Automatic drawing

In 1924, André Breton defined in his First Manifesto of Surrealism a completely new word- Surrealism. It was a way of life, he explained.

A collection of Peter's art and creative endeavours.

Sometimes the best way to come up with a new or unusual idea is to break free of conscious thought. I'm not talking about drugs or meditation, but 'automatic drawing.' My monster heads (right) are examples of this design technique. Instead of starting with a t

PARIS — In the polyvalent and multilayered drawings of André Masson, you can sense a free hand in love with its own movement, but not with itself.

Automatic drawing originated with the Surrealists as a way of losing all rational control and thought from their art. The movement of the pen, pencil or paint was thought to be a reflection of the psyche. It was a means of expressing the sub-conscious. Think of it as being spiritual in nature. "Automatic drawing was pioneered by André Masson. Artists who practiced automatic drawing include Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Jean Arp and André Breton. The technique was transferred to painting (as seen…

Try this Timed Drawing, an technique inspired by an exercise called "automatic drawing" in Dean Nimmer's new book "Creating Abstract Art". This book is from the author of Art From Intuition, which is on my recommended reading list. Creating Abstract Art offers a broad view of abstract art, not just painting and drawing, with LOADS of thought provoking images. It includes perspectives from a wide range of contemporary artists and a healthy dose of art history. The 40 exercises vary from…

In 1970, after over a decade of intermittent hospitalization for mental illness, Unica Zürn committed suicide by jumping out the window of the apartment of her longtime companion, the Surrealist artist Hans Bellmer. Zürn is best known as the author of anagrammatic poetry and the semi-biographical novellas Dark Spring and The Man of Jasmine, […]