The next step

I have worked from the live nude periodically since the early 1970's. This blog started August 9th, 2012 in my second year of working almost exclusively from the figure.

In the fall of 2015 I reintroduced still lifes and an occasional cityscape into my painting repertoire. Rather than abandon this figure blog or start a new one I decided to add them to the conservation.

All drawings and paintings posted on this blog were done entirely from live models or on location.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

As Good As It Gets

In the 1990's the BBC produced an art history series featuring a Roman Catholic nun named Sister Wendy Beckett. Standing in front of iconic works of art she would make insightful and often unconventional observations. In one episode Sister Wendy descended into a cave to discuss some of the earliest known paintings. I recall her saying that the art of humankind never got any better than those Paleolithic age paintings - just different. What a broad bold statement considering the masterpieces created through the ages. Instinctively I knew what she meant.

Male Profile, oil pastel on toned paper, 7 1/2" X 5 1/2", 2012

The urge to improve has always been a powerful motivating force in my art. When starting a new drawing or painting my hope and intention has always been that it will be better than any previous attempts. But now, closer to the end of my career than the beginning, it is clear that I will never "better" certain early works. The best I can hope for is that my new work will simply be different.


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