Remembering Stories From the Islands

When I was a teenager, I had friends that would disappear every summer heading south to Jamaica to visit with family. At the end of the summer, just before school, they would come back with tales of fun and adventure. Who wouldn't be jealous? This went on for several years. I never had the experiences they did, but, I did have the stories they told. Though, over the years, the memories of the stories they told me of their summer trips have melded into each other, I've managed to hold on to what I considered to be the spirit of what they shared with me. Teenage boys that we were, it shouldn't be much of a surprise where our focus was centered. So, such were the memories that stuck with us over the years; that stuck with me over the years. Memories of where they'd been who they'd met and what they'd experienced, memories they'd shared with me.

Every now and again I wax a little nostalgic and I remember the things I shared with friends when I was young. That includes the stories they told about their trips to Jamaica. And, even though I don't remember the details of their stories, I do remember the fun they had telling me and the fun I had hearing them. One day, during one of my "nostalgic" moments, I found some images that reminded me of the stories my friends told me. So, I used those images to help me record in graphite the daydream that my friends' stories inspired. This drawing was an exercise in shade and highlight. From the shade of her skin to the highlights of her dark curly hair, from the shade of the folds and furrows in the leaves to the highlights between the same, topped off with the shades and shadows of the leaves in the background bleeding sunlight between them. All enclosed in a circle of chrome, decorated like a wind chime.

Depiction of Honesty

I've heard (quite frequently) that the most effective lie is the one that is laced with truth. Honesty and truth have often proven themselves to be two different things. Truth, even as a concept, is absolute by definition. This has often put some kind of question mark on its assigned virtue in the eyes of many, but, still it remains what it is. Sweet to some. Brutal to others. Honesty, on the other hand, only speaks to how genuine a person is about how or what they relate. At its best, honesty amounts to little more than compromised truth. At its worst, it is a very highly convincing lie. Many people think of honesty as a virtue closely related to truth. But, as has been frequently pointed out, people can be quite honest in what they do or say and still be wrong. They can be honest in their actions with a lie as their motivation. They can be honest in what they say while what they say is completely and totally false. Truth has two basic affects. Liberation or exposure. Honesty has two faces. One brutal, the other endearing. Oddly enough, which face one sees is dependent on one's relation to the truth.

This being said, it seemed quite appropriate that a drawing in black and white should serve as a depiction of honesty. Questions of motive often cloud the perception of it. Honesty is often spoken of, for better or worse, as a powerful thing. So, a very detailed depiction seemed best as detailed drawings have the greatest impact for the type of art that they are. The image of a beautiful woman depicted with some measure of sensuality, yet contemplative and perhaps. . . defensive or a bit withdrawn. . . would be just the right touch to show both faces to whoever might see them. In an attempt to strive for the illusion of great ambient light, a moderate gray tone is the darkest large area of shade. With the exception of a winding dark stripe shown in the reflection of a surfaces that pretend to be chrome, no other tone appears darker than the darkest tone of gray. Her wings are bright for the virtue she's meant and believed by many to represent. In the rest of her form is seen two faces. One endearing and vulnerable. The other, morally compromised and ashamed. And lastly, her name is drawn, borne above her head, to remedy any poor perception of who (or what) she is.

The Intimacy Of Drawing

I've listened to a lot of people talk about drawing. Some are what I might call mechanical in their references. Outlines are discussed, the structure and the "topography"of the subject are measured and considered, and, in many cases, all that follows are quick, jagged, strokes that portray marked, measured and considered areas of light and dark brought together to form a recognizable image. Now, I understand that this isn't always the case, but, more often than not, it is. From what I've seen, most drawings of this kind are just a stepping stone to something else. Usually, they serve as guides and references for paintings or sculptures. The principle painting or sculpture is where any intimacy experienced by the artist is usually found. Or, at least, this is what's generally told.

Proceeding beyond the stage of outline in drawing can provide an artist with as great a sense of intimacy with the subject as work in any other medium. (And, it's not necessarily dependent on the extent of the artists abilities.) Intimacy between artist and subject, being the subjective experience that it is, is not something for which I care to try and set some kind of standard. It's always been different things to different people. For myself, I find that amount of detail in a drawing can have a dramatic affect on the level of intimacy an artist can experience.

Using a portrait as an example, beginning with the outline, the pursuit of realism to the full extent of the artist's abilities, brings the artist's focus to bear on the lines and curves of the face, neck, and (if the portrait includes as much) the shoulders. The shape and position of the features of the face and head, the way the line of the hair tops the forehead and frames the face, the curve of the cheek and jaw line all show the success or failure in capturing the image of the subject. The pursuit of success in capturing the subject inevitably draws the artist into a deep and thorough exploration of the features of the subject. Now, beyond the stage of outline, the artist explores the contours of the subject with shading. Here, the greater the amount of detail sought, the tighter the focus required. The closer to real the artist tries to come, the more the artist must see. The more the artist sees, the more the artist must account for. Experience provides standard techniques that make the artist more and more familiar with the subtle shades that betray the curves and contours that occur inside the silhouette and have no outline of their own. From the lessons of experience, substance is best shown with a tone (preferably, the lightest one visible) across the whole of any area of like texture (i. e. the skin). In drawing, the application of darker shades becomes smoother when applied to an area already shaded lighter. Gradating shades from lightest tone to dark, rather than from white space to dark, better provides the illusion of substance. Again, applying these tones draws the artist into a deep and thorough exploration of the features of the subject. Strokes in the shades and highlights of the hair in the direction of its flow can provide the illusion of individual strands and a wonderful sense of texture. Experience has shown that the techniques which best facilitate this also call for deep, thorough exploration.

The deep and thorough exploration of the subject is by definition the intimacy of which I spoke earlier. And, if not, then it is the source of it. Now, for myself (and some others, considering what I've heard from them), this is the source of an emotional attachment that develops between and the artist and their work. The few teachers that I've studied under warned of the difficulties of this kind of attachment and counseled against allowing one's self to become so attached to one's work. This is especially prudent if the motivation for doing the work is largely or mostly commercial. But, I submit that, for some (myself included), this "intimacy"is, at the very least, a serious motivator for being an artist in the first place. So, while it may be prudent to rein in one's emotional involvement where commercial transactions are concerned, an artist should be allowed to enjoy the intimacy of their work, in whatever form it is experienced, if for no other reason than the motivation to remain an artist.

Deceit Bathing In Ignorance

Years ago I was inspired to do a drawing that would remind me of the severity of a mistake I made and the importance of not repeating it. I wanted it to have as much impact as I could give it. I wanted to make it as realistic as I could. So, within the scope of my abilities, I knew that the highest level of realism I could achieve could only be reached by making it a composite drawing. The inspiration hit me while I was wallowing in despair from the consequences of my bad judgment. I found myself in possession of images that spoke to the reasons for my despair in a way perfectly suited to my sense of expression. The lighting in each of the images fit them together quite well. Though the composite image itself was quite surreal, the appearance of the drawing was as realistic as I could make it. Once it was complete, I could see in my mind's eye the surrounding environment. So, I set it behind the composite image and drew a circular frame around both.

As the drawing in its entirety is merely an expression of thought and feeling, I didn't try to keep the drawing consistent with spatial reality. In fact, from the very beginning, it was my intention to disregard the laws of physics and spatial realism. The things I wanted to represent in this picture are generally considered to be abstract concepts. So, I thought that the way I chose to depict things was appropriate. Especially since my deepest motivation for drawing this picture was quite self-centered. I take for myself the title of "artist" only because others apply it to me. I never really considered myself much of an artist. One of the reasons being that, in my work, I never really attempted to portray or relay any kind of message or tell any kind of story. Until now. But, this message was for me and me alone. And I had no intention of sharing what that message was in any great detail with anyone outside of a certain personal circle. At my first opportunity I had this drawing matted and framed. It's the only drawing currently in my possession that is. For me, this drawing serves as a personal reminder of a place I never want to go again.

The Inspiration Of Deceit

An artist's inspiration is one of the most subjective things I've ever heard of. That inspiration can come from anything, anywhere, at anytime. Even from the experience of being deceived. It can be communicated most effectively through the expression of exquisite detail. For some, images can have more power when they come from someone's hand.

The simplest forms of art done with great effort and detail can have the most profound affect on the viewer. I've seen this for myself with drawings done in ordinary graphite pencil. Light, gentle, circular strokes can portray the soft shade of flawless skin. Varying outlined strokes can mark the dark strands and brightened highlights of wild, wind blown hair. The same circular strokes that produced the smooth shades of a woman's skin, done darkly can produce the subtly varying shades of dark attire sharply outlined by its folds. Drawn and dressed, kneeling and revealing, with the same pencil strokes, she can be given the dark wings of a predator, spread with pride, drawn with great detail, every feather shown and shaded to give the illusion of light bleeding through.

There are those for whom dark inspiration like this calls for a counterpart.