Navigator
This is the drawing that I made for the start of a new painting, "Navigator", 9"x12". Lately, I've really been enjoying painting brass objects. Something about the coppery-gold color attracts my eye, and I also like that it relates somewhat to seafaring, which also interests me. I purchased a brass telescope which came with this ornate tri-pod(not very piratey!). Originally I had planned to include the tri-pod in the composition. After maneuvering things around for an hour, I realized that the tripod just wasn't going to work, it was too tall, so I removed it from the telescope, which wasn't as easy as I thought, because the whole thing is meant to be more decorative than functional. That's the great thing about buying things for still lifes; I often get stuff at bargain prices, because I don't care if the thing is functional, I only care how it looks! This has saved me a ton of money, particularly with old cameras, and often when I'm bidding at an auction, I'm the only one. The other bidders can't make rhyme or reason out of my collecting. Ha! Ha! Suckers, I'll turn that trash into gold when I turn around and sell the painting! Anyways, I digress.. After removing the tripod I laid the scope down in the cigar box while I was fiddling around with the bird and in a flash of an instant I saw the composition in my minds eye (not aided by the use of any narcotic enhancements, I might add). Sometimes the Muse steps in and shows you the way to go, which might be vastly different from your original intent. I don't screw around with the Muse, the last thing I want to do is piss her off and then she doesn't visit for a while. That would not be good.
Lately, I've been toying around with the idea of drawing directly on the canvas with charcoal or pencil. I recently saw an exhibit of paintings by Ken Davies, who has written two really great, how to books. Look him up on Amazon, I highly recommend both books. Ken works out his drawing directly on a masonite panel using pencil, much in the same way that I do it on paper. I have tried this once or twice. It works great if the drawings are going well, but if it's one of those days where it's taking a while to get it right, it can turn into a mess! Ken's paintings in the show were amazing, and it's hard to argue with that kind of success. I've also been looking at the paintings of Juliette Aristides www.aristidesarts.com . Juliette (may I call you that?), works out her still life compositions rather loosely with charcoal and then goes over the lines with thin paint. She is a master draftsmen (draftswomen?), and she has paid her dues when it comes to developing that kind of skill. One of the things that has held me back from working this way, is that I'm not sure that I'm there yet; you know that whole ten thousand hours theory. I am inspired by her combinations of real and imagined space and that's the direction that I've been moving in for the last two years or so (unless I'm imagining that I'm being imaginative!). I've been wanting to make a boatload of small alla-prima paintings. possibly for sale at an outdoor show (yeah man, I want to get my work directly to the peeps, ya dig), and this may be a good opportunity to loosen up and stop being such a tight-a**. We'll see, I'll keep you [posted.
