Balancing Act...

Mary in Polka Dots   oil/canvas   30 x 24 x .5

Yes, indeed it is.  For almost everyone.  Finding that median in the land of polar opposites.  Work:Play.  Self:Others.  Visual balance is important in my work....and I have noticed that most people are highly sensitive to balance and can tell when, in any situation, it needs to be improved.  Being off-balance is disconcerting.  (There are cases, when asymmetry is very exciting and helps to tell the story.  In that case, imbalance is intended and purposeful).  Mary was a tall and lanky young model.  And then she did that pretzel thing with her legs wrapped around the rungs of the stool.  First of all, painting the human figure on a standard size canvas is difficult at best.  If the standing figure is painted in its entirety, the proportions of the surface are wrong to me, leaving far too much negative space.  O.K.  In this case, the lankiness was offset and balanced by some emphasis on the horizontals.  In the working of these horizontals, the relationships of shoulder/shoulder; hand/hand; knee/knee and boot;boot became even more important.  In this particular scenario, the stool had to be included as it was inseparable from the legs.  The horizontal rungs also helped to balance this extremely vertical situation.

I have watched people straighten a barely-crooked painting on a wall as they walk by.  I believe that a need for balance is deeply engrained in our physiology.

Entering Shows

Fourteen   pastel/paper   23.5 x 17

Mary in Polka Dots   oil/canvas   30 x 24 x .5

It is difficult to decide which shows to enter. There are so many considerations such as: entry fee, shipping costs, distance to travel and having the appropriated formatted images, as these days, every show seems to have difficult requirements. Usually, the prize money is a consideration. Of course, there is no guarantee of winning a prize, but at least there should be the possibility of recuperating the costs of the entry. But sometimes there is an exception. Two of my works, "Fourteen" and "Mary in Polka Dots" were just shipped to Woodstock, Illinois for "Real People 2008" sponsored by The Old Court House Figurative League. This show just felt right to me. Quite simply, my goal is painting real people. Then, when I took a look at the work of juror Alice White, I was convinced. I was awed by her large canvasses that focus on huge groups of people with lots of interaction. My own work shows solitary figures. I just had a good feeling. The exhibit is August 7 - September 28 at The Old Courthouse Arts Center on Woodstock Square in Woodstock, Illinois.

Working with what is Given

Mary in Polka Dots   oil/canvas   30 x 24 x .5

I frequently work from models. Most of the time this works out. I believe that you must find something about that person that is thrilling to you. In the case of "Mary in Polka Dots", I found the rhythm of her figure, with the long leg curling around to catch the support bar of the stool, to be intriguing. It also supported her figure....long and lithe....to aid in the composition. She represented completed freshness to me. It was a pleasure to paint her. I guess I see a metaphor here for life in general..........making the most of what is given to you. Painting helps me to understand all that is good.