The fifth of this series of portraits of my brother Mike* is a bit different than the others. Mike would often display fits of rage, directed at himself. Some docs thought he was Tourettic, others thought it was a behavioral issue. The point is, Mike could be frightening. I weathered the storm and didn’t believe […]
I began this fourth portrait of my brother Mike*, with frisket squiggles to sketch out an eye and lips. Jarring the paper side to side and up and down created traces, traces that have meaning. This is almost a double portrait. Possibly it is a portrait of the space between two people, the channel that […]
I began today’s study with compass and ruler, Kandinsky’s work in mind. Usually I have a couple of paintings going at the same time, so I had not planned this one to be part of my current portrait series. I’m not quite sure how it became one. I drew on symbols and visual elements I […]
For a change of pace, I will return to portraits of my brother Mike for a while. He is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. Mike currently lives in a geriatric group home back east. I took photos of him for many years; since I moved away I’ve been painting compositions related to my experience with […]
I drew narrow traces of masking fluid with a wide-gage hollow applicator. The gage wasn’t narrow enough to allow a smooth outflow. The fluid bunched up and formed a bead at regular intervals across the page. Once I shook the paper at 90 degrees to the direction of the parallel lines, the beads turned into […]
Today’s composition began with a latex masking (frisket) design. I complied with my practice of the past few compositions, of shaking my paper while the frisket was still wet, causing it to streak. I dripped ink onto the paper in different places and blended those spots with watercolors. I continually inspect the image that arises […]
I began this composition with a series of parallel lines that I drew free-handed. I was thinking of Paul Klee’s compositions that consist of adjacent strips of color. Some of his compositions are made up of seemingly random squares of colors, arrayed in parallel configurations. I used the parallel lines as a skeleton on which […]
I began my collage a couple of days ago as a response to one of my paintings that I didn’t like (see Rescued Blunder). I used glue to tack the torn pieces onto another, pre-glazed watercolor sheet. I abandoned my plan to flatten the torn paper, and let them curl. Pictured below is the first […]
The idea of intersecting free forms is the basis for this study. I had no plan in mind when I began. I used a dip pen with several different widths. The rough tooth of the paper caused the wider ink traces to look a bit rough. Yellow was the first pigment I laid down, emphasizing […]
I usually begin with dark lines when I begin my compositions with ink. Today I began with red. I applied yellow adjacent to the red lines. Starting my design with these colors was unsettling, to my surprise. Perhaps this is a reaction to my standard practice of late: using bold, dark lines. At any rate, […]
