Last Thursday, as part of After Dark: Rock, Paper, Scissors, the Tinkering Studio hosted a chapter of Sumi Ink Club. The brainchild of Luke Fishbeck and Sarah Rara, collectively known as Lucky Dragons, it is a non-judgmental, all inclusive invitation to build a collaborative art work
We put some ink, a few cups, and a bunch of brushes on a table with a simple sign: “Grab a brush, and pour some ink in a cup.” Pretty soon the wall started filling with wonderful and funny designs. We took tons of pictures, and you check watch a slideshow of the whole event here.
The range of skill varied greatly, but this visitor drew the most impressive piece of the whole evening.
A beautiful cartoonish angel, that resisted unmodified until (almost) the end of the evening.
I loved how additive the painting became. What started as a quick sketch of a panda bear (above) became a flag, and the giant squid next to it because the panda’s dream, and so forth.
Even when the space was crowded, there was individual focus and concentration. The comment I heard most often was that the experience felt “therapeutic”
Some of the referees of the concurrent rock, paper, scissors tournament took a break from reviewing the rules to pain with us!
As blank space dwindled, drawings became smaller and more detailed, but work did not stop.
Some bolder visitors disregarded previously drawn elements and superimposed their designs on top.
Eventually, a great big eye appeared that partially obscured the angel.
Here’s the final finished painting. Click here for a gigantic image!
Of course we timelapsed the whole thing, from this and a different angle. Check it out!
Drawing as a form of tinkering. Really great stuff. (Of course.) – msw