The time of year when the air is warm and cicadas sing is precious to me. My painting seeks to capture that sensibility, the feeling of the afternoon that seems endless. One day is all the summers rolled together in memory, of all the years, of all the light and shadow, and generations of cicadas singing, a day when the air in the shadows is visibly humming.
To artists afflicted with worry about green, Frederick Bazille gives us all permission to do whatever we like. I know, “it’s not easy being green.”
It’s okay. There are no rules. Not even for green.
The National Gallery of Art is hosting an exhibition of works by Frederick Bazille, and I am learning all sorts of things from the great artist and his Impressionist pals. And I’m going to share it all with you, here at my blog.
Today’s morning coffee drawing is composed of miscellaneous scribbles after Albrecht Durer. Imagine Durer working for Walt Disney — along with that imagine a delicious cup of coffee. You there?
Well, that’s where I was. These drawings were made (Bic Cristal in hand) from peering into the excellent exhibition catalog of a National Gallery of Art show on the artist that took place some years ago, called “Albrecht Durer: Master Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints from the Albertina.”
My drawing was a totally international endeavor — German Renaissance artist, American scribbler, pen manufactured in Mexico for a French company. The notebook was made in the USA — as was I — but I think I already mentioned that ….
I had about 15 minutes and then I had to leave. So I did my drawing after Abbott Thayer’s painting in warp speed.
It’s a huge painting. Mine’s a small drawing.
Sitting in front of Childe Hassam’s painting “Tanagra, the Builders” at the Museum of American Art, I made a drawing in oil pastel. It measures 12 x 16 inches. This is the largest drawing I’ve made there to date.
I’ve been studying the painting each time I visit the museum. And Childe Hassam is my new hero. The painting is huge. My drawing is a portion of it.
I’ve made a little sketch of it too, once before.
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