Not-So-Still Life
We talked earlier about drawing still-lives, and I'm continuing to explore that topic, both artistically and because I seem to be drawn toward certain objects and arrangements of objects lately; I think it's because of what they represent to me. Anyway, I did a couple of pen drawings, without color, that are shown below:
Here's another:
They're charming, in a way...they could be illustrations...but I just didn't feel they were what I was after. They look to me...like nature morte. Like a bunch of objects.
Last night I sat down at my desk with a cup of espresso and looked again at that Mexican embroidered purse that appears in the drawing above, loving how colorful and lively it is. There was an envelope on the desk and I just started sketching really quickly on the back of it, and then added a little color. I'm so much happier with the result (at the bottom of this post): even though the drawing isn't careful or accurate, the sketch has energy, life, vigor. This is much more the direction I want to go in.
I already know this, but for some reason I seem to keep returning to the careful stuff, like a child who's afraid to let go. Some pen drawings from 2011 (below) were a step, and then the Iceland drawings went further. Maybe I need to make records of things, as a way of holding onto what feels secure. But I don't think I need to do it the old way. The work itself shows the way, but you have to keep making it, keep trying.
I like to see the artist's hand at work, feel her energy, his passion, have an idea of what interested him in the first place. The subject can be anything. The question is what comes across, what's communicated. Is there any emotion? What is it? And in the act of making the art, I want to feel all of that myself. I'm getting too old to be care about being careful, about being a Virgo who does things precisely, or makes them pretty, or needs to please anyone else. There's a definite place for that, and I can do it when I need to -- say, in sewing a dress or making a meal -- but here, I don't think that's what I'm after, or what I'm even about anymore.
What are YOU about? What helps you to find out? It can be scary stuff...but makes for a terrific journey.
