Letting my mind, and eyes, wander while looking at random textures or patterns is something I really enjoy doing. Growing up, my bedroom had both textured walls and ceiling so I had all sorts of creatures and scenes to look at.
James Gurney did a great post on this in 2008 titled Pareidolia and Apophenia: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/06/pareidolia-and-apophenia.html
According to Dictionary.com:
“pareidolia
/ˌpæraɪˈdəʊlɪə/
noun
1. the imagined perception of a pattern or meaning where it does not actually exist, as in considering the moon to have human features”
I enjoy finding things in old concrete, wood panels, anything with some sort of texture, or strange shaped vegetables long lost in the potato drawer.
I’ve tried making random scribbles and then making something from them but for some reason I find that particularly challenging and it seems to work better for me if someone else makes the scribble. Just closing my eyes while scribbling helps a some but not much if I’m holding the pencil in a regular writing or drawing grip.
I’ve been experimenting with ways to lessen my control of the scribble and mentally detach from it more. Holding the pencil loosely by the end, then closing my eyes and scribbling with a fully extended arm helps some. So does using my non-dominant hand with closing my eyes. Lately I’ve been experimenting with another way. I drop or drag thin threads on a piece of plexiglass spritzed with water. The water catches the string at random points so helps create a less controlled scribble.
Here’s the latest one. What do you see?
