Small Scale
There was a guy who slept on an old car seat sitting halfway down the printmaking hall. We assumed he was a grad student in that department, but who knows. He was our version of Lazlo; the dorm recluse from the 80’s movie, Real Genius or Stephen Wright’s character from Half Baked.
Dozing or going to the vending machine were the only activity we ever saw, but he did speak to me once. My studiomates refused to believe me. It was a rare moment at three am when he poked his head in the doorway to give me some unsolicited drawing advice.
I was recreating a drawing for an 8-am critique; the original work having been victim to an inkspill. Maybe he spoke to me because no one else was there. Maybe it was in response to my pathetic whining,”How will I ever get this whole thing drawn again in time?” Maybe I laid my head down and dreamed it all.
“Go straight to ink, but draw it in small scale and feed it as you go.” Poof! he was gone.
Wouldst he had stayed. I wanted to ask what he meant, but I guessed and it shaved a lot of time. Starting with the inside or smaller version of a shape, I was able to cover any mishaps with the lines of enlargement.