 "Ghost Town" (2022 No.9, state 07), oil on canvas, 55¼x58⅞ inches  Drawing 10·28·2022, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches  Drawing 10·29·2022, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches Of these two drawings I prefer the one I began on 10/28 (completed yesterday). The other drawing is OK; it looks like I lost my processing edge. When I get tired I tend to look for a solution by use of form, rather than through composition. Compositional solutions are superior when the emotional tug-o-war rests upon the play of negative versus positive space.
"Ghost Town" is in state #7. It is getting better.  Drawing 05·11·2022 No.1, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches  Drawing 05·11·2022 No.2, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches  Drawing 05·11·2022 No.3, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches Here are three compositions playfully looking for interest and surprise. These drawings are me searching, finding; they are me uncovering, divulging, broadcasting, publishing, and confessing.
 Drawing 05·10·2022 No.1, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches  Drawing 05·10·2022 No.2, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches I feel different. I have changed my mind. You can see this change in today’s drawings. Art-making is the act of changing one's mind. My drawings, my recent paintings, embrace a simple approach; they embrace face-on compositions. These works are realizations. Complexity of who I am cannot be reduced. Deception occurs if complexity be ignored. Simplicity must be sought. Yesterday drawings are practice toward achieving simplicity.
 "Uphill" (2022 No.3, state 11), oil on canvas, 60x58 inches I tend to do too much, not too little. The title of this painting is down to one word. With this change I have abandoned titles using quotations. I have quoted from literary figures in order to find my own place within space and time, but I don't require that anymore. Simple is better because the paintings speak for themselves, they don't need a crutch of words to lean upon.
This painting, "Uphill", still bothers me. Perhaps I love that ball at the top of hill too much. I am trying to accommodate it, but its instability rocks my confidence. Something needs to be altered.  "The Beginnings of Caution" (2022 No.4, state 4), oil on canvas, 47⅞ x47 inches “How to Look at a Basquiat” (New York Times, April 27, 2022): “One thing in particular that’s easier to see in “Art and Objecthood” than in the overwhelming visual cacophony of “King Pleasure” is how conservatively Basquiat organized the elements of his paintings. The sheer profusion of marks can be misleading, but if you recognize the scratches and scrawls of “Minor Success,” for example, as providing a texture rather than so many pieces of separate information, you’ll see that the arrangement of crown, face and car couldn’t be more straightforward.”
“Straightforward” compositional engagement is one of my annoying struggles. Right now I am working to become more “straightforward.” For me, this is acceptance. I have long fought traditional compositional norms; Basquiat did not do that; from the onset Basquiat embraced traditional graphic composition; Basquiat recognized the power of tried and true graphic composing, its power to immediately engage viewers. I am learning; the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat teaches me well.  "Uphill" (2022 No.4, state 10), oil on canvas, 60x58 inches A small correction makes a BIG difference in the painting, "Uphill the Hero". In the upper right I have leaned the vertical, arm-like form, more to the left. Much Better!!! More Profound! Amazing what a relatively minor alteration can do to the overall feel, the engagement, of a visual image.
 "Uphill the Hero" (2022 No.4, state 9), oil on canvas, 60x58 inches  "Uphill the Hero" (2022 No.4, state 8), oil on canvas, 60x56⅝ inches  "The Beginnings of Caution" (2022 No.4, state 3), oil on canvas, 47¼x47 inches There is an article in today's New York Times about the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat (quoted below). I worry about my propensity to make complex compositions. In this blog I have often written about my compositional worries. I am struggling to be free of the complex. I want to engage viewers quickly, easily; Basquiat models this well, Basquiat’s compositions are inherently simple; he was a master of compositional simplicity, which allowed complexity in everything else. Basquiat did not always have a complex message, but he always produced simple compositions. Yesterday I moved in that direction. Both of my recent paintings became simpler in composition. At last, I am giving in, I am learning to communicate more deeply by relying on simplicity of composition. CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK, New York Times, April 29, 2022  Drawing 12·11·2021 No.1, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches  Drawing 12·11·2021 No.2, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches These drawings are research efforts. They desperately seek universal emotive impact. I seek emotional visual statements, statements not confused by dominant forms. Substantive negative space is required to give positive forms potency by juxtaposition.
 "Gonna Speak to the Crowd" (2021 No.5, state 16), 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)}  Drawing 12·04·2021, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches There are may ways to impact viewers. For a painter, means are few. There is form, composition, and color. Use of these elements is a wide open sea. Looking out upon a wide sea tells little about direction. In other words, a correct direction is not easy to know. Yesterday I did make headway. Judge for yourself. I am very interest in the impactful use of negative space. One of greatest masters of negative space is Andrew Wyeth (see below).  Andrew Wyeth, Untitled Lanscape, date unknown  Drawing 11·28·2021, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches Try to look at this drawing as non-representative. I make a plea for abstractive, non-reality because this drawing has an improbable distraction, the body-two legs-neck-head confusion of its major form. I won't make a drawing like this again! I don't like figurative distraction. So... if you can escape the distraction, of something vaguely figurative, you will see a fine drawing, a drawing that deals with compositional movement, space, and form.
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At MEHRBACH.com you may view many of my paintings and drawings, past and present, and see details about my life and work. Archives
September 2023
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