Today’s watercolor study:

Below is the second study in my ‘brain series’.  I have some knowledge of brain anatomy, with which I inform some of the entries in this group of sketches.

I am fascinated by the idea that the very arrangement and function of cells in the most important organ of the central nervous system serve to mediate between the environment and the body, ultimately resulting in human thought and consciousness.

But I digress…

Compartmentalization
9″x12″ 140# Rough Watercolor Block

Origin of the forms:

This sketch began with my usual method of applying latex resist. The form I had in mind was a sagittal section of the brain at the midline. In other words, it is a section of the brain as split down the middle by a vertical plane that passes right between the eyes. The cadmium orange arc with its continuation in ultramarine blue, represents the corpus callosum, or cabling fibers that connect one hemisphere with the other.

The motivation behind the formation of the outline of the major shapes is probably irrelevant. Visual elements are the important factor in visual media.

Comment:

The ‘brain’ in this sketch is split in two. Two compartments are defined by the border between the ultramarine blue on the left and the cadmium yellow pale on the right. The arc that spans the two chambers is shaded in complementary colors to its background. The outline of the overall form resembles a question mark. This is apt, since the brain is a questioning machine. The shadow green spike that pierces the outline, also serving to divide the form, resembles an exclamation point.

I like that this image contains icons for surprise and enquiry in addition to maintaining an internal division.