I’ve been working like this for over 30 years. I started out doing figures and got bored with it pretty quickly. Then I began applying this automatic mark making technique in order to “find” my subjects and figures. In the beginning I would render my paintings and drawings to the point where all my initial marks were erased and only the figures remained. Then I got bored with that and began allowing my work retain the initial marks, and figures were only partially visible. That started me on the journey of what I keep making to this day. Figures are not as important to me to find in my work. If they show up, I render then, but if they don’t I just render the marks into beautiful undulating forms that create surreal images that sometimes look like landscapes, microcosms, extremely detailed universes of blobs and swirls, concave and convex shapes. Occasionally I see figures and other imagery, but it’s not as important for me to create recognizable images. I work in graphite, acrylic, oil, mixed media, but one of my favorite media is the humble ballpoint pen. I like the ballpoint pen because I have to commit to the marks I make. I love starting out my work with an automatic watercolor or India ink wash technique that is then rendered using ballpoint pens of various colors or just one color. The final result is always a surprise to me. I never get tired of this process because I never know what the end result is going to look like. For me that is the thrill. Doing figures and landscapes or working from life is always predictable, but this is always a huge surprise.
I discovered I had a crazy talent for drawing only very recently, and already mildly frustrated with just focusing on the things around me, I have been keen to delve deeper and see what lies within, but I just didn't know where to start, or how...or well... what do I DO? Your video is both inspirational, educational and yet so pure and thoughtful. It is quite magical as it has succinctly given me a pathway to try and unlock more levels of wonder inside me, and how to achieve that. Can't thank you enough.
This rediscovery is an amazing experience. I remember you once said your mum was an abstract artist. I believe you imbibed it from childhood and the seed sown is now starting to bear fruit.
I was instantly intrigued by this process and can’t wait to try it. I live for those times when five hours go by and it feels like five minutes. I call it finding my Zen. And sometimes, it’s elusive. Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m very grateful.
I love that you finished the drawing, then switched it to Portrait, and you see it from a totally different perspective! I love to just create without a plan…. This type of creativity generates the best results!
I started doing this years ago! I’ve struggled with aphantasia so developing concepts mentally can be a challenge. I realized that by working with the automatic process I was able to create without so much struggle. Seeing that process with your hyper-realism skills is absolutely wonderful! It’s such a freeing thing to do and it makes me so happy that you’ve found this in your own artistic journey.
I like doing this digitally as well. You can work on the entire page, then zoom in. Those tiny spaces between your original marks can be developed into what feels like a whole new world within the drawing.
You should definitely travel to a historical site, capture some great photos, and explore the deeper meaning behind the place. Then, when you’re back home, make it your own by creating artwork inspired by the experience. It would be a cool way to bring history to life through your perspective! Document it all in a video.
I've been wanting to try this too... Like you said... Make some random marks on a page and then try to see something in it, like you do with clouds... I am always seeing things in the clouds or wood floors, etc... this should work... Thanks Jono!
1. Nice work, I'm glad to find you. 2. When I use fountain pens on thinner paper I often get some bleed through. Then I turn the page and use the bleed through as my automatic starter for another work. If it bleeds back, take a hack at including it into the first drawing.
I have experienced this same intuitive level of understanding that would last for hours when creating a realistic drawing with no references. At first making the drawing was restricted by the references i saw on photographs that i was trying to understand. Then i look at the drawing and suddenly i start to fill in the shading and detail a lot more beautifully than any photo could ever achieve. I have also been more in a flow state possibly because i practise meditation which has removed some of the anxiety ive had thus becoming more present.
I love the timer idea. Another variable could be the music you listen to while working. Wassily Kandinsky was the father of abstraction and a synastete who experienced both music and color simultaneously. Check out his work
Lana Goschat has done a few videos on automatic art a few years ago, I tried it but I was still overthinking it and never really got into that flow state. I think you probably have to do it regularly to get to that stage. Thank you for sharing, not sure I’d be brave enough to share my attempts!
This is great, thank you for sharing this! I love the idea of using a timer! I've stumbled on a similar process, mostly began with graphite, and recently have been experimenting with charcoal, and finding so much more freedom, and learning to get to that strong contrast. I've been doing this digitally, too. I'll make a page of small squares or rectangles, which are masked, so I can draw within them...using different brushes and black and white only, i just start making marks..."seeing" compositions in each square, seeing figures and spaces an stories emerge is quite amazing. I never show them to anyone, just for personal exploration of different mediums and sort of a playful meditation. So inspiring to see you developing the larger pieces, great work!
I started doing this as a young boy when I needed motivation to draw. I'd mark my paper with scribbles and sometimes tears...then I'd smudge shade, erase and everything you did. Tear your paper and draw on the crumpled tear aswell.
You are finding this method at exactly the right time for you, and I’m sure you know that better than anyone. Pick up the Red Book by Carl Jung, and you can see how his practice developed into a psychological philosophy of the mind, the collective unconscious. Of course, he was VERY high when he did most of his experiments. Nice to know you can do it anytime as an artist, right? Jung’s theory was that by using this method (once you achieve a “flow” state as many of us now call it now), you could not only access your subconscious and unconscious mind, but also the “collective unconscious”. In simple terms, he defines it as an unconscious state shared by all humans, containing the “symbols” we all supposedly use to understand our psychic pain and the world around us. In other words, this might be the start of a great adventure! Probably some really good art, as well. 😉💖
I like this kind of working. Your work look great in my opinion. I love black and white anyways and geometric forms mixed with marks. 👍👍👍 Have you used water? Water and charkol or graphit is wonderful to watsh and the effekt after drying is great. Thank you.
![GEEK TIMË [OFFICIAL AUDIO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ry-6RvkH880/mqdefault.jpg)
I’ve been working like this for over 30 years. I started out doing figures and got bored with it pretty quickly. Then I began applying this automatic mark making technique in order to “find” my subjects and figures. In the beginning I would render my paintings and drawings to the point where all my initial marks were erased and only the figures remained. Then I got bored with that and began allowing my work retain the initial marks, and figures were only partially visible. That started me on the journey of what I keep making to this day. Figures are not as important to me to find in my work. If they show up, I render then, but if they don’t I just render the marks into beautiful undulating forms that create surreal images that sometimes look like landscapes, microcosms, extremely detailed universes of blobs and swirls, concave and convex shapes. Occasionally I see figures and other imagery, but it’s not as important for me to create recognizable images. I work in graphite, acrylic, oil, mixed media, but one of my favorite media is the humble ballpoint pen. I like the ballpoint pen because I have to commit to the marks I make. I love starting out my work with an automatic watercolor or India ink wash technique that is then rendered using ballpoint pens of various colors or just one color. The final result is always a surprise to me. I never get tired of this process because I never know what the end result is going to look like. For me that is the thrill. Doing figures and landscapes or working from life is always predictable, but this is always a huge surprise.
Jono is looking like if Albert Einstein was hot dude
He was a womaniser (Einstein)
loved the outcome man, I too found solace in abstract in a world so constricted by rules
I discovered I had a crazy talent for drawing only very recently, and already mildly frustrated with just focusing on the things around me, I have been keen to delve deeper and see what lies within, but I just didn't know where to start, or how...or well... what do I DO? Your video is both inspirational, educational and yet so pure and thoughtful. It is quite magical as it has succinctly given me a pathway to try and unlock more levels of wonder inside me, and how to achieve that. Can't thank you enough.
This rediscovery is an amazing experience. I remember you once said your mum was an abstract artist. I believe you imbibed it from childhood and the seed sown is now starting to bear fruit.
Cant wait to see you and Peter Draws face off in the octagon to settle this once and for all
I was instantly intrigued by this process and can’t wait to try it. I live for those times when five hours go by and it feels like five minutes. I call it finding my Zen. And sometimes, it’s elusive. Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m very grateful.
I actually think it looks pretty good. 👍 To me it feels very organic.
I love that you finished the drawing, then switched it to Portrait, and you see it from a totally different perspective! I love to just create without a plan…. This type of creativity generates the best results!
I have forgotten how much of a joy it becomes to fill a page with no sense of outcome.
I started doing this years ago! I’ve struggled with aphantasia so developing concepts mentally can be a challenge. I realized that by working with the automatic process I was able to create without so much struggle. Seeing that process with your hyper-realism skills is absolutely wonderful! It’s such a freeing thing to do and it makes me so happy that you’ve found this in your own artistic journey.
Brilliant! Automatic drawing was a deep practice in uni.
I like doing this digitally as well. You can work on the entire page, then zoom in. Those tiny spaces between your original marks can be developed into what feels like a whole new world within the drawing.
You should definitely travel to a historical site, capture some great photos, and explore the deeper meaning behind the place. Then, when you’re back home, make it your own by creating artwork inspired by the experience. It would be a cool way to bring history to life through your perspective! Document it all in a video.
ayyyoooooo i was so in the zone and then phone ringing sound effect rushed my heart broooo (at 5:15 )
I've been wanting to try this too... Like you said... Make some random marks on a page and then try to see something in it, like you do with clouds... I am always seeing things in the clouds or wood floors, etc... this should work... Thanks Jono!
1. Nice work, I'm glad to find you.
2. When I use fountain pens on thinner paper I often get some bleed through. Then I turn the page and use the bleed through as my automatic starter for another work. If it bleeds back, take a hack at including it into the first drawing.
I have experienced this same intuitive level of understanding that would last for hours when creating a realistic drawing with no references. At first making the drawing was restricted by the references i saw on photographs that i was trying to understand. Then i look at the drawing and suddenly i start to fill in the shading and detail a lot more beautifully than any photo could ever achieve. I have also been more in a flow state possibly because i practise meditation which has removed some of the anxiety ive had thus becoming more present.
Such a freeing move. They are very appealing. Well done👏💓
It’s great to see how you are blending details with highlights and shadows in abstract art well!! ❤
❤ Thank you for sharing this
This is so freeing Jono!!! I Love it!!!
I love the timer idea. Another variable could be the music you listen to while working. Wassily Kandinsky was the father of abstraction and a synastete who experienced both music and color simultaneously. Check out his work
thanks for sharing! you're helping me redefining the idea of abstract art...
Really inspired by your work
Lana Goschat has done a few videos on automatic art a few years ago, I tried it but I was still overthinking it and never really got into that flow state. I think you probably have to do it regularly to get to that stage. Thank you for sharing, not sure I’d be brave enough to share my attempts!
This is great, thank you for sharing this!
I love the idea of using a timer!
I've stumbled on a similar process, mostly began with graphite, and recently have been experimenting with charcoal, and finding so much more freedom, and learning to get to that strong contrast.
I've been doing this digitally, too.
I'll make a page of small squares or rectangles, which are masked, so I can draw within them...using different brushes and black and white only, i just start making marks..."seeing" compositions in each square, seeing figures and spaces an stories emerge is quite amazing.
I never show them to anyone, just for personal exploration of different mediums and sort of a playful meditation.
So inspiring to see you developing the larger pieces, great work!
Awesomeness
Yyooo this is amazing! Thank you for sharing
Delightful!
I'm happy to be the first to watch and like the video. I really admire your talent. I always watch most of your videos
Wow, very cool
I started doing this as a young boy when I needed motivation to draw. I'd mark my paper with scribbles and sometimes tears...then I'd smudge shade, erase and everything you did. Tear your paper and draw on the crumpled tear aswell.
I'm 58, me and my sister use to do this when we were real young for something to keep us occupied.
That's it 😊 it took you some time to get there.
You are an incredible artist!
Your videos are most satisfying thing to watch❤
JONOO
Its the way i haven't been recommended your videos in so long😭
wonderful! i follow your realism and now abstract. inspiring. will you ever explore color? limited palette?
?
Love it ❤
I love these, i actually do something similar but at a point i look at an interesting reference and try to shape It into the abstract work
You are finding this method at exactly the right time for you, and I’m sure you know that better than anyone. Pick up the Red Book by Carl Jung, and you can see how his practice developed into a psychological philosophy of the mind, the collective unconscious. Of course, he was VERY high when he did most of his experiments. Nice to know you can do it anytime as an artist, right? Jung’s theory was that by using this method (once you achieve a “flow” state as many of us now call it now), you could not only access your subconscious and unconscious mind, but also the “collective unconscious”. In simple terms, he defines it as an unconscious state shared by all humans, containing the “symbols” we all supposedly use to understand our psychic pain and the world around us. In other words, this might be the start of a great adventure! Probably some really good art, as well. 😉💖
I use this as a warm up or when I am stuck. It is like automatic writing.
Long time your working video. Please🎉
I like this kind of working. Your work look great in my opinion. I love black and white anyways and geometric forms mixed with marks. 👍👍👍 Have you used water? Water and charkol or graphit is wonderful to watsh and the effekt after drying is great. Thank you.
Incrível
Love from india ❤
5 min of meditation
❤
✨💙✨
Good exercice for control freaks and overly perfectionist tight minds.
hes finally begnning to believe
Peter Draws you tube
Like a lil bit of MADCHARCOALs technique