Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artbook, artist, drawing, Pencil, realism, still life
Okay, so it was 8 DEGREES one morning this week. ech. I’ve resigned myself to wrapping in a blanket while I draw. You’ll know that I’m desperate when I start to wear gloves. I’ll have to throw out the realism at that point and pursue abstract expressionism with my mittened hands.
I really attempted to focus this week on my drawings. I did. I also went to an exhibit at the Monroe Center for the Arts in Lexington, MA. They had an exhibit (today’s the last day!) called, “Beyond the Book – An exhibition of book as art”. I LOVED it. I wish that there were MORE books to look at. The nice thing was that the books were not in a case, even though you couldn’t touch them, so you could see them quite well. Julia Talcott did a really interesting reduction print book. You can see it here in her own website. She prints the whole book on a flat piece of paper, then she cuts and folds the paper to make the little book.
Here is a ridiculous example of one of my early forays into bookmaking. My mother recently found this in the attic, and gave it to me. (I have no idea how she had it, one of those things that was supposedly lost forever). Anyway, here it is:
Yes, I kid you not. This was a middle school creation with my friend. We had these hideous creatures that we’d draw everywhere. So, we decided to make a book with them. Inside:
SCARY! Okay, this is a FAR cry from what was on exhibit in Lexington. It’s truly ridiculous that I should even include this, but too bad.
Anyway, I got all fired up about bookmaking, so I made this book for a friend:
Now, I don’t believe that this person ever reads my blog posts. If she does, she doesn’t let on. This is supposed to be a birthday present, so I’m taking a risk here showing it. BUT, I truly don’t think that she ever looks here, so I hope that I am not ruining the surprise. Actually, I ended up making a little tie to hold the book together, but I forgot to take a picture after I added that. The inside:
Isn’t it adorable? The cover is around 5.5″ tall, and 4.25″ wide. I am now feeling kind of addicted to the idea of making these. You can put ANYTHING inside! It does make me a little sad about my doodling skills. Those need work.
I may venture forth into further unfamiliar territory by trying out silverpoint drawing:
Now, I have actually done this before, but it’s been ages. Also, this Silverpoint/Drawing Ground from Golden is totally unfamiliar to me. Hmm. We’ll see how it goes. Silverpoint is basically drawing with a silver nib onto paper coated with a chalky ground. It makes super fine lines (which you can’t erase). The lines actually tarnish and change color over time, so it’s kind of an interesting medium. We’ll see if I do anything with it, as I am a slave to my eraser, and can’t imagine doing without it.
I reworked a bunch of my previous drawings, and have a couple of new ones…this is one of them:
Sorry, I think that it’s blurry. I took it outside, but there’s hardly any sunlight lately. I FEEL LIKE I’M LIVING IN A CAVE. Okay, that’s a major exaggeration, but there is such a thing as S.A.D., so perhaps I’m not alone in that thought. I think that spending hours drawing in a dimly lit basement doesn’t help either. I may have to stick my head under my Ott light to help improve my mood.
Does anyone out there have any good vegan recipes that their kids like? We’re eating more vegan lately, but my son gives everything a skeptical look. I read a recipe recently of black bean brownies. Now, I’d be giving THAT a skeptical look. I really don’t want to eat a black bean brownie…no thank you. Give me the real thing, with swirly cream cheese on top…mmmm…
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artist, drawing, New Year, Pencil
Many moons ago, New Year’s Eve used to take on some significance. You know…dress up, go out, stay up and cheer in the New Year with lots of other twentysomethings. Hmm. Now, it has become probably my LEAST favorite holiday. It consists of staying home…knowing that there is no babysitter what would want to spend his/her New Year watching your kid…and feeling that midnight is awfully late to stay up. The fact that Dick Clark is still doing the countdown depresses me. Is that awful to say?
Anyhoo…although we will “lamely” be ringing in the New Year, 2011 has been a pretty good year all round. We have lots to be thankful for…our health, the roof over our heads, food on the table, friends and family. The things that I am not so thankful for are as follows:
– Burning the rolls for a dinner that I was making for a friend
– Nearly slicing off the end of my finger with a brand new razor in the shower
– The Lincoln Navigator that plowed into my husband while he was biking home
– Yelling at my four-year old when he sends me off the deep end (you can tell that the child psychology books that I’m reading are really working…)
– Having to take this same four-year old to the emergency room when I stepped on his hand and thought that I broke a finger
There is probably some intergalactic correlation between all of these things, but I can’t figure that out right now. Right now, I am procrastinating from going to the grocery store, which I hate enormously.
While at the nightmarish grocery store recently, my son begged me to buy paper cupcake cups and plastic straws. Why, I had no idea, but I caved in. When we got home, he directed me to find him some boxes, because he was going to make something. This is what he made:
THAT, I’ll have you know…is a homemade black widow spider. This was his idea not mine. I think it’s brilliant.
This has NOT been a productive week for me. With my husband and son home all week, I’ve not had my usual work time. Sigh. I did get a little done though:
I’m trying to “turn up the volume” on these drawings a bit. My husband is wondering why our basement is beginning to smell like rotting pear. I want to yell out, “Pay no attention to that woman behind the curtain!!!”
What should my New Year’s resolution be? Yell less? Hug more? Forget shaving…as it’s too dangerous for me? Switch to Peapod so that I no longer have to set foot in another grocery store? Any suggestions?
Happy New Year! Hakuna Matata!
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artist, cake, drawing, Pencil, still life
We all managed to survive the birthdaypalooza for my son this past weekend. I think that I aged a year just in that day alone. Basically, from the moment I woke up that morning, I was busy getting stuff together. Maybe I missed it, but I do NOT remember my mom having to do so much work for a kid’s party. WHAT IS IT WITH THESE KIDS TODAY???? (imagine me scowling as I look over my reading glasses, which I don’t own).
The cake…took forever. As soon as I started to make it, I told my husband that we’re buying one next year. Did I mention that the frosting alone had two pounds of chocolate in it? TWO POUNDS. I probably gained two pounds just licking the spatula afterwards. I gave up on really making it 3D, and just settled for 3D tires…
Hey, I think for someone who had to buy a pastry bag for the first time, I did a pretty good job. I must confess, I did have my son’s name on the cake, but somehow in order to shield him from the folly of his mom’s blogging, I photoshopped it out. Not bad as well, right?
I thought that this was going to be a VERY productive week. I guess that it has been, a little. I have been sidetracked slightly, as I am making a dress for my friend’s daughter. Here it is:
It’s cute, right? Looks very straightforward and easy, right? The sort of thing that someone on Project Runway could do in ten minutes with a Holly Hobby sewing machine and a broken needle, right? It’s sad how long it’s taking me to do this. I have sewn clothes for myself…but I have no shame in wearing my own wonky creations. THIS dress, however, is not for me…so I’m TRYING to channel Christian Siriano whilst I stitch this thing together. My biggest fear: that it doesn’t FIT and I’ll have to REMAKE it. Maybe I should call the mom up and suggest that her daughter only eat lettuce until I finish this thing.
My own work is always taking a turn for the weird. Some of my latest drawings:
and:
Someone else’s trash is another person’s treasure! Yes, I pulled that keyboard out of a trash can. It was in our own trash can here at home, so I figure that makes it slightly less gross. You can agree with me now. I’m wondering if these B&W drawings are less exciting than the bright, colorful stuff that I’ve done in the past. I mean…have you yawned yet while reading this? Be honest.
I hope that everyone is having, or will have, a nice holiday. I’m asking Santa for more sleep next year. And fewer dust bunnies. I have more than my fair share, really. They’re doing some kind of “Occupy My Living Room” right now. As long as they clean up after themselves, maybe that’s ok.
It just dawned on me that my son and husband are both home all of next week. This is called a “vacation”. Hmm…
Filed under: Drawing, painting, travel | Tags: art, artist, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, Robert Rauschenberg, still life, Willem de Kooning, Wyeth
The birthday planning for my son’s 4th birthday party has given me several more gray hairs. Today, during his bathtime, he was mad at me and told me that I was NOT to come to the party. I was to stay home and feel awful. Sheesh. Who taught him such nasty mind games? Do I say stuff like that? I hope not…I might have been more subtle and not stipulated that the other person “feel bad”. He’ll learn such subtlety in time…
I am attempting to keep this a fairly DIY party. No, I’m not hand-making artisanal balloons or anything. BUT, I’m making the cake, have baked cookies to go with the favors, and have scribbled together the decor. The theme: construction site. A week after deciding this theme, my son decided it should be pirates. Too bad, I said. That brought on another barrage of vitrol from him.
So, here is one of my scribbly signs for the party:
Isn’t it cute? Just say it is to humor me. Actually, you’re probably wondering when I’m going to stop blabbering about this party, and talk about de Kooning instead. All in good time…
This is probably the last year that I can do anything DIY for a party. Next year, he’ll want lazer tag with spiderman and Doc Octopus. Ummm…yeah, I can’t do that with cardboard and markers. I’d have to be some kind of hybrid between Martha Stewart and Stan Lee. Hmm…disturbing.
The ornament situation in our house has gotten worse:
I have completely given up.
Okay, enough about my preschool-centric universe. So, this past Saturday…I had the WHOLE day to myself. No, I don’t just mean from around 11 am when my husband is done with his marathon bike ride, until 5 pm, when I’m needed to relieve him from being “on duty” with our son. I mean the ENTIRE day. What did I do? I went to NYC for several hours! Okay…for my friends who are in NY…PLEASE DON’T BE MAD. I had to do a tactical strike. I was on a mission to go to MOMA and see the de Kooning exhibit, which is only open until January 9. I can do a social visit another time.
It was AMAZING. So brilliant. That man just oozes talent. Or, I guess that would be oozed. Seriously. I loved his lines, his enormous swaths of color, his manipulation of the human form…
and this:
de Kooning, Untitled – 1961
and this:
Sigh. You must see this show, if possible. You won’t believe the scale of some of these pieces…their textures…their energy…so amazing.
When I was rushing through the rest of MOMA, I saw a crowd gathered around something. Naturally…I was curious. WHAT was it?
Really! So interesting. I am not a fan of Dali, but it was really fascinating to see what was a “celebrity”. I just like other stuff…I nearly plowed through several people when my eyes locked with THIS from across the room:
Rauschenberg, Bed – 1955
Yes, I nearly became a linebacker in order to look at this old quilt with paint on it. LOVE IT. As the old adage goes…it was smaller in real life. (no, not that it tastes like chicken…pay attention). Really. If I hadn’t spent so much time mooning over de Kooning (!), I may have had more time to see everything else. One other piece struck me:
Wyeth, Christina’s World – 1948
Okay. This is a VERY familiar painting. Right? I’m not savvy in the least, but this has to be one of Wyeth’s most famous paintings. Anyway…it always seemed to me a very “romantic” picture…I mean the romance of the agrarian. WELL. I had a VERY different feeling when I was actually looking at the painting firsthand (which, by the way, was stuck in a corner next to an elevator vestible and a cafe). First of all…her hair is not the lustrous brunette of youth…but actually a harried mix of grey and brown. This is not a young woman at all! She’s probably in her late 30s / early 40s…you know…way over the hill, like me. In addition…her body is neither youthful, nor supple. She actually appears frail…weak…half-starved. If you look more carefully, her bent arm in the foreground is very thin…(and not in a Marie Claire sort of way). She seems to be struggling to raise herself. In addtion, her dress and shoes are not fresh and new…her shoes in particular struck me as very worn and old. So ultimately, this painting had a desperate, bleak air to it. WELL, if my art history class in college had covered anything within the past 300 years, then I MIGHT have known that:
Okay..am I the only person in the world who had an entirely different impression of this painting than is actually the case??? This long-winded story is basically remarking on how important it is to actually SEE artwork in person…not on a screen…not in a magazine…not on some crazy person’s blog…(are you still reading? amazing!)
As a result of all of this art viewing / party planning…I have not gotten much work done. Sigh. I have one drawing to show:
closer:
No, I’m not done with this “line of exploration” yet. If you get tired of my subject matter, please bear with me. I’m trying to focus and stay on a path, and not flit around from project to project.
Wish me luck with the party extravaganza on Saturday! I’m sure that I’ll be crying with frustration and relief at the end of it, and will be sent home in order to have a nap.
Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: advent calendar, art, artist, cactus, drawing, still life
Okay. I have gotten much more into the holiday spirit. I think that having a four-year old makes it so. Just to add to his frenzied excitement about both his upcoming birthday AND Christmas…I bought an advent calendar.
I know. All my architect friends will fall off their chairs in horror. Look at that pitched roof! Whatever. I always loved advent calendars as a kid. This is even better because I can put stuff in it! My son loves it. However, he keeps asking me about what’s behind the big door. I am now feeling that the silly little christmas ornaments that are behind that door will be a big disappointment. Hmmm. What to do.
I did alter this thing a bit…notice the colors within the boxes, and the colors on the back of the doors. Yes, I added those. Laundry is not being done…chores not completed, yet I persist in “improving” this thing. A true sign of neurosis. Actually, the true sign of neurosis is this:
These are some of the ornaments that I had in the advent calendar. My son is hanging them up on this garland (with my assistance, of course). The neurosis is that I DESPERATELY want to separate those two ornaments from being on the same link. See the two together in the middle? It is taking all of my willpower not to change the way that my son has hung it. This is a real period of growth…not leaping in to “fix” what he does. Leave it be.
Our Christmas cactus is looking good this year!
Try to ignore the filthy window. This lovely plant on the left was a gift from my husband’s aunt and uncle when they came by to visit my newborn son. So, I associate it with his birth. I am relieved that it is still alive, as I am terrible with plants. I either over-water them, or leave them to shrivel and die…not intentionally, of course. I hope that this plant will be around next year…
Not as much art done this week. Too much holiday stuff to do. It’s kind of non stop. Part of me will be glad when the holiday craziness is over…the other part will be horrified that we will be in the bleak winter.
See how dark this winter light is? I just went outside to take this photo, and this is how it turned out. Yikes. Notice the phone message scrawled in the upper right. All famous artists do stuff like that. It makes it more “authentic”. This is what the scanner did to that picture:
Really not good. Shoddy equipment. The scanner basically washed out the whole thing and made it all look more “scratchy”. Sigh. Maybe winter photography is beyond me.
That’s all for now…I hope to have something even MORE brilliant to post next week… let’s hope that I’ve done something more than drawing a digger for my son…
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., printmaking | Tags: abtract, art, artist, drypoint, portrait, printmaking, Rosenberg
This week, I went to the Danforth Museum in Framingham (which I love) to see Rhoda Rosenberg’s works:
GO. SEE. THIS. SHOW. I loved it. Her work is so beautiful. Most of the works were some form of printmaking…woodblock, carborundum, etching, drypoint, chine colle, etc. etc. She has an amazing ability to juxtapose colors and textures. Many of her works referenced either her mother or father. She did a really stunning carborundum print titled, “Bubbie’s Bag”. It’s so simple…just an inky, abstract silhouette that you recognize as someone’s handbag. But the depth of the color is amazing for something so minimal. The richness of the dark bag almost makes it some kind of emotional black hole that you feel the heavy density of. Beautiful.
My own work this week was varied. I had my last portrait class, where I did this drypoint:
It’s such a caricature of the model, but I was happy with it anyway. I love drypoint, but it’s difficult, as you can’t erase and it’s hard to see the “drawing” as you’re doing it. I’m sad that this class is finished, as I loved it!
I also did more on this series of abstract woodblock prints:
and:
and:
and:
and:
and:
I haven’t had time to carve more blocks for this series. I was only working with three colors to start, but you can see the amount of variations possible. I added the red ink towards the end of the class. Some of the prints needed something more, and so this was an attempt at that “more”. I definitely like some more than others. That’s the surprise of printmaking…sometimes it’s a good surprise…sometimes not! At least you can keep running prints, as long as you have paper and time!
The holidays are coming up, and I have yet to catch the “spirit” of the season. Maybe if I bake some xmas cookies today, that will change. There’s nothing like sugar cookies with a thick and colorful crust of sugar from my son’s heavy handed application to get one in the spirit! In spite of many sweepings, I invariably hear that crunching sound under my feet from the sugar explosion for at least a month. Don’t get me started on the whole pine needle extravaganza. I feel like those things don’t go away until sometime in mid-June.
This year, we’re getting a real tree. Last year, it was my fake aluminum tree…so this year we do a real one. I must admit, my fake tree doesn’t have the lovely pine aroma…but what it lacks in smell it makes up for in exuberance. When we get our tree, I’ll post a picture…(you can vote on whether you prefer the shiny tree or the real one). Kidding! Actually, I really don’t want to know if you prefer the real one.
Filed under: Drawing, painting | Tags: abstract, art, artist, drawing, painting, Pencil, still life
Okay. I know that I was going to TRY to focus only on black and white drawings, but I still have a couple of painting classes left…so the color is not dead yet. Here is the painting that I did today:
Talk about less is not more! I know. As soon as I get a paintbrush in my hand, I lose all sense of editing and moderation. Is there a color that I didn’t use? I don’t think so. The little “painting-within-a-painting” was my teacher’s idea. I kind of like it. It must be so hard to be a minimalist painter…the temptation to just go crazy with colors and marks is tough to ignore. Maybe minimalist painters get that out of their system by age 5 or so. Not me. Not yet!
I am still working on my drawings. I’m going to now try to slow down and spend more time on them. I’m also experimenting with new papers/surfaces. This drawing was on plate bristol:
I am happy with this. I really need an easel, though. I just try propping that whole drawing board up on either my knee, or the handle of my luggage cart for my acrylic paints. Clearly, this is not how Picasso probably worked. I also have decided that I need a little clip on light for my drawing board, as it’s sometimes difficult to see the first pencil lines that I put down. Here is a close up:
I have to work on my technique some more. I think getting an easel might help, as I won’t be wrestling to balance the silly drawing board while I’m trying to create poetic and ethereal cross hatching.
My son keeps asking for the little clock/CD player that I took out of his room after he kept squawking about the music that I put on. I have it at my desk in the basement. Now I don’t want to give it back! I keep listening to “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. It’s the only classical/jazz cd that I have that isn’t stashed away in the attic somewhere. It’s amazing how I can keep listening to that and not get tired of it. Maybe I won’t feel that way by Dec. 25, but right now…it’s music to work by. I just have to keep changing the subject whenever the topic of that little CD player comes up. I hope that this doesn’t make me a bad mom. Maybe I’ll have to get him his own little CD player for Christmas…along with some Lego monstrosity…because you can never have too much Lego, right?
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., painting, printmaking | Tags: abstract, art, artist, drypoint, painting, printmaking
So, this week’s portrait class was fun…we did drypoint prints of the model. A drypoint print is made by taking a plate (copper, plexi, etc.), and using a sharp steel tool to “draw”, or gouge, the lines into the plate. Then, the plate is wiped with ink so that the ink stays in the gouges…and then we print it! We were using plexiglass. The most difficult part of this is that you can’t really see your drawing very well. You have to keep tilting the plexi under the light to see where the lines are, as they are so faint and hard to see. Again, we have the model who looks like Alanis Morrisette:
She was reading her book. I was pretty happy with how this turned out. Here is the second one:
I’m not happy with that one. Sigh! We only have one more class, after Thanksgiving. I may take another stab at doing a drypoint (just a little printmaking humor…).
I’ve done more work on my vise drawing series. I haven’t photographed the drawings, so I’ll have to show you them later. As one of my infinite diversions, I was playing around with a few small, gouache paintings. Here is the first one:
I like doing these messy, crazy things. It started out somewhat realistic, with the blue sky…but then it took a turn for the weird at some point. The next one:
Garish, right? I like garish. Last one:
I don’t know where I’m going with these. I just like doing them.
Any comments? Helpful suggestions?
Does it matter that no one may like these, as long as I like to do them?
Does it matter that I clearly am not interested in “editing”?
Does it matter that I often like to use practically every color that is out there?
Metallics…I don’t have any metallic paint yet…
Filed under: Drawing, painting, printmaking | Tags: art, artist, charcoal, drawing, painting, portrait, woodblock printing
So, a bit of good news!!! I submitted three pieces of work to the upcoming show at the Arlington Center for the Arts…and all three were accepted! I was pretty excited, as I had no idea what to expect. The work is all abstract, but varied: one woodblock print, one monotype, and one acrylic painting. Exciting! The show, titled “Regeneration”, runs from November 21 through January 27. The opening is December 2 at 7:30 pm…I hope that I can go! Here’s what was selected:
and:
and:
So exciting!
On another front, I wanted to highlight the work of a local artist, Regina Valluzzi. She is uber smart, and combines her scientific background with her artistic vision to create amazing works. This is one of her paintings, titled, “Vacuum Energy”:
“Vacuum Energy” by Regina Valluzzi
Amazing, right? I wish that I could begin to understand the influences in her work, but as I am lacking a doctorate in physics, I can only talk about how I really love what she does…Please check out both her website and her blog. Here is another of her paintings, titled, “Emergent Order”:
“Emergent Order” by Regina Valluzzi
I’m such a fan of the colors, layering and complexity…She has two works that are going to be in an exhibit in Boston’s Hynes Convention Center from January 4 – 7. In addition, two of her drawings will also be in the aforementioned upcoming show at the Arlington Center for the Arts! Congrats, Regina!
I’ve been working on a WIDE variety of stuff, as per usual. In my portrait class, we worked with that same model that you’ve seen me draw in past blog posts. This time, however, instead of drawing….we did linoleum prints! Here’s mine:
Kind of interesting…in a Durer-esque sort of way. I wasn’t really finished with it, but I printed it anyway, as we were running out of time. Lots of stuff that I’d do different next time, but my first linoleum print from a model. The model looks like a brunette Gwen Stefani to me.
I also did a couple more woodblock prints. These are just using the blocks that I already carved before:
I actually did several, but that one is just an example of the colors that I was using. I also made ghost prints as well:
I’m not totally sure about the colors. It was good to play around with these blocks again, though!
I’ve been continuing to work on my vise study/series. I’m enjoying these drawings, as they are rather quick and messy (charcoal!). I am forcing myself just to do them, without over-analyzing the whole thing. I love using charcoal…it’s soooo tactile. I mean, you can draw a thin line…a fat line…a really WIDE line with the side of the stick…you can smudge it…lift it…amazing! I’m going to end up with black lung by the time this is over. I need a drawing-vac to suck up all of the charcoal dust. Again, does wonders for the laundry area where the vise is situated…But, I digress…here is one from last week:
I started to play with the anthropomorphic qualities of the vise…one from this week:
and one from today:
I really like that one. I’m not sure if I’m finished with it. I think that I should just leave it, so that I don’t “over-work” it. That’s what my painting teacher is always threatening us about. I am a virtuoso at over-working…both in my art and my life…but I’m trying to fix that in both too!
Speaking of painting, my recent painting from that class turned out…hmmm. Here it is:
Hmm…I was trying to do a self-portrait…but from memory. No photo or mirror. Once I got home, and looked in the mirror…I saw TONS of stuff that was off. It will be obvious to those who know me that this is only marginally a likeness. I think that I might try it again. Detail:
I really don’t think that my painting teacher liked it. I think that he was concerned that I looked so depressed! He asked us to do a painting inspired by writing/literature. I was working from Shakespeare’s sonnet #159, which I had to memorize in high school. DID I MENTION THAT I CAN STILL RECITE IT???? Scary! Anyway, thinking of all of that generated this painting. Once again…I got sucked into “realism”. I just love painting faces, though, so I like to do it. Next time, however, I’m going to really try to stay with abstraction, as I prefer that kind of art generally. Well…just as my high school field hockey coach would yell with her Dutch accent…”PUUUUSH YOURSELF!” Thanks, Anneke!!!
Filed under: Collage, Drawing, painting | Tags: Abstract art, acrylic, art, artist, charcoal, Collage, drawing, Paint, Realism (arts), vise
The snow has long melted away, and now we’ve got a gray day with rain. I’m not complaining, as it was almost 70 degrees and sunny on Tuesday. Typical November in New England.
My painting class went pretty well this week! However, no matter how hard I try…I seem to keep getting sucked back into “realism”. Trust me, I’m not implying that my work has any photographic realism to it, but it becomes more and more representational, which I’m always trying to avoid. Here is the painting from this week:
If you can’t discern…it’s a still life of gardening gloves and a binder clip. Don’t ask me what that melange means. Anyway, I was trying to keep it fairly abstract, but my teacher kept prompting me to “fix” it so that it looked more “correct”. I guess my abstraction wasn’t capturing the essence of the forms as much as when I just caved in and tried to paint the objects, albeit in a messy way. The majority of this painting was done with a small paintbrush, like the flat kind that you get in a hardware store to paint the trim on your door or something. I like the marks that this kind of brush gives. I’m generally happy with it, although I’m still scratching my head how as to be more “abstract”. Why, you ask, am I trying that? I just like abstract art over realistic art. I’m naturally wow-ed by anyone who can paint in a photographic manner. But, I don’t like that kind of art, really. I like abstraction. Thus, I am continuously attempting to move in that direction.
My other art class never strays from the “non-representational” world. We had to do two collages this week from the paintings that we made LAST week. Here are my collages:
and:
Okay, here’s an odd thing. The first one felt easy to do and took very little time. The second one was like digging my own grave with a toothpick. I have no idea why it was so difficult, and took me so long. It’s so odd how one’s brain gets stuck. Why? WHYYY? I don’t want to say that it was a waste of a good hour doing that one, but when I finished…I was exhausted and somewhat defeated by that little 5″x7″ rectangle of paper. I was also surrounded by an explosion of paper scraps from failed attempts at that second composition. I know…some people are brain surgeons, and I’m stumped by sticking paper down. Hmph.
We also did colorful ink blot paintings in this class. I think that maybe this is a project that I’ll see if my son wants to do:
and:
What do you see? Don’t say “a general mess”. I had fun doing this, but I would have loved to have had my tar gel medium to do some squiggly drips.
I’m also meeting once a week with Adria Arch, a local artist who’s work has been shown all over the place. She just had a show finish at the Bromfield Gallery in the South End. Impressive! Anyway, she’s helping me set some direction with what I’m doing. Because we both liked my previous “drill press” print (see my post titled, “Last Cambridge Print Studio…Boo Hoo!), we decided that I should continue this tool exploration. So, I’m to do ten, 18″x24” drawings of 30 min. each on the subject of tools. I’ve started with a vice that we have in our meager basement workshop:
Please excuse the generally poor quality of the photos in this post. As the post title states, it’s a drippy mess outside, and I had to take all of my pictures indoors. So, this first drawing is a pretty straightforward charcoal drawing of the vise. Next:
Then, I zoomed in on one area. Hmm! Next:
This was me initially trying to do a “blind contour” drawing, but I started looking. So, if the whole vise looks “wonky”, that’s why. I kind of liked the general messiness of this drawing, so I did another one:
That’s an odd combination of fussy drawing and scribble drawing. Hmm. Blech. Next:
That time, I tried to draw the vise with only tones, and not too many lines. Very messy! Hmm! Now, what can I do with the next five that I have to do? EGADS. This one was kind of fun because of the general messiness of it all. I love that I’m scrubbing away with black charcoal in our laundry area while I look at this vise. Doesn’t everyone dream of a laundry area with fine dusting of black charcoal on everything? I know…not very Martha Stewart of me.
In looking at these drawings, it’s kind of odd. I almost like the wonky one the best. I guess that the other ones are so straightforward, that they are almost boring. What do you think? Hello, out there!?!
slightly wonky 