The Cave Drawing.

I began to draw using my iPad and felt I was cheating. After all, cave peeps did not have electronic walls and sticks. So, I then considered just how far I was willing to go to do my cave artwork. Where was the nearest cave, and even if I could, would I be allowed to paint, draw, etch, etc.? Probably not. By the way, the nearest cave to me is at Mt Fields (about 1 hour 15 mins), but it’s more of a pothole…apparently. So, I’d have to drive a couple of hours or more to get to a cave with walls where I could do my thing before being arrested. Yet, how authentic is driving to my cave to do authentic cave art?

Ooh, brain spark. I considered the new bridge in Southern Tasmania that had just been finished, with plenty of grey concrete walls just begging for a wannabe artist. Still, I have no doubt I’d be competing with the graffiti artists who are lurking, waiting for the work teams to pack up and tick off finally. Again, how authentic did I want to be for my three readers? Besides, I’m not doing graffiti art.

Anyway, after downloading more material on art movements, I decided to develop a more effective plan that would work better for me.

The Laws.

1. An artist may not ruin a surface being or, through inaction, allow a surface being to come to harm.
2. An artist must obey the call given to them by the creative muses except where such a call would conflict with the First Law.
3. An artist must protect their existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Ah, no. Not the laws I was really thinking of.

The Rules.

1. I must use a single picture I have created, taken from a photo or scene of my work. The work was created on an iPad using Procreate (an excellent software program developed by Tasmanians), drawing from a photo taken in my backyard.
2. I will apply this image to all the art movements.
3. I may alter only the colour of the image to suit an art movement.
4. I may deconstruct the image to meet the requirements of an art movement, but all elements of my image must be represented.
5. Unwritten rule for anything I can’t think of at this point.

Goal – 80% the solution.

Choose a flower, grab some stones that mark up real good, find a cave using the internet (-5%), then drive (-10%), set fire to a stick using a flint, sneak in, scratch out my flower design, leave quickly and … oops, go back in and unfortunately need to take a picture (-5%) because let’s face it you won’t want to come to Tasmania, find the cave and see my painting. Did I forget anything?

What really happened – 5% the solution.

To meet my criteria, I decided not to overwork my image, and so hit the mark for the Minimalism (1950 – 1960s) rather than my original Cave Art (long time ago). I ended up choosing a flower (I believe it is a weed – when I found this out, I thought it was ‘appropriate’). So armed, I spotted a lovely grey rock right in front of my back step (-20%), with a flat surface that. I took a picture, imported it into Procreate (-20%). I re-coloured it (-5%). I simplified my flower to suit a cave painting. I saved a PNG (-5%). Sent it via email to my main computer (-10%). Uploaded it to the media library… okay, you get the picture and here it is.

The Work

Minimalist Movement meet Cave Art.

I foresee that I will resign myself each day to new abominations, and soon that only scribbles and nonsense will be left.

 A mash of Jorge Luis Borges quote.

So, I don’t think Cave Art is my thing but I’m glad I thought about it and gave it a go.