“A zoologist who observed gorillas in their native habitat was amazed by the uniformity of their life and their vast idleness. Hours and hours without doing anything. […] Inaction is divine; yet it is against inaction that man has rebelled.”
I finally had some time to paint. You’re not supposed to show unfinished work, but I don’t care. I’m rusty, but things seem to work OK. The feeling is very strange because of the long pause and the practice in drawing in between. The drawing probably taught me something, but the process feels very familiar.
I have tried to do things differently, but it didn’t feel good. The first portrait from this session, for example, went into the bin. I’m set in my ways, and it feels wonderful.
I have long listened to people, most of them amazing hyperrealists (Jono Dry’s YouTube channel is a favorite) and other artists, who talk about working on a piece for hours and days. It has never been clear to me how somebody can do that. It may be becoming clear ever so slowly, and I’m a little scared. I still like quick sketches and the effect that the whole sketch is almost falling apart, but I can already see myself spending hours and days adjusting the lighting, textures and details.
It’s often very difficult to find well-lit pictures of possible models. I usually go on Pinterest to look for pictures. It made sense to create my own Pinterest board of them.
I saw a great YouTuber called Mad Charcoal use Panpastels and decided to try it myself. It’s very painterly and helps a lot with values. Much more than willow charcoal or charcoal pencils. I like it, will continue to fail better and practice.
I never enjoyed drawing. Painting felt great, but drawing with charcoal or any kind of pencil did not appeal to me. In fact, I hated it. I’m still not very good at it, but I think I have understood how to enjoy it. The simple way of finding enjoyment in drawing is to step back and observe how your drawing develops over time. This means letting go of some of the control you instinctively want over line, shapes and texture. Like with many things in life, you need to relax and let things happen.
Charcoal sketch of Alain Delon on the cover of The Dandy at Dusk
I find myself reading Philip Mann’s The Dandy at Dusk often. It is difficult to relate to the extraordinary people Mann writes about, but he somehow manages to make them understandable and helps you empathize with them. Even when there is little reason to empathize, like in the case of the Duke of Windsor. Still, it is difficult to understand why they lived the way they did.
Bunny Roger is another strange one that Mann writes about, but here I think his reasoning makes perfect sense. Mann quotes an old interview where Roger explains how he ended up looking like a Victorian gentleman when such things no longer existed:
“In 1942, my Uncle Jeremiah gave me a wonderful watch chain. Now, first of all, I needed a pocket watch. Once I had acquired that, I found I needed a waistcoat, in order to show the ensemble off appropriately. I ordered a waistcoat from my tailor, but still the chain wasn’t on display, nor could I reach it easily under my double-breasted coat; so I decided to have a single-breasted coat made in a style that pre-dated the invention of the wristwatch, just to err on the side of caution.”
And so on all the way to his wallpaper. Makes perfect sense. The internal logic of it all is sound, and that is all that matters.
There is a terrible snow storm outside. There is so much snow that people are skiing on the streets of Helsinki. We are safe indoors, and I’m making a mess with charcoal. It’s very nice after trying out drawing with graphite, but it is still tricky. Looking forward to seeing if any of this practice shows in oils. No plein air for now, though. You would be chasing your easel all over the place.
People who teach drawing sometimes recommend drawing small sketches quickly. This trains the eye, and there may be a bunch of other benefits to it that I’m forgetting. They also say you should draw from life. I will be sitting around cafes in Helsinki and sketching the patrons come spring.