I started today’s abstract with random daubs of blue watercolor. After it dried, I used lemon yellow and cadmium red light, also at random. I used charcoal to outline some of the borders of the watercolor shapes. I tried to avoid constructing any recognizable forms even though the contours suggested certain features of a head. I […]
I’ve been reading about art and the brain in The Age of Insight, by Nobel Prize winning neurobiologist Eric Kandel. He relates brain physiology and anatomy, and recent brain mapping studies to the way humans perceive and appreciate art on conscious and unconscious levels. The central sulcus in the human is the crevice that separates the frontal lobe […]
Had a scare today. While I was at work when I got a call that our loved one’s (C’s) status had changed. She is in hospice care at home. When I got there, C’s breathing was very shallow. She wasn’t moving and did not respond beyond some slurred words, when questioned. Just yesterday was having a […]
I continue with my portrait series of my brother Mike, below. (Mike is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal.) See yesterday’s post (Evolution of a Portrait Series) for the process I underwent to arrive at today’s watercolor/charcoal sketch. Mike often held his hand to his ear. He held his hand in a position in which his pinky jutted […]
Mike, my older brother, is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. The last visit with brother Mike was in 2013 (see The Visit, Note – this post may contain triggers as I was very distraught when I wrote it; no disrespect was intended.) Below is one of the last photos I took of Mike: This is a […]
We have been having trouble with cancer lately. Suffice it to say hospice care is the order of the day. Our afflicted loved one is in good spirits, even if not feeling that well. She likes to “tell it like it is” as well as to be told the straight story, without sugar coating. She is […]
Today’s experiment began as a doodle. I dragged the nearly weightless stick of charcoal across the rough watercolor paper. I used a paper stump to drag the dark outlines of the doodle into the loops. I love that this process produces shading and the appearance of three dimensionality. I hate the sound and feel of the […]
Here is my abstract based on the sketch I posted yesterday. This abstract is a combination of flat surfaces (in red) and charcoal-shaded areas that appear to be three dimensional. I shaded some of the areas with blue, a color that landscape painters use to indicate recession into the distance. They often use reds or other […]
I can’t resist buying art supplies. I work at a framing shop, which makes it even harder since I get a discount. I started doing preliminary drawings for my watercolors in a new sketch book. Instead of containing white sheets, it is filled with ivory-colored paper. I like it a lot. Here is my sketch for […]
Today I experimented with free form design. I drew half of it with an oil-based ink and the other with charcoal. On the inked side, I painted colors without variation; on the charcoal side I painted gradients of color. In the center, between the edged and no-edged form, I drew parallel inked lines. Each side […]
