Toronto, part 2

Besides working with my friend, I did a few other things in Toronto last month.

I went with several friends to the AGO.

On the 5th fllor, Rebecca Belmore installations and performance documentations.  Her work titled "Fountain" really caught my attention.  It was screened on a wall of water.  Technically wonderful and also very beautiful.

Rebecca Belmore "Fountain"

There were several of her works in the gallery, and I wished I could spend more time with them.  Good thing we have the interwebs, where I found this interview about "Fountain"

Also, as usual at the AGO I wound up in the Henry Moore room.  This room for me feels a bit like a temple.  All the plaster forms; the clean shapes with scarred surfaces.

I kinda wish I could have a sleepover in the Henry Moore room, spend 24 hours in there with all those gorgeous shadowy forms.

Another day, I went with a friend to the ROM.

We saw fashion: 

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/iris

Interactive installations:

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/philip

And spiders!

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/spiders

Above image is of a cape made entirely of spider silk.  It may be the most beautiful piece of textile I've ever laid eyes on.

I also visited the downtown studio of my friend, an artist whom I respect highly.  Here's a link to her website.

I took very few photos of things while in Toronto... I think I am losing my desire for making photographic recordings.  But here is one:

light pattern in subway station

In contrast, I have not lost my desire for making sketchbook recordings of people's faces.  Here are portraits of various friends, acquaintances and family members, in the 9x12 green book.  It's very close to being full now.

S, simultaneously drawing me
oil paint marker and gouache, 9x12 sketchbook

S, engaged in the process
oil paint marker and gouache, 9x12 sketchbook

TO, on his celphone
sharpie marker and China marker in 9x12 sketchbook

MO, engaged in the process
oil paint marker & China marker in 9x12 sketchbook

JS, conversing
oil paint marker & gouache, 9x12 sketchbook

JD, driving
China marker, 9x12 sketchbook

AC, watching television
oil paint marker and China marker, 9x12 sketchbook

LCK, reading a book
oil paint marker and China marker in 9x12 sketchbook

TP, playing her harp
pigma pens in 5x8 sketchbook

Returning to Calgary, I was very eager to frame my paintings for the Art Now in Saskatchewan, but had to wait to borrow a framing gun.  Argh!  *laughs*  Well what can you do... work a bit on paper while waiting.

Below, the paintings going to the Art Now fair, framed at last :)

Five Seasons, Dancing
acrylic on canvas and masonite panel, 15.5 x 16.5 inches, framed

And one more portrait!  MC, co-founder of Art Calgary.  She came to my studio to pick up my work for the fair in Saskatoon, so of course I had to record her face.

MC, oil paint marker and acrylic in 9x12 sketchbook

And now the teaching cycle resumes.  I'm hoping to amp up my teaching gigs because I could use a bit more income these days.  I'm also hoping to continue being able to get into the studio for some good swathes of time... wish me luck!  *laughs*

sound and motion

I recently spent some time in Toronto ON, working with a friend who is studying performance and movement arts at York University.  We had seven 8-hour studio sessions booked; here are a few of the drawings I made during that time.

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

A long time ago I did a lot of life drawing, working with professional artists' models who would hold very still for durations of time.  It's an excellent practice, one I would recommend to anyone wanting to hone their drawing skills.

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

Once I'd honed my own drawing skills (a 4-year process of drawing from life models several times a week), I began to be bored with immobile humans.  It's very unnatural for anyone to sit still for any length of time; in fact it's inhuman.  So I stopped.

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

Instead, I drew people while travelling on transit.  I learned that it takes 30-45 seconds for most people to realize they're being observed, at which point the drawing must be finished.  I got really quick at making portraits!  And I've kept up making portraits all these years, mostly in 9x12" sketchbooks.

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

Sketchbook portraits aside, I have done extremely little figure drawing in 20 years.  So it was a very open-ended endeavour to work with my friend, who would be in almost-constant motion.  And I went minimalist, bringing only big paper and drawing tools.  No paint, no brushes!

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

A challenge.  We didn't know whether anything would come of it, so we held no expectations.  I made some drawings of the movements she made, and some drawings of the sounds of her voice & body as she moved through the space.

oil paint marker on pale grey mystery paper, 22x32"

oil paint marker on bond paper, 24x36"

About halfway into our time together, some of my markers began running out.  I saw this as an opportunity to procure a couple of hardware-store brushes and a bit of ink.  ;-)

various drawing media + ink on vellum roll, 24" x 10 yards

same roll, opposite direction

Mixed in between all this I made a bunch of large portraits.  

Because I can.  Somehow I can draw fast enough, even on a larger scale, to make portraits while a person is moving, and taking on various personas, and talking-whispering-yelling, and generally doing everything but staying still.  

I'm enthralled by the magic of that: a person just being human, and me drawing them.

oil paint marker, China marker on bond paper, 24x36"

oil paint marker, charcoal, China marker on bond paper, 24x36"

oil paint marker and China marker on blue mystery paper, 22x32"

oil paint marker and China marker
on pre-painted BFK Rives paper, 24x36"

oil paint marker, China marker on BFK Rives paper, 24x36"

oil paint marker and ink on green mystery paper, 22x32"

oil paint marker, China marker, ink on brown mystery paper, 22x32"

oil paint marker and ink on black mystery paper, 22x32"

It was really cool to see my drawings emerge as we worked: to see my same basic style from years ago when I worked large scale from models, now augmented by 20+ intervening years of non-figurative art-making.

At the end, we are hoping to work together again, perhaps next year, and perhaps using some different materials.  

Already, ideas begin to emerge.  Wait.  Let them pupate.  See what happens.

portraits of RM

Portraits of RM, made in the summer of 2015.  About five weeks ago we received news of his death.

Making portraits is very interesting to me.  Often in the finished work I find I have caught something of my sitter's personality that has not been apparent to my conscious mind.

One thing I like to do when looking at portraits (drawings, paintings or photographs) is to cover first one half and then the other, looking at each side separately.  I find there are usually two personalities contained in every face.  Of course there are many more than two sides to a person, but it seems at least two are evident in almost every portrait.  Maybe two sides of the artist as much as of the sitter.

sometimes you have to be ruthless

Sometimes you just have to be ruthless in order to get to the good stuff.

first incarnation

wiped, begin again

finally, the good stuff

I really like like the way this portrait turned out, despite some anatomical imperfections.  Very glad I wiped it halfway through.

To my amazement, the whole endeavour took only 1h 15m.  I get that my drawings are done very fast, usually about 20-30 minutes in my 9x12 sketchbook with watermedia...  but this was an oil portrait, and the first I'd done in a very long time.

Must've been an exceptionally good model.

:)

portraits and portraits

Today I spent the day in Black Diamond, AB, hanging out at Bluerock Gallery and exploring various parts of the town and environs.  During my travels I made some portraits.  

Here they are, more-or-less in the order they appeared:

And in the newest sketchbook, 300gsm toned grey paper which was very smooth and did not take the watermedia too easily but nevertheless was enjoyable to work in:

It was nice to get out of the city for the day.

Branch Out 1

Today I met with Andrei, a neuroscience student at the U of C who is involved in endocannabinoid research as it relates to PTSD and fear extinction.  We talked about some of the specifics of his research and also a little bit about life in general.  I learned some pretty interesting things about synapses and lab rats, and also about how people variously respond to learning that they have an unalterable condition, for example diabetes.

After we'd talked awhile, I asked Andrei if I could make his portrait, and he graciously agreed.  I made two:

top, first drawing: Sharpie paint marker

bottom, second drawing: China marker

Of which I think the top one is better.  I seem to have forgotten about his eyebrows in the second portrait, and also his mouth is ill-proportioned.  I realized these things only later, as I looked at the images on my computer screen.  Trying too hard to get a good likeness, probably.  Portraits (well, mine at least) are always best in that first spontaneous visual response.

I met with Andrei because I have agreed to make a painting for an event by Branch Out, an organization that funds research such as his.

This evening I've already looked up a few of the things we talked about (hence the link to the fear extinction study results above) and it's quite fascinating.

I think one of the reasons I make art is that there was some trauma in my family when I was young, and making art has definitely helped me to deal with at least some aspects of that.  I think it's not so much the images per se, but the actual physical process, which usually involves very repetitive motions over a span of time.  Like my sketchbooks: basically the same image over and over, filling whole books.  It's very soothing, and it also becomes a method of focussed research which can lead to more involved work.  

Perhaps making art helps my endocannabinoids to function properly.  Certainly making art is the antithesis of fear, even though sometimes I'm unsure of where the process is going... 

Much to ponder after this meeting.

Meanwhile, I will make a painting for the Branch Out event (which by the way will be held at cSPACE in Calgary in April) and probably not really know what that painting is all about until maybe two years from now.  Typical of my process.

Thanks for a super visit, Andrei, I very much appreciate your taking the time.

Thank you too, dear Reader, and ciao for now.