Showing posts with label charcoal on paper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charcoal on paper. Show all posts

Wednesday, 12 November 2014

Archive artworks - surprise find!

I was looking for something in the attic studio yesterday, when I decided to look in a large flat box. I found what I was looking for, but also found a number of early artworks that I didn't think survived my two Great Purges of the 1980s! The image below is a drawing I did of my sister, Tallie, with her new guitar and another sister's boyfriend, Ernie, with his guitar. I remember drawing this: it was xmas of 1972 or 1973 and I was using new art supplies (charcoal & large sketch pad) which was a present from one or both of my oldest sisters. I remember at the time being amazed at capturing a good likeness of Ernie. That is still the way I remember him!


When I was in grade 11 (1976/77) I did my first silk screen print in art class. We used the simplest of processes, cardboard stencils, for printing  and only had 4 colours available. I used a picture of my toddler nephew, David, in his xmas sailor suit to create my image.


Still a high school drawing, I know this portrait of my younger sister, Dee Dee (awake!) was from grade 12 (1977/78) because it has the initials of my art teacher from that year and a check mark in the bottom right corner of the pencil drawing.


Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Dream Drawings - Part 1 c 1984/85

I was working on transferring my old slides to newer media and am still interested in these dream drawings. At the time I remember I was very frustrated with my drawing skills which seemed to be deteriorating in the environment of York University, Toronto, where I was doing my Degree in Fine Art (at least that is where the blame fell!). My mentor & drawing professor, sculptor Hugh LeRoy, suggested that I draw with my left hand and channel my subconscious. I enjoyed taking his advice as I was developing my interest in dreams and the psyche. I did these charcoal drawings on standard white 26" x 40" drawing paper.

I remember this as an alarming dream, as the dog bit my hand off when I went to pet it!


Song.

Greed.

Offering.


Refusal.




The Gift. (I later did a painting based on this drawing.)


 I don't actually know if these drawings still exist or not! They may have ended up in a portfolio that escaped the second Great Purge of 1993 and simply be up in my attic, or they may have met their doom back then...