Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!...

Christmas Chaos   Watercolor on Yupo   8 x 8

Holiday season is a crazy mix of emotions!  The extreme childlike joy that the season provides is immeasurable.  Likewise,  the frustrations.  We have a holiday tradition here that requires us to fix everything that has been functionally broken for the past year....all in the month of December.  Add to that the tempestuously tangled coils of holiday lights that you remember neatly coiling and organizing the January past.  How does it happen?  Holiday decorations defy organization entirely. (or the possibility of attic gremlins)

"Christmas Chaos" was painted at the end of last holiday season using a few bulbs that had hidden during attic reassignment.  Yupo paper provides the texture.  In fact, one simply cannot escape texture when using this paper, as the surface is a slippery plate.  Adding more pigments always always disturbs what is underneath.  Smooth passages are impossible.  Although this paper is not my favorite, I can understand how using it in certain instances will support chaotic intentions......

such as holiday decorations.

And, as far as those cheap light strings that work only for one year (or half of them go out).....I vow not to purchase them any more.  Please recycle them at :

Recycle holiday lights


All lights sent for recycling should be sent to:
HolidayLEDs.com Recycling Program
C/O Classic Turning, Inc.
4905 James McDivitt Street
Jackson, MI 49201-8958

Just what is expressive drawing?...my own definition...Fragile Patterns

Fragile Patterns   Charcoal/Mixed   19 x 12.5

In the time I have been writing this blog, there have been more hits on my expressive drawing posts than any others.  Unfortunately, until now, I have only described the steps we took in workshops without explaining exactly what I mean.  Expressive drawing is my own moniker, albeit general, that signifies a drawing where other considerations trump the exactness of the subject.  And, hopefully, it leads to expressive painting as well.

I use the design approach to drawing and painting.  Design  elements are the artist's tools.  They include:
1.  Shape (pattern, form, mass, object, subject matter)
2.  Value  (light and dark, tone, tint)
3.  Space (the illusion of 3-dimensional depth and 2-dimensional flatness)
4.  Edges (blurred and sharp, lost and found)
5.  Color Temperature (warm and cool)
6.  Texture (surface variation)
7.   Line (drawing versus mass painting)
8.  Color Hue (spectrum clossifications: red, yellow, blue, etc; local and arbitrary hues)
9.  Color Intensity (brightness, neutral versus pure)


The design principles ore the organizing aesthetic ideas that guide your use of elements in a painting. They are:
1 , Dominance (emphasis, focal point)
2,  Movement (rhythm,, directions, gesture, transition)
3,  Variety (contrast, conflict, tension)
4,  Unity (harmony, balance or not with intention)

These elements are shared by artists of all kinds from illustrative to culinary.  Each artist has his/her personal sense of aesthetic "correctness" that is a personal mix of the elements and principles dependent upon his/her preferences.  My own mix is just that...my own.  In expressive drawing, these principles are in play right along with the subject, the reality.

Drawing expressively relies on a good foundation in drawing; the desire for a bit of risk-taking; enjoying happy accidents and occasional chaos;  a skill in gross motor drawing from the shoulder (as opposed to fine motor with the wrist); and the ability to trust your own problem- solving and decision-making ability.

My own preferences for an expressive drawing or painting include:

* moving from 3-dimensional correctness and detail in the focal area to 2-dimensional flatness    in the far corners of the work

* calligraphic line (especially the S-curve) that mimic nature

* lines that extend too far

* broken line

* echo lines (or power lines) in important areas for strength

* combining like-valued shapes for simplicity

* unexpected shapes wherever

* warms played against cools

* line played against mass

* amazing neutrals played against a few pures

* as many lost edges as possible....leading to a bit of beautiful (hopefully) nothingness

* and rhythm, rhythm, rhythm using edges to create movement

Landscape!...

Pumpkin Patch   Watercolor   8.75 x 8.75

Because the interests of the artists in my watercolor class are so varied, we often vote on a genre to pursue.  Our last project in the fall session was landscape.  My goals were:  a small colorful rendering; using smaller brushes than usual due to its size; and, of course, animation.  I had hoped to stay true to my reference....as usual, that was not possible.  My love for strong design trumps reality.  I started by creating a nest for my pumpkin patch.....chaotic strokes and scrapings that would simulate the field in which they perched.  Loose to tight.  The reverse is impossible....for me.  I tried to create a rhythm around the rows of pumpkins, as well as washing over some in order to strengthen others.  This is a small painting - 10 x 10.  I am happy....at least as happy as I can be at the finish.  I always seem to yearn for the path not taken.  Indecision.

The next painting is always my favorite.

Just how far will you go...

Pumpkin with Canned Peppers   Pastel/Paper   7.75 x 8.5

...to finish a painting?  I go pretty far.  Long ago when things didn't go as planned, I would begin again, only to find different passages left wanting.  Commitment is the thing.  An interactive relationship between me, the artist, and the painting.  No over-control.  No under-control.  A seeming back-and-forthness that will take you into a creative place you have never been.  This work started out as a drawing demo during a workshop.  Not much color....just the contes and sticks in my pencil box.  At home I added pastel.  Thought it was done..... The next day when I evaluated it, I saw BORING.  Nothing worse.  Using linoleum block ink and a template made of tracing paper, I printed over top.  Zing.  I am much happier.  The last step was to touch up a few passages with pastel.  Having everything in its proper place is just not enough for me these days.  I need a bit of chaos, a bit of happenstance.  Love that word.  Love its effect.

Surprises are so sweet.

Gourds...

Gourd Fest   Watercolor   8 x 12

were another subject matter shared by both drawing and watercolor artists in my classes...those bumpy, shape-shifting and colorful natural objects that catch our eyes in November markets.  Each artist had his or her own goals.  Some chose simple monochromatic renderings with wispy shadows.  Others went for more complex compositions and a more filled-in background spaces.  In some cases the gourds are used only as a motif. for further design.  In others, they are incredibly lifelike, resembling serpents.  The addition of color always makes for a far more complicated problem. I am delighted by all of the results.

Tools...

Kitchen Mix   Watercolor   10 x 10

were the topic, the seed, for conceptualizing and design in both my watercolor and drawing classes.  The choice of tools as well as the number was up to the individual artist, hopefully providing each artist with enough commitment to do well on the project.  ( versus a topic selected only by me which might be difficult for all to relate and commit to)  The results speak for themselves.  These artists work hard and are serious-minded.  The results are varied.  Those who are beginners were encouraged to render only one item.  Those with more experience were encouraged to use more items which exponentially increases the complexity of the composition.  I see sensitivity.  Great design work.  Fabulous results.  I am so happy that each artist pursued his/her own vision.

Tools are personal and soulful by nature.  Add to that a willing artist.  I do not value a dozen cloned photorealistic works nearly as much as a dozen individual interpretations.  Enter emotion. Va-voom.

Raking...

Raking   Watercolor/Graphite   21 x 13.25

is an example of what I consider to be a watercolor sketch.  It has many elements that I adore....a figure in motion, a figure physically working (which I consider to be a soulful and noble endeavor), and a person I adore...my husband Rick.  Rick agreed to pose for our watercolor class a few years ago.  This painting is the result.  I am thinking that its brevity is its strongest virtue.  Having a model for a limited time period forces us to get to the point rather quickly...no time for extras such as a background.  In fact, sometimes when a work develops into a full-blown painting, the original spark becomes buried in the paint.  It becomes somehow duller.  Poetry.  Prose.  I enjoy everything about it.  Even the pencil squiggles that create a bit of a border.  Would I have been that carefree on a painting in which I had invested several days?  I don't think so.

The challenge then, for me, is to be able to save the original spark as the painting marches onward and becomes a bit weightier.