A quick look at a drawing in progress: this is the first piece of a four-part drawing (the correct, yet rather unwieldy, art term is polyptych). It is not completely finished - I will not resolve all of the values until all four drawings are complete and I can see them spread out together. Graphite on paper, 18 x 18 inches, the working title is Snowblind:
and the detail:
Strange Tale #26 is done! Actually, it has been done for over a week, but I could not think of a title that fit the piece without being too descriptive ("Unravel" - for example - is a bit too obvious). I have decided to name it "Little Acts of Courage":
Graphite on Moleskine sketchbook paper, 7 x 4 inches.
And, as usual, you can visit the drawing on flickr for a sharper reproduction.
My critique group critiqued my new artist's statement and - as a result - it will soon undergo some serious editing. And I do mean hack, hack, hack...there will be some extreme cutting away of the extraneous stuff. We will see how I do at this editing thing, because, well, it is my natural tendency to prattle on.
One last thought - did anyone else have extraordinary dreams during the night of the Super Full Moon? Maybe it was coincidence, but I had some wild and lush dreams on Saturday night. I rarely take too much stock in dreams (they tend to be the clearing house for my daily mind clutter), but I have to say that I enjoyed my rather hokey dream that involved flying around under the moon in a billowing night gown through a night sky the color of a Crayola midnight blue crayon (it was a bit like being in an Anne Sudworth pastel, and, since I adore gothic romantic illustrations, the dream was quite fabulous). It actually felt real, too, although I definitely do not have a billowing nightgown. The flying dream evolved into another strange story having to do with a boat, a rifle, a strange little 0-shaped pond, but I won't get into all of those details. I have had dreams that inspired my drawings, but for the most part I find them too bizarre and insubstantial to use as fodder for drawing; and, unfortunately, this dream was too vivid, tangible, and realistic to draw or paint into a flat image (or animate for that matter). Oh, well, guess you had to be there...isn't it sad how a dream that is so memorable when you awake gradually disolves into bits and pieces as the days go by.
Some details (my point-and-shoot camera...not the best photos):
And, by "finished", I mean that I am done with it for now. I am going to turn it against the wall in the studio for a few weeks so I can look at it at another time with a fresh eye. Occasionally, I get bogged down in the minute details and overall value relationships - to the point that my eyes cross* - and it becomes too difficult for me to objectively look at the drawing in progress. I have fixed all of the issues raised by my critique group, and even a few more that I found, so it is time to stop.
*My eyes may be crossing because I need glasses...I have to look into that (pun intended).
Of course there is the little matter of the next piece now on my easel - part one of a four-panel drawing that I just had to start as soon as possible...pooh to the one that may or may not be done, it is time for me to move onward.
I am still smitten with Francisco Goya; specifically the painting Saturn Devouring His Son which has been in the back of my mind while working on the above drawing:
And then there is the slightly more polished, yet no less disturbing, Peter Paul Rubens version of the same subject:
Oh my, those were two magnificent painters...fluid, raw, painterly...swoon. I think this subject is both at their best: paintings that are based in mythology, yet suggestive of a greater truth, reflecting the dark corners of the psyche of humankind.
As usual, I have also posted the jpeg version on my flickr page.
Pencil on Moleskine sketchbook paper, 7 x 4 inches:
The better resolution jpeg is on the flickr page...
The studio is mostly in place and I am back to the big drawings...hooray! Photos later...
