Pushing oneself forward or a swift boot to the keister

John Terwilliger, "Radiation", mixed media on hardboard, 14"x11", 2008

Recently I used the above picture to end a post in a forum discussion on internet trolls and rude posting.  The discussion was about critiques and the actual worth of any particular persons comments.  The individual the discussion was revolving around responded to my post by saying I should "push" myself and explore radiation instead of just using such an obvious symbol.  My response was to post four more radiation drawings from a series of Art Trading Cards I did.

John Terwilliger, "A Setting Hazard", colored pencil, 3.5"x2.5", 2009-06-16

For the individual responding this is a "safe" piece and the subject does not push boundaries.  This piece is from a series I was doing on standard safety/hazard symbols.  but the series is really about the material used in making the picture.  The picture above uses an industrial polymer, acrylic paint, as well as the charcoal and eraser debris from my studio floor adhered with spray adhesive.

The series also has experiments with sawdust, dirt, and other textured or colored stuff which could be attached.

John Terwilliger, "Handicap Accessible", mixed media on hardboard, 14"x11", 2009

I used a lot of sawdust in the series because it absorbs fluid pigment.  In "Handicap Accessible" the entire painting is textured with a sawdust and gesso mixture.  Gesso is a primer/base used by artists.  I have used it with sawdust on sculptural elements in the past mixed with sawdust as a filler to give it body and as an adhesive; here it is about the texture.

So when I receive unsolicited critique/advice on a picture should I concern myself?  I usually don't, especially when it seems very off base.  I stopped asking for critique of my work almost as soon as I left college.  I followed my own path while in college and found most critique unhelpful as most students didn't see where I was going.  I learned to listen intently to a few select individuals and my friends.

In college I found out while doing a research grant that the only people who respond to your work are ones with strong feelings towards it.  By respond I do not mean simply saying they like something.  People who really like something will talk about it, discuss what they like.

But more interesting are people who hate the work so much they feel they must rip you a new one.  What in the picture set them off?  This is of course assuming you actually have some talent/skill in your chosen medium.  In my research I used an anonymous questionnaire about the artwork I was presenting in a public space outside the large hall used for beginning psychology, a class of over 1000 students.  Most of the questionnaire responses fell into the I love it gushes or the I hate it I hate you category with a smattering in between.

So I say give me advice, tell me what you think.  I will be cordial.  But don't expect radical changes in my artwork or subject matter based on any one comment good or bad.  But feel free to try and make me explain myself.  Any conversation is better than silence.

Construction Lines

John Terwilliger, "Raining Rings", Pastel and Charcoal on paper, 22T"x30W", 2014/03/21

A construction line is used in the building industry to insure a straight line for layout and/or cutting.  In the housing trades it is normal to see these as blue chalk lines on lumber etc.  The chalk comes in various colors some of which the manufacturer warns are "permanent" which means they won't wash off and will bleed thru paint and sealers and will stain the substrate.

I started adding construction lines as non sequitur composition elements to my drawings after I began using found/scrap plywood from various home renovation jobs I was on.  These lines were all chalk line blue and I simply drew my picture over them as if they were not there.  As I had previously created works with grids in the background the lines appealed to me from a composition standpoint so I started using them.  Though, I draw the lines in with a straight edge instead of a chalk line and use whatever color suits my fancy.

In my treetop drawings the construction lines can be read as power lines but that is not my intent when drawing them.  For me they are pure abstract forms adding (usually) color to a composition which needs something.  And it is that "something" which is most interesting when creating an artwork as the process, for me, is intuitive. 

The intuitive non verbal part of creating artwork when looking at the piece and knowing it needs something more/less or different is a bi part of the fun.  In the drawing above I drew in the tree and all the branches with the white paper as a background and spray fixed it.  I knew the work was not complete but I did not know what it was going to need. 

So I had lunch and thought about it, and it came into my to place blue rings around the tree.  I was going to do a more clustered background with the rings building up tonal gradation but as I started adding them it became necessary to just put in a thin spattering of rings, like the rain.  When I stood back and stared at the piece it demanded a compliment to the blue so I added the construction lines with the tangent circles.

Goals within a framework

"Purple Moonrise", Pastel and Charcoal on paper, 22T"x30W", 2014/03/08

People are always saying that you need to set specific goals to get anything done.  There is truth in that sentiment but no guarantee of the end results.  This is of course not a surprising or profound conclusion and in creating artwork probably a foregone conclusion.

In the picture above I set a goal to create a drawing similar to one which was lost/stolen a few years ago.  The missing drawing (below) featured an orange tree with a tan background but a white sun/moon object in the center of the page.  I could have used the same tree but I did not wish to copy the drawing, only to edge towards the same feel.  So I chose orange for the trunk and tan for the sky. 

"Orange Tree", Pastel on Rives BFK White paper, 22T"x30W", 2008/04/01

Before I created the first mark on the paper I had gone off goal.  I chose a different orange and a different tan.  But from there I skewed even farther by making the the small branches orange and to restrict the amount of black I used.  The final big difference is I chose to place the moon/circle on the bottom of the drawing and draw it in purple.

Did I succeed in the stated goal?  I would say I did not.  Did I fail?  I would also say I did not.  Funny thing how the world works; at least in Art.  I like the top picture, and it is successful as a drawing.  There are some computational quibbles with the drawing. Such as I should have set the moon a little to one side rather than framing it in the opening in the branches, but once you start blocking in color with soft pastels there is no going back unless you want to go very dark.

Overall I moved one step closer to a different goal of creating ten more treetops on 22"x30" paper this winter.  Which is part of a goal to get to one hundred.  I already have 100 at 3.75"x5" and over 50 at 5"x7".  Goals with a number attached are easiest measure.

But soon I'll have to set a goal of building more frames.  Then will come more drawings, then more frames.

 

Sparrows in the Hoar Frost

Here is a color pencil drawing based on some sparrows in a lilac bush last winter. The day was clear and bright and the sparrows were spending the morning flitting through the branches.

"Sparrows in the Hoar Frost", color pencil on paper, 9"x6", 2010-04-10

Red Oak Leaf

"Red Oak Leaf ", colored pencil, 3.5"x2.5", 2008-12-12

Wet Ice

PIQ_3140.jpg, "Wet Ice", 2008-03-01, 16"x20", digital photo, John Terwilliger