Sketches

I am going to, in the immediate future anyway, put up my quick gestural sketches as I do them. This blog will function as a journal of impressions. I hope it isn't too boring. It is mainly for myself to put down a record of a process.

Daily observations - sketches, photographs, musings

Sketching the bush

I have been sketching up the back of my block amongst the trees and scrub. As I was drawing the kangaroos quietly ate the grass almost in reach. A few drops of rain fell but it stayed clear and hot into the evening. The weather is going to heat up even more tomorrow with 38 and 41 degrees forecast for the next two days. Any sketching will have to be done early in the morning or later in the evening.

Sketching

I am concentrating on sketching freely so as to loosen up and free myself from any consciousness of working towards a successful end product.De Kooning's paintings often came from combining and overlapping parts of drawings. The forms have both a randomness and yet a purpose. Perhaps it is that many artists want to push the boundaries and do this by pushing apparently randomly outside the square. At the same time human nature is such that we have an instinctive need and desire for an order to give meaning to our life.

Journal sketch

Journal sketches.

I have finally started to loosely do my artwork. Spontaneity is back as preciousness recedes. It is when we let go of the "aim" of getting it right, of getting it to "work" that lively work can happen. At least it is the case in my painting. For now I am using pen and ink, pencil, watercolour or whatever comes to hand. I am using my favourite small moleskin journals. I am however trying not to be conscious of using a lot of pages. I am trying to keep uppermost in my mind that it is all about the process and not about the resultant "product".
Here in Tamworth it is Country Music Festival time. So far I have seen bands and singers in all styles. Favourites have been a jug band, a blues group and a rock/folk group. It hasn't been too hot. A trip to Tasmania that we had been taking next week will be delayed due to the Brisbane Floods. My son is involved in working with the clean-up after working to sandbag ahead of the flood peak in Brisbane. It will be a matter of months just cleaning up. This is just a copy of one of my journal pages I did around my home out here. I am surrounded by trees from native eucalypts to large cypresses. The winds break the branches off the cypress and cause them to bend downwards. It is a hot day today but will be a beautiful evening sitting out on my front verandah with a gentle breeze having a glass of chilled white wine and watching the kangaroos come down next to the house to graze.

"Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle."    Plato

Hiatus. Creative block

For a long time I have not had much to write about. Maybe, however, that in itself is something to write about. I am in the middle of a creative block. I have a number of works that are partly finished but have not touched them for a couple of weeks or so now. At this time of year the duties (or should I say "celebrations") of Christmas tend to take over as well which will make dealing with it worse. It was heartening to have sold a couple of works last week. It is nice to think of my work going into someone's home and hopefully giving them pleasure. I am still, however, finding it impossible to get myself to go into the studio.
It is difficult to climb out of a block period. Some people use random art work including mixed media work, with no object in mind. I think a lot of the problem is a consciusness of having to "get it right". Working towards an exhibition encourages this way of thinking.

This gives a few ideas. Using a different scale and loose mark-making may be the way to go to free up and get "in the groove" again. I do like the idea of pinning large sheets of paper to the wall and drawing large and free with no object other than the enjoyment of the process in mind. I think it was Kokowshka that recommended drawing with the whole body, The sweep of the arm not just the hand. Jackson Pollock is an obvious contemporary example of this. I will use this as a guide and see what happens.
This video isn't really on creative block but interesting anyway.

No images of my work this time. Hopefully with the next post.

Tnorala, Northern Territory

Tnorala, Northern Territory. Gouache on paper. 50cm x 70cm