Even when our eyes are closed, and even
when it is dark, we see, or appear to see, spots and shapes of light. These are
mostly white, although they can seem to be coloured. In my case they are often
a dull purple or silvery-orange. But really the colours defy a proper
description. The shapes themselves are unstable, they vary and fade, morph into
others and float around. Talking to friends, it’s reassuring to know we all see
these lights – they are known as phosphenes.
These also make up after-images, but if you keep your eyes closed for a few
minutes, the after-images disappear and these amorphous phosphenes appear.
Here are five small sketches, based on some
of my phosphenes. To make a picture, I sit with my eyes firmly closed and with
a pencil or a pen draw lines and shapes on paper that correspond as nearly as I
can make them to the floating images I see with my eyes shut. I use my
fingers on the page to roughly keep the image in bounds. The square ones here are
11 x 11 cm, the other is A4 size.
A drawing takes perhaps only 10 to 15
minutes, and although a short time, I find it surprisingly energy-consuming in
its heavy concentration. Afterwards, I use the line drawing as a basis for what
you see here. Not much more is to be done, but I fill in some spaces with dark
pencil, sometimes a bit of shading. Or I add a wash of watercolour.
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| Phosphene I Pencil 11 x 11 cm |
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| Phosphene II Pencil. 11 x 11 cm |
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| Phosphene III Ink + watercolour A4 |
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| Phosphene IV Pencil 11 x 11 cm |
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| Phosphene V Pencil 11 x 11cm |
These drawings are not meant to be anything
other than a catching of floating lights in the eyes.
You might say these are nothing but
scribbles and squiggles, even the type of doodles you might make during an
enforced session in a conference chamber. Having had my share of experience of
the latter, I can tell you these, at least for me, are very different.
Why not try it yourself?
