![\"Drawing](\"https:\/\/www.maryahernartist.com\/art-blog\/wp-content\/gallery\/art-blog-images\/2020-08-15-Mary-Ahern-Artist-peony-drawing-IMG_8297-20x72.jpg\")
Drawing is Really Just Icing on the Cake for Me.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some parts of creating my art are more meditative than others. My drawing process is one of them.<\/p>\n
I work with lead pencils filled with different weights. Usually, I start with a 3H which is a harder lead and lighter. Then on the second go-round, I switch to a 2H which is a little less hard and a slight bit darker. Eventually, I do my darker shadow areas with an HB lead which is what we all used in elementary school with our yellow pencils and pink erasers.<\/p>\n
The motion I use is a type of squiggly form which can only really be seen when your nose is up close to the drawing. I obliterate the light lines I initially create when drawing the form of the flower so the edges are quite soft.<\/p>\n
This slow rhythmic looping movement with the pencil was so familiar to me when I first started doing these tonal drawings. I felt in my hand and wrist that I\u2019d made them before but couldn\u2019t identify where but knew it was my handwriting.<\/p>\n
And then one day I remembered the tactile feel. As a very young child, I baked my Betty Crocker cakes topped with chocolate icing. I made the icing by melting blocks of unsweetened chocolate & swirling into it some powdered sugar. With a spatula, I spread that soft chocolate creaminess onto the top and the sides of the cake using this same slow rhythmic swirling motion. I would spend as long as I was allowed to swirl and swirl and swirl by those sitting at the edge of the counter watching and waiting to dive into the eating stage.<\/p>\n
That movement is so soothing for me that I have to remind myself to stop and declare the drawing done. Art is never really complete. You can caress it for eternity. It\u2019s not like a cake that has a defined purpose, one that demands completion so it can be eaten. Drawing is endless. But eventually, I just have to \u201cShip It\u201d.<\/p>\n