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SCHLIEFKEVISIONdotcom |
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The online chronicles of a
painter living in Austin, Texas |
THOUGHTS ON THE STATE OF DRAWING
September 12, 2004 - It's always a good sign of things
moving along well in studio when the energy you have built up with
one medium spreads over to another. With everything finally
clicking with my paintings, I decided to take a step back and do
some drawings.
Fellow painter Phillip Trussell and I have been talking about and
looking at a lot of drawings lately, from Hockney to Picasso to
Schiele to Cezzanne's lumpy figures and back again. It's been
great hearing his thoughts, and just being able to spend some time
pouring through pages and pages of pictures in his stout collection
of books, aided by his forty plus years of artistic laboring.
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Some of the work that is hanging in my studio now. |
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This fresh, as yet unfinished drawing is called "The Creep" |
We've talked
about some of the limitations of figurative work, and I'd been
having a difficult time adjusting to rectangular shapes in place of
the squares I've painted on for some time now. I finally got
through this stumbling block but did start thinking about the limits
of the figure in painting - standing, sitting, leaning, reaching -
PT and I talked about this - not that I brought it up, it just
seemed into the consciousness simultaneously.
Of course, he resolves this dilemma by still using the figure, but
abstracting it to create a lyrical and often times allegorical
image. He has some recent paintings that use drawings and
outlines extensively, and conjure up the Holocaust and Michelangelo
in a single breath.
I have always been tempted by the
abstract, using forms, shapes and colors to arrive at a new place,
but have always ended up back on the figurative side of the fence.
I still think that there can be unspoken truths and values imposed
in a painting or drawing that can be dug out of the composition and
body language. I find a freedom in drawing that I haven't
tapped into in painting yet, one of twisting axes, flowing forms,
harsher light and shadow, and although it ultimately informs my
paintings, it all remains a drawing, separate from the painted
world. I am not worried about this division either.
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| And so, with a
renewed sense of faith in form and the figure, I have been working
on three 30" x 40" charcoal drawings, specializing in the light and
dark rhythms that build form and the relationships of the folks
depicted. I convinced myself while drawing that all
relationships are a steady game of brinkmanship, a Cold War chess
match, especially when the opposite sex is involved. Holding
cards tight, grandiose gestures, slighted smirks, and faraway
glances are what interest me in these drawings. I'm not there
yet, but as Samuel L. Jackson's character says in Pulp Fiction, "
I'm tryin', Ringo, I'm trying real hard..." That little catch
phrase has been running around in my head for months now, a self
maintaining mantra that keeps me going through all those moments of
self doubt and lack of faith. |
The studio feels like it's full of verve and enthusiasm once again. |
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