-rapidosketch-pen-set/ http://www.dickblick.com/products/artline-drawing-pens/ (ber) Long-hair sable 'pencils' (lettering brushes) # 3, #5 http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-sceptre-gold-designer-round-series-202/ "one-stroke" at lettering brush 1/2 inch http://www.dickblick.com/products/robert-simmons-white-sable-one-stroke-series-721/ kneaded rubber eraser & white plastic eraser (Mars, etc) paper: 11x14 (or larger) pad drafting vellum (18x24 can be divided to 12x18 which is ne) http://www.dickblick.com/products/bienfang-graphics-360-marker-paper/ http://www.dickblick.com/products/clearprint-1000h-drafting-vellum/ paper: cold-press watercolor block 6x9 http://www.dickblick.com/products/canson-montval-watercolor-blocks/ drafting tape : http://www.dickblick.com/products/drafting-tape/ watercolors, travel/pan set & small watercolor palette & small squat bottle for rinsing brushes, etc http://www.dickblick.com/products/raphael-watercolor-travel-set/ http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-cotman-watercolor-pan-sets magnier for looking at small stu up close Xacto or single-edge razor blades for sharpening pencils (no 'pencil sharpeners' please!) 12" 30-60-90 drafting triangle & small t-square, drafting board, etc 12-18 inches of white packing twine / nylon cord MacBook (or whatever, ok! :-) with Adobe Illustrator and Wacom drawing tablet Aviary.com account : this web-based graphics tool application may be VERY useful to those who don't have access to Adobe's professional tools). Sign up for a free account and check it out... Also, Inkscape, an open-source vector drawing tool. Of course, theres nothing like the real thing. If youre doing serious or professional work, Adobe Illustrator is de rigueur.

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

Excerpt from Drawing on the Artist Within : Betty Edwards

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

Excerpt from Drawing on the Artist Within : Betty Edwards

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

Excerpt from Drawing on the Artist Within : Betty Edwards

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

Excerpt from Drawing on the Artist Within : Betty Edwards

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

Excerpt from Drawing on the Artist Within : Betty Edwards

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

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Excerpt from Creative Lettering : Michael Harvey

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

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Excerpt from Creative Lettering : Michael Harvey

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

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Excerpt from Creative Lettering : Michael Harvey

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

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Excerpt from Creative Lettering : Michael Harvey

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

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Thirty spokes share the wheels hub; It is the center hole that makes it useful. Shape clay into a vessel; It is the space within that makes it useful. Cut doors and windows for a room; It is the holes which make it useful. Therefore benefit comes from what is there; Usefulness from what is not there. Tao te Ching (11)
Translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English, Vintage Books, 1989

Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

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Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

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Accentuate the Postitive : Seminar 2009 Peter Fraterdeus / peterf@semiotx.com / slowprint.com

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