The impossibility of correctness is undeniable. This applies to reality and to reproduction. Today's reproduction of the painting "2016 No.6" is particularly troublesome. It is, however, not the problem that drives me forward. The thrust of my life is me falling down the pit of consciousness, allowing myself to bump on its walls, taking a bang here and a bang there, all for the good of better understanding. I think that's happening. I think that's how I work. In any case, yesterday's work was good work. I do understand more. I do think my path is sound. I do believe it is my path, my path alone and lonely.
These drawing were exhilarating in the making. The reproductions are OK; good enough for you to see the yellowness of the paper used in the third drawing. I am never truly satisfied with reproductions: Reality is so much better! But, you do get the idea by looking here. You do not get the full impact that comes with the real, the genuine, the true. No surprise there.
Busy days continue. I hope all is well with you, my dedicated readers and viewers. Happy Holidays! Now is the time when nuance is in question. Does the change in the head of the bird in the painting "Wowie" enhance this painting? It is not just the bird's head that has been altered. The silhouette of the man, and the "ground", have also been modified. The alteration in the bird was called for by the alteration in the "ground", which was followed by the change in the silhouette. Of the ground, I am sure. Yes, but does this new bird's head improve the painting? I am questioning my decision because of this reproduction. Yesterday I did the same questioning while in the studio. I altered the bird's head several times, finally arriving at the one shown here. So, should I accept this version as correct? The problem I must answer is this: Can the painting allow this more demanding version of the bird's head? The only way to answer this may be to erase the present bird's head and try again. But, sometimes I walk into the studio, look at a painting and know, "This is good!" Stay tuned.
Yesterday's drawing is definitely a good one. The painting, Tele-Vision, actually looks a little better here than during my efforts to Photoshop it toward accurate reproduction. This new state of Tele-Vision is much more complex than its previous state, and thus more impossible to reproduce well. It's those reds and oranges that cause havoc. Duplicating the nuances of these colors on a computer screen, lit (as they are) from behind, is impossible. However, I believe you get the idea behind these colors, and the overall feeling of a painting that is being made, more than ever before, as my drawings are made. I am allowing my intuitive ideas to take control, sorting them out through action and reaction. Saying this, I almost do not want you to look at yesterday's staid and rigid drawing. It is a funny one. The path I follow, from work to work, is more about questions than answers. The answers I get are not always admirable or appropriate. Yesterday's drawing misses because I lost interest in the answer to the question. I wanted to know if it would interest me to make a simple figure, fully rounded, mimicking a world of three-dimensional forms. Yesterday's drawing definitely is not an appropriate answer. This question was instigated by the second drawing of 8/1/2015.
The surprise is a request. I am being asked to fill a hole in the painting, Flame. It is at the bottom of the painting. It looks like a simple half-circle. I perceive it as a hole that wants to be filled. This must be made "possible." My painting is making a request. I am going to answer it. Picasso once spoke of painting like responding to a draft of cold air coming from a window — you simply close the window. One of my tasks today is to close that hole.
The "impossible" is reproducing art accurately. The subtlety of values and hues in a painting, or in a drawing, made face to face, are impossible to reproduce faithfully. I have to accept that the viewers of this blog are getting a simplistic visual idea of my art. Much of its delicacy and nuance cannot be seen here. This is one more limitation of communication via the world wide web. The richness of seeing another person face to face is no where near the same thing as seeing another person's life visually unfold on Facebook. Drawings from 4/28 and 4/29/2015, are are 16X20 inches & pencil on paper I do not intend my days to go this way. I want to paint, but begin my day with a drawing. I think, "I will warm-up my mind and my arm. I will prepare for painting." However, I get swept away by the wonder that is my drawing. I invent, discover, am startled, astonished, learn, express and declare. It is wondrous!
Today I will restrict myself to a small drawing. I will warm-up with a drawing, but not allow myself to be swept away into a contracted and complex solution. BTW: Looking at the small reproductions in front of me I see visual problems. The darks are too heavy. They pull more strongly than the originals. I was just in the studio, turning on the heat for the day. I looked at these drawings in the flesh. Their surfaces play comfortably, interrupted and animated by staccato of dark marks, not slowed and made lethargic by the broad areas of darkness that seem to dominate these reproductions. I will not go back and try to remedy this problem, as it is time for me to go and get started in the studio. I am sorry I am allowing a lack of authenticity in these reproductions, but time making art is more important than a quest for the perfect reproduction. I did not like yesterday all that much. It brought up a lot of questions and no good answers. So I slept on those questions. This morning brings no firm answers, but the painting, "Leap", looks better to me this morning (albeit its reproduction is further than usual from reality ― but I get another try for the next version, so I go with this poor representation today). Yesterday's drawing is also uncomfortable.
Above is a reproduction of a drawing that sparkles in real life. I put great effort into trying to reproduce it well, but the richness of the darks, and the resulting glow of the whites, did not reproduce well. I know I often complain about the lack of anyone's ability to accurately reproduce visual art. This complaint may appear as inappropriate deprecation, but I must say it is truth telling! Please go to museums and galleries to see visual art in the raw. Great art glows ecstatic.
It is not just reproduction of my art that gives me difficulties, it is a skunk too. He or she seems to go under the porch next to my studio in the evenings, digging beneath the several barriers I have placed. It makes for a bad smell that slowly dissipates during my working day. But back to the real problem of displaying my art here, i.e. adequate and accurate reproduction. I worked ardently on reproducing the state of the painting, Asparagus, shown here today. It appears darker, and with less contrast, than the original. This painting is so very close to complete, but I find myself without energy today. It will take me at least a couple days to retrieve enough energy to return with enthusiasm to the studio and art-making. And, I need to figure out ridding the studio of the skunk!
My work is going extremely well. So well that I feel explanation of it is becoming less important than simple exhibition. So I am not posting every day now because I am getting to the studio early and don't always have the time or energy to post after the studio. But... the work is better! The energy in the studio is better! And, guess what!? A surprise! After viewing the reproduction of "Asparagus" (state 11) I realized the contrast between the central figure and the orange background was causing reproduction problems, which were indicative of actual painting problems. This is another reversal of fortune: The reproduction leads to change rather than the other way around! You can see the discussed reproduction (state 11) below. To its right is the reaction that enhanced the visual contrast (state 12). Yesterday's version is state 13 (above). Asparagus, States 11 & 12 During the same three days, represented by the three reproductions of Asparagus, I made the following three drawings. Drawings: 03·20·2015, 03·21·2015, 03·22·2015, pencil on paper, 11X14 inches 😃☞ Please remember, TO ENLARGE any reproduction CLICK on the reproduction!
|
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
May 2024
|