Reading Drawings

At the launch party we had a beautiful fortune teller (Thx Ms. Vank!) read people's fortunes by analyzing the way they drew the Venderia trieye angle logo.  Insight into the drawers' souls was based on the paper and drawing tools they chose to use, the thickness  & slope of the lines they drew,  the order that they drew the logo (eye first or V first?).   Here are a few of the drawings.

You can tell some people invested more time and energy into their drawing than others, but there is a lot to read in even the quickest doodles.  

I was surprised that the most commonly used paper type was notebook paper.  Using lined paper is a very safe choice.  We all used lined paper for years and years and years in school.  It is familiar and unthreatening, cheap, and not very special.  If you make a mistake on lined paper, it's no big deal because there are always more sheets.  Rip it out, start again.  By drawing on lined paper the artist indicates that their drawing is not very important or special.  They may choose this paper in order to feel less pressured about producing "art" or maybe they are showing their skepticism towards having a fortune teller read their work.

Now let's read a full drawing.

     This person chose thick, handmade paper full of imperfections and texture.  The choice indicates an earthy sensualness.  The artist didn't choose this paper  because it's good for drawing on, it's not.  The artist chose this paper because it feels good on the fingers and looks REAL, less artificial and factory-produced than the other options.  By using crayon to draw, the artist shows a sense of playfulness.  By choosing orange and purple, 2 secondary colors, the artist shows depth of character, complexity.   

      Even though this drawing appears to have been done quickly, you can tell much about the person's character.  The curved lines of the V show a that the artist is loose and unconstrained by rigid rules.  This is further shown by how the V is not closed off in the left top corner, as it "should" be based on the logo template.  The way the artist added an eyelid, and lush lashes even further shows a disregard for conformity, and reinforces the reading of the artist as a very real and sensual person.  The eye in this drawing is much more  realistic-looking and emotive than the eye on the logo.  And the way most, if not all, of the lines are drawn twice, in both orange and purple, shows the artist feels confident and firm in his or her work.  

         

Try this out on your friends and family.  It's fun.  Just be sure to give them something to draw that is simple enough not to discourage even the shyest non-artsy types.