The fine tuning and maintenance of obscure, tricky equations and unfinished thoughts

While not everyone might  be considered equally unimportant, by the same token not everyone can be considered equally unfortunate. When we’re all equally fortunate than  true equality might be conceivable.

A variation on this might be Camus' conjecture  that only when we were all slaves might true freedom or true democracy exist - but I can’t put my finger on the exact wording of his quote.

click to enlarge

the watering of the unwatered plant

reclining figure, chalk on manilla Jan. 2011

Two - Not so new, sitting down for the new year

This patient model dozed for an hour at a stretch without altering her position an inch while we scratched away at our drawing. All the while she possessed a certain serenity or calm which I might want to emulate in 2012.  Fat chance! Just being realistic.

click to enlarge

carbon pencil on Ingres 2009

another model on kraft paper, 30 min pose 2008

Figure in a room with props

The set up for this figure was a in a room with a lot of cushions, the model reclined on a hard wooden drawing bench – surrounded by assorted vases, some drapery….after it dried,  I stacked this painting against the wall of an upstairs bed room and now after three years have gone by, have retrieved it, dusted it off and photographed it.

oil on masonite 24"x32"

New at it second session

Two  pieces from the second week with the previous model. I think perhaps in spite of or because of  his ‘newness’ -  he was excellent as a model!

pastel on toned watercolor paper

pastel on toned watercolor paper

New at it

This is a model who I drew sometime ago. He was inexperienced as a model and felt awkward and uncomfortable while posing. He was even in some pain because he worked out at a gym and had hurt himself. He came at most for two sessions but not  for the third booking. 

I realize of course that I enjoyed drawing him,  much more than he enjoyed sitting.

manilla 18"x24" charcoal

untitled

I didn't join the plein air group last Tuesday – cold and powerful winds – upwards of  50 km or more, threat of heavy rain,  (it didn’t actually pour until evening) convinced me to stay home. An exhausting decision. I spent the better part of the day  questioning the sky which seemed a wash of unremitting  gray.

This sketch is from last April. Although it too, was a rainy day,  we were able to luxuriate from within  the shelter of an old  sheep barn. 

oil on panel 9"x12"

Beverly Swamp

Last week I was the last person  to pack up and leave at Paddy Green’s Road that runs between Jerseyville Rd. and Slote Rd. That’s ok – I came late. 

A truck from the conservation authority pulled up just as I was getting into my car (very foggy by this time) and the driver rolled down his window and spoke to me asking if I was planning to return next week. Actually ‘yes’ I replied – one more time next Tuesday. 

Then he explained that starting next Monday Native people had a license to hunt deer in this area for the next four weeks. We talked about that. They’d be using bows and arrows and shotguns - their target was to kill about eighty deer. They were from Six Nations and would be hunting Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays right through to December 21^st.  I thanked him for telling me.  That left Thursday through Sunday open.  Nevertheless today we met at Beverly swamp on Middleton Rd between 5^th and 6^th concession – a significant distance from Paddy Green’s. 

oil on canvas 14"x11"

2nd sketch 9x11 night photo with intention of reshooting

above rendered as black and white