I was supposed to do a short trip as to take photos for my next Cinefield®, but circumstances beyond my control pushed it back. With no raw fuel for next Cinefield® I have spent some of my time painting.

As to keep things fresh, I keep changing the size and type of paper but also the subject matter. With so much time before I can get my shots, were I to just keep doing portraits it would start to become mechanical or feel akin to putting together Ikea furniture.

My last painting was a traditional portrait with straight up compositional balance. When mulling over what to do next I decided I wanted to do something beautiful but sort of off-putting too. I was very pleased with the results.

I dedicated this to Laurie Lipton. I have been into her works for about a year. What makes her special aside from her massive chops is that in her oeuvre the medium of pencil is the star. It is not second class citizen nor merely something to train with between painting.

Although nowhere near her level, viewing her works has made me up my shading game (which definitely improved).

Often her pieces have a mordant bent to them but you have to do a double take on some of them before this is apparent. Existentially tortured housewives and queues of skeletons conjured up by her hand are beautiful but also induce a sort of dread.

My piece is not an image taken directly from her body of work. Laurie’s work was starting point for me, the inspiration for having dichotomy of terrible but beautifully done.

Terrible Beauty is 7×10 watercolor on French cotton paper.