I have trouble resisting shiny things. This bright red fire hydrant is located between my house and the Post Office. The sun caught it just right and I could not just walk by without snapping it. I’ve lost track of the number of photographs in my fireplug (also known as hydrant or standpipe) series. Other […]
The free form pencil sketch that formed the basis of today’s study reminded me of Kagemusha, the Shadow Warrior, in Akira Kurosawa’s movie of the same name. This vision dictated how I completed this painting. I like Samurai movies, including others by Kurosawa, but I don’t watch them that often. There was only one, whose name I forgot, […]
I love textures of all kinds. But rough textures are the best to photograph. Oblique lighting reveals all the nooks and crannies. This is a close up of a bit of skin. It could be a picture of the hide of an animal, for all its wrinkles and fur. But it is bark, the skin […]
Today was one of those days of painter’s block. I wanted to use black as a separator between different spaces on the paper. The models were Matisse’s The Moroccans and Bathers by a River. In reading about these paintings John Elderfield, in Henri Matisse: A Retrospective (Museum of Modern Art 1992), established a connection between Matisse’s spatial […]
The overall curvature in today’s abstract is less than in my recent previous abstract studies (Fountain, Abstract 072117, Untitled I, Untitled II). The angles between lines close to the paper’s edge open out instead of closing in to create a self-contained free form. The more linear (less curved) elements of the composition combine to partially […]
Amputated tree limbs leave behind open wounds for a time. For some trees, after a great while, there is barely a hint that a branch was ever there. Except for patterns of texture in the trunk. I wonder if trees experience phantom pain.
Sometimes people just need a helping hand or two. A strong back doesn’t hurt either. Blocks and ovals make up this composition, and fill out the picture space quite nicely. Colors are mostly harmonious, with just a touch of contrasting color. I like the geometry of this piece and its simplicity.
It was trash day today, the perfect time to scope out new seating opportunities. Just around the corner, I found a one-seater all ready to go.
I think of free form drawing as a smooth, easy going process. The hand wanders, the pencil or pen follows and makes a record of the languid movements. The mind empties of thoughts. Today’s visual record betrays an agitated state of mind. Outlines are repeated, even scrubbed into the page. Smooth, over-lined contours threaten to […]
It was a nice day today. One thing we like to do is get the car washed. The good thing about going in the middle of the week is: no lines and no waiting. The car wash establishment has an array of nice places to sit. I was able to capture this vacant one on […]
