Trees

Here are some sketches of what I am working on. I have been drawing a lot of trees. These pictures are drawn in my sketchbook from live trees.  I have always been partial to trees, I love the twisting,and twining of their branches. I enjoy the spaces dancing between the branches. I admire the quiet majesty of  a tall tree, a simple self confidence. I would like to be as steady as a tree, firmly grounded, waving at the wandering clouds without envy. I digress... anyway I want to do some charcoal drawings heightening the tonal contrasts similar to Seurat's sketch "Seated Boy". His handling of contrast in his drawings is exquisite, somehow it gets lost in his paintings. I will post some examples when they are complete.

A New Era

Well, I started this blog two years ago or so, with the intention of documenting a the my time in graduate school and recording the thoughts I had, and artwork I made along the way. I got my diploma last week, and I realized that chapter had ended. My blog suddenly was without a purpose. I cleared it out and and I have been pondering what to do next. Now I know, and so I am beginning a new chapter.
I help out with a committee called CACE which promotes arts and cultural events in the area. The committee selects artists to display work in a gallery space in downtown Fort Morgan. I have been asked to put on a show. It will open on January 18, 2013. I am planning on creating 20 to 30 original works between now and then. This blog will document my thoughts, ideas, process and preparation for the show.
This is my first solo show ever and I want to do it right. So much so that I have been overthinking what I will include in the show. I think a lot of contemporary art is overthought and underdone. I am a little tired of creativity. The word is overused. Many artists spend so much time being orginal that they rarely take the time to do it well. I dont want to outsmart myself or overthink what art is, I want to dedicate myself to really honing my skills and taking the time to do it to the best of my ability. I plan to spend at least 3 hours a day drawing from observation. I will work primarily in charcoal, and I will focus on accurate drawings, with a strong sense of form and light. So this is my mission, in a way I intend it to be like performance art, as I fully intend to document the effect of concentrated daily effort to produce my best work, as part of the show. So this blogs purpose now officially matches its name, check in from time to time to see how its going.