River Views

01-07-14
A quick cold view of the island below the dam

01-12-14
another view from farther away. The dam is on the right and the river flows down from the right.

01-16-14
The ice covered river above the dam. A curious swan motors up to investigate.

Small is Good

A small sketchbook is good in cold weather: the drawings take less time.

I hope you are feeling well and finding ways to enjoy winter. Meilleurs vœux!

The Winter Watch

The ice-covered Charles River in South Natick. Ice grows around the edge of the island and at the base of the  bridge.
12/28/13
colored pencil

icicles forming at the fringe of the island below the dam
12/28/13
charcoal

A few days later, a stream in a snowy farm field, seen while cross-country skiing near Bethel, Maine
12/31/13
chalk

Stay warm friends!

Christmas Day

Sacred Heart Church, Natick
…it's for sale!

Two ducks seen from a distance (grebes …or mergansers maybe)

The Winter Solstice

12-21-13
charcoal

The pool above the dam is covered with snow and ice despite the warm temperatures today. It's very pleasant outside. Here are a few more recent drawings (in charcoal, colored pencil and watercolor):

The Island
12-15-13

Rising Moon
12-16-13

Twigs in the snow
12-15-13

Venus, the Evening Star
12-16-13

Pleasant Street Bridge
12-19-20

Mallards and Ice
12-17-13

Mudville

"Icicles"
charcoal
11-30-13

I'm trying to remain enthusiastic about drawing out-of-doors as Winter begins. Recent rains have filled up the river and there have been a small flock of ducks and one swan that congregate above the dam. This provides interest and a place for my imagination to find a home.

I always wonder, at dusk usually, when I see ducks settling down for the night in some cold and moist place: how do they last until morning? Who keeps watch? Is it all so very Existential and bleak? Do ducks in winter, or all animals for that matter, even have a word for bleakness? Do they anticipate the spring? What are their memories of warmth and sun and abundant food? Is there joy in Mudville as the days dwindle to the winter solstice?
Well?

Drawn out

The Pleasant Street Bridge
11-16-13
charcoal

It's odd how the few elements in this drawing float and do not hang together. There is enough "reality" in it to make quick sense: "I'm seeing a river flowing through the archway of a bridge". But I'm intrigued by the indeterminate foreground (flowing water) and the sharp angles of the arch's reflection and the elements seen through the arch.

The details of the bushes in the middle ground and the stonework of the bridge create isolated islands of information. There are three vertical smudges seen through the arch that are the reflections of unseen trees. I think these are the cause of the ambiguity: it's impossible to make the picture's space recede enough. The river's surface is a vertical field when it should be a flat surface that recedes in space. Those smudges could be silhouetted trees on a horizon or they could be their much closer reflections. It's unclear if you care to get into it.

I appreciate this ambiguity but really, maybe, it's just a bad drawing. I rarely think of my intentions when I draw from nature. I don't try to manipulate things. My "agenda" is internal to me: I want to record a few moments in time in a place as I perceive it. I'd prefer the drawing be about the moment and place and not about some quirk of perception or Art theory. Then again, it's good to be reminded that pictures are rich conglomerations of perception, skill, matter and technique. Drawings are "written" and made of visual language and as such, they may be read and analyzed.

Back to the moment: I drew this on a cold Saturday morning while speaking to my twin brother on the phone. It was our birthday so it was nice to catch up and wish him a happy birthday. I must have been distracted and failed to stitch the various elements together. My fingers were pretty cold when I hung up.

Rainy Day

It's raining today but I found a few minutes to do a drawing of the dam after I drove my daughter to high school. I hadn't been to the river in a few days and I was feeling disconnected. As soon as I stepped out of the car, the drizzle started anew but I opened my sketchbook anyway. If you look closely, you can see faint spots and speckles in my drawing from the raindrops on the paper.

Later now, I'm stuck in the studio working on an illustration job. The door is closed to keep the playful cats out. It's cold and raw outside. The radio is on to local news. They're all talking about Kennedy. I have childhood memories of that day: it was cold and clear in the Chicago suburbs and there was this new thing between me and my perception of the world: the president has been shot. In the following days on a small television set the indelible images of the main aisle of a cathedral and horses drawing a hearse through the streets. The memories are dusty, desaturated and potent. It makes me think of memory as a growing land we pass by every day. Somedays a gate is open and we can go inside. But I'm too hungry in the present to make a meal of my memories yet. Soon…

South Natick Dam
Nov. 22, 2013
charcoal, watercolor

detail

detail

Four Autumnal Drawings

The Cormorant
11-07-13
charcoal

One Mallard
10-27-13
charcoal

Reflections in still water
11-02-13
colored pencil

Reflections
11-06-13
charcoal

The Forest Primeval

Elm Bank
10-18-13
charcoal

I draw scenes like this because I think they are beautiful and the act of drawing forces me to stop and enter a contemplative state of observation. I stood in the pathway for 25 minutes or so. People and their dogs passed by me. The sun pushed the shadows this way and that. A kingfisher noisily splashed in the river just beyond the line of trees. The yellow autumn leaves blazed like stained glass in a church.

What use is the drawing? I could sell it maybe. It could be visual research for a book that requires me to know something about forests. Mostly, these drawing go to sleep in my sketchbooks as I fill up the pages. But the experiences lingers and haunts me when I pick up my pencils and brushes far away from the actual forest. For example:

2010

Red Riding Hood
2009

"Owl & Tern in the Redwood forest"
2009

2008

09-03-09

11-30-08

Miscellany

Mallard preening
10-2-13

Broadmoor
10-4-13

Over the dam
10-9-13