DRAWING ON MY PAST

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Or should I say drawing from my past?  Better yet, how about simply drawing my past, because that is what I’ve been doing.

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently conducting a private retrospective of my work.  Fortunately I have digital files of most of my artwork, as well as portfolios filled with drawings and sketches from the past 50 plus years.  The volume of the work is impressive.  Most of it is pretty good, some of it is very good, and some of it is not so good to awful. I saved everything.  Seeing my work evolve has been gratifying, and confronting the failures has been sobering.  The experience has inspired me to move forward, building on the good while learning from the bad.

On a recent visit to family and friends I photographed the elementary school I attended (as did my father).  It opened in 1916 and was shut down several years ago; residents are now trying to raise the money needed to save the building for use as a community center and library.  It did not take long for me to decide to paint the building once I returned to my studio.

As often happens, one thing leads to another, and the next thing I knew I was painting my high school using photos I took at our 50^th reunion 7 years ago.

And the wheels keep turning.  Elementary school, high school.  What’s next, Jr. high, college?  Maybe both, and just like that a new series emerges – painting the “places of my life”.  As a result, I just spent hours going through old photos and slides looking for photos I knew I took about 20 years ago of my college campus.  I found the images I wanted, and planned on painting my colleges Administrative Building where we had most of our classes.  However the 50^th reunion of our medial school class is this October, and the reunion committee has asked for a painting of the old Jefferson Medical College building, so my orderly progression will be a bit disrupted.

After that I have a lifetime of drawing to do.

I love being an artist, it is a way of life, and he work never ends.

The daily dose of art DRAWING ITALY

It's time to leave the OCD-like architectural paintings to some loosey goosey on the spot line drawings from Italy.  As you will see, most of them were done while I was enjoying espresso, food, and/or a glass of wine.  I do my best work under those circumstances.

Cappuccino in Florence

Dinner

Espresso on Via Ugo Bassi

the daily dose of art...ALL ART IS DERIVATIVE

In the early 1970s during the first years of my practice, while art was still a hobby, a spent a lot of my free time drawing and sketching.  Most of the time I used my Parker 45 fountain pen, and occasionally a pencil or felt tip pen. My inspiration came from magazine photos as well as local architecture.  I don't know the exact date of this pen & ink drawing, done on a gray toned paper.

It is small - about 8x10" and was probably done around 1975.  The thing is, I never forgot about this drawing, and almost 40 years later, without referencing it, I painted this piece:

Left Alone  acrylic  3x40"

Left Alone  detail

If only I could remember names that well.

THE DAILY INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE #7 JUST DRAWING

Of all the industrial landscapes I've painted and drawn these two are my favorites.  Both were done with a sepia pen and markers.

Power Plant on the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh PA

NRE facilities in Paducah KY

BEFORE THE ARCHITECTURE AND THE BARNS

In the beginning – always a good place to start – before the notion of pursuing art professionally had occurred to me, I began drawing everything and anything, including people.  Photographs in magazines and the ads in medical journals served as models for my pencil, and occasional pen and ink drawings.   It would be several years before my fascination with architecture and the built environment developed.  Once that took hold I abandoned all other subjects, with the exception of  on the spot drawings during my emergency room years.  Serious interest in barns and the rural landscape came years later.

I would like to share with you some of those early drawings from the 1970s.

Oops   pencil

The Violinist   pencil

Hair   pen and ink

I don't know why I completely abandoned people for places.  Maybe this says something about a latent psychological temperament of mine.

PENCIL AND PAPER

I needed a break from the acrylics and watercolors today and turned to the reliable standby...pencil and paper.

Two west Kentucky barns, each image approximately 6x10 inches.

Livingston Co. barn

On Rt. 45 south

TAKING STOCK

Formaggioria...mixed media drawing on clay mono type...6x16"

When I left my medical practices to devote more time to art I left behind people who trusted me with their medical care; relationships and friendships that were forged from that trust ended because of the choices I made.  I still feel the guilt and remorse over the disruption I caused, leaving the noble work of medicine to “become and artist.”  Perhaps it was an effort to compensate for this that I silently promised them I would never stop trying to be the best artist I was capable of becoming.

This year will mark our tenth year in Paducah, ten years to totally immerse myself in my art.  Have I achieved the best of my capabilities?  Probably not, in every journey there is always the opportunity for one more step.  But I have kept my promise to try to take that ever-present next step.  Art has become the defining purpose in my life and my commitment to it has never wavered.

Do I believe art is as noble a calling as medicine?  No, I don’t; a physician has the responsibility to serve others, directly, whereas the artist works in solitude, touching the lives of others indirectly, through the finished work. But it was a call, one that I could not turn away from. I have no regrets about the paths I have followed and would do it again in spite of the consequences.  The alternative would have been to live an unhappy life filled with regret and unfulfilled dreams, always wondering…what if….?

I’ve learned a great deal about the craft of making art since my first gallery show in 1977, and over the year have become comfortable working in several different media.  I’ve become familiar with the basic principles of color, composition, and perspective, and the importance professionalism and the rudiments of self-promotion.  Finding answers to the many technical and professional questions I encountered was not very difficult, but the one question I have always struggled to understand is why I paint and draw what I do.

  Black at sunset...acrylic...10x30"

Cambridge...watercolor...12x17"

CONTINUING THE JOURNEY...

Today I go from Stockbridge MA to Philadelphia, where I've spent more time there than any other town except Wilmington DE. I expect There will be many more Philly drawings to follow.


Stockbridge MA


On south 10th st...Philadelphia


Society Hill...Philadelphia


Valley Forge

FROM TOWN TO TOWN IN THE STUDIO

From the comfort of my drawing table I have been traveling about the eastern US via my photo files. The drawings are all 5x7' or smaller and have been done with pen, pencil, markers, and pastel. If I can eek out a bit of ambition I may begin using a little watercolor also...we'll see.

IT’S NOT TRUE

that all I’m doing in Italy is eating. I don’t know where that misconception came from...certainly not from all the pictures of food and food shops I’ve been posting. Well, besides enjoying the tastes of Italy I really have been paying attention to my art, at least to sketches and small paintings. Some have been done in the street, completely or partially, and others drawn in my makeshift studio from photos I have taken. The verdict is still out on which of the two I prefer.

Here are 3 samples from the sketchbook:


from the terrace ink and colored markers

Piazza San Francesco ink drawing done on the spot. Pastel added later

Via Collegia Di Spagna ink and watercolor done from photo

and here is a photo of my temporary studio...

THE SKETCH BOOK

In recent days I have been visiting the blogs of other artists, and my efforts have been rewarded with the delightful images from a variety of sketch books. It is always inspiring to see the infinite number of ways each of us views our world, and rewarding when these experiences are so aptly documented.

So, today's post will be about the artist’s sketch book. My transition from medicine to art began in the mid 70’s with a small sketch book I carried with me to a medical conference in Boston, years before I was aware that such a transition was in my future. Walking out of the conference after the first hour, I spent the next 3 days walking the streets of boston and Cambridge, filling me books with drawings of the city streets. This was to be a practice I would continue for many years, and it was to become my lifeline to the world during some rather dark times. Those familiar with my blog will have seen the many drawings and notes I have selected to share.

The sketch books, later just “the books”, were with me almost 24-7. It was my way of training my eyes to see, to learn the craft of drawing. I imposed one rule on myself, I was not allowed to use any instrument other than an ink pen (my faithful Parker 45, alas, no longer available.) or a fine point black marker. I did not want to be tempted to use and eraser: with the pen I was forced to commit myself. I can honestly report that I rarely broke that rule, and when I did it was usually with colored markers. Eventually my books became as much of a journal as a sketchbook.

Years later, as my artistic interests evolved, I became strictly a studio artist, and the books were replaced by larger books in which I recorded small exploratory thumb nail sketches for future paintings. Pencils were now allowed!

I would enjoy hearing from others about their own experiences with the sketch book; do you have “rules” for yourself, do you draw or write every day, what size books do you use,?