Biff Mitchell

About Biff Mitchell

For years I've been teaching mindless writing in my creative writing workshops, the act of freeing the subconscious by writing without stopping for 15 or more minutes...even if what comes out is gibberish. About a year ago, I decided to apply this to my gel pen drawings and drew 105 personal demons. You can read about the process here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/n892qaq You can see all 105 demons here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/lcnx2yd It took six months to finish drawing out the demons. Now, I'm using the same process to fill 10 sketch books with black gel pen drawings on the premise that I put the pen on the paper, think of something...and open my mind enough to let the pen go where it will. It's almost like doodling, but not quite. You're thinking about something else when you doodle, and the finished piece is generally disparate. In mindless drawing, you're focused on the drawing and on letting it escape from your subconscious. Why gel pen? Because I love running my fingers over the finished piece and feeling the texture of the drawing. You don't get that with a brush. BTW, sometimes I mix a little gold leaf into the drawings. As a Photographer I've been taking pictures since I can remember. I've done nature, event, portrait, city and seascapes, weddings (though, never again), sports and a few others, but my favourite is capturing people when they don't know there's a lens pointed in their direction poised to capture their soul.