THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #33 LOOKING BACK AT BACKS

I couldn't resist the "looking back at backs" thing.  But it's true.  My attraction to the backs of buildings of all sorts has been with me for as long as I have been drawing and painting.  It really began in Wilmington Delaware when urban architecture and landscapes became the focus of my art.
Almost 40 years later, I'm still looking at the backs.

 

Behind Fourth St. in Wilmington

Pen & ink  late 1970s

Behind the Irving Cobb in Paducah

Pen & ink and markers  2003

BLACK & WHITE V. GRAY - or why today's news depresses me

All artists, especially visual artists, are conscious of values as they relate to the darkness and lightness of color.  Pure black and pure white are classic examples of two extremes in value.  With a little imagination one can imagine a series of boxes or circles, starting with a pure black and gradually becoming lighter until the last one is pure white, with a ranged of grays in between.  This is a value scale which can be applied to all colors, and paintings done using the extreme end of this scale generally evoke more interest than ones rendered almost entirely in a small range of values.  The movement between the two extremes, in art, music, and life in general creates tension and interest.  Clearly there are times when a far more consistent demeanor or palette is desirable, but for this narrative, the emphasis is on the black and white.

 Unfortunately, in spite of its artistic desirability, the world in which we live is not black and white.  Instead, with few exceptions, we live in a world of varying degrees of gray, although you might not know that based on the current public political discourse in our country today.  According to many politicians, columnists, and talking and blogging heads, everything and everyone is right or wrong, good or bad, or weak or strong.  If you propose a new government service you are a Socialist.  If you believe in a strong free market you are a greedy capitalist.   It is so much easier for politicians to identify themselves and appeal to their bases - generally in the extremes of each party - than to honestly acknowledge that good ideas can be found across the political spectrum, and that no one has a monopoly on the truth.  Woe be to the politician who vainly tries to see the middle ground; he or she is quickly labeled someone who cannot be or act decisively, and cannot be counted to support the party, and clearly the good of party is more important than that of the country.  Blaming the other side is more important than listening or seeking common ground.  Today no one is willing to publicly grant praise on someone of the opposition until he or she dies, and even then it is often equivocal.  

Sadly this movement to the extremes exists in all arenas of public discourse.  It is easier, less complicated, and for some probably less threatening, than attempting to acknowledge, let alone see all sides of an issue.  It is a large black v white hat that easily accommodates conservatives, liberals, corporate executives, union leaders, as well as those “of faith” and without faith.

This state of affairs distresses me greatly.  There was a time I enjoyed the news, written, spoken, and otherwise, and looked forward to the morning coffee and the newspapers.  Now it is a chore I force upon myself, feeling it is my civic responsibility.  The worst part of this is that I can see no signs of improvement, either now or in the future.  Until we place the greater good before our own ideology and interests we are doomed to be governed by ineffective politicians and powerful self interests, and to be bombarded by pompous self righteous noise from all sides.  Undoubtedly there are many reasons for this current state of affairs, but one that stands out, at least in my mind, is the 24 hour news cycle with its need for filler, usually a talking head who speaks with or without validated information, relying greatly on the opinion of “experts”, and presenting us with a black and white world of either or; the discourse is devoid of all but the extremes.

Black & White plus part 7

These simple drawings continue to offer me an enjoyable respite from the more demanding tasks in the studio.  They are uncomplicated, require a minimum of forethought and planning, and work can begin and end by picking up a pen or putting down.  The biggest challenge is keeping them fresh and giving each one a uniqueness of their own.  I don’t know that I am always successful at that.

The latest in the series are all based on old photos from Wilmington Delaware.

A classic Union Street corner

Back yards...don't remember where

Looking across King Street  from a 1988 photograph

BLACK & WHITE PLUS part 6

Even as things are starting to heat up in the studio with a series on new commissions, I continue to make time (or should that be find time) for a few minutes each day for the pen and ink drawings.

Since my last post I have visited Wilmington DE as well as Baltimore.

Remembering King St.

Baltimore City

King Street in Transition

 I don't know how much longer these drawings will hold my attentions, but as long as they do, I'll keep drawing.

Black & White Plus part 3

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Here are 2 more of the early pen and ink drawings:

Taking advantage of my enthusiasm for this medium (my enthusiasm for most things has a habit of waxing and waning) I have been diligently working at my drawing table for the past week and a half, and thoroughly enjoying myself.

Drawing the brick lines is not as easy as it used to be, and I occasionally have to resort to using a magnifying glass.  Anything for art!

 

Black & White Plus part 2

In the beginning it was all about the line.  It is impossible for me to describe the excitement and enthusiasm I experienced as I began to express my fascination with the surrounding urban environment with a series of simple line drawings.  Of course part of the reason for the pen and ink was my lack of facility in the various color mediums.  But even as that eventually changed my love for the simple line drawings continued.

Here are several drawings from those early years.

BLACK & WHITE PLUS part 1

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from the picture file

I have always loved black and white art, especially pen and ink line drawings.  Back in the 1970s when I began experiencing the first faint calls of art my attention was focused on the delightful small pen and ink drawings scattered throughout the pages of the New Yorker magazine.  So much so that I still have an album I created with dozens of those drawings.  My favorite artist at the time was the contemporary British illustrator, Paul Hogarth.  I bought all of his art books and tracked down as many of the books and magazines that he illustrated.  (This was long before the Internet, and the classified ads in the NY Times book section was filled with companies that did book searches.)

Why all this history?  Because several days ago, looking about for something to do while waiting for a phone call (I wait very poorly) I picked up that album and began looking at these wonderful drawings, remembering the excitement I felt those many years ago.  And in an instant, I knew exactly what I was going to do; my next “project” would be a series of pen and ink drawings of various sizes and complexity, black and white with an occasional touch of color or gray.

from the picture file

The artwork in the Paducah Portfolio, which is almost completed, borrowed heavily from my past. This new project, Black & White Plus, takes me back even farther, to the earliest days of my art, when I was head over heels for the simple, but incredibly expressive line drawings.  Although I was not aware of it that was the beginning of what would be an incredible journey that turned my life upside down.
 

                   

TUSCANY IN BLACK AND WHITE

I know...it seems criminal to ignore the beautiful hues of this marvelous countryside...but sometimes all we need is pen and ink.