In a way, yesterday I did begin the new painting. I show its naked, white canvases below, as it appears on my painting wall. Here is state zero of Untitled Triptych-08132014. The drawing is my futile attempt to make a diptych on one piece of paper. It just does not work well. There is something necessary about the physical, and real gap, between the two panels.
You can see a problem with accurate reproduction in the reproduced white canvases for the new painting. It is a very large area. The lighting is uneven, inconsistent in tone and value. The painting Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 is very close to complete. Yesterday's entire studio session was devoted to it, obviously! It is time for final decisions about minutia. Let's think back to some of Henri Matisse's work between 1905 and 1910. Matisse made decisions not to over-detail things like limbs and extremities. In those works of Matisse, feet and hands often appear awkwardly drawn. The viewer is forced to look at those paintings in terms of color, composition, and surface (e.g. Dance of 1910 or Nymph and Satyr of 1909, shown below). As I return to complete Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 I will be making decisions about hands and facial elements (the minutia). This may not happen today. I think I need to step back and breathe a little before I proceed to finish it off.
Right: The changes to the man in the left panel.
Recently I have been wondering, "Why am I drawing so much?" Now I know. For the first time I feel I got that man on the left right! Weird as it seems, all those recent drawings brought me to a simple change in his jaw line, which led to a simple change in his neck. That is a boring technical detail. It is expression I am seeking, and technical problems must be solved to solve the problems with expression. This painting, Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014, can now (hurray & hurrah) come to conclusion. Apparently I have been waiting for the solution of this little detail. Happily it will inform me going forward, thus reducing the time it will take me to complete future paintings. And, wow, do I want to go forward to the next painting. Yesterday I began preparation of the second of the three canvases for my next painting, a triptych. To get there faster than I have with Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 I will use paint sticks and acrylic markers to draw the initial composition. Wrong: The reproduction of yesterday's drawing. To photograph yesterday's drawing I moved the lights closer than usual, thinking I would be able to reproduce the drawing better if it were more brightly lit. Instead, the lighting on the drawing's surface was inconsistent and the lower part of the drawing washed out. No matter, this is not one of the better drawings among the recent ones, so there is no great need to make an effort to reproduce it better than seen here. Obviously, I am experimenting with the problems of photographing for reproduction, and this failure is just one more note along the way to better reproductions. The one thing yesterday's drawings have in common is their origination via a compositional bias. In the drawing above I began with an L-shape, and in the drawing below below I began with a U-shape. From there both drawings took off on their own. I believe these drawings are preparatory works for my next painting. That next painting is planned as a triptych. The compositional solution will be built around the problem of animating three panels. The two side panels will be smaller than the middle panel. I am imagining the smaller, left and right panels, will have single figures (male and female), while the central panel will contain interaction between the two figures. It is the problem of interactivity, between the two figures, that is behind the inquiry seen in yesterday's drawings. These drawings are studies in a means to instigate the interaction. In addition, I have always enjoyed inventing abstract three-dimensional forms. Yesterday's drawings marry my recent interest in human figures with my old love of robustly three-dimensional objects. Here, these two intense interests come together. The vigorous third-dimension created by the objects (the initial "L" and "U") carried over into the human figures. This outcome is very rewarding.
I have been working and re-woring the man's head in the left panel. You would have thought I had gotten it right already. It isn't just the head! It's the body as well. His right leg (on viewer's left) has to be extended. His right shoulder has to enlarge in reaction to the size of his head. And yes, his jaw line has to be tweaked, giving it less of a simple curve. And, with the latter alteration, his ear may have to be lifted! And so it goes. My biggest hope is the lessons I have learned in making this painting, extended as they have been over 35 re-visits to this painting, will be intuitively internalized and my way through paintings to come will be quicker and easier. BTW: when I extend the man's right knee and leg, and enlarge his right shoulder, the composition will substantially improve.
(Note about reproduction: the image of Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 in relatively high resolution. This allows you to zoom-in for a better view of this nearly completed painting. It looks better in a larger format than the one which initially appears on your screen). Yesterday was an abundant and interesting day of drawing. It began with me examining closely a man's head looking right (this, of course relates to the man's head I wrote so much about in today's first paragraph). Then on to a study of a woman's head and neck, à la Modigliani. And finally a robust drawing with both the man and the woman. Two days ago I made a series of three drawings. In each I explored a different aspect of composition. The final drawing in that series had me investigating the creation of the third-dimension on two-dimensional paper. Of the three drawings, its subject matter is the most unusual. When I focus on compositional research it appears I allow the content of the drawing to appear without self-criticism. This is probably good. In any case, as I do my research through drawing I follow instinct and intuition to where ever it takes me. Yesterday, while in a compositional exploratory mode, I produced the drawing you see here. Weird subject? I am not going to worry about it. I do enjoy its dynamic composition, generated by unusual forms and spatial play.
There is not much I can add to that seen in today's reproduction of the current state of the painting Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014. The success of yesterday's changes are obvious. The right panel's increase in compositional rotation and spatial dynamism is amazing. This, created by stretching the man's leg out, and small changes to his shirt and arms. The head of the woman in the right panel now appears a bit too large. Back at it today...
Yesterday's drawing is yet another study for the next painting, a man/woman triptych. You can see it happening in these drawings. Compare these drawings to the drawings in the previous post. There is energy and insight in yesterday's drawing, rather than the struggle to survive seen in the drawings posted on 06/04/2014. And so it goes. Yesterday I also spent some time scrutinizing the painting Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014. As much as like the head of the man on the extreme right, his head is not right in relationship to the rest of the diptych. This painting has been a slog toward quality. I have great hopes that this painting is a turning point. I have great hopes that I won't have to go through this slow process again. If I will it so, it shall not be repeated. I look with envy on many of the paintings of Van Gogh and Picasso. Many of Van Gogh's and Picasso's paintings were obviously done in one or two sittings. This happens with ALL my drawings, but I would like it to happen with my paintings too. Oh well, I am here now, and this is what I have to deal with.
I know what I am doing, though it may not be obvious to you. My creative and physical energy ebbs and flows as response to the degree to which it was recently used. Last week was important in terms of the painting, Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014. More importantly, it clarified my intent. I am much more clear on the art I must make. I stripped away a few more of my delusions. That effort drained my reserves of energy.
Thus far this week's art-making has been slow. However, after last week's efforts I feel I have the knowledge, and ability, to successfully complete Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014. I also feel I know the next step I must take. This is very good. The problem I have with my current reality, i.e. the need to store up energy, is my distaste for waiting for my sharpness, intensity, and focus to come back. I prefer constancy. From experience I know the wait will not be long. That is reassuring. Yesterday's drawings are practice, studies for my next major work, a triptych of paintings. Yesterday's drawing is a reaction to the drawing posted in this blog on 5/22/2014 (Untitled Drawing-05·21·2014). These drawings represent the beginning of the process of conceiving my next painted work, which will be a large triptych with two side panels, one of a man, the other a woman. Thus yesterday's feminine reflection to Untitled Drawing-05·21·2014. The central panel will be something larger and will be inhabited by both the man and woman. I will stretch up three canvases: in inches the three canvases will be 60X50, 60X60, and 60X50.
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May 2024
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