Not sure where this one came from...... I started out with the verb "shed" and it evolved from there.

Charcoal, pastel, colored pencil on paper.

Another bleach drawing

I've got a few more things to fix but at least the board is covered with paint finally.......

Pollock & Realism...?

For some reason I am drawn to taking pictures of what some might call trash.  Lots of lovely lines walking about here to inspire.....

This ground scene of leaves, wire, and ash reminds me of a Jackson Pollock painting.  I wonder if given a camera (and take away the stick + paint can temporarily---don't worry Jackson we'll give em right back) what imagery he might capture?
 

Truth, Beauty, & Art (reaching for the infinite)

Silly me, I was looking for truth outside my window...............
Turns out you can find it right inside the sill if you look close enough.
Plus it seems to have its origins in the USA, no wonder why we Americans sometimes tend to think we are the center of it all. 

There seems to be a common thought that art reveals the truth and that truth & beauty are closely associated.  This way of thinking has always confused me.  Let those who have an aversion to others expressing random philosophical thoughts be warned before reading the following.

    If one thinks of truth as "the whole picture" then truth is composed of infinite points of view (not just the one taken in a singular work, no matter how complete a view).  In this manner the truth is unknowable to the individual who is bound by the limitations of their senses and viewpoint.  I just  read an article about vision in birds which discussed how much of the light spectrum their eyes can see (like UV light) which we cannot.  (Thinking about this I made a futile attempt to imagine what a Vermeer painting must look like to a crow.)  If beauty lies in the eye of the beholder then it is just one aspect of the whole.

However, a piece of art may expand one's viewpoint by one (and if you are lucky that viewpoint might look a little different each time you come back to it).  I do not mean to trivialize this in any way, just to point out the possible smallness of our grasp of truth in the larger scheme of the universe.  

     Maybe as mortals (like the movie line) "we can't handle the truth".  There is a part in the Bhagavad Gita which illustrates this I think.  I do not know much about Hindu writings but from what I have attempted to read of this text a warrior named Arjuna stands at a battlefield conversing with the god Krishna before the conflict begins.  Arjuna expresses his doubts and feelings about the war to come to Krishna.  At one point Arjuna asks Krishna to be able to see him in his non-human form.  Krishna obliges and shows Arjuna a glimpse of himself and the universe; the experience of which is awe-inspiring but also overwhelming and frightening to Arjuna.  This idea of truth being composed of many view points is what I now see when I come across the pictures of Hindu gods with their multiple eyes, faces, and limbs.

      In the Western world I know, society's version of beauty is often presented by altering & avoiding showing the real in its raw form---we are surrounded by polished ads, movies, and video games.  By now many of us have experienced the oxymoron of  "reality TV".  Reality is what you make it when you don't have all the info.   Maybe the "truth" is that we never will be privy to all the info in physical form.

OK enough philosophy talk for now--sorry if this line went a little further than just a walk.

More Bleach Drawings

Word for the day....

   Autogenous -  self-generated,  from the Greek autos "self" + genes "formation, creation"

 In looking for something to draw in bleach I took inspiration from the bleach bottle right in front of me.  That is when I found I was fascinated with the circular idea of something that is made from itself.  It might be interesting to do a series of artwork where the representation of the subject is produced from itself.

   As far as the other subject goes--
For those who haven't heard of coral bleaching disease  & want to learn a little, here is my short explanation....

Healthy corals form a symbiotic relationship with algae which live within their cells.  The coral "breathes" out CO2 to feed the algae and the algae "leak" out sugars which feeds the coral.  Coral bleaching occurs when the coral expels the pigmented algae from its cells and turns white.  No one seems to know for sure why this occurs but it is thought to be linked to stressors in the environment like increase in temperature (global warming) and pollution which effect this fragile relationship.  Eventually the coral dies (and then only the white skeleton is left).

   Some sources predict loss of our reefs in the next 100 years.  Aside from the their beauty, corals have also been found to contain some substances which may be potential chemotherapy agents.
I hope my drawing disappears long before we loose our coral reefs if either are destined to fade away.

Playing with Photoshop again

Photos of subjects I collected from nature at rest.
(For some reason to me there is nothing sadder than a dead bee, don't you agree?)

Harry Harlow's experiment in the 21st century

graphite on paper 24" x 30"

   In our future, I hope we are not moving towards a social world which exchanges technology for direct human contact (...this I state as I ironically sit by myself at the computer and type up this post).  But if it is a choice of text message or nothing I suppose most would opt for the text.

   This scene might look slightly familiar to anyone who took a science or psychology class.  I would venture to say that those textbook photos evoke a reaction in most readers.  You can find some info on the 1950s Harry Harlow's experiments with baby rhesus monkeys & social isolation here (Harry Harlow).  I am not sure what definitive info was gained in doing them but it is clear that the costs upon its monkey participants were great.  From what I have read, these experiments led to questioning the ethics involved in the treatment of laboratory animals.  I don't think that such experiments would be permitted today, so thankfully this drawing is entirely fictional.

   On a side track, in regards to the subject of captive primates and social isolation, there is a recent documentary called Project Nim (http://www.project-nim.com/) which follows the life of a signing chimp named Nim and the effects that the human world had upon him.  Evidently not every signing primate has a life story like Koko the gorilla. 

Drawing with Bleach



"Bleached Black Sheep"

   Yes, your mother probably told you not to play with bleach when you were little but despite the hazards it can produce some interesting effects on black paper.  Above is the result of my experimenting with drawing with straight household bleach (in a well ventilated area of course) using wooden toothpicks or chopsticks to apply it to the paper.  I found this new "media" to be very unpredictable when trying to produce lighter or darker lines (more bleach doesn't always create a lighter line--- I think probably that the air exposure/chemical reaction upon the dye in the paper has more influence...should look this up).  Different types of black paper also give different results; anything from browns to coppers, to yellows to faded bluish colors.  The paper used above is Strathmore's Artagain brand.

   Of course this type of art is very impermanent.  Eventually when the whole paper fades your lines will disappear into the bleached void like disappearing ink--it has a definite lifespan.  I like the idea of mixing this concept with the idea/subject matter of the drawing involved.  One of the things I try to consider when thinking about and looking at art is the media chosen.....what is its significance to the work, how would the work change if another material was used.

Rodent Skull

A paper-weight "800 lb Gorilla"

 This is an older "big" drawing I started about a year back I decided to work on again.  

In regards to the subject, I was pondering whether the need for a religious explanation of the world only comes from awareness of self.  When we were little what was it like before any idea (not necessarily belief) of "god" exists in our mind or was it always there?  What is external or internal?  (Also...not so deep, just thought it would be "cool" to draw a really big gorilla.)  

In something I was reading recently I came across the animal metaphor/phrase about the 800 lb gorilla which refers to an entity so powerful it can do whatever it pleases (I guess most gorillas weigh less than 800 lbs).  I thought that this put an interesting spin on the picture.
Although to some there might be more satisfaction with one definite statement it seems better if art can act as a catalyst for further thought.
Need to work on anatomy some more---too bad there aren't many gorilla models about to pose.

Getting tired of this one yet?

Have to admit I have been working on some other projects too....I definitely have artist attention deficit disorder (AADD).

big board update

Contemplating Nothing & Spring Break

The empty shell of these crawdad claws somehow reminded me of the picture done by Durer of hands praying.  Their position seems to be folded in peaceful thought yet the thinking parts above are missing.  Thinking about "contemplating nothing" resulted in this drawing.  Since the concept seems to be the opposite of an exclamation I placed the items in an upsidedown exclamation mark......perhaps too much thinking on my part......?   Not sure I like the result since it seems so plain but maybe that is the point of the subject.

Looking forward to working on some more art during the break. 

Upon Reflection

Sometimes reflection is the more interesting view....which pair do you see life thru?

(Colors in the reflection were actually caught by the camera...not created by photoshop)

What if Georgia O'Keeffe had Photoshop..........

 

I've been taking a class in photoshop recently.  The above is from an old photo I took of a peony.  I don't know too much yet but it is fun to play around with the filters.  If you can't afford the software there are many similar image editing programs out there to get creative with for free.  One that comes to mind is GIMP--- here is a link to download http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

Hope to keep it going during classes.....

Big Board continued

Had to take a break on the background... was getting pulled down by the undertow.

Missing work with charcoal

Seems like there are many paradoxical tasks we set for ourselves.

  Remember to Forget (or, if you'd rather...forget to remember).

  

With charcoal it seems that the type of paper/ground you work on often determines the effect of the results more than the medium itself.  I like working with it but I have yet to figure out how to get great detail on a smaller scale.  It usually erases easily so you can create highlights by "carving away" at it...but the one thing I dislike is how sometimes the oil from your fingers etc. (I think) will cause spots where the charcoal "stains" the paper and can't be removed. (Might be obvious but don't sneeze on your paper and expect to get great blending results.)