Free range vs. Fenced in

Sometimes I want to colour within the lines. At those times, I say give me a colouring book full of professionally penned drawings of exceedingly perfect images the way I either expect to see them or in ways I could never have imagined them myself. I want to participate in fill in the tiny spaces cordoned off by bold dark lines. I bump up against those boundaries outlining and detailing sailing boats, clowns, flowers with the tip of my marker and am content to be confined by those elegant fences and cul de sacs. With already drawn pictures, I know where to stop and start. I shut a part of my brain off and am pleased by the process of giving over of creative control. My task is singular. I fill in the prescribed blank spaces with colours that suit this vision of a fish or a bowl of fruit or a butterfly. I can choose to just see one space at a time and not all the other spaces they are connected to. Sometimes I get an urge to make the grass green blue and the sky green in these mass produced pictures, but when I am in a mood for colouring books, I 'd rather stick to what is expected. However, it is also a perfect opportunity to see what silver hair might look like or green eyelashes.

Image from: prettylittlethings.typepad.com

There are other times when I want to have a blank page in front of me and a range of my favourite coloured markers. When I get an itch to draw, even the edge of the page is no boundary. I want to let the marker point lead the way and guide my ideas onto the page. I want to be surprised by what comes out a little bit. I want to be open to the vagaries of the pen. Something inevitably changes between when I imagine it and when I produce it.

Today I am in a drawing mood, how about you?

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