I started by Googling “hand-drawing or handdrawing.”
This led to handdrawnwords.tumblr.com, the sixth hit of the search.
I clicked it (I mean, who wouldn’t?).
This led to a curious thing on the first page of Hand-Drawn Words: the Amperbranch by Ryan Putnam. I clicked that (I mean, who wouldn’t?).
This led to Putnam’s Twitter page. There, I discovered not only does he produce pretty cool graphics, he claims to be a potter, of all things. How about that? Well, that enticed me to look at his Instagram feed (I mean, who wouldn’t?).
There, I discovered an illustration.
This illustration reminded me of another photo I found on Instagram just last night, by Catherine White.
Catherine White is a potter, too. She photographs her work with her own hand-drawn backdrops and backgrounds. (See what I did there? It all comes full circle…)
White has a heck of an eye for line, pattern, and texture. Her drawings compliment her pots quite nicely, providing more than mere background. When she adds the occasional bit of natural material (fruits, flowers, branches, stones, etc.), the photographs really read as complete compositions. Pots are on display, but it’s not about the pots. It’s about the whole picture. Creative. Artistic. Nice.
Months ago, I, too, photographed my own pots on a hand-drawn background. I used chalk on plastic. I really liked the results. I’m anxious to explore more; I think the hand-drawn background has real potential. For various reasons, I moved on. I now shoot on different backdrops, but I always had a thing for this “chalk” group. White inspires me to try it again.
So, what started out last night as a small blog post about Erik playing with chalk has turned into this interrelated juggernaut of other people’s work. Everything is connected.
To see more images of Catherine White’s work, go here, or see my collection of her work on Pinterest here.
To see more images of my work shot on chalk, check out the photo set on Flickr here.
Thank you. ∆
these compelling things 