Patterns, patterns everywhere!

Paul Klee

The last few months I've been working patterns.  Up until this time, I'd only played with patterns, done small ones, felt like they were insignificant and/or not completely worthwhile - I should be doing "real" art instead.  I don't know where I got the message that patterns aren't as important as realistic art.  There are many famous artists who have worked with patterns, some almost exclusively.  Paul Klee is a good example. He worked extensively to analyze color and shapes and patterns and taught those subjects at the Bauhaus School in Germany.  Lots of other artists have played with pattern as well including Mondrian and Gustav Klimt.  I have always been drawn to this type of work and have always created patterns and doodles of my own.  When my friend Linda Hollett told me about Zentangles a few years ago, I felt like I'd come home. 

The folks who created Zentangles describe them as the following:

The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns.

Almost anyone can use it to create beautiful images. It increases focus and creativity, provides artistic satisfaction along with an increased sense of personal well being. The Zentangle Method is enjoyed all over this world across a wide range of skills, interests and ages.
We believe that life is an art form and that our Zentangle Method is an elegant metaphor for deliberate artistry in life.

When I learned about them, I started filling 6"x9" notebooks full of my own Zentangles which I have started to call Zendoodles.  I teach classes about them at www.visarts.org as well as at my studio.  Here are a couple of my earlier ones...




 Recently I've been creating larger ones on 11"x14" Duralar, a type of translucent plastic paper that can be drawn on on both front and back.  Here are some of those...  (Sorry for the quality of the pictures.  I photographed them with my iPad and cropped them there, but the crop didn't transfer.)  These are done with Micron pens and color pencils which  glow beautifully on Duralar.

Ringdoodles

Figure Drawing 1st, Doodle 2nd

Flight of the Bumblebee

 I had such a wonderful time creating the Ringdoodles that I decided to create one that is much larger - 6'x10'!  I had a piece of canvas I'd put up on the wall several months ago.  I used it as a blow out piece and got all the mileage out of it I could so I decided to use it for this new piece.  I spent 10 hours working on it today.  (I've been busy with Beyond Barbie this week and with finishing up a commission the weeks before that and hadn't had much time to paint, so I've had a great time painting non-stop today!)

I don't consider this piece finished yet, but I made a lot of good progress today.  The background was already done.  I've just put in the rings today.

computer-generate image that stitched all my photos together.

detail

detail

detail

More meanderings through my sketchbook

The last few weeks I've continued working/playing/experimenting in my sketchbook.  It has been one of the most freeing periods of my artistic life.  I don't think I've ever before given myself such a stretch of time without goals or expectations to produce for a series or a show.  My perfectionism has, thankfully, taken a back seat, and my playfulness has come to the fore.

Here are some pictures I've done lately:

Street scene of Main St across the street from the Visual Arts Center.  Practicing one point perspective.  Pen and ink, watercolor, and graphite.

Pattern I more or less copied from a book about visual journaling.  Pen, ink, watercolor, watercolor pencils, wax crayons.

I gave my student the assignment of drawing an apple 10 times in 80 minutes.  I decided to do the same thing.  Until I got going - I couldn't let go of the prettiness of it and wanted to complete the drawing. I started in watercolor then my student wanted to use them so I had to move on - I switched to color pencil after that

After I finished the above apple, I went on to another one.  First I glued some random Dur-a-Lar to the paper just to give me some different textures to play with, then I painted it in acrylics.  I was fascinated to note how the paint acted on the Dur-a-Lar as compared to the regular drawing paper.  It resisted.  I used gold paint for the highlights on the apple.

Sometimes what I do in the sketchbook is affirmations or assertions

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I let myself be bold.  This was one of those times.

Zendoodles are never far away.  This one is Micron pens on Dur-a-Lar.

I use my sketchbook when I'm in figure drawing sessions on Friday evenings at the Visual Arts Center (all are welcome - $6/person - it's a great opportunity to draw from the model)  Sometimes my drawings aren't all that successful because I'm still learning to work from the figure from life.  The picture on the left is how it looked after 20 min.  then I brought it home and had a great time cutting up magazines and making it into something completely different.  Whether the pieces are skillful or not, I'm learning so much from doing them.  It is changing the way I approach art completely.

This is the same model.  I drew the gesture drawing with green Micron then put the body on it with a graphite pencil.  I used the scrap from a magazine to glue it into the sketchbook because glue doesn't seem to work too well on Dur-a-Lar.

A friend told me about this quote.  I thought it was worth noting:  "There's a crack in everything.  that's how the light gets in."  Leonard Cohen

Workin' my stuff.  And what a great place to do it.

This postcard was my place marker at my niece's wedding I went to lately.  Va Beach in the old days.

Another picture from figure drawing sessions.  I love how the white and black look on the red background.  This one made me happy.

21 things that didn't work that night when I was 16.

 

An earlier figure drawing session.  I drew the figure on Dur-a-Lar which is slightly see through - it's translucent - then did a pattern on the page behind it.  I'm intrigued by the juxtaposition of the two.

Allowing myself to play.  Zendoodles.  Colors.  Sumi ink, micron pen, watercolors, on rice paper.

As you can see, I'm not sticking to any one medium or paper or subject or type of creation.  Whatever arises is what gets expressed.  It's a very right brain way of approaching art.  I'll write more about the difference in my next post.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying these meanderings and am very curious to see where they're going...

Patterns and "Don't Mess with Me!"

I had a very fun day in the studio today after being at the Monster Drawing Rally yesterday.  I wanted to try everything I'd seen done there - using compressed charcoal, oil sticks, house paint, etc., etc.  In the end, I didn't have any compressed charcoal so couldn't use it and didn't think about the house paint, but I did find an oil stick I'd bought long ago and did use it.  I also combined pastels and oil paints with the oil stick on both sanded paper (which I usually use with pastels) and canvas (which I usually only use with oils).  It was fun to experiment.  The picture on the right is called Aapples and a Tomato.  I had a lot of fun creating the pattern in the background.  I love doing these kinds of patterns.  A long time ago, the first time Dylan was in the hospital, so 8 years ago, I'd come home from the night there and do a small watercolor of a piece of fruit and put patterns in the background.  (The pumpkin is an example of one of them.)  I guess I'm coming back around to that now with oils and pastels.  The oil stick really helps because it gives me an easy way to draw the lines.  I have trouble doing them with either pastels (too thick) or a brush (too soft).

After I painted the apples and tomato, I found some small canvases (I think they're 6" square x 1.5" deep) which I painted a couple more pictures on.  First Polka dotted peach then Apple on a Tablecloth.  I left the apple uncropped to make it possible to see how deep the canvas is.

These pictures and the fun I had doing them gave me the courage to finally, finally, finally put a pattern into a portrait as I'm painting it.  I have to admit, I had a really good time doing the pattern.  I don't know why I like them so much, but I certainly know that I do!

Here's the start of the portrait.  The woman is wearing the most beautiful turquoise necklace which is an heirloom from her grandmother.  I had no idea how difficult it would be to paint.  I am aware that the necklace will certainly take longer to paint than anything else!  But it'll be fun and look very cool when it's finished, so I'm looking forward to continuing the challenge.

I love the expression on this woman's face.  It isn't that evident from this photograph, but I call it Don't Mess With Me.  It's a perfect one for me to be doing right now because that's my attitude these days!  Don't mess with me!  I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow, but I'm too tired tonight after 3 hours of painting the necklace and pattern to do anymore.  I was starting to get sloppy so it's time to quit!

Faux Fur Follies Day 4

Yesterday I finally took the plunge and added pattern to the picture of Lynn which I'm calling Faux Fur Follies.  It took me a long time to figure out which pattern to add, and I have to give Chris a lot of credit - he came out to the studio and talked me through it and watched as I photoshopped some possibilities in to see how it would look.  Here is our photoshop edition, a bit crude, but it gave me enough of an idea that I decided to go with it.  (on the right)

Last night I got some of the colors put on.  I was feeling pretty good about it.  The orange was the underpainting and felt too bright, so I was glad when I got rid of that today.  I chose colors that were less pink than in the photoshopped version. (on the left)

Today I finished the pattern wall then put shadows behind her knee, the coat, and her hand.  I also increased the amount of flooring to her right in order to make the room look larger.  Then, finally, I changed the color of the wall behind her.  I thought about adding another pattern behind her.  Here's that thought: 

There's a lot I like about it - I like the sense of space that the lines create and the fun of it.  Chris said he thinks it looks like a fun house.  I'm not opposed to that, given how happy she looks.  It makes the picture even more enigmatic - where is she and what is she doing there and why is she there and what the heck is happening??!!

In preparation for that step, I painted the wall behind her tan.  I took a moment to step back and look at it before painting the pattern (plus, I needed to wait for the paint to dry).  I decided I really like it with just the tan, so for now I'm going to leave it like this.  I worked on her hair somemore and may do some more on her coat, but otherwise, I might be finished.  Maybe.  Unless I get a wild hair someplace that makes me do something else to it!

Trying to break through old patterns using patterns

Geez!  I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted anything - a flurry of posts then nothing!  I've been busy in the studio despite that.

Last Friday we took my youngest to college for his Freshman year.  Since then each day i've been checking my email frequently, hoping for a missive from him, telling about the good times he's having.  I've received a total of 20 lines, 2 of which regarded money.  Yes, well.  I guess I'd better get used to it!

In the meantime, I've been walking with my friend Lynn, a 65-year-old woman who runs marathons and is planning an ascent of Mount Kilamanjaro for February 2011.  I am so blessed to have her in my life.  She's helping me get in shape, but she also inspires me like crazy because of how she lives her life.  I love spending time with her!

The way I got to know her was through her modeling for me.  She saw my 12 Naked Men show in Petersburg and told me she'd like to model for me.  Unfortunately I couldn't read her email address accurately so couldn't get in touch with her that time around, but luckily she found me again at Crossroads when I was showing The Dancer at 89.  She was adamant that she wanted to model for me so we set up a time right then and there.

Bling Lady was the first piece I did of her from that session.  I have several other pieces I'd like to do from then, but haven't gotten around to them yet. 

A couple of months after I first photographed her, she told me her sister and neice were going to be in town and she'd like to bring them over to see the painting.  I told her that would be fine and if they wanted to model while they were here, that would be great too (just kidding!).  Lynn took me seriously and told them that's what they were going to do. 

We had a great time in the studio that day!  Her sister and neice were wonderful models.  The three of them were so at ease with themselves and each other.  I got some fabulous shots and have painted a picture of them already.  I'm not at liberty to show it because, though they're comfortable with my painting their faces with their body, they prefer me not to show them on the internet.  Totally fine.

One of the props we used that day was a fake fur coat Chris had just gotten me for my birthday.  I turned 50 and his gift to me was to take me shopping for a winter coat because mine was getting worn out after 8 years of constant use.  I was looking for another practical piece to replace it, but then Isaw these crazy floor length fur coats.  I tried on a white one with a huge hood just for kicks.  I actually LOVED it!  I felt like a fairy princess snow queen.  Not the look I usually aim for, but I loved it!  I tried on more and more of the coats and told Chris that I was actually going to get one of them!  In the end I bought two - a short one I wear almost daily and a floor length one that looks like a racoon coat from the 50's or whenever it was the guys wore those in college.  I love it!  I haven't actually worn it out of the house yet because I don't quite have the gall to show up with it on anywhere - I don't really go anywhere that calls for a fur coat - but I'm working on it!  Maybe by this winter I'll have come up with someplace - maybe I'll wear it at my opening in October despite the heat in the building with 100's of people crowding around.  Or not.

At any rate, I brought it out to show to Lynn and her sister and neice.  They loved them and started clowning around in them.  Of course I snapped pictures while they were playing.  They're very fun!

That's the back story.

A couple of weeks ago when Lynn and I were walking, she was telling me what she thought of the paintings I'd done during Tom's workshop.  She LOVED the Jenny Saville one.  She said that's how she feels!  Like that paint, those colors, that energy!  She wanted to know why I didn't paint her that way.  She said she liked the piece I did of her, but it was so calm and restrained - why didn't I do this with her?

Well!  I'd been wanting to try such unrestrained painting ever since the workshop, but I'd built up in my mind that my models might be bothered by it (is that true, models???) - that they might find such outrageous energy shameful or ugly or excessive - can you tell what my judgments are?  Yet that was exactly what I wanted to do. 

And here Lynn was giving me permission and asking me to do it with her painting!  That evening I went out to the studio and started playing with Adobe and modifying some of the photos I have of Lynn.  The one on the left is the one I played with the most.  She loved it!  I don't know that I'll paint it like this, but it could give me a good start for getting wilder with the colors and the energy.

The thing that is difficult for me is to recognize that crazy colors and wildly energetic looking doesn't mean random, wild strokes with equal intensity to the mark making.  Those strokes have to be every bit as careful as the way I normally work.  So really, the painting isn't different except in the colors I would use.  At some level I'm looking to be more expressive with the strokes too.  It's the process I'm in, I guess.

As an intermediate step, I decided to work on a piece of Lynn in the fur coat.  I really love her expression and her pose and figured I could have some fun with it.

The first picture was the beginning.  I decided to put a very bold color down for the background colors and to play with the colors in the coat.  I regret the colors in the coat.  I don't like how greenish the yellow is.  Lynn's coloring is pinker than that, so I find it jarring, but I'm not done yet!

I decided to paint her body completely realistically and make it as beautifully rendered as I could manage then play with the coat and background, sort of like Gustav Klimt did his women.  As you can see in this image, the face and hands are painted very realistically (except for his color choice perhaps - she's a bit too blue and pale to look completely realistic), then the rest of it is full of incredible patterns.  The piece is a portrait, but clearly it's more about the patterns.  I haven't decided if I want to go that far or not.  I love drawing patterns.  It's how I doodle.  I would love to figure out how to combine both things - patterns and portraits - but so far I haven't been able to see how to do it.  I could take that chance in this painting, but, frankly, I've gotten attached to the outcome and want to make it pretty.  I'm afraid to screw it up.

Writing that makes me know it's the only choice I really have.  I have to let myself play.  Otherwise why should I even bother doing art?  If I don't take a chance, I should just close up shop and go home.

Yikes!  Here are some of the patterns I've done before.  OK.  I'm ready!  They're gonna be in the painting!  Wish me luck!