Girl with Flowers 3

The ear tends to be lazy, craves the familiar and is shocked by the unexpected; the eye, on the other hand, tends to be impatient, craves the novel and is bored by repetition.

W. H. Auden

I just can't leave well enough alone ~ guess I'm "craving the novel." Once again I feel I've overworked another drawing. While the detail in her outfit sits okay with me, there is way too much going on in the bouquet. With every drawing, though, I learn so much. The other problem here is that the I've overworked the paper ~ too much charcoal and too much erasing. Well, there's always another drawing to be done.

Girl With Flowers 2

In early youth, as we contemplate our coming life, we are like children in a theatre before the curtain is raised, sitting here in high spirits and eagerly waiting for the play to begin.

Arthur Schopenhauer

She seems to be coming along. This drawing is a real exercise in balancing detail with the looser style I'm trying to develop. I want her face, particularly her eyes, to be the focus of the picture and the flowers to just frame her intense look. The goal here is to draw the viewer in, capture his interest and make him wonder what the girl is thinking about. I have my own idea what's on her mind which also presents a challenge ~ how do I convey what's I think is on her mind in her demeanor?

Girl With Flowers

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.

Rachel Carson


I have decided to do a series of pencil drawings of children. This first one is of a young girl staring directly at the viewer. One of the things I am going to concentrate on is trying to be a little looser with my renditions. I have a tendency to put too much detail in parts of my drawings that would be better left to the imagination. As in all portraits the eyes "have it" so in this case I will attempt to leave the flowers alone and not draw in every petal. We'll see.

Morning Bouquet 3

The father of every good work is discontent, and its mother is diligence.

Lajos Kassak

Lots of big changes since the last time I posted. First of all I darkened the upper right corner and started blocking in the tablecloth. Here comes the "discontent" part. I don't like the tablecloth at all. The decision now is whether to even leave it in. That's one of my big problems ~ sometimes I get impulsive and add things that I don't like the next day. Then its time to balance discontent with diligence. Should I keep working on the tablecloth until it pleases me or give in to my discontent and get rid of it now? I do, however, like the way the vase is starting to shape up. And, I'm also pleased with the placement of the greenery and the flowers. Anyway, guess I'll live with this one on the easel for awhile the way it is before I make any changes.

Morning Bouquet 2

There is no royal road to anything. One thing at a time, and all things in succession. That which grows slowly endures.

J. G. Holland











I like the quote above ~ slow and sure wins the race! Here is the result of my second session with the Morning Bouquet. Although there doesn't seem to be too much progress at first glance there's actually a lot of new stuff going on. The table has taken on more dimension and the vase is starting to appear in the background. Another thing that is becoming very clear to me is that there is too much light in the upper right corner. Although it's not quite so obvious in person, the photograph really brings out the contrast. I had originally thought I would do red flowers but now am thinking maybe white. For now, I'm just going to keep working on the background. Once I darken the corner and add a little more green it will be easier to reach a decision on the flowers. No rush ~ steady progress.

Morning Bouquet

Be regular and orderly in your life like a bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work.

Gustave Flaubert










I have hit a wall in several of the projects I'm working on and finally decided last night that I just needed to start something new and get a brush back in my hand. Keeping with the theme of "nothing is working right" this photograph doesn't come close to showing the colors on the canvas. For some reason my camera has decided to do its own color editing ~ whatever. I am not in the mood to pull out the manual and figure it out this morning. This picture does, however, capture the values that I'm going to be working with ~ at least as I have them so far. Bright light in the upper right hand corner will reflect off the left hand side of the table while the left top of the picture will fade into darkness as will the edge under the table. Getting started on the background of a painting is always the loosest painting I do and for me the most creative. I'll do a couple more sessions on this background before I begin the bouquet. I need to know where the color is going to go with this before I decide on the flowers. Next time I promise a better photo.

As far as the quote above, being "regular and orderly" in my life explains the lack of posts recently. It was thrilling last night to put aside my bourgeois existence, turn on some Beethoven and become "violent." I highly recommend it.

The Sailor

Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean ~ roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;
Man marks the earth with ruin ~ his control
Stops with the shore.

Lord Byron


When I was twelve years old I crossed the Atlantic aboard the SS Stavangerfjord with my parents to visit my father's homeland of Denmark. In the middle of our crossing we encountered an enormous storm and for over a day we were tossed about by waves over 40 feet tall. My father had been a sailor in his earlier days. He thoroughly enjoyed the storm and his serene acceptance of our situation calmed all my fears. Peering outside it was quite a sight to watch the sailors crawl across the open deck clutching a rope above their heads that had been strung from the main part of the ship to the bridge.

While I hoped to convey some sense of alarm in the sailor's face above, I also hoped to convey that same sense of acceptance my father wore on his face. We live in the middle of many storms over which we have no control ~ might as well accept it. But just like that storm on the sea, the calm eventually comes.