I have started another painting. This one is on French cotton paper. Between rain and general dampness in the air, the weather has not been obliging me. I have had to takes days off.
In the interim, as usual I draw while working more on my next collection of stories & essays.
Here are a selection of quick sketches & musings done over past week.
If you look at some paintings & drawings by both Matisse and Picasso, they are child like. This is not a pejorative term though. When Matisse painted his wife reclining on couch, you knew you were seeing a woman in kimono on couch but one would never study anatomy via this type of piece, it was not (hyper) realism.
Emotion ruled out over technique.
Picasso would occasionally lay on the floor and paint with his children. There is a purity in when a child does art, they do not get hung up on rules and restrictions. He wanted to capture a spark from this.
Both men had said something along the lines of an artist should create with the seriousness of a child at play.
I had read some biographies where burgeoning painters at young ages were given blocks of cheap paper to let loose on. This was a sort of test by parents, the paper was inexpensive so if the child gave up, as children sometimes do with things which they show initial enthusiasm for, it would be no big deal.
Impulsively, while restocking needed art supplies, I bought myself a block of cheap newsprint paper.
I am currently working on my next short story/essay collection and a small painting.
A for fun project, I decided to do a page or two every day in this block, but each piece had to be loose. It’s just daily doodles 9×12 newsprint paper. I am earnest in this, like a child.
Read enough biographies on artists and regardless of medium and era a commonality becomes apparent. It is what I call The Sweet Spot. This is the time when the struggle/work for the artist to achieve their distinctive voice has been achieved. All the work which goes towards fostering the skill to do so now takes no more effort to motivate into action than a health habit. And there is now an audience which gets rid of the abstracted “someday,,,” aspect the lack of which causes the “Why am I doing this again?”.
There is an audience but not so big that the artist, even if only on a subconscious level, incorporates into the equation all the expectations of fans, critics and gallerists. There is the luxury of being able to work and experiment giving no thoughts to consequence.
More often than not, the artist recognizes this golden age only after they are well past it. If lucky, in old age they may get a second shot once established as an institution or national treasure but this is not always guarantied.
I feel fortunate, for among other things, recognizing that i am in the sweet spot. I decided to try a bunch of new things for this painting. Why not? I am very pleased with how it turned out. To me, it does not look radically different from my other paintings despite all new things I tried.
I have been taking some short trips which was impetus behind doing a smaller painting. Even with it being small, bad weather made me have to put it aside after only being quarter of the way done as I hit the road.
This smaller size had long been my preferred size until I found myself switching to 11×14. Trips longer than three day and I will paint. So, it is good to once again get back into smaller pieces as that is what I will do on the road.
Often I use myself as the subject of my work. If not my face, then my hands or some other bodily part. This is for convenience’s sake. It is nice to start a work when I want to or to stop as i mull a line over. Throwing someone else into the mix, this is not always as easy. There is a pleasure in that it also puts me in the grand tradition of painters showing themselves in their work.
I am not ashamed to portray myself as I am. There is no idealization. It’s almost a form of visual raw reportage. I take the same approach when conjuring up someone else. In one of the later Truffaut films from his The Adventures of Antoine Doinel cycle, one of the characters mentions in passing how an artist should never use their craft to settle scores. This has always been my outlook. Regardless of how a subject looks in comparison to the notion of desirability, for me, truth is always beauty.
This piece is 5×7. I am pleased with how the sort of goonyness of flesh comes across.
In-between bouts of atmospheric river storms I was able to hit the road. Although not with the same ferocity as at home, the rain followed me. This was OK as it was a short trip and I had already envisioned only having time to do my nightly woodshedding sketches and maybe a lyra piece or two.
I was to be flying home into yet another storm! My flight was delayed most of the afternoon. I sat at the terminal becoming newly crowned crossword king.
While sending out texts to everyone to let them know that I was delayed but all right, I snapped a quick selfie.
Lately a lot of my painting have been on tan paper and 11×17. This piece is white Canson paper 5×7
I currently have a few projects going, including a unique sized CINEFIELD® from paper I cut down myself. It’s taking slightly longer than expected as I am trying several new things. Even with all going on, I still draw & woodshed every night.
Lyra graphite sticks have become a favorite medium. It allows for painterly effects and a touch not dissimilar to that of watercolor. I am into all the mediums which I use, but my favorite two are drawing and painting. The Lyra pieces combine aspects of both of these mediums.
This was a small piece of multi medium paper. It’s close up of Jimi Hendrix. I enjoyed doing an unorthodox compositional balance in 3×5 inches
I used a toned tan paper for this painting. It requires a slightly different touch as it’ heavier than my usual paper. I am grateful for the trust put in me by my models (mostly friends & acquaintances) . This allows for a relaxed attitude in posing, the mien organic and revealing a truth.
I have been unexpectedly tied up with various things. Even with a full tilt boogie schedule, I draw or woodshed every day. All the various mediums which have become synonymous with me I fell into by complete happenstance while exploring. Each of these things, no longer new to me, I miss if I got too long without doing (or should I say crave?). My next big project is a large painting. While I can’t start it yet, I get the same pay off emotionally/intellectually/spiritually doing Lyra pieces. Although monochrome, they have a painterly feel to them and the touch required in making them is similar. An additional plus is, if I can achieve the desired feel utilizing only one color, then when using my paints proper, it feels easier.
All pieces are 5×7 inches.
A Pal of mine is doing great concert for those of you in the UK. Highly recommend
I now have two printers. One is black and white and used just for text. The other is a high-grade/hi def photo printer for my visual work.
As I went to print up the first of these 8’s I forgot to toggle the switch so that it printed on regular paper in black and white. I actually liked it and so am including it here. The other black and white image was an element of chance occurrence, I lifted the paper up and the unfastened components formed the face. It’s looser than my intentional 8’s but I still liked it.
I am always seeking models for the series as it continues to be ongoing. When I am not the one taking the photos, they are done specifically for me (as opposed to found images). There’s no digital magic just my trusty scissors and adhesive applied with brush.
this was by chance composition when all parts not glued down slid during moving paper
Paper Life Painting 