Spring Cleaning

During the middle part of this spring season the weather was both chilly and damp. Perfect time for spring cleaning in the studio. My project was a storage space I've used for more than twenty years, alas without cleaning up or sorting. To my surprise, quite a few things came to light, including an old test canvas that I'd forgotten, quite a few large figure studies in acrylic, a few oils and pastels I'd forgotten, and about twenty old sketchbooks. Sorting and tossing, photographing and scanning, and the work still goes on. Happily, there were quite a few pieces that could be tossed without a particle of regret. 

It has been the sketchbooks that have taken the most time. These are mostly 9x12, some larger, some smaller. Besides those, I've also been sorting through charcoal figure studies in large formats and saving a few. Some are posted below.

This drawing labelled only "Doc" was done in 1999 from a reference, and is a completely finished drawing. Doc was a jazz musician from the golden age, but details of his career are long gone from memory. His glasses, cap and cigar were probably what made me want to draw him.

The graphite sketch of a young boy crying uncontrollably dates from the time of Hurricane Katrina (2005) and was done in less than half an hour, from an still frame of a news report of the time. The devastation of that storm was and is astonishing. I drew quite a few people from published reports of the time.

Dance, particularly tango, has been an interest for a long time. Several drawings and sketches I found going through these old sketchbooks are of dramatic tango moves. The couple above are probably Argentinian and probably date from around 1999. 

The last is a formal drawing of the great French painter Jean Auguste Dominic Ingres that I did from one of his self-portraits. This dates from perhaps 1998, although I have lost the date and any accompanying notes. It was probably one of my very first efforts at chiaroscuro--the use of light to establish form--but when it came to the face my nerve seems to have failed me. The drawing does seem to be a reasonable likeness.