Our Paintings teach Us

When painting from the on- sight sketch and the memory of seeing that dancer move, it doesn't always come down on canvas the way I had planned. The two dimensional canvas and the paint can often cause the image to tighten up and become confined in the composition. This week is an example of that.

By painting out the ineffective areas and re-drawing the gesture I can put life into the form again.  I am thinking that most painters are humored by the sometimes surprising outcomes of their calculated intentions and that feeling a little bit more experienced because of it.   

                                                        

From Newsprint to Canvas

This posting shows the process of taking a gesture from the actual rehearsal sketch and developing that idea on a canvas . The next few days will determine the outcome of this project.

 

Double Dutch

Those who remember jumping double dutch are aware of the skills necessary to be successful: timing, rhythm, concentration and endurance, to name just a few.

I am presently jumping double dutch between two different easels and topics in my studio this week and find it invigorating. One is a canvas that i am developing from the recent OBT performance and the other is a paper piece of a lion. The contrast of subject matter is entertaining even if there are some days i trip on the "rope". Then I go to a rehearsal or the zoo.

My question has to do with other artists' and the number of works that are actively being painted on daily.

Grandchildren and Inspiration

Before continuing with the series of drawings from the recent Oregon Ballet performance, I chose to share a request from my 17 year old granddaughter.

She has asked me to paint her three paintings of large cats. At Christmas I have her a Panther. An unnerving thing to do for a teenager in that phase of brilliant one moment and out to lunch the next.

The posted painting of the request for a Tiger came down easily and with the confidence that I had already passed the "cool" test.

It's amazing to me how much influence grandchildren can have on an artist and wouldn't that be a great idea for a book?!?

Any comments on this topic are welcomed.

From Rehearsals to the Stage

The next six sketches posted here are fresh from recent rehearsals at the Oregon Ballet theatre.

I specifically focused on a piece called Lambarena. It is full of moves that are liberating to the soul. Performers move to the high energy and seductive rhythm of African music and with Bach slipping in for a clever contrast. All in the name of Ballet.

I Can't wait to see how it all looks on stage this weekend and encourage everyone to consider the privilege of seeing this on stage along with Rite of Spring and Ash. For information go to OBT.ORG. 

Of Birds and Ballet

My office is in a separate location from the studio so I can accomplish desk work without the distraction of whatever painting is on the easel.  However, there is one pleasant distraction I can work beside and that is the bird life that occupies our backyard and the many feeders.  In the mid-afternoon the crows and flickers arrive for their shift.  It's amusing to watch them take flight with a single hop, a runway take off or a drop from a tree. 

When at a rehearsal later today there will be an attempt at flight as the dancers leap with such power and grace they seem suspended in the air.  It's exhilarating to see the human form airborne using only their strength to defy gravity, even for a few seconds. 

There are many images of the dancer in flight in my pile of sketches, but none of  a bird.  That's a challenge worth taking on.  That lift off when the body of the bird collects itself in such a way as to become instantly airborne.  Any takers?

DANCE, TENNIS, OR FOOTBALL

This week has been a combination of dance rehearsals at the Oregon Ballet Theatre, outstanding performances in sports with the tennis finals at the Australian Open, and the NFL Superbowl.  

When reviewing my sketches from these events I am struck by their similarities.  Even though art philosophers have written many chapters on the topic of the cross referencing that exists in sports and dance, it is still exciting to see it come down on the sketch pad in front of you.  

The image to the right is an example of this daily revelation.