I did this monumental for a drawing class. I am taking the class at MFAH Glassell Studio school. Brian Portman is the instructor as well as a very accomplished artist and I really like his work. His advice in class has always been spot on. I have immense respect for his work and his comments about my work. He has always given me a lot of freedom and I really like drawing whatever strikes me.
This semester he gave me an assignment. (Not what I was expecting)
When I first read this assignment I wanted to find a way to get out of it. The assignment was to study the work of an established artist and then do a series of drawings. The idea of trying to be like someone else - literally made the hair in the back of my neck stand up. I just did not like the idea of drawing "like" another artist. The whole concept made me very uncomfortable. Very very uncomfortable. I have been working very hard to find my own style, trying not to have the trained look, trying to see if there is anything natural that is good about how I draw, trying to find out if I have a gift to express a feeling through a line? That said (after a mental battle with myself) I decided to roll with it (do what makes you the most uncomfortable is my new motto at 58 years old) - My way of dealing with my comfort level was to learn about an artist whose work looks very different than what I am currently doing and see what the results are???????
I studied Sean Scully who draws/paints huge monumentals of stripes.
In case you are not familiar with Sean Scully's work I have attached below a screen shot of images that come up when you google Sean Scully.
Screen shot of Sean Scully images on Google.
"murmur of water" is my expression of monumental stripes. (I decided since I was doing a monumental that I did not have to do a series)
I think I found a new me. Thank you Brian for making me try something new.
murmur of the water
charcoal, pastel, ink and paint
79" X50"
Tomorrow's post will follow my process step by step. Sign up to receive the post by email at the end of the blog on my website. www.cindeeklement.com