My trip to Washington yesterday had great significance for me, mostly because of the discipline of doing these daily drawings.
The Japanese and Chinese brushwork, which I saw yesterday at the Freer Collection of Asian Art, addressed so many questions, which I have been chewing over in my work.
I saw that when a brush line fluctuates in strength, width and darkness it can control space and form, whether that occurs in a landscape or in an individual tree, bird or figure. Varying the specificity of adjoining areas can bring depth and interest to a subject. I saw how “empty” areas can be activated by the variety of lines surrounding them and how individual lines can vary to create their own illusion of depth.
Because of seeing a wonderful little Giorgio Morandi painting at the Philips Gallery I really understood how a line can become an area of shadow, while remaining, on another level, just a line.
I learned so much.
In any case, I sat down to draw this morning with an excitement that was unfettered by anxiety.
I was able to look at the model with clearer intent and to concentrate in a more forgiving and yet more keen-sighted way. Oh yes, and there is humor in these drawings.
How odd. I would have thought that visiting the Masters would leave me cowed and intimidated, but just the opposite has happened. Instead, I am encouraged.
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