Balls

Balls   charcoal, pastel and China marker on paper   8.75 x 22

Playing with balls is a bit like painting...a bit unpredictable...a bit out of control.  Balls are the tools of the athlete as brushes and pigments are to us.  And, although we set ourselves up for a successful outcome, the joy comes from the process itself...the playing, the painting.  Fluidity results from that wonderful place that lies somewhere in between control and the lack thereof. 

Swahili warrior song:  Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the gods....so let us celebrate the struggle.

Our project in drawing class was to be able to render the volume of a sphere by direct observation.  The brightly lit spheres in the "learning to draw" books are minimally useful, as the rendering requires astute observations culled from the light source (or sources) as well as attempts to understand the material from which the sphere is made, as well as its construction.  I used charcoal, with a bit of conte, pastel and China markers to achieve the effects that I desired.  The rendering is fairly tight, as the number of forms involved precludes a more expressive style....which, I think, would result in far too much visual confusion.  The two counterspaces between the balls at their base were necessary, I think for understanding, as well as a bit of vertical play to balance the extreme horizontal composition.

The struggle.  The athlete.  The painter.