RECUPERATING AND LOOKING OVER MY DRAWINGS FROM 2010, four months after starting my blog Drawing-of-The-Day. The blog's purpose was to make drawing a habit. It worked better than thought it would. It made drawing a commitment I had to keep, pushed me from drawing with markers to drawing with graphite pencils and paint--from painting this and that, to finding what subject interested me a lot. My interest in portraiture came from these first efforts.
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| Technicolor Grasses, acrylic on canvas board. |
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| Bears' Britches, WC markers on student grade drawing pad |
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Red Deck Chair, Watercolor Markers on Strathmore Drawing pad.
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| Erin, Graphite Pencil on Strathmore Drawing pad. |
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| Sweet Dreaams. WC markers on Strathmore 80lb drawing paper. |
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| Crystal Candy Dish. WC markers on Strathmore 80lb drawing paper |
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| .Kelly, Graphite pencil on Strathmore 80lb drawing paper. |
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| .Pistachio Nuts, Watercolor on student grade watercolor paper. |
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| Daffs, Watercolor on student grade WC paper, about 10" x 10" |
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| Taylor, Charcoal on Newsprint, 18" x 24" |
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WHEN YOU SUDDENLY GO BACK TO DRAWING, you try this and that looking for what subjects, which mediums, on which supports suits you best. Eventually, you do recognize your voice. In nearly seven years, I found I am bilingual. Traditional realism and Abstract Expressionism both get me excited. I appreciate that one approach demands resolution and the other does not. I appreciate that one demands precise drawing skills and careful stumbling while the other is gestural, loose and physically active. I also found that I love being retired, past having to have a third career and can enjoy an amateur standing. I can sell. I can gift. It's up to me. I am not tethered to any hitching post; I am a free agent. Will my work land in a museum, the dream of all artists? Maybe? That no longer matters. What matters is the doing.
All these works show how very good you were to start with. It has been an epic adventure, steering this way and that, to see which way to go. I find it fascinating that you are excited by opposing ways of working, media, colour or not....etc. It is no surprise that you are capable of achieving anything . Isn't very good to look back?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed it. I was surprised I found nothing to tweak. Sure there were plenty of sketches that were done just to do something and keep my drawing a day promise, but I found those interesting too. Some showed an affinity for Surrealism. Some showed why I had considered drawing comics at one time and illustration. In the end, drawing wins. Realism, in spite of my respect for Expressionism offers the challenge. I think Expressionism has become my hobby and Realism a job that challenges. Balanced is when I am the happiest. Fun week it was.
DeleteWhat I like about you L.W. is how much you experiment. It is the hallmark of an artist (a "real" artist). I like how you explore and go for it. You have my admiration! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Celeste! Very kind words. And now that I figured me out, I have to whip myself back into physical shape. That's my current project with sketching thrown in to keep sharp. I hope to work figurative studio sessions into my week as well as some Plein air--follow your example.
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