Painting with the Wholly Drawing Ethos

Extending the principles of Wholly Drawing to painting, I adopted its emphasis on attentiveness, mindfulness, and flow to reimagine observational painting. By prioritizing perceptual immersion over technical perfection, my recent representational works—such as portraiture and still-life paintings—exhibit a dual fidelity: they capture the essence of the subject with heightened realism while retaining a deeply subjective stylistic voice. This paradoxical outcome underscores Wholly Drawing’s capacity to harmonize accuracy and individuality, transcending traditional binaries of objective vs. subjective representation.

Edwin in the kitchen at Accra, Mixed Media paints on wooden board, 83” x 48”, 2024 – 

Mama’s 80’s Birthday, Mixed Media paints on wooden board, 81” x 75”, 2024 – 

Madjoa at 50, Mixed Media paints on wooden board, 73” x 48”, 2024 – 

Weaving as Process-Oriented Praxis

The methodology’s focus on process over product has also informed my foray into weaving. Here, the rhythmic, repetitive act of interlacing threads becomes a meditative practice akin to mark-making in drawing. Freed from compositional premeditation, the weaving process embodies Wholly Drawing’s core tenet: engagement as an end in itself. This exploration reveals the method’s universality, demonstrating its applicability to disciplines beyond drawing and its potential to liberate practitioners from outcome-driven anxiety.

Impact of Wholly Drawing Research on Improvised Music and Soundscapes

Engaging with Wholly Drawing—a practice rooted in mindfulness and process-oriented creation—has profoundly reshaped my approach to improvised music. Even though the research is on observational drawing, its emphasis on attuned presence, embodiment, and surrender to the creative act has transcended visual art, influencing my sonic practice.

In my music practice, without an external subject to observe, I turn inward, applying Wholly Drawing’s principles to sound. Improvisation has become a dynamic dialogue between intuition, rhythm, and performance, mirroring the method’s focus on perceptual authenticity. By prioritizing process over product, I have relinquished rigid structures, allowing compositions to emerge organically in a trance-like flow of textures and rhythms.

This shift has deepened my confidence in sonic experimentation, much like the trust developed in mark-making. Syncopated patterns now unfold with fluid spontaneity, and dissonance is embraced rather than corrected. The research’s mindfulness emphasis has heightened my sensitivity to the interplay between body, instrument, and environment—paralleling Wholly Drawing’s dissolution of the observer-observed dichotomy.

Ultimately, this research has redefined my relationship with both sound and drawing, revealing creativity as a universal process of embodied inquiry. Moving forward, I aim to explore how this framework can inform improvisation pedagogy, empowering musicians to trust their perception and embrace the act of listening as creation itself. Listen to the music here –>