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.
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“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.
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| "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.
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| "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.
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| "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.
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| "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.
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| "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.
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| "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.
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| "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.
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| "Wilder Storage Tank & Barn"-acrylic on wood, 16" x 12" |
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| "Wilder Blues"-acrylic on paper, 10" x10" |
See you next month with a final post from Lucky ’13.
