The drawing was one of the first and done quickly, a 'throw-away,' but some acrylic matte medium, and then oil paint, and she's become a landscape figure, or, bear with me, with hints of bones and layers of sediment, a geology of paint. The model in the lifedrawing class last week was a beautiful woman, social worker, yoga practitioner and a dancer, but sitting naked before a room of artists, sometimes she wanted to cover herself... I like the modesty here, it makes the figure in her nakedness through whom the landscape of paint moves more vulnerable.
(click for larger image)
Landscape Figure, 2006, india ink, acrylic matte medium, oil paint on archival paper, 13.5"x9".
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Comments: 10
Your analogy to geology is well made; it adds intensity and depth and heightens the sense of earthiness of the naked figure.
I see what you mean about the modesty, you have captured the feeling beautifully. In addition, there is a wonder about the slight turning of the right foot. It seems that is critical to the vertical alignment of the figure as the hands are important to a ballerina.
I love the entire piece. I hope you post more as your class progresses.
Douglas, welcome, and thank you for your rich comment. The drawing itself wasn't very good, which is why I thought "to play" with it by using oils - which I've never put on paper before... seems fine, though. The acrylic matte medium coats the paper and gives it enough body for the paint... and I admit I am intrigued by the integrated landscape/figure that emerged. Glad you liked it.
Jill, my father, who died in 1984, was a geologist before he did a PhD in geochemistry and specialized, and so I do remember the many small bags of canvas filled with samples of soil and rock from my childhood, as well as the fields and landscapes in which he worked. These layers in my memories are imbedded here too. Making art is a fascintating process, don't you agree...
Carol, I'm a figurative artist, and not an abstract artist, and I, too, am surprised at the degree of abstraction that arose in this painting... glad you like it.
Donna, that's very nice to hear from a fellow artist. Thanks for the compliment, it helps.
here is beautifully integrated with the spirit of earth, sky, sea and clouds that move through and with the inner spirit, creating the sensory exchanges which accent our searches. The quiet modesty in the pose makes this painting more vulnerable and
accessible as the mystery of her slight distancing, invites the question as to why, bringing me in closer to imagine her feelings and thoughts at this moment that so energetically captivated your artistic attention. The washes of floating and integrating color seem to taste her chosen outlines with omnipresent infusions of energy.
gorgeous words in themselves; the drawing, also, Brenda.