Drawing the Koi

I’ve gone back to a drawing that I began back in July, and I’ve been working on it some more.  It helps me think through the painting I’m making of the same motif.  Drawing adds another level of intimacy since each line and each scribble takes me into the image is such small and close steps. 

Colors take on an entirely different character when they are the effects of hatching.  “Hatching” refers to the parallel lines that artists sometimes use to create tones in drawing, and with a colored drawing like this one above (made with Caran d’ache water soluable crayons), the hatch marks can be used to create “transparent” color effects — where one set of colored parallel lines overlays a different set until the several layers produce a color mixture that is the sum of all the combinations.

The fish are very abstract still.  They dart here and there.  They are too intent on their travel to be stilled in our gaze.  They streak through the pond and leave beautiful, shining waves and ripples behind their path.