Archive for June, 2010

Flat line

A drawing done in pencil on textured paper  at the Frederick drawing group. I wasn’t happy with the pose at first. The model’s head, arms, chest, and thighs were lined up horizontally and seemed quite static and unexpressive. But I found that the pose’s simplicity allowed me to focus on details like the soft shadows  and on each finger. Something about the angularity of the hand in contrast with the sensuality and roundness of the breast and thighs makes it look like it is from a different planet, but then maybe hands are.

Life is but a stage

Another work along the same line  of the city scene I did earlier this year. Like the previous piece it is acrylic on paper and based on a photograph of a street in nearby Bethesda. I experimented in both with adding a lot of texture to the paint, in this case with pumice gel that I felt  added to the feeling of concrete and harsh summer light.  The point of the painting was to include as many details of city life as possible, to have some respect for the lives lived in each window, but to also to have the painting work abstractly as pictorial space, to have the eye led gradually into and out of the painting. Secondarily there is a little mini-drama going on of a delivery van parked in the street and a car having to cross into the opposite lane to pass it. Drama might be too strong a word, but we do take our driving infractions seriously here in Bethesda.

Construction/Destruction

This large, 3′ x 4′ painting was inspired by photographs I took of an abandoned field that was slated for a housing development. There was some sign of construction, of freshly dug raw earth and plastic orange  fencing and piles of dirt but basically with the economy the way it is the site has been left in this in-between state for over a year. Right next to this is a new shopping mall that is only half occupied. You can see this in the upper left part of the painting. I think what attracted me originally to the site was the  orange fencing against the green grass. While I worked on the painting I added gestural orange lines that seemed to suggest plans for future building. If you asked me to explain what this painting was about I would say something about the contrast of land as an actual place vs. our concept of ownership and business. But really I just like the way orange glows against the other colors and the spidery lines of dry grass. I feel like the hole in the earth might conceal buried treasure.

At the Falls

Two pastel paintings (drawings? sketches?) from Great Falls in Potomac, Maryland. Visitors are allowed to clamber over the rocks around the falls though signs warn of the mortal dangers of one slip up. There were a number of nice flat rocks to sit on that overlooked the white rushing water.   The day was beautiful with a deep blue sky and  trees and foliage still very green from recent rains. It was a challenge to capture the water as it rushed by and to give it the look of movement and not just a static foreground . It might be more effective just to leave the paper untouched and let the viewer fill that in with their imagination. The color of the rocks is very beautiful. Their tops are pale green with lichen and nearer the water they are pink with dried mud. And when the water gets them wet they are almost black.  I am enjoying pastels. They are easy to transport and easy to apply. If you apply them with a light touch you can leave a little bit of the white paper sparkling through or you can use your finger to smear two colors with a smooth blur. Balancing the sparkle and blur seems to be  the point.

Photos from Wolf Kahn Weekend