Figuratively

So after slogging my way through all manner of traditional subjects, I have finally made my way back to the human figure. This time with a sumi brush. I feel like I'm back in my first drawing class.

Still, it's not like there's no progress. I include a pic of this baby sketch because it reminds me of that freakish dancing baby vid that started circulating the net in the late 90's. That memory still makes me cringe.

So color *does* make a difference

I wasn't sure how well this would turn out, but I recently added color to this painting which was previously just in shades of grey (right). The addition of color has made a huge difference. I now ready the flowers as white instead of grey, and I think I'd like to frame it and hang this somewhere I can see it daily.

A little abstraction

A little abstraction is a good thing now and then. I'm not a big believer in abstract expressionism, but letting go and freeing the arm to do as it pleases can be very theraputic.

Although I might wish for better ink control, I was actually pretty pleased by the outcome of this piece. It gives form to the energy of the moment, whatever that might mean. In the end, I felt it sort of reminded me of a peacock's tail and a tornado at the same time.

How does it look to you?

Dabbling in Mamals

I was fairly pleased with how this turned out.

I know it's not entirely anatomically correct,

but as a mental image of a horse,

it's not at all bad, wouldn't you say?

Hail Lotus

Here's something I have been wanting to post for a while.

Although I have not done much of it yet, I do have some homemade colors that I am starting to learn to use. In this piece (still unfinished for lack of red pigment), I was able to do some nice washes thanks in part to some kind advice from Janine of the Freethinkers Team on Etsy. I used a technique called tarashikomi to make the green in the leaves a bit splotchy.

Compare and Contrast

Okay, so I haven't done the admitedly ambitious series on Freud that I had planned for the summer, but today I bring you one of the main things I wanted to write about.

As I was reading about Lucian Freud, I came accross his Painter and Model 1987 (upper left). I was stricken by the parallels between the piece and Magritte's Attempting the Impossible, and I can't help but think that it may have been in the back of Freud's mind when he was composing his.

At first glance you can see there are many similarities. Both feature two figures, one male, one female. One painter, one model. But Freud has chosen to reverse roles. In Magritte's the painter himself is shown in his role, but Freud lets the female model stand in for him. Both painters call attention to the lie - but is the lie art or reality? This is never made perfectly clear, but the painter's role as mediator certainly is.

Although Freud is often considered a realist, many pieces like this show how he doesn't fit the realist mold hardly at all. There's certainly a lot more that can be said about the two additionally, but let's not belabor the whole thing and take a moment to enjoy the similarities and differences of the two paintings side by side.

A little birdie

As you can see, a little stiff, but not too shabby.