Category Archives: pencil

There is too much being done for me to show everything on the blog. Here are some highlights. The photographs are snapshots, hand held, daylight. The city paintings are influenced in part by recently reading Don DeLillo’s White Noise. The story concerned an airborne toxic event hovering over Somerville, Mass, circa 1985.

Geranium with Traffic and Rain, oil on linen panel, 10 x 8 inches ( 25 x 20 cm), 2011

The next series of paintings use only black and white. The white is an unbleached titanium, a warmer color than titanium white. The color variations are due to the camera adjusting to light. It’s all the same paint.

Value palette, five steps, Unbleached Titanium and Lamp Black

Olives and plum, oil on linen panel, 8 x 10 inches (10 x 25 cm) 2011

Olives and plum, oil on linen panel, 8 x 10 inches (10 x 25 cm) 2011

Olives and plum, oil on linen panel, 10 x 8 inches (25 x 20 cm) 2011

Night City, oil on linen, 20 x 22 inches (51 x 56 cm) , 2011

Day City Bridge and Traffic, oil on wood panel, 10 x 10 inches (25 x 25 cm) , 2011

The two figures below are from different classes. The torn paper collage was made from drawings everyone in class made and then were instructed to tear up. One of many exercises that teach us to feel less precious or protective about our work and more generous. All the torn pieces were put in a pile. Then we selected a handful to tear again to make our collage figures. The pencil nude was the fourth session of three hours each of the same pose. I did mine on four separate sheets. Others in class were asked to work on one sheet. Finally got that left leg to turn properly.

Torn paper, charcoal, approx 18 x 24 in (46 x 61 cm), 10/06/11

Female nude, approx 15 x 11 inches ( 38 x 28 cm), 10/05/11

I was loaned a postcard of a painting by the Spanish realist Tomas Yepes, c. 1595–1674. First step to understanding a painting is to draw it. So much is seen in this process.

Copy of Tomas Yepes — pomegranates, figs, pumpkin and quail, fountain pen, 7 x 10 sketchbook (18 x 25 cm), 10/04/11

The only class all the first year MFA candidates have together is Painting Seminar. Each week two people choose one of their paintings to hang in a common room. The rest of the group does a piece in response to help the artist see the original work. It also helps the maker see their own work in a new way. It’s up to the individual to respond visually in any way they choose. Below is my acrylic painting on paper in response to an abstract oil painting. It’s also interesting that many of us end up working at the same time in a communal drawing party. So far it’s been really fun. Much better than verbal critiques.

Yellow, Grey and Orange, acrylic and charcoal on paper, 40 x 20 inches (101 x 51 cm), 9/30/11