“I had to create an equivalent to what I felt about what I was looking at – not copy it.”
Georgia O’Keeffe
I continue to paint on the themes of trees, waterways and fruit, using sketches as process for visual distillation. My daughter commented to me that she’s noticed over the past 4 years that I have settled into this method of working, and I had to think about that. It’s true. I have always sketched but it is only relatively recently that I formalized that approach into how I make my acrylic paintings.
I find that “sketching as seeing” begins the abstraction process. And when I use that loose work as the starting point for painting, it fuels more abstraction … emphasizing, simplifying, coloring and letting loose. I am seeking the edge, the line between form and recognition, pure seeing and context.
I feel supported and inspired in this way of working by the sketchbooks of other artists. Recently I visited the excellent Cantor Arts Center at Stanford where I experienced an interactive exhibit of Richard Diebenkorn’s sketchbooks … you can also visit this remarkable body of work online.
I love tracing the non-linear trajectory of Diebenkorn’s seeing, and the insight into his abstraction process, which gives a deeper dimension to my appreciation of his work.
Another artist that gets my delight in abstraction process going is Ellsworth Kelly. I came across a book about his work at William James Booksellers in Port Townsend that opened my eyes to his insatiable seeing. I have always loved the organic strength in his very spare modern forms, but until I read this book, I did not realize how much his work is based in “reality”, into what he really saw. The book shows sketches and notes about pattern, shadow, form that illuminates the resulting simplicity of his work. This insight was revelatory and informs my own journey.
Georgia O’Keeffe sketched as a way of unencumbered exploration. Her 1915 charcoal sketches are noted as her first breakaway into abstraction. And her watercolors are plein air evocations that sing abstraction and tantalize for realization into one of her large paintings.
Maybe sketches can allow fearlessness. Maybe they are a sort of thinking out loud. I think they can be finished work in their own right, of course, beautiful without needing further development. And maybe, artists just can’t help it. To sketch is to see. To see is to sketch.
My workshops at Port Townsend School of the Arts reflect my process. The next “Make It Abstract” workshop happens January 21-23. I am offering a new workshop in February called “What Next: Deepening Your Direction” that will meet you wherever you are in your creative journey with support for strengthening your unique voice and style. And in March, I am once again offering “Mindfulness Practices for Art-Making” – the last one filled fast, so if you are interested, register soon.