Jig

Jig   watercolor/relief ink   14 x 28

is the result of openness.  A conflict has arisen in my artistic pursuits.  My favorite subject:  the human figure.  However, posed models are usually at rest, and often the result of someone else's idea of a terrific pose....the artist providing for and arranging the model session.  A group session, of course, has the advantage of the shared expense of the model.  My own studio is rather small and cannot provide the distance I need for my own "big picture".  So, more and more, I am relying on photographs which, for me, do provide that distance, as well as the ability to be altered and pushed into my own vision.  This young woman was playing the fiddle in the middle of the gazebo in my small town during our Wednesday Farmers Market.  She was back-lit, unfortunately, so I had to cull out information from the darkness provided.  I love her gesture...an active one to be sure.  And...as in all meaningful rhythms, runs counter to the direction of her bow.  In order to give more power to the gesture, my task was to combine shapes where possible and eliminate unnecessary detail.  I am happy to have kept my eyes open to possibility and to accept what which was given to me.

Quick Draw

Quick Draw - Laura

This past Wednesday evening, our art club program was a quick draw. We all took turns posing for various gestural drawings for 30 seconds to a couple of minutes. It really was such fun....thanks to Akron Society of Artists programs chair Jana Volkmer! The speed helps to get to the heart of the matter right away....for me, it is the gesture line that holds the pose, that imaginary line, a curve, that mimics the energy of the figure. Lines go this way and that. I don't really strive for accuracy here....just energy. What fun! For this session, I used China markers as they glide so easily across the paper. I was prepared with several, as they wear down rather quickly and are quite the sticky-wick to unravel. Other artists used charcoal pencils and shorty pencils. We used lots of paper as well.....paper well-spent. Working quickly also helps me to work slowly as well....later on in the drawing.

Hands Down

Hands Detail - Paint Dancer

Why do we painters freeze up when it comes to hands? It could be because they are so complex, what with all of those joints and digits. Someone in the Saturday workshop asked me about hands and expressed how overwhelming they are! Part of the problem, I think, lies in the interference of our naming brain - the left brain. It is the part of our brain that organizes, categorizes and names. When our L-brain takes hold of the notion of "hand", it helps us to recall the 6-year-old notions of hands, all far to difficult to reproduce....it also recalls all of the times we have attempted and failed. In my opinion, we would benefit from the shift to the art-friendly R-brain, where the visual language exists only as visual....the hand becomes terrain, shades, lines and masses. Hands, for me, take a back seat to the overall rhythm of the picture, which is my goal. If it helps to support the movement, I count it in. The gesture of the hand is more important than any of the pieces/parts. Then, as I distill and simplify, only important parts of the hands are described, as supporting actors, so to speak. All artists are different, dependent on their personal aesthetic choices. Just yesterday, I perused some paintings by Daniel Greene....the hands are exquisite, in all of their veiny detail. He has determined what works for him, and I for me. The Art Spirit by Robert Henri is my art-bible.