Aim of Art

The author Joseph Conrad said the aim of art is to snatch from the remorseless rush of time, a passing phase of life, and hold the rescued fragment before all eyes in the light of a sincere mood. That thought describes much of what my painting is about.

It also explains why many artists like myself are not drawn to traditionally pretty or picturesque subject matter.

It is more interesting to find beauty in unexpected or mundane places.

Put light on almost any subject and you can find some fragment of beauty to snatch from the rush of time.

Sketchbook

I seem to go in spurts with my sketchbook. I'll go a few weeks with nothing and then pick it up again and make regular entries for a number of weeks.

Most of what I do in my books is drawing from whatever is around me, usually people.

I try to carry it with me at all times, that way, when something unexpected comes up, or I have to wait in line at the store, I have something to do.

It's particularly useful when I'm sitting in those lovely faculty meetings.

One of my favorite drawings was from a meeting at the school where I teach. I was sitting behind a good friend of mine who had recently lost all her hair due to cancer treatment. Glad to say that was three years ago and she is doing well.

Tacos Revisited

Still Lifes

One of my first assignments as an illustrator was for the Ensign magazine, a publication of the LDS church. I've worked for them off and on now for 35 years. Recently they've been asking me to do these little still life paintings to accompany different stories. On the one hand, they are not the most exciting assignments, however, they are are a good opportunity to do some exercises in light and form and paint. They have been fun to do.

Re-entry Strategy

After not working on a painting for awhile, it's often hard to get back into it. Such was the case with this one. I had the common problem of looking at it in my studio and thinking, I want to get going on it but I need to wait until I have enough time and energy to do something substantial. That of course, never works. I finally decided to sit down and spend a half hour and make notes of what needs to be done to make progress. This was a do-able thing. I made a little sketch to see what i could do about the left side that bothered me, I also started making a list of of movie titles as I wasn't happy with what I had. After a half hour, I had enough to get me going. The following day I started painting.

Here is the current state of the painting

 Here are the previous stages.

Morning In the Desert

Morning sun is beatuful. In this piece I am dealing not only with the morning light but also the abstract qualities of what is basically a surface divided into two main elements, the ground and the sky. So to give it interest, I gave particular attention to the change of hue within those two values and the handling of edges.

Green and Purple Desert . 9x10 . Pastel

Drawing and Probity

Drawing is the probity of art - Jean Dominique Ingres. I had to look up probity: uncompromising adherence to the highest principles and ideals. That could have more than one meaning.  

One is, you can't fake it in drawing. In painting, you can dress things up with color, texture, showie brushwork, etc. But in drawing its just you, your pencil and the paper. You are somewhat naked to the world showing all your strengths and your faults. 

This is good in at least 2 ways. First, it reveals what you need to work on. But more importantly, it gives you the most direct form of expressing your ideas and perceptions. 

Milton Glaser tells a wonderful story.* His wife brought home a gift, a new turntable for his classical records. The store owner said it was the best you could buy. It was just a slab of wood with a turn table and the stylus arm. No automatic retraction of the arm, no dials or controls except for an on and off switch. 

"What did you pay for this"?

"A thousand dollars".

Milton went back to the store and asked the owner what was up with this simple device costing $1000?

"Did you swindle my wife?"

"Did you try playing it?"

"No."

"Go try it and then come back."

Of course, when Glaser played it, his records sounded better than ever. When he went back to the store, the owner explained that for the best sound, you want as little interference between the initial signal and the final sound. Every time you add a spring for automatic retraction of the arm, a dial for this, a knob for that, you create interference.

In drawing, its just pencil and paper, dark and light. Straight from your perception to the final image with minimal interference. Probity.

*I can't find the original story so this is best as I can remember it. Details may be off but the basic idea is accurate.