Rooster Bowl & Print Still Life

Pastel, 14 x 22 inches

Thought for the day

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity."
Charles Mingus, composer and jazz bassist.

One Shoe

20 x 15 inches, conte drawing

Drawn as one of a series, this was inspired by studying the drawings of Tintoretto, Degas, Ingres, Annibale Carracci, Andrea del Sarto and John Singer Sargent. I also found inspiration in "Richard Schmid Paints the Figure", an interesting approach, enhanced by his incredible drawing abilities.

Who wouldn't be inspired after looking at so many wonderful masterpieces?
The real trick is not to meltdown and to not give up.

It was Degas, I believe, who recommended to a student "Lines...draw many lines".

Truly, life is not long enough to do everything.

Reclining Nude

"Reclining Nude", charcoal, 15 x 20

Hokusai Quote

"From the time I was six, I was in the habit of sketching things I saw around me, and around the age of fifty, I began to work in earnest, producing numerous designs. It was not until after my seventieth year, however, that I produced anything of significance. At the age of seventy-three, I began to grasp the underlying structure of birds and animals, insects and fish, and the way trees and plants grow. Thus, if I keep up my efforts, I will have an even better understanding when I am eighty, and by ninety will have penetrated to the heart of things. At one hundred, I may reach a level of divine understanding, and if I live a decade beyond that, everything I paint-every dot and line-will be alive. I ask the god of longevity to grant me a life long enough to prove this true." Hokusai, postscript to One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji [translated by Carol Morland].

"What Next"

Conte drawing on paper, 15 x 20 inches