Fragmented Figure Drawing: The First

This is one in a series that happened to come about. I don’t want to get into what it’s about too much, possibly because I can’t articulate it fully. It’s a series of fragmented, headless, wounded women in a mesh of materials, as you can see for yourself because you are perfectly competent viewers.

I’m interested in hearing interpretations of this, as well as the rest which I will post in the near future.

Despite what the title says, this is in fact the latest drawing of the series. It’s only the first I posted. Confused? Me too.

36″ x 24″. Charcoal, acrylic, paper, roof tile, ink and chalk…maybe other things…on chipboard.

Found Letter, Take Two

I guess I have a knack for finding love letters. I discovered this one tucked away in an old copy of an American Artist magazine at the gallery I worked in last summer. I’ll let it speak for itself.

This is the front…

And this is the back….

I typed up the letter exactly as it was written, leaving blanks where I couldn’t understand the writing or words were missing. After I did this I realized that there was more (it trails off at the end), but the rest remains missing.

And this is what it says:

August 9^th

Dear Joy,

I am sitting in Barb’s dining area looking ___ at the view fog. I left St. Andrews’ around noon yesterday as things were finishing up and also I wanted to find out what was happening with the ___ building. After getting the information and unpacking the car I decided at 3:15 that I would try to get on the 4:15 ferry.

I would like to know whether there is any possibility of our having a better relationship. I do not expect I will have much contact with Betty from now on—an occasional telephone conversation and perhaps a chat over coffee when we go to Moncton. She decided a year ago that she would not leave Roy if he still wanted her to stay but he took nearly a year before telling her that that is what he wants. he has changed and seems determined make their marriage work and Betty is to try to also.

Perhaps I shouldn’t say anymore but it is best to be truthful I think. Betty & I don’t feel any differently about each other and it will be very hard not to be together as we have during the past two years. I have always felt that it should be possible to continue to see Betty and still have a compatible relationship with you, but you can’t seem to accept that and Betty knows that she can’t see me and also try to make her marriage work. So there it is.

Can you accept a situation, and try to start a better, normal relationship with me, without continual recriminations, threats and unpleasantness. I can’t help what happened and have never felt there was anything wrong about it. There must have been reasons for my suddenly becoming interested in another woman after so many years of marriage but there is no point in trying to analyze things.

As I have told you before I still love you and don’t feel any differently towards you than I have during the past 10 years or so. I know you find it difficult or impossible to accept that and also that I love someone else but that is the way I feel & I really cannot see what harm there is in it. There are not many people in this world that I have ever felt close to, or consider close friends and it is a nice feeling to have people like that.

If it is not too late or impossible for you to consider a normal type of married relationship with me—and I intend to live my life or what is left of it the way I want to live it, not according to your rules, approvals etc. and I certainly will not be forbidden or pledge never to have any contact with Betty or other friends—then first tell me and I will understand and we can discuss where we go from here.

Barb told ____ that there would be no point in my ___ to discuss thing with

Have a Heart

This piece is not quite as successful (I think) but in the same vein as the Christmas skeleton. The shadow and light worked out better in the first one, but I can work with this.

This guy looked quite pitiful and lovelorn until I added the top hat and bow tie. Now he’s a cocky bourgeois capitalist who’s trying to win his love’s heart with glittery jewelry and a box of chocolates.

You can decide if he’s sincere or not.

Dude, Where’s My Car?

I was on a bus for an hour and a half today, so to entertain myself I took a series of long exposure photographs when it got dark. I started moving the camera around, almost drawing with it, resulting in wavy designs of light (nope, sorry, cars were not doing loops in the air).

While I was doing this, the girl sitting across the aisle from me watched as though I were mentally unstable.

The photos are arranged above in chronological order, I think there’s a nice (and entirely unintentional) progression visible. Or not, it was impossible to get all the images on the same line while keeping them large enough to see clearly.

Compositionally they’re interesting to consider individually, as solid black masses with minimal, gestural marks.

Or not.

Confused Identity

It looks like wine, is the shape and colour of wine, is as heavy as wine…

…but it’s a candle. Yep, it is a candle, the wick is on the top.

This little object raised one heck of a conflict for me today, one you may be familiar with: if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck….it’s a duck?

I didn’t purchase this from a liquor store, but upon buying the candle, I took it out of the store…then realized that I looked like I was carrying around a bottle of wine.

Not wanting to be mistaken for a lush (or, any of my professors), I went back inside and asked for a bag. The fellow at the cash put it in a tall brown paper bag. Which made it appear even more like I was carrying a bottle of wine. Whatever.

I’d wanted an A&W Teen Burger and there happened to be an A&W on my way home, so I stopped and ate a burger.

Then I got home.

Then I realized I’d forgotten the candle at A&W. Shit.

So I went back and asked the girl at the cash about it. A guy working in the kitchen overheard and said, “Hey, it’s her wine!” He brought it out to me and said, “Here, we kept it in the fridge for ya. Enjoy your wine.”

And that’s how I got my candle back.

So next time you see something that looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like duck…for cripes sake, give it some respect! It’s not a freaking duck!

Two Turtles

On film sets, there’s a lot of hurry up and wait time, and luckily, some turtles were doing just that with the crew. So I drew them!

Their necks are amazingly accordion-like, stretching out then scrunching back into almost nothing. The first sketch I did was of the two of them observing the group of us curiously.

After a bit the turtles went back to doing their own thing. This is a quick study of one’s head, and the pattern on the bottom of its outstretched neck. The drawing fails to do it justice though, the design is very intricate.

Then this guy decided to balance precariously on a rock for few minutes. I think he was showing off, but it gave me a chance to study him a bit longer. The texture on his shell is really engaging.

I rediscovered how aptly named turtlenecks are. These turtles brought the cool back into it for me. I’ve been wearing one nearly every day since.

I Heart Dragons

Grr! That was my frustration, not the dragon. Usually when I really plan out a piece, like this one, it doesn’t work out as well as more spontaneous drawings. Which doesn’t make sense.

…I am glad I gave the blue/purple combo a whirl, that, to me, is probably the only redeeming aesthetic aspect about this.

This did get me thinking though: dragons have  existed as a mythological creature for thousands of years. With all the technology today (I’m specifically considering video games here) providing us with “realistic” representations of dragons, I think we’ve paradoxically gotten farther than ever from the core idea behind dragons; that is, imagination. Dragons aren’t monstrous, treasure-hoarding abominations you slay for XP points and virtual gold. They’re powerful symbols of the human mind being able to articulate the world in ways beyond our direct, physical existence.

I think we’re losing that.

A Pigeon in a Puddle

As it turns out, the best time to find birds is the worst time to draw…that is, in pouring rain. This fellow is enjoying his time in a misty puddle, probably because he’s silently laughing at me as I am drenched, due to my lack of water-repellent feathers.

I wonder if they think humans are giants…

Merry Christmas! Santa?

Hallelujah! For it is Christmas, the epitome of consumer culture. If I buy many things, decorate my house in offensively glittering lights and kill trees for pure aesthetic pleasure, I will be laden with the joy of the season.

Am I missing the point?

DRAGONS

…are fascinating and terrifying and magical!

And they also represent productive procrastination at its best. I’m experimenting with different bird and reptile body parts, then incorporating the best aspects of the sketches into a painting.

The head is rendered similar to a fan lizard, plus a spiky tail. I like the textures at play and the dramatic composition.

This guy has a spiny head and a feathery neck. The horns work well.

Lastly, an odd fellow sporting a toucan bill and an iguana-esque dulap.