The Sketchbook Project

The effort of the past 15 weeks has been dedicated to working on a series of sketches for a wonderful endeavor called The Sketchbook Project. SBP works to connect thousands of willing sketchers, writers, doodlers, and you-name-its together by proposing the very simple task of completing a sketchbook and sending it into their archive located in Brooklyn. Months later, the books take a tour of North America and some international locales.

                                   

Last summer I participated as a viewer while the SBP came through Toronto. They have a quirky set up, emulating a library, where one gets themselves a card, chooses from a catalogue of genres, and is presented with three books at a turn. Rinse & repeat. I found myself thumbing pages completely inspired by the idea of connectivity and collectivity. Here was a tangible and physical connection between people and ideas - one not online, and aggregated by a keyword search.

I found it interesting however that because you don't get to choose your book by artist (only by genre), there is a random component to your experience. This draws an appealing parallel to the way we search for things online sometimes thinking of an idea only, we press 'enter' and see what comes up.

                               

                                        

I chose the genre of Dwelling for my book. I did not think it a brave departure! That being said, I found myself making more free decisions about my subject matter as a sketch implies a loose idea for me. 

Pencil is a medium that allows precision and control. I can make the exact mark that I intended to make without having to think about how it will hit the page as it oxidizes. When I am painting, I am so concerned with controlling the paint, that I often end up with an image I find is too tight. Where as with pencil, the opposite seems to happen and I think more about loosening the drawing up, as the medium is too controlled, too abbreviated.

The Sketchbook Project 2013 is coming to Toronto June 7-9 at the Gladstone Hotel. Full tour dates can be seen here. More information about the Art Library of Brooklyn or the SBP listed here.

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Finished Underpainting

I have finished the underpainting. It took much longer than I had hoped, but I am quite satisfied with it, as it stands. Working on the objects, the glass, the carton, you become so close to them. They begin to propel the message of the painting, in their detail and stature. Adding the shades and shadows in the background I found a whole new consideration. Pushing soft shadows up against the well postured carton feels to me like a dilemma, or something enigmatic. Either way, there is an energy there that I am drawn to.

John Muir author and naturalist, wrote the book Yosemite in 1912. Through a collection of travel writing called The Tao of Travel by Paul Theroux, I stumbled upon Muir's thoughts about light as it hit a canyon, "...it seemed not clothed in light, but wholly composed of it...".

I believe there are hundreds of moments like this each day. Light can take the place of the object and becomes what it is that we are looking at, instead of that which it illuminates.  

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New Work - Painting

To kick off the start of my next painting, I invested in a new projector. I have replaced what was considered a challenge, with a tool that lets me make more considerate decisions about composition and balance. I cannot tell you what a difference it has made!

I am working on the underpainting and getting to know the image. I am really enjoying painting the milk carton as I find the hard lines of the logo and the soft edges of the cardboard fun to play with.

The Dwelling show at the EAGM has come to a close. I am excited to get my work back and have a look at Tin, as I mailed it out to Saskatchewan almost in the same breath as it was finished. Here is a photograph of the show from opening night. More can be seen here.

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White Chipping Paint

This week I learned something new. Along the way somewhere, I was asked if I was afraid of painting the pipe. It looked complicated and complex. My answer at that time was "No, I do not fear anything in painting". I must say that although my reply sounded heroic, I questioned my abilities more than once while bringing this part to life. 

The novelty of its newness made it exciting. I was painting with blinders on, having no pre-conceived idea of a process, colour palette, or texture. I feel that because of this, I may have made something more interesting than other parts of this work.

"Bookshelf" is a painting by Chelsea James, a US painter who toggles between still life and landscape paintings. Her still life subject matter is concerned with relics and traces, much like mine is. What I find curious and exciting in her work is how it seems to give the viewer two experiences. When looking closely, the loosely finished drawing and impasto brush work take hold but when you take a step back, the blocking and colour work resolve to make the image come to life in a way that is soft and secret. I also like the patterns she creates.

Ceci n'est pas une pipe

This week I have turned attention to the pipe below the sink. As an introduction to something I have never painted before, I have been studying many images including verdigris rusting, hoping some of what I see will help me to translate something realistic to the canvas. I have collected images and tacked them to my canvas. Direct references are only one part of my practice. Having inspiration or work I admire present is so very encouraging.



Lucien Freud painted Two Japanese Wrestlers By a Sink in 1983. I first saw this thumbing through a book at college, when Freud was a prominent influence for me. The image has stuck with me through the years, perhaps because there is not very much still life work in his catalog, but mostly because it taught me that still life can show so much movement.


Josephine Halvorson is a contemporary US painter. I met her work a few months ago through a blog post on New American Paintings. Her effort is to focus on uber mundane things. Her painting's subject images we can sink our teeth into, like this door with chipping paint, however she also takes her subject matter into obscurity. Works of elusive factory machinery and construction barriers leave their mark on the viewer. I find her work exciting and powerful.

Her image is tacked to my canvas also because it is a admirable example of white, chipping paint which I will consider as I work on the white part of the pipe.



Antonio Lopez Garcia is a Spanish realist painter. I happened on this painting during quite a random Google image search and I am so very happy that I did. I am absolutely enamored with his paintings! His still life images strike as very similar to how I would like to make a still life image. He makes his paintings from life and over years, coming to sit each day in the same place at the same time, until the next day, when he resumes his seat. I find it incredibly interesting to think that his relationship to this painting marks the years passing, adding a biographical consideration.

A lovely introduction to his work can be seen here.

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