Friday, November 29, 2013

9 From November

 
Work continues on the smaller drawings and paintings. In the new year, I’ll be having a solo show of large-scale figure paintings. For now,  landscapes and life-drawing sessions take up most of my time.
                                             ************************
“Floor Pose” was drawn from the model and then re-drawn from a photograph. The forced stillness in the face is the opposite of naturalism, but it’s also true to the pose.



"Floor Pose"-colored pencil on paper, 12" x 9"




In “Garden Figure,” the figure and ground  are connected by fragmentary color. The caffeinated marks still somehow manage to convey contemplation: a woman sitting, looking out over a garden--but with all the electrons painted in.


"Garden Figure"-acrylic on wood, 12" x 12"




As in “Floor Pose,” “ Right Glance” was first drawn from the model, but many months went by before I re-drew it from a photograph.  It’s a classically over-staged life-drawing pose, a study in angles and melodrama, which suits me fine.



"Right Glance"-colored pencil on paper, 12" x 9"




“Green Blouse” is another hothouse flower; the simplified setting wasn’t  about to keep me from laying on the color.  All she needs is a rose in her hair to turn it into a flamenco poster.


"Green Blouse"-acrylic on paper, 10" x 10"



I continue to do a lot of on-the-spot pencil drawings, and “Toddler” is a good example of the practice. It was done in less than five minutes, with vision and revision as one thing.


"Toddler"-colored pencil on paper, 12" x 9"




“Green Scarf & Sweater” returns to the garden setting but in a quieter frame of mind. It’s so muted & non-specific, I’m surprised I kept it,  but there’s also some sense of mystery there that continues to hold my attention.



"Green Scarf & Sweater"-acrylic on paper, 10" x 10"




“Vest” has the specificity that “Green Scarf & Sweater” lacks, the feeling of a particular person alive to a particular moment.  There’s the same sureness as in the “Toddler” drawing, but in this case it took me three or four hours to acheive.


"Vest"--colored pencil on paper, 12" x 9"


The first Wilder image here is a trumped-up addition. It certainly wasn’t done this month, maybe not even this year. Still, it connects with “Wilder Blues” (a bona fide November entry )  in a curious way.  A single color dominates both scenes, red in the first painting and blue in the second, but each of them is counterbalanced in a very different way. 


"Wilder Storage Tank & Barn"-acrylic on wood, 16" x 12"




"Wilder Blues"-acrylic on paper, 10" x10"


See you next month with a final post from Lucky ’13.