I have been working and re-woring the man's head in the left panel. You would have thought I had gotten it right already. It isn't just the head! It's the body as well. His right leg (on viewer's left) has to be extended. His right shoulder has to enlarge in reaction to the size of his head. And yes, his jaw line has to be tweaked, giving it less of a simple curve. And, with the latter alteration, his ear may have to be lifted! And so it goes. My biggest hope is the lessons I have learned in making this painting, extended as they have been over 35 re-visits to this painting, will be intuitively internalized and my way through paintings to come will be quicker and easier. BTW: when I extend the man's right knee and leg, and enlarge his right shoulder, the composition will substantially improve.
(Note about reproduction: the image of Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 in relatively high resolution. This allows you to zoom-in for a better view of this nearly completed painting. It looks better in a larger format than the one which initially appears on your screen). Yesterday was an abundant and interesting day of drawing. It began with me examining closely a man's head looking right (this, of course relates to the man's head I wrote so much about in today's first paragraph). Then on to a study of a woman's head and neck, à la Modigliani. And finally a robust drawing with both the man and the woman. Yesterday's drawing began as a study for the man in the left panel of the painting Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 and ended more than that. I had intended a quick study before proceeding to the painting, but the drawing absorbed all my time, albeit a shortened session. The drawing was important practice for a few reasons, mostly because I dislike the jaw line on man in the left panel of Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014. Today I intend to return to the painting.
I uploaded a higher resolution reproduction of the painting Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 today. This allows you to increase its size on your computer screen so details can be seen without breakup of its quality. The small step I took yesterday was on the man in the left panel, and surrounding him. On my screen the reproduction is, by default, 6 inches across. In this default reproduction his face appears too round and his chin line a bit too much in the shape of a simple curve. Zooming in you will see better. Of course, I want to make this painting work from all viewing distances. So despite me bragging about yesterday's successful small step, I will make his head work better today. If I appear elated to you, it is because I know the man in the left panel is now authentic. I am in the 34th state of this painting and it is finally in site of completion! For the first time in a long time I feel compelled to finish a painting completely. This does not mean extreme details, like pupils in the eyes, but cleanliness in the quality of the paint, forms, colors, and composition.
Yesterday's drawing is my evil twin. I don't like it much, but it was worthwhile practice. I experimented with shape versus form, and the variations in value required to create the nuances of minor expressive forms within the major form of the face. Two days ago I made a series of three drawings. In each I explored a different aspect of composition. The final drawing in that series had me investigating the creation of the third-dimension on two-dimensional paper. Of the three drawings, its subject matter is the most unusual. When I focus on compositional research it appears I allow the content of the drawing to appear without self-criticism. This is probably good. In any case, as I do my research through drawing I follow instinct and intuition to where ever it takes me. Yesterday, while in a compositional exploratory mode, I produced the drawing you see here. Weird subject? I am not going to worry about it. I do enjoy its dynamic composition, generated by unusual forms and spatial play.
In the 1920's Henri Matisse said the great amount of work he had done made it look as if his paintings were made easily. In the 1930's and 1940's Matisse produced a series of paintings that he exhibited with photographs of the many states they went though to get to their final versions. You can see some of these photos, and also reproductions of the paintings they preceded, in the catalog, Matisse: In Search of True Painting, from 2012 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in Art in New York City. So "No!", it isn't going to get any easier. Yesterday I spent several hours on the woman's head in the left panel in the painting Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014. It is better, and nearly complete. Yes, this painting is moving forward, toward finality, but I am becoming an analytical artist in search for true painting! (The title of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition catalogue comes from something that Matisse wrote in a letter to his wife in 1919, namely that his artistic goal was always to "push further and deeper into true painting.")
Yesterday's drawing clearly represents my search for "trueness." It also took a few hours, as I made the effort to spin together form, volume, shape, depth, and composition. That's a short list of the concerns that animate my search for trueness. After my recent flirtation with Modigliani I have returned to the painting Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 with more clarity. Yesterday I worked on the man on the left. The composition is better. Increased clarity comes because I have accepted the conflict between shape and volume. Shapes are the nails that secure this painting's composition, while the volumes create the 3-dimensional reference to visual reality. The volumes also create a secondary compositional play as the viewer moves in and out, up and down, and through the forms.
Yesterday's drawings exhibit my continuing fascination with shape versus volume versus reference to visual reality. Yes, I have upped my desire to deal with this conundrum. So, today's title refers to the consequent increased richness of my work. I am asking myself more questions. I have more problems to solve. I have accepted an increase in the level of difficulty. Wow, I'm enjoying this! Yesterday was my financial reckoning day, sometimes I refer to it as a Money Monday. Usually I don't get into the studio, but I had been looking at a lot of Modigliani's work. So, I found myself with an hour free and made the drawings you see here. If you look at my previous two blog posts, with their four drawings, you will see where Modigliani and I have common interests. It is mostly in the shape of things preceding the volume of things. Art historians write about the almond eyes in Modigliani's faces. Sometimes their almond-ness is so dominant as not to allow Modigliani to place an iris or a pupil within them. You will see me venture in this direction in yesterday's second drawing. It was fun and entertaining, but not completely me.
The R&R in the title was about my two days doing stuff other than art. One day dedicated to gardening, and the other to a sunny day followed by a celebratory dinner. Yesterday was a nice day for me. Sometimes when I am working so hard to get it right I feel as if my entire soul and body are being used up — I get drained of all energy. That was occurring on the last few days I worked on the painting Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014. I naturally pulled away from that painting and into these drawings. The drawings came easily and happily. When I feel my intuition has caught up with the current state of Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 I will return to it.
My interests are so vast and grand that I do not feel comfortable with my own ambition. This painting, Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014, is me accepting my current limitations and the aspirations of my ambitions. I have resigned myself to following my determination to get it right. I am nagged by the question of its validity. Can I know the path I am on has any value? No! That is exactly where my acceptance lies, within the "no." "No," there is no certainty. I am able to follow my intuitive sense of authenticity and truth. That is all I have to validate my journey. It feels small, with more questions than answers.
Given all these doubts, I am surprised that I believe the importance of Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 grows with every alteration I make. The state I show you today is the best so far. It does feel like a symphony. Yesterday's alterations to the left man's head and body allow him to sits within the symphony better than the day before. Now his shape, his form, and his position play harmoniously within the left movement of this symphony (the left panel). Also, his connection to entire symphony has been enhanced. So here I am, slugging it out between doubts and my determination to get it right. Yesterday's drawing feels particularly weak. When I feel such weakness I ask, "From where did this strange thing come?" I believe it was created by my desire to examine surface more than composition, form, or expression. It probably should never be seen again because it is a mere note to myself, and not worthwhile as a work of art. The right panel of the painting Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 is looking so very good. In contrast the left panel needs care and alterations. I think it is mainly about the heads of the man and the woman in the left panel — they are just NOT as substantially expressive as those in the right panel. In any case, I celebrate the fact that the last few days of work on Untitled Diptych-04·15·2014 has brought it closer to an accepted solution.
Yesterday's drawing is, indeed, another study along the way to a new painting, the soon to be begun triptych. |
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April 2024
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