Fresh Eyes

Sometimes, time away from a work in progress can be really helpful, allowing me to come back with a fresh set of eyes. As I mentioned in my post below, I was pleased with this image, the drawing, and its progress, but it was lacking a finishing touch. Taking a week off to look at the drawing and consider my next steps allowed me to identify the spots that needed strengthening and finish the drawing.

Warm and Cool.

I have been playing around with the idea of images that, when combined together, form a separate unique image: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For some time I have been struck by the dynamics of this particular pose, thinking it well suited for splitting in two. The initial underdrawing was done on both sheets simultaneously, to maintain the flow of the figure. But as I worked up the color, I let the left hand drawing stay on the warm side, while the right took on a cool tone.

I also purposely avoided too much blending and smoothing of the pastel. My previous drawing suffered from too "refined" a surface, and lacked vigor. This pose certainly deserves vigor! While this drawing is not fininshed (the chin at the top when the clamp fell, and general clean-up), I am hesitant to mess with it too much for fear of ruining a good thing.

Also, after doing the initial drawing from the photo manquette, I purposely set the photo aside and worked on the drawing in front of me. This helped me avoid being too fussy and tight.

The title, Torso Diptych with Claw, derives from a comment Francine made upon first view: "this is cool but the hand on the right looks like claw". I like the sketchy roughness, and if it reads as a hand, OK by me.

Cardboard and Mint

A friend and I were having coffee a few weeks ago and while standing in line I happened to notice a particular color combination on the in-store video monitor. We walked over and, pointing to the monitor, I asked Kate "cardboard and mint?" This is very often how I start off a drawing. After I have selected an image (in the final below, a black and white) I then think about a color scheme, usually based on a swatch, or sample, or brief glimpse in the oddest of places.

As much as I like the dynamics of this pose, the final result has some noticeable problems. While the underdrawing is solid, the proportions where I want them, the final lacks "punch". I track much of this to the fact that it was completed over an extended period of several weekends (long for me), a length of time where I was not immersed in the drawing: not engaged in the act of looking, drawing, reacting, and redrawing that help pull together the final. This drawing, more than others recently, remind me that I need to be physically involved in drawings to have consistent results. I need to be around them daily, regularly looking, making marks often, scrubing, erasing, reworking continually or the final result is "flat".

I also failed to achieve a heavily worked surface that, though light in palette, retains enough stroke variety and intensity to be interesting. And after much fiddling with the "cardboard" color the original scheme of "cardboard and mint " was not fully realized. I'll redraw this image; I think it has strong possibilities for a good result.


A postscript: I happened to open the studio shot on my laptop the other night and the screen cropped the large image in an interesting way that strengthened the drawing by eliminating excess and emphasizing the dynamics. The lighter sections at the top and bottom reflect the parts accidentally "cropped" by the monitor, parts that will be cut away from at least this version of the final.