Carl Mehrbach's Art Blog
  • About
  • Making Art

Getting Ready

8/20/2020

 
Picture
Drawing 08·18·2020, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches
I am alway getting ready. I ready myself for my next work as I ready the painting, "Amidst a Falling World" for transport to the 70th A-ONE Exhibition at Silvermine Gallery. Yesterday's drawing establishes an intense interest in constant compositional movement and thrust. Every mark is a movement. The forms play with, and against, the inherent, intrinsic movement in each touch and mark. A day of reckoning is always upon me. This drawing is but one step in my relentless journey, a journey in search of self-satisfaction and self-fulfillment.

Revised & Questioned

4/7/2019

 
Picture
Drawing 04·06·2019, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches
Picture
Drawing 04·04·2019 (state 2), pencil on paper, 16x20 inches
As sophisticated as these drawings are... I ask, "Are these drawings too complex?" I fear they are too full of activity to be enjoyed simply and quickly. Do viewers enjoy wandering through drawings as abstract as mine? Perhaps a viewer would take their time to observe fully a drawing with many representational cues. I am not sure, so I worry.

The bottom drawing on this page is in its second state. You can compare it to this blog's previous post to see the changes I have made. It is better. The movements within it are more obvious. I am trying to make my ideas more obvious to the viewer. I am hoping the viewer is engaged more easily, more directly, I working to draw the viewer in through instant involvement.   

Subtle too Subtle

9/23/2018

 
Picture
Drawing 09·22·2018, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches
One more worry: Is my work too complicated, too subtle? Is it beyond the grasp of most viewers? I see visual connections across wide expanses of canvas and paper. I do not think I am deluding myself. Yesterday's drawing does work well. There is a solid core, there are rhythms and rhymes, there is movement and motion, there is value contrast, there are a large variety of forms, there is light, there is structural integrity. So, why is it not a hit? I believe it does hit well. Then why are viewers not begging that it be put in public venues? What are they not begging to see it up close and personal? Art that speaks truth should be seen. Perhaps Vincent Van Gogh wondered the same.

In yesterday's blog I quoted a New York Times article from March 22, 1992. The following paragraph, from the same article, is relevant to my worries of today:

"Cezanne's career might have been as grim as Van Gogh's -- and as short -- had he not been the son of a banker and, ultimately, his heir. As it is, his progress from clumsy Expressionism to a sublime fusion of the monumental and the ethereal has attracted scholars from Roger Fry to Meyer Schapiro and John Rewald." (from the New York Times article, ART; How Cezanne Evokes a Bach Fugue, published March 22, 1992)

Looking for Jewelry

11/20/2017

 
Picture
Drawing 11·19·2017, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches
Right and wrong are often difficult to distinguish. Look at that little circle created in the upper left of this drawing. It flattens out on its left side. That was a conscious decision. I thought the flattened line played well with its otherwise roundness. Seeing it reproduced here I am not so sure. Overall the line it generates reenforces the verticality of the composition, while causing hesitation in the whipsawed rotation of the snaking form in which it is one circle away from the upper end. This is an example of a drawing that will spawn another drawing. The next will examine another possible solution. As I always say, this is an unending process without any perfect answers. Questions are wonderful! They initiate answers, good and bad. Questions, no matter the answers, always inform.

Obsession and Perfectionism

9/20/2017

 
Picture
"2017 No.11" (state 13), oil on canvas, 52x54 inches
This quest is a burden. To find the image that is as good as it gets is impossible. I keep trying.  Constantly I ask myself, "Is it worth it?" After the work I mostly answer "Yes." The affirmative never comes easy, nor immediately. A certain amount of giving in, giving up, is necessary. Perfect success is impossible. The only success possible is making the image better than it was before. This seeking perfection certainly slows my life down. It also brings nervousness. Obsession is not trouble-free. It is conflict. It is disquiet that is anxiety and apprehension. Yesterday I returned to the painting 2017 No.11. It is better. It is not perfect. It will never be perfect. I do see it as better. It needs more. I accept the work that is necessary. That will happen today.

Here is a bit of success: I have moved on from the painting 2017 No.12. I assure myself that 2017 No.13 will begin soon.

Yesterday's drawings are interesting. No pattern, just writhing forms juxtaposed against solid, easily recognizable geometric forms. For fun I reproduce three images that somehow influenced yesterday's work (e.g, the sphere in Albrecht Durer's Melancholia was on my mind when I was working on 2017 No.11). 

Learning to Walk

6/2/2017

 
Picture
Drawing 06·01·2017, pencil on paper, 20x16 inches
I am hoping to run. However, I am still learning to walk. Yesterday's drawing, and (actually) all the drawings of this past week, are me taking careful steps. One by one, they come slowly, carefully, deliberately. I am practicing. I am in search of the intrinsic and fundamental. Fundamental to me is form, pattern, compositional movement, variety, contrast, surface energy (created by rhythmic marks), and the dynamic of light versus darkness. This week has been weak on volume of works and the activity of painting. It has been one of low energy, but quality introspection. There is rhythm to discovery, invention, and creativity. I have great belief that living is filled with rhythm and rhyme. The idea that rhythm and rhyme can be mimed in art is beginning to be apparent in my drawing. At last! This technique of suggesting action, character, expression and emotion, by using only gesture and movement, is happening here.

Obvious to me, these drawings are prelude to my next painting, 2017 No.10. I intend to finish 2017 No.9 in the next three or four days.

Twisting Ticks

5/24/2017

 
Picture
"2017 No.9" (state 7), oil on canvas, 59.25x54.5 inches
Just when I thought it was safe I see a twist too much! As consequence, a distraction in effort is necessary. Can you see it? It's in the upper left of 2017 No.9. The lower edge of that rectangle rotates the eye down and out. The rectangle should be inconsequential. It should be a set up for the flurry of energy within the painting. Instead it distracts. It is never safe in the forest. Ticks are ready and waiting. Lucky I have the tools to make it right.

That said, state 7 of 2017 No.9 is better than state 6. And, yesterday's drawing is splendidly complex. How does this happen? Art-making is magic!
Picture
Drawing 05·23·2017, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches

Distraction, Social Media, & Invention.

11/20/2016

 
Picture
Drawing 11·19·2016, pencil on paper, 16x20 inches
Yesterday was a day of distraction. I never really got rolling in the studio. I am in the midst of expanding my social media presence, which is not as straight forward as I had thought. For one thing, I did not know Instagram is a totally portable-device driven platform, for smartphones and tablets. I was not prepared, but I will be. Me on Instagram is coming! Actually I am on Instagram, but nothing is there because I don't have a device to put it there. This will change by the end of this week. I will tell you when you will be able to view me on Instagram.

For now I am exhilarated with my progress. Yesterday produced an exciting drawing, despite the distraction caused by my efforts to contemporize my social interaction. I invented a new approach. The drawing shown here has a couple of flat-ish complex forms in the background and a snake-like, U-shape form in the foreground. It animates both laterally, and also into and out of the artifice that is the third-dimension. This energetic visual movement is important to me. I enjoy the eye being given the thrill of a rollercoaster ride.

​BTW: My Facebook page is up and running!

Not vertical enough!

9/5/2016

 
Picture
"2016 No.15" (state 7), oil on canvas, 69x52"
Not there yet...  The painting "2016 No.15" requires more changes. Yesterday I did not go far enough with the vertical thrust on the left side. I am sampling the results of my recipe: wondering, too much this or too little of that? The diagonal movement of the polka-dotted plane has to be stabilized by a form more substantial than itself. The question, the problem to be solved, is how much verticality on the left is necessary to stabilize the entire composition. The only thing I know for sure is, "More than now!"

I do not like yesterday's first drawing, but the second has something new. In drawing No.2, the main form propels itself, bottom left to upper right. Talking about diagonal thrust, this is different from that seen in the painting "2016 No.15". There is an in, and an out, to the drawing's diagonal; plunging, a three dimensional poke!

Real. Going Vertical!

9/4/2016

 
Picture
"2016 No.15" (state 6), oil on canvas, 69x52"
The way I see it is this: Everything I did yesterday pursues an updraft. Going vertical! I could be persuading myself of this sense of movement, but if not, then why will I do what I shall do today? In the painting "2016 No.15" I will increase the up-movement. That upper-left, flat, plane-like object, will extend itself, most likely destroying the diagonal shadow-effect below it. The result will be its playing better with the polka-dotted, transitionary form that transforms itself behind the central table-like structure. How will this happen? I am unsure. It will be found in the doing.

One more thing before I go. I feel that I am... Welcome back!
<<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