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| pastel on white, top pastel on black |
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| pastel on black |
"Keep yourself in the habit of drawing from memory. The value of memory sketches lies in the fact that so much is forgotten."
William Morris Hunt "Talking on Art"
This was from last week. I needed cat food. So I zipped down to Safeway and became almost paralyzed in the parking lot. The sky was darkening quickly, getting ready for a downpour. It varied between sepia/burnt sienna and orange with lots of neutrals in between. SOOOO exciting. I memorized. I have spent the last few days thinking about it and then finally was ready to try a painting.
This brings me to share more about Dwight Tryon. He worked in his NYC studio during the winter months and during that time relied on his memory of his spring and fall trips. He loved nature and with that-Thoreau and Hunt. He had Hunt's book,"Talking on Art," in his studio and had underlined this passage (above)in the book. Tryon went on to write in the margins of the book, "The less imitation, the more suggestion and hence more poetry."
Poetry, isn't that what we are all searching for?
9 comments:
Lorianne, You have one heck of a Safeway parking lot. I hope you bought the cat food. Beautiful memories.
Hi Bob! I did get the cat food. They wouldn't let me back in the house if i came empty handed. heh.
The Safeway parking lot is awesome. it faces west and has more sky than most places around here. I could spend every evening there!
It's very interesting to see the different influence of the white verses black underneath. They make quite different statements and go to prove the power of under painting. Stunning colours, the cats were lucky to get their dinner after that.
So now we know where to find you on evenings with beautiful skies! Your paintings from memory amaze me - do you write any notes at all?
We have in incredible view from our grocery store parking lot. I often sit there and wish I had my camera. Maybe I should try memories. These are incredible!
Wow. Gotta get me some anything at Safeway!
Thanks Lisa.
You are so right about the power of an underpainting. I don't know why I tried black. i just had this one lonely piece. Maybe I will play a little more with black. It was fun pushing it to go in the other direction!
Hi Donna,
I spent the next few hours with the vision in my head. Later, in bed that night, I wrote down my impressions. I waited a few days before painting it. Let it have time in my head to gel. Thanks for your comment.
Hi Pam, Try memory. It's amazing. All the years you have spent plein air painting will act as skeleton onto which you can build. For instance you know how a sky works. Then you remember the specifics. Cameras tend to get in the way, so be happy you forgot it. cheers!
Hi Sam! You go girl...to Safeway.
How can you memorize what you want to paint? I surely can't do that. These works are amazing.
Hi Chunbum,
Yes, you can do it. Memorizes means you get the essence and distill the other things out. When you take the time to look hard you will notice and carry back with you that important stuff. The more you do it, the more you will realize what you need to remember. Practice..just like playing the piano. Good luck! You can do it!
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