Start with the line

Loosening the grip, inspired by Alex B’s drawings

Today I start a new cycle with a new group of students. In the last trimester, I found myself inspired by

d.w.

’s pixelated abstract textures. This time, I’m drawing inspiration from the energetic and expressive work of

alex b.

Alex B’s drawing.

I’ve been meaning to share a few of the student experiments from the last semester—the idea was to create fluid, ribbon-like movements using varied line weights, and then to layer in texture and rhythm using numbers and letters. While the original prompt was black and white, the students couldn’t resist exploding into color, and honestly, I didn’t stop them.

Here are a few of those early pieces… more to come.

Today we begin with collaborative drawings. Each student starts one piece, and we pass them around the room at timed intervals. The goal is to carry forward the internal logic of the drawing—whatever the original student started, the others try to develop and evolve. I love this exercise because it breaks habits. The students can’t rely on what they already know how to do. They have to respond, adapt, and invent.

This trimester, we’ll take it a step further by building a series of connected works inspired by Alex B’s drawings. There’s a looseness and energy in her work that really struck a chord with my students. Especially here in France, where there’s often a tight grip on perfection, her drawings offer a beautiful example of precision meeting freedom.

Here are the first works from this new series of collaborations:

One student tried a hybrid D.W. and Alex B.

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This one was my favorite:

Thank you,

alex b.

—and if you don’t know her work yet, go take a look!

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This post has a number of dynamic art pieces in it to check out:

Abstract Alex "Coming in Hot"