7/26, Sketchbook Friday

Sketchbook page, for long term drawing #20, marker, 

 and pen on paper, 9" x 12"

Sketchbook page, for long term drawing #21, marker, 

 and pen on paper, 9" x 12"

Are we to paint what's on the face, what's inside the face, or what's behind it? 

- Pablo Picasso

7/25, Zoo day...

...with the sketchbook.

Sketchbook page, Riverbanks Zoo for long term drawing #19, marker, 

 and pen on paper, 9" x 12"

He who binds to himself a Joy

Doth the winged life destroy;

But he who kisses the Joy as it flies

Lives in Eternity's sunrise. 

- William Blake

7/24 the PM, Leaves and trees in the plein air...

...I continued my landscape drawing this afternoon with more exploration of the curves and diagonals at Finaly Park.

...must we not distinguish between 'artiste' & 'artist': the one who enables us to forget what we do not want to remember, & the other who enables us to remember what we do not want to forget?

 - E. Stuart Bates, INSIDE OUT An Introduction to Autobiography

7/22, 7/23 & 7/24(the AM), When a painting is in the final...

...stages of its development, things progress quite a bit...but in ways that are not as dramatically obvious as in the beginning stages.  To prevent blogger redundancy, I am posting the culmination of the past three days today.  For progress comparison, 7/19 would be the previous for this stage.

While science follows the stream of reason & consequence, & with each attainment sees further, & never attains a satisfying goal, art is always at its goal. 

- Schopenhauer

7/19 the PM, Now I think...

...that I am really getting somewhere with this image.  With the sketchbook and the art syncing up, it has been a day's time at work in the studio well spent, with big improvements to the large scale, long term drawing/painting.

We make a living by what we get, but a life by what we give. - Churchill

7/19 the AM, I think there is a solution...

...to some of the spatial and scale issues within my large scale, long term drawing/painting right outside my window, my kitchen window.  Morning sketchbook work explored the possibilities.  Off to test my theory.

Sketchbook page, long term drawing #18, marker, 

 and pen on paper, 9" x 12"

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be.
- Maslow

7/18, Another sketchbook day at the zoo...

...resulted in too many fun, quirky, and invigorating conversations with children, tweens, and teens to recount all of the words.  Most just wanted to watch me draw, and several asked to look through my entire Zoo sketchbook (I keep multiple themed sketchbooks simultaneously.)  One tween came up and introduced himself as an artist by saying "I am an artist myself and can I asked you about what you are doing?" - he then proceeded to discuss my drawings and aesthetic choices.  Another tween proclaimed that he thought I could beat his uncle in an art competition, however to be fair, I believe the outcome of any competition with his uncle would be unpredictable as his uncle is a forensic artist and thus he (the nephew) has very limited exposure to his uncle's talent.  

Sketchbook page, Riverbanks Zoo for long term drawing #16, marker, 

 and pen on paper, 9" x 12"

Sketchbook page, Riverbanks Zoo for long term drawing #17, marker, 

 and pen on paper, 9" x 12"

Forever honored by the Tree 

Forever honored by the Tree

Whose Apple Winterworn
Enticed to Breakfast from the Sky
Two Gabriels Yestermorn.

They registered in Nature's Book
As Robins -- Sire and Son--
But Angels have that modest way
To screen them from Renown.

by Emily Dickinson

7/17, Nothing like a rainy day...

...to keep things moving along in the painting.  My plans to do some plein air painting at Finley Park were cut short by the afternoon thunderstorms.  My untitled, long term work however benefited greatly from the indoor focus.  Today's progress is posted below:

Memory is the fourth dimension to any landscape.  - Janet Fitch