Day 39: Plum

Today I felt inspired to draw a figure.  I thought to myself "What is the most archetypal figure drawing of all time?".  The only answer to that is daVinci's Vitruvian Man (the figure drawing in a circle)  a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1487. It is accompanied by notes based on the work of the famed architect, Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and simultaneously inscribed in a circle and square. The drawing and text are sometimes called the Canon of Proportions. 


I blindly grabbed a redish crayon from the box, but I realized that I used a hot color yesterday (Salmon), and I really wanted a cool color.  I picked out "Plum", which is directly in the middle of hot and cool. I ask myself, "What am I directly in the middle of right now?"  I started drawing the daVinci figure, but it came out as a female figure as opposed to the very male figure of daVinci's Vitruvian Man.  I now notice that the figure does not quite fit into the box, as the man does, and she is at an angle leaning to the right.  Maybe I feel that a woman can not be put so easily in a vertical box.  Or, maybe I am just on quite straight (take that as you wish - it has multiple insinuations. As Dan Savage says, "Female sexuality is much more fluid".).


I really had a great time drawing this.  I needed that tonight because my girls were in typical adolescent form - tired, cranky and irritable. I was very pleased that I was able to defuse them and the hubby, and end the evening on a positive note.  I drew this as I was also watching Dr. Drew Pinsky's "Celebrity Rehab".  Again, I know that Art Therapy would be an amazing contribution to his rehab program.  The art is so raw and honest it breaks through the walls of isolation and denial.