 Drawing 01·27·2022, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches This drawing is a depiction of vigorous, coordinated concert; it exhibits an enforced effort of mindfully following my knowing. Mostly, I know more than I depict. It is difficult to concentrate on truthful telling of that which I know. This drawing is a result of my process of throwing away questionable knowing during the act of staying true to real knowledge. Consequently, I think it successful.
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 "Gonna Speak to the Crowd" (2021 No.5, state 22), oil on canvas, 64¾x57½ inches, {"I'm gonna spare the defeated — I'm gonna speak to the crowd. I'm gonna spare the defeated, boys, I'm going to speak to the crowd. I am goin' to teach peace to the conquered. I'm gonna tame the proud." - Bob Dylan, "Lonesome Day Blues" (2001)} I realized "Gonna Speak to the Crowd” is not yet complete. I took charge, moved it toward a more active composition, an in-your-face, movement involved, structurally whole composition. This painting moved in the direction of my guiding principles: self-satisfaction and viewer involvement. Wanna see a painting that did ALL THE ABOVE, back in 1951; look below👇  Ellsworth Kelly, "The Meschers", oil on canvas, 1951  Drawing 01·23·2022, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches For today's post, I considered many titles: “Dirt Does Not Save the Soul” and “Too Much Want” and “Less is More” and “Thick in the Head.” I settled for the one you see at the top of this post.
I can not help myself. I love to make marks. I love to draw. I love creating new forms. I love forms which emote memories of things past. But, when I look at my work, I see complicated. Simple is better. Simplification is necessary. I want to hit the viewer with great first impressions, ones that last. I want simple messages to myself, ones I immediately understand. I am the primary viewer. The drawing I show today should have been pared. There is an extra form. I am referring to that little one, the one that resides above the major form. I’d say this extra form is like a limbless torso, with a sombrero. Rather than erase, repair, I will make another drawing. The next one will be simpler. By the Way, looking at the painting, "Gonna Speak to the Crowd,” one more step is required. I thought I was done with it. No. A simple tweak is required. The painting, "Tonstant Weader Fwowed Up”, requires several more steps. Stay tuned. Check back in a couple days. Lastly, I am trying to simplify my sentences as well. Yeah, language is the same as drawings and paintings; less is more understandable.  "Tonstant Weader Fwowed Up" (2021 No.10, state 11), oil on canvas, 56x62¼ inches, {"And it is that word 'hummy', my darlings, that marks the first place in 'The House at Pooh Corner' at which Tonstant Weader fwowed up." - Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), in "The New Yorker", 20 October 1928, reviewed by Dorothy Parker as "Constant Reader"}  "Gonna Speak to the Crowd" (2021 No.5, state 21), oil on canvas, 64x57⅜ inches, {"I'm gonna spare the defeated — I'm gonna speak to the crowd. I'm gonna spare the defeated, boys, I'm going to speak to the crowd. I am goin' to teach peace to the conquered. I'm gonna tame the proud." - Bob Dylan, "Lonesome Day Blues" (2001)} "I'm late, I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say 'hello, goodbye,' I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!” This, from White Rabbit in “Alice in Wonderland”, however, Lewis Carroll never wrote this entire sentence, it sung in the Disney film.
I feel late. During the last few days my work in the studio looks back, not forward. The skills required to complete the two paintings I show today are 2022 skills. These paintings hark back to 2021 ideas. I am ready to move on, but, I desire to push these works to their proper ends. This is important to me. I am always working uphill, on learning curve. I am learning much, as I move these paintings to completion. My perfectionism is apparent in "Gonna Speak to the Crowd”; I thought it completed two days ago. Yesterday, I tweaked it. Now I can accept it the way it is. This is not true for "Tonstant Weader Fwowed Up”; which will take another step today.  "Gonna Speak to the Crowd" (2021 No.5, state 20), oil on canvas, 64x57⅜ inches, {"I'm gonna spare the defeated — I'm gonna speak to the crowd. I'm gonna spare the defeated, boys, I'm going to speak to the crowd. I am goin' to teach peace to the conquered. I'm gonna tame the proud." - Bob Dylan, "Lonesome Day Blues" (2001)} The painting, "Gonna Speak to the Crowd", has arrived, here at last.
 Drawing 01·20·2022, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches myself Sometimes I mull over my reason for the text within my Blog post. What’s it all about? It is all about me mulling over my Art, its direction, its validity, the degree I have made sense in my work. Today is no exception. This is a good drawing. I am establishing a center, in my work, and in myself. Today’s text is me patting on the back, “I did alright,” and “I am going the right direction.” Bravo for me! Now, get outta here and go make more Art! Take a look at a master, Franz Marc, controlling the viewer's engagement: In the painting "Deer in the Forest," Marc locks the viewer's gaze within this painting, through form and value. After the lock, Marc carries the viewer through a maze of wonder, via color, form, value, and movement.  Franz Marc, "Deer in the Forest", 101x105cm, 1913  Drawing 01·18·2022 No.2, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches "Getting It" means simplifying the message to purity; so pure that it cannot be misunderstood.
 Drawing 01·18·2022 No.1, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches With this drawing I have opened the door to the impossibility of an ending. There is no perceivable end because I will never choose an end. All things must pass. The direction I am traveling is built upon sensitive, mindful steps, each a minuscule movement in a long, endless journey. I have too much to do; there is no possibility of being happy with an ending. Yesterday's drawing calls out, "Endless!"
 "Gonna Speak to the Crowd" (2021 No.5, state 19), oil on canvas, 64x57⅜ inches, {"I'm gonna spare the defeated — I'm gonna speak to the crowd. I'm gonna spare the defeated, boys, I'm going to speak to the crowd. I am goin' to teach peace to the conquered. I'm gonna tame the proud." - Bob Dylan, "Lonesome Day Blues" (2001)}  "Tonstant Weader Fwowed Up" (2021 No.10, state 10), oil on canvas, 56x62¼ inches, {"And it is that word 'hummy', my darlings, that marks the first place in 'The House at Pooh Corner' at which Tonstant Weader fwowed up." - Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), in "The New Yorker", 20 October 1928, reviewed by Dorothy Parker as "Constant Reader"}  Drawing 01·16·2022 No.1, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches  Drawing 01·16·2022 No.2, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches  Drawing 01·14·2022 No.2, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches January 16th, I created and/or revised five works; yeah, a lot of work. Coming home is work; it feels good to be here.
 Drawing 01·15·2022, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches Complex versus simple; expression is in the eye of the beholder. I must remember this: The artist is not required to spell out every nuance of every feeling. The artist is required to be simple, pure, accepting of the viewer's profound understanding of life, living, and feeling. In other words, the artist is not required to spell out every nuance of every feeling. No more descriptive quality is necessary If the artist feels, then produces an image that is that feeling. The viewer, through his or her feeling, will complete that which must be felt.
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January 2022
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