Yesterday's drawing and painting went well. First let me show you the current state of the painting "Man & Man," with the caveat, "Yes I tried moving the clothed man slightly in front of the naked man, but it did not work well." By moving the clothed man's elbow forward I disrupted the engagement between the two figures. Today I will move the clothed figure back, which will include changes to his head, feet, and his left arm (on the viewers right). The naked man's head did change, and is far better than it was the day before. These changes are fascinating to me in terms of process, as my approach to problem solving in painting is becoming my process while drawing. I am allowing the "Yes, but..." process to be active in both media. I do not use the term "Yes, but..." lightly. Dore Ashton wrote "Yes, But..., A Critical Study of Philip Guston," published in 1976. This date was the year prior to my first of two years of study with Philip Guston. It is apparent to me that my choice to study with Guston was more about process than subject matter. When I signed on with Guston I was unaware of his amazing transition back to figurative art. I sought him out because I loved his approach to solving his so-called "Abstract Impressionist" paintings. As reference, I show three of Philip Guston's paintings, from 1960, 1973, and 1976. Philip Guston's paintings are shown after my work from yesterday. I like this drawing. It exhibits my method of problem solving. If you look carefully you can see a myriad of changes in the pentimenti. On another day I will write more about this quality, and refer you to the drawings of Henri Matisse, which exhibit the same quality of draw-in, rub-out, draw-again, etc.
I will show you the results of my activity as painter first, because I find yesterday's "warm-up" drawing almost repulsive. When I make a drawing like yesterday's I wonder about the consistency of my concentration, as elements of this drawing were so poorly handled as to appear distractingly annoying. This is where my painting is different than my drawing. I am tossing yesterday's drawing into the pile of drawings which are filed away and won't see the light of day in my lifetime. I will not give up so easily on the painting "Man & Man." In fact, the outcome of yesterday's work on this painting was very positive, in stark contrast to the drawing. In the present state of "Man & Man" the head of the naked man annoys me most. For sure, there are other elements to be solved, but when the head of the naked man becomes true and authentic the path to the finished painting will be easier to follow. I slammed in the clothed man's head, which has a feeling of authenticity, and can now be followed to a final solution. There is a lack of emotional engagement between the naked man with the clothed man, which will be remedied with my finding the naked man's correct physiognomy. The best result of yesterday's painting is the form and color of the naked man's body. At last I understand this man's form, and the light that plays across it; I believe his head will now come naturally, and without much confusion.
A couple of days ago (05/03/2011) I wrote of the precion required to properly solve the painting "Window." This is what I wrote: "'Window' is demanding incredible accuracy in position of its forms. It reminds me of Henri Matisse's 'Bathers by a River'...." I recommend you go back and take a look at the Matisse paintings I displayed on 05/03/2011, as they are instructive when viewing the solution shown in today's image of "Window." "Window" is entering its final phase. Extreme precision is required. I had a suspicion the type of drawing I was doing, over the last few days, was practice for the mind-set necessary to solve "Window." These precision-important "practice" drawings culminated with the three I produced yesterday, which are shown below today's image of "Window." They are excellent drawings, and announce the importance in my work of clarity in the relationship of forms within my drawings. I am surprised I am so keyed into this extreme discipline. This discipline is hyper-awareness. I can describe it "in practice" as you view the painting "Window." You can see it happen in the first drawing from yesterday, as well. When making the tip of a finger I must be aware of its multitude of relationships, i.e. to the figure to which it is attached, to the overall relationship it has to the other figure in the composition, and to the structural soundness of the composition as a whole. My game has just risen to entire new level of awareness.
The last couple of days have been low in production. The two drawings I made have helped me contemplate some problems I need to solve, and consequently these drawings seem more technical than artistic. In the past, when a couple of days like this occur, I am actually storing up energy for an attack on a major work. This may be the case, as the painting "Window" sits on my painting wall, begging to be completed.
The painting "Window" has entered its final phase. Yesterday's drawing is a study in kind rather than in form. By this I mean it represents me practicing an approach which will be necessary to complete the two male figures in "Window." At this point the male figures are mere sketches, holding places for the final statements. "Window" is demanding incredible accuracy in position of its forms. It reminds me of Henri Matisse's "Bather by a River" in the Chicago Art Institute (shown below my drawing). The subject matters of the two paintings are so completely different, but the carefulness at which I must make and place each form feels similar. I also find it extremely interesting that the color of Matisse's painting, and mine, are extremely subdued. For Matisse, known as a great colorist, this is unusual. It speaks to the similarity of the problem required to be solved by Matisse and I. Today I will go at "Window" again. With high concentration I will work on the two male figures, insisting on awareness of the entire composition as I create each major and minor form.
One final comment about "Window" and "Bather's by the River": In each, black is an important "color", and treated as such. When used correctly there is light in the color black. Matisse was the first to prove this to me. Black must not be treated as the absence of light, but as light itself. This is so very clear in Matisse's great painting, "Interior with a Violin" (shown below the "Bathers"). In 1814 Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres exhibited the painting "Grande Odalisque" to great controversy. This is not classicism, this is not a mythical nude from literature, but a courtesan who may have been alive at the moment of its painting. Today it is curious that such a tame reference to reality shocked the people of the day. Ingres did try to put some distance between the citizens of Paris and the woman shown in "Grand Odalisque" by depicting her as an exotic woman from another culture. In 1863 there was an even louder public outcry when Eduard Manet exhibited "Olympia," because the woman depicted in "Olympia" could actually be living amongst the viewers. Let's get back to my work. The reference to the "Grand Odalisque" is here because the woman in my painting, "Window," is elongated, and may be criticized for another reason viewers found Ingres's Odalisque disturbing. Like the Odalisque, my woman my have a few too many vertebrae. In any case, "Window" is, at last, becoming a substantial painting. The composition demands the stretch of the woman. Her elongation is required in order to play well against the men, who stretch across the upper half of the painting.
Two drawings were made yesterday. The first is more successful, and stands, by itself, as a work of art. The second drawing feels like "a study," and was immediately placed in the stack of drawings I file away from view. For reference, after the images of my work, I show Ingres' "Grand Odalisque" and Manet's "Olympia." The sun has just risen. The day has already become one of those rare days, found only in Spring, with clearness of light, pureness of air, and comfort in temperature. Yesterday exhibited this same beauty. I spent much it admiring the specific charms of Spring: the new and vital daffodils, the grass of pale green clarity seen for a few days before it saturates into the depths of summer, and the blue, cloudless sky. I did, however, spend enough time in my artificially lit studio to make two drawings. These are simple studies, and only the second has a chance of standing on its own as a work of art. I think I have been resting up, getting my energy and insight together, preparing to focus once again on solving the painting "Window." Spring does inspire a charge in energy, as if the suddenly energized flora and fauna transfer some of their vitality to us. My plans are to work on moving "Window" one more step toward its inevitable solution. Beyond that, the loveliness that is Spring will enchant me.
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April 2024
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