In Transition

Well, I finally got down on paper an image that had been hanging around the studio, actually the last three studios, for almost five years now. Every now and then I would take a peek, perhaps stab at a sketch, but never take it to completion. I'm not sure why. I really like the emphatic pose and the subtle "horizontal V" formed by the right elbow to left elbow, then left hip to right.

I think it fits nicely into the series of diptychs I have been exploring where the two drawings function independently, yet tile together to form a stronger whole. I also like how the color schemes are similar yet not identical, with the highlight on the right forearm echoing the pale blue green that dominates the left side.

I feel the need to transition into something a little different. I've been wanting to work in more emphatic, pronounced strokes, producing a less literal result. Also, I am thinking of exaggerating body parts and figures with distortion, increased depth of field, angles, to produce a result that is less literal, yet still recognizably figurative.

Sun-drenched.

During bright daylight I always wear sunglasses. Outside, indoors as well. Bright sun light really bothers my eyes for extended periods and I am uncomfortable without them. The other day, I was going to my car to retrieve some drawing materials and I took a chance and went "unprotected". The sun was shining fully in the garden: the flowers, leaves, all surfaces were bright and painfully vivid. I had forgotten how the highlights bleached white at their brightest point, almost to a flare, and everything was awash in color. My mind instantly went to Van Gogh and his time in the sun-drenched town of Arles, in Southern France. Bright yellows, pinks, greens and blues: a world of high contrast, wonderful color.

The image I had chosen for my next drawing was far from the bright sunlight of southern France, or where I live for that matter. But the form let itself well to the diptych format I am currently exploring and I wanted to capture that moment I had glimpsed in my sunny garden. So I purposely shifted the palette to the vivid end of the spectrum for my next Odalisque.

The left panel was drawn twice. The first version was clumsy and didn't fit the space correctly. I don't want my drawings to be pinpoint accurate, detailed renderings (that would drive me insane) but they need to be plausible.

The whole point of my work is how shapes and colors fit together on the page. The figure is my starting point. I like monumentality in shapes. Subject (or gender, in answer to those who have asked) is irrelevant, simply how light and shadow jig saw together with the edges of the page.