Le Scale e La Cantina - I (step 2)

9”x12” Smooth Bristol Board,
Pari, Grosseto Italia

As mentioned in the previous step, I began this piece in a radically different way, with a radically different mindset than what I had used in all of my previous pieces. I was able to glean some unique ideas from Ernest W. Watson's book, Creative Perspective for Artists and Illustrators, that allowed me to think in a very different way. To me, Watson advocated an approach that w was more closely aligned with the way I actually experienced the world. Perhaps most interestingly, the methodology which Watson advocated also echoed the approaches of the ancient Geometers that I had outlined several years ago in my book, Analogical Geometry - Book I.

Rather than thinking in terms of laying out lines, Watson advocates for thinking in terms of volumes, lending to what some might consider a more sculptural approach towards drawing and illustration. This was the mindset that I carried through while drawing this entire piece, thinking in terms of volumes and surfaces instead of laying out lines. By adopting this approach, and its associated mentality, I was able to come closer to replicating the organic curves and contours of the buildings in the medieval village of Pari.

Of course, my goal (if one could call it that) was still to pull people into the picture so that people viewing it could feel "pulled into" the piece, instead of viewing from afar as an isolated spectator. I feel that the approach advocated by Watson has helped me immensely. Instead of constructing lines in an attempt to create the illusion of three dimenions, I am now thinking in three dimensions — even though I am still creating my artwork on a two-dimensional surface.

Yours in inspiration,
Michael Weaver