Carl Mehrbach's Art Blog
  • About
  • Making Art

4 hours of what?

2/26/2016

 
Picture
Drawing-02·24·2016, pencil on paper, 20X16 inches
This drawing took me the entirety of my studio time to complete! It obviously captivated me. I need to look at it and ask, "What engaged me so entirely?" Primarily, I believe the creation of novel forms pulls me it, absorbs me. I found an emotional connection as I created the head of this man, grating in its incongruity, its egg-like ovalness contrasting strongly against the spiking ground on which the character sits. Value contrast also interested; as example, his light-value legs move across the dark-value ground. Additionally, the stark white background, in its negativity and value contrast, actually dominates the composition! But, it is the artifice of touching forms that most engaged me: the scratching of the surfaces consumed most of my time: Look at the number of pencil lines it took to create every form, including the enormous energy associated with the marks that created the ground and those spikes. Those marks are me experiencing tactile sensuality. Each mark was made with a different touch. In some places the marks leave open, white paper, to instill a feeling of surface the viewer can visually comprehend, moving as it does, in and out, of the subtle light. This brings me back to form. I love to imagine its touch, like a masseuse. I am moving my way into it, around it, feeling its give and take, sensually getting high on it responsiveness to my touch. Yet, I have created a rather gross character. So the emotional Interconnectivity I feel is far afield from that which I would feel if I were inventing a nude woman. This character has meaning to me because of his shameless coarseness.

The amazing process of surprise & discovery.

9/14/2014

 
Picture
Untitled Triptych-08·13·2014 (state 9), oil on canvas, 50 X 136 inches (side panels: 50 X 38 inches, center panel 50 X 60 inches)
Amazing the process! I am never prepared for it. Just when I think I know what I'm doing my activity veers off the straight line. Not that I expect a straight line; it's just that I often feel as if I am on a straight line just before I get hit from the side, thus reminded there are no straight lines. I mean that literally and metaphorically. That which appears straight to the viewer is that which was made in reaction to the stuff already there. To hell with straightness. It is not a concern! The stuff is my concern! Stuff is baggage, and I am wary of baggage. Baggage can be an idea so complete in its retroactive creation that it makes no sense to be here and now. It is my job to accept the baggage  that makes sense and throw out the baggage that deceives. Seeking truth and authenticity is the job, only accepting that which is current, the sum of all experience and all knowledge. So layers are made in life, in painting, and in drawing. I am working hard to make the tracks I leave on canvas and paper as authentic as I am, here and now.

With this mind, yesterday's work on Untitled Triptych-08·13·2014 took an important turn toward wholeness. It is beginning to make sense. Recently I re-learned the importance of being earnest and referential, at the same time. I did this through my drawings. (In this case I use "earnest" with its second dictionary definition: "a thing intended or regarded as a sign or promise of what is to come.") Yesterday's drawing felt invented in this fashion. As I laid down the strokes they were discoveries, simultaneously looking back and looking forward. Consequently, yesterday's drawing had a life of its own. As I have written before, it is in times like this that I feel more a mere conduit than a rational inventor. I believe that's a good thing.
Picture
Untitled Drawing-09·13·2014, pencil on paper, 16X20 inches

The manipulation of Zero.

3/5/2014

 
Picture
Untitled-03·04·2014, pencil on paper, 16X20 inches
Often I think my art is nothing more than the manipulation of the zero sum existence I live in. My efforts to make sense of the visual picture plane is analogous to the difficulty I have making sense of my existence. I am trying to find meaning and purpose by laying down paint and pencil marks on canvas and paper. There is no surprise here. It feels mundane for me to broach this subject. Questioning one's reason for being here is endless and has been done since humans obtained the capacity to be reflective. As I wrote that last sentence I asked myself, "Why do I dare put this thought out there? All of us feel the same." The answer to this question is important to me, of course, but I write it here because it is equally important to the choices I am making in my art. I am continuing my search to find a proper subject. I am seeking self-satisfaction and purpose. I am motivated by my search. The subject of my art is important to my self-motivation. At least that is the way I feel right now, since I do not fully comprehend my present choices. I do know the full development of form and space is important to me, i.e creating forms and space on a two-dimensional plane that appear three-dimensional. I know I represent people over and over again, and I often represent couples entangled in emotional responsiveness to one another. I am beginning to feel that my need to create three-dimensional form and space will be with me always. I am not sure if my present manner of depicting human figures is lastingly important.
Picture
Untitled-03·04·2014 #2, pencil on paper, 14X11 inches
I intended to begin a new painting yesterday. However, after completing the first drawing I found myself with just 20 minutes left in the studio. So, I decided to make a quick drawing. The result is above. Willem de Kooning talked about making drawings while watching TV. Setting his attention into conflict apparently released a portion of his mind. Otherwise he would have restricted the images in his drawings to a repetitive reissue of his previous manner of making images. Quick drawings, like the one above, may help me to separate my conscious mind from repetition as well. 

Rockin' ― the continuation of master drawings.

3/1/2014

 
Picture
Untitled-02·28·2014 #2, pencil on paper, 16X20 inches
The last four drawings have surprised me. They have a mastery, one after the other, which I have not seen in my work before. Rockin'! Yes. But, No, they are not there yet. Nothing ever will be. I listened to an NPR Fresh Air interview with the Astro-Physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is about to host a series on FOX TV called Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey. It is an update of Carl Sagan's influential 1980 PBS series Cosmos: A Personal Journey. Tyson said, to be a successful scientist one "has to fall in love with the problem." He explained how answers are few and far between. In other words, it is the journey one must enjoy in order to be fulfilled. Final answers will never come. As I move deeper into acceptance of this process my work is better. I am accepting the manner in which I see, without a lot of criticism. This allows me to make a form in my way, a way that fits my peculiar understanding. One comment on composition: Negative space is becoming more important in these recent drawings. I feel as if I used to crowd my forms on the paper, but now I am giving them some space to live in.
Picture
Untitled-02·28·2014, pencil on paper, 16X20 inches
"But my favorite question is one that we don't even know to ask yet because it's a question that would arise upon answering these questions I just delivered to you. ... If you're a scientist and you have to have an answer, even in the absence of data, you're not going to be a good scientist."
-Neil deGrasse Tyson in interview on NPR's Fresh Air

New Year ▶ New substance in old combine?

1/3/2014

 
Picture
Untitled-01·02·2014 (state 1), oil on canvas, 60X72 inches
Well, well, well. Surprise me and I am happy. Yesterday a new painting began and I finished the drawing I started on 12-31-2013. Both make me happy. Both have substance and acceptance. Why should acceptance make me happy? Because it has been a long time coming. There is a wisdom out there which says education can tie you to the past. Perhaps I have been a victim of that circuitous problem. Here I am, stepping out, following my intuition and my authentic self. This is scary, as I have not seen these things before. There is security in making a painting that looks like one made by Pablo Picasso. The world has learned to look and to see Picasso's work as valid and meaningful, and this includes me. So I am a little nervous as I give up the valid works of the past and enter the new realm of me, myself, and the authenticity of now. I must bear with myself, and I ask you to do the same.  
Picture
Untitled-12·31·2013 (state 2), pencil on paper, 16X20 inches

The Dog is Back →Thanks to Kedzie!

1/1/2014

 
Picture
Untitled-12·31·2013 (state 1), pencil on paper, 16X20 inches
There has not been a dog in my drawings or paintings for quite a while. This renewal of a priorly used image follows the emotional and intellectual reconditioning brought on by my recent absence from the studio. It also occurs thanks to the dog Kedzie, who visited me during the holidays. My work is firming up. Allowances for all things past are being accepted. Yesterday's drawing is an attestation of this acceptance. I am very optimistic about the work to come.

(Comment: I may go back into yesterday's drawing. The hand that rests on the forward man's head feels wrong.  I don't think it should rest on the man's head, but should play independently within the space. You may not see this change for two days, as today is New Year's Day and I have other things to do. Happy New Year to you!)  

Who is me? This or that?

9/26/2013

 
After the mythological world of birds, eggs, baseball, and clouds I returned to one of my oft used subjects: a man and a woman in a room. Today's blog post title poses questions. Verbal answers don't matter. I'll work this out though my art. Everything I make is me. So there!
Picture
Drawing-09·25·2013, pencil on paper, 14X11 inches

Side-tracked or Not?

9/25/2013

 
Picture
Untitled-09·22·2013 (state 2), pencil on paper, 14X11 inches
The quick and direct ways and means to a charity drawing got side-tracked for a second time. This drawing may be better than my first charity effort (Untitled-09·17·2013). What does this mean? It means I find joy, and meaning, in doing this. i.e. the invention of a mythical world with referential images. Now for a decision; the charity auction is Saturday September 28th and the drawing is due for delivery this Friday. It must be framed tomorrow. Which drawing goes to the auction block? In the end it does not matter, so I will let someone else pick. What does matter to me is the residual insight. Being knocked-off my supposed path in an effort to make a non-contoversial and easily understood drawing has given back to me. It has imbued me with insights worth knowing and assimilating. What goes around comes around.

End of Summer — a Ritual.

9/4/2013

 
Picture
Untitled-08·29·2013 (state 5), oil on canvas, 60X50 inches
It's good; pretty, pretty good. That's the way it came down yesterday. Today takes a different turn. In these waning warm days of summer I am off to enjoy the beach, so no post tomorrow.

I am happy with the outcomes of both of the things I worked on yesterday. Not only did the activity feel centered and right, there is also the benefit that each of these works has wrought: openness and possibilities.
Picture
Untitled-09·03·2013, pencil on paper, 11X14 inches

No man's land.

7/5/2013

 
Picture
Painting-07·03·2013 (state 2), oil on canvas, 60X60 inches
Where are these figures? Not in space I has seen. No matter, they fall from me, but not as freely as rain. This is a lot of work, paying attention to intuition. Still, it feels right not to be self critical. Each day brings surprises. I am surprised at who I am.
Picture
Drawing-07·04·2013, pencil on paper, 11X14 inches
<<Previous
    To read my profile go to MEHRBACH.com.

    At MEHRBACH.com you may view many of my paintings and drawings, past and present, and see details about my life and work.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010


    Categories

    All
    Ability
    Abstract
    Abstraction
    Abstract Mythology
    Academic
    Acceptance
    Accomplishment
    Accuracy
    Achievement
    Action
    Adventure
    Alien
    Allegory
    Alphabet
    Alternative Solution
    Anatomy
    Angst
    Anima
    Animation
    Announcement
    Answers
    Anticipation
    Anxiety
    Apolitical
    Appetite
    Approach
    Archetypal
    Art
    Art History
    Artifice
    Artistic
    Art Making
    Art-making
    Atmosphere
    Atmospheric Color
    Attention
    Attitude
    Attractive
    Authenticity
    Background
    Bad
    Balance
    Beauty
    Beginnings
    Bewilderment
    Bias
    Big Sensations
    Biomorphism
    Black
    Blindness
    Boggle
    Border
    Boring
    Brainstorming
    Breakthrough
    Buddhahood
    Business Of Art
    Career
    Catalogue Raisonné
    Caution
    Centered Composition
    Cerebral
    Challenge
    Chance
    Change
    Chaos
    Character
    Circular Composition
    Clarity
    Classical Composition
    Classicism
    Claustrophobic
    Clogged
    Coherency
    Color
    Color Theory
    Comfort
    Communication
    Completion
    Complexity
    Composition
    Compositional Density
    Compound
    Comprehension
    Conclusion
    Concrete
    Confidence
    Conflict
    Confusion
    Congestion
    Consciousness
    Consequences
    Conservative
    Contemplation
    Contemporary
    Content
    Continuance
    Continuum
    Contraposition
    Contrast
    Control
    Conviction
    Coronae
    Correctness
    Creativity
    Criticism
    Culture
    Curiosity
    Cycle
    Cycles In Creativity
    Dance
    Dark
    Darkness
    Deception
    Decision Making
    Decorative
    Déjà Vu
    Deliberate
    Delusion
    Depression
    Depth
    Despair
    Destination
    Detail
    Development
    Diagonal
    Diary
    Dichotomy
    Different
    Difficult
    Digital Alteration
    Discipline
    Discomfort
    Discontent
    Discovery
    Dishonesty
    Disparage
    Disparate
    Disruption
    Dissatisfaction
    Distraction
    Dogma
    Doubt
    Drama
    Drawing
    Drawings
    Dream
    Dreaming
    Dull
    Dynamic
    Education
    Effort
    Ego
    Elegant
    Elements Of Art
    Emotions
    Emotive
    Empathy
    End
    Endings
    Endless
    Endurance
    Energy
    Engagement
    Enjoyment
    Enlightenment
    Epoch
    Equivoque
    Era
    Essential
    Evaluation
    Evolution
    Excellence
    Exhaustion
    Exhibition
    Expectation
    Experiential
    Experimentation
    Exploration
    Expression
    Expressionist
    Facade
    Failure
    False
    Fantasy
    Fascination
    Fear
    Feel
    Feeling
    Fiction
    Figurative
    Figurative Mythology
    Figure
    Finality
    Finding
    Finesse
    Flat
    Flat On Flat
    Focal Point
    Foreground
    Foreshortening
    Form
    Formal Qualities
    Format
    Forms
    Frame
    Freedom
    Friendship
    Frightening
    Frontal Composition
    Frustration
    Fulfillment
    Future
    Game
    Geometrics
    Gesture
    Glory
    Goldilocks Syndrome
    Good
    Grammar
    Gratification
    Grit
    Ground
    Growth
    Habit
    Hallelujah!
    Happiness
    Happy
    Harbinger
    Hard
    Heaven
    History
    Honesty
    Hope
    Horizon
    Hue
    Humor
    Hurt
    Id
    Ideas
    Illustration
    Imagery
    Imagination
    Immediacy
    Immediacy Of Purpose
    Immortality
    Impact
    Impetus
    Impossibility
    Impromptu
    Impulse
    Incomplete
    Individuality
    Inevitability
    Influence
    Influencer
    Information
    Inherent
    Inquiry
    Insecurity
    Insight
    Inspiration
    Instinct
    Intellect
    Intelligibilty
    Interest
    Internalization
    Internal Life
    Intimacy
    Introspection
    Intuition
    Invention
    Investigation
    In-your-face
    Iterative
    Journey
    Joy
    Judgement
    Juxtaposition
    Kinetics
    Knowing
    Knowledge
    Labor
    Landscape
    Language
    Law
    Learning
    Lessons
    Lethargy
    Life
    Light
    Line
    Little Sensations
    Living
    Local Color
    Loneliness
    Longevity
    Luck
    Madness
    Making Art
    Making-art
    Malaprop
    Management
    Mantra
    Manufacturing
    Marks
    Mastery
    Mathematics
    Maturity
    Meaning
    Meditation
    Mental Health
    Mentor
    Messaging
    Metaphor
    Metaphysics
    Methodology
    Milestone
    Mimic
    Mindfulness
    Misconstrued
    Modus Operandi
    Monumentality
    Morality
    Mortality
    Motion
    Motives
    Movement
    Mundane
    Music
    Mystery
    Mythology
    Naiveté
    Narrative
    Nature
    Negative Space
    Nervousness
    New
    Nexus
    Nobility
    Non Objective
    Non-objective
    Non Representation
    Non-representation
    Novelty
    Now
    Nuance
    Nucleus
    Objective
    Obvious
    Omphalos
    Openness
    Opposites
    Optimism
    Order
    Organization
    Orientation
    Pace
    Painfulness
    Painting
    Passion
    Past
    Path
    Patience
    Pattern
    Pause
    Peace
    Pencil On Paper
    Perception
    Perfection
    Perfectionism
    Performance
    Persona
    Personality
    Perspective
    Phantasmagoria
    Philosophy
    Photograph
    Physical Health
    Physical Labor
    Physics
    Planning
    Play
    Playfulness
    Poetry
    Pointillés
    Political
    Positive Space
    Possibility
    Power
    Practicality
    Practice
    Precision
    Preparation
    Primeval
    Principles Of Art
    Priorities
    Problem Solving
    Process
    Processing
    Profound
    Progress
    Prototypical
    Psyche
    Psychology
    Pun
    Purity
    Purpose
    Pursuit
    Quality
    Quandary
    Quantity
    Quest
    Questions
    Quotes
    Radical
    Reaction
    Realism
    Reality
    Real World
    Rebel
    Rebellion
    Recognition
    Reconsideration
    Rectangle
    Reduction
    Referential
    Refinement
    Rejection
    Relationship
    Relentless
    Relevancy
    Reluctance
    Renewal
    Repetition
    Representation
    Representational Mythology
    Reproduction
    Research
    Resolution
    Responsibility
    Reveal
    Reverb
    Revolution
    Revolutionary
    Rhyme
    Rhythm
    Right
    Risk
    Rules
    Sanity
    Satisfaction
    Savor
    Scale
    Science
    Scintillation
    Sculpture
    Search
    Security
    Seeing
    Self Awareness
    Self-awareness
    Self-criticism
    Self Expression
    Self-expression
    Self Fulfillment
    Self-identity
    Self Knowledge
    Self-knowledge
    Self Revelation
    Self-revelation
    Self Satisfaction
    Self-worth
    Sensitivity
    Sensuousness
    Seriousness
    Shadow
    Shape
    Shock
    Significance
    Silliness
    Simplicity
    Simplification
    Sketch
    Skill
    Smudge
    Social Media
    Soft
    Solutions
    Sophistication
    Soul
    Space
    Specular Highlights
    Spirit
    Spiritual
    Spontaneous
    Staccato
    Static Composition
    Steps
    Stiltedness
    Straight Forward
    Strain
    Strategy
    Strength
    Stress
    Stripping Away
    Structure
    Struggle
    Study
    Subconscious
    Substantial
    Subtlety
    Success
    Suffering
    Super-ego
    Surface
    Surprise
    Symbolism
    Symmetrical Composition
    Symmetry
    Tactility
    Talent
    Technique
    Texture
    Themes
    Third Dimension
    Third-dimension
    Three Dimensional
    Three Dimensional Composition
    Three-dimensional Composition
    Three Dimensions
    Time
    Time Management
    Titling
    Tone
    Tool
    Touch
    Transition
    Trapezoid
    Triangle
    True
    Trust
    Truth
    Two Dimensional
    Two Dimensional Composition
    Two-dimensional Composition
    Ugly
    Understanding
    Universal
    Unknown
    Update
    Urgency
    Validity
    Value
    Variety
    Verbal
    Vibrato
    Viewer Involvement
    Viewing Distances
    Virtue
    Volume
    Vulnerable
    Witticism
    Wonder
    Words
    Work
    Worry
    Wrong
    Wrongness
    Wunderkind
    Zigzag

    RSS Feed

All images Copyright ©2021 Carl Mehrbach
  • About
  • Making Art