Category: Drawings

The Ghost of Versailles

 Lately I have been working rather diligently on experiencing lucid dreams; doing this so that I may better  discern my unconscious mind. An although my dreams have been extravagant , I have as of yet, had only two lucid dreams. Last evening being the second.

It seemed a short dream , which was a pity as it was set in the Palace of Versailles (a place I have not had the chance to visit and which I fear I may never actually visit). In this dream I have the ghost of Louis XVI on my back and he is directing me from his suite to the ground floor. He is doing so through some sort of night goggles, the images are sepia toned, and I soon realize I am having a lucid dream . From my knowledge of the palace, I begin to direct myself downward, it is dawn, barely lit and we are all alone. But as we descend to what I know will be the grand staircase it all evaporates as thoroughly as the Ancien Regime itself.

 This charcoal sketch is my accounting of the dream and aside from my commedia dell’ arte costume which is how I  often designate myself in drawings, it pretty accurately captures the mood of the dream.

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2016

charcoal, pastel and a bit of collage on charcoal paper

12 by 18″

As I mentioned, I have been having many other vivid dreams as well, and this image Out on a Limb was inspired by two recurring dreams, none of which were lucid, but which still moved me deeply. In one series of dreams I am consistently losing my right hand ( my working hand) which of course is quite disturbing . In another I am in a snowy metropolitan area, high above mankind, as I looked down I see the most pitiful bat-bird like creatures slowly freezing to death. No matter how much I alert others to their plight and no matter how I try to disentangle them from the ice, I cannot save them. The dream left me breathless and despondent. I tried to capture that sense in this graphite drawing.

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Out on a Limb

2016

graphite and colored pencil on charcoal paper

19 by 25″

That said, I will close with the good old boy himself, have a great week.

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The Castration of Uranus

I  recently stumbled upon a 14th c. image of the Castration of Uranus . It was of course disturbing , but also fascinating. I felt compelled to add my voice to the conversation and the following drawing is the result. 

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 The Castration of Uranus

2015

graphite and colored pencil on paper

11 by 14″

The story, in case forgotten, is that the old god Uranus had fathered the Titans (and the Cyclops) with the Earth Mother Gaia.  As is so often the case the father became wary of the offspring and buries those born of his seed deep within Tartarus -so deep in fact, “it would take a falling anvil nine days to reach the bottom”.

Gaia prompts her Titan son Cronus to smite his father, arming him with the familiar scythe of Time. Unbeknownst to me, but fortunate coincidence, Cronus, according to the mythologist Robert Graves, “grasp[ed] his genitals with the left hand (which has ever since been the hand off ill-omen”. This merciless act produced the vengeful Furies and from the severed penis, when thrown into the whirling ocean, the eternal Aphrodite.

The story is stunning in its primal psychological symbolism; incomprehensible yet visceral. At least I felt so, hence this drawing.

The following is the  wonderful illumination that inspired my own, I am sorry to say I do not know its source, any information pertaining to it most welcome.

cronus and uranus, french c.1501

That said, this image is a bit confusing to me. When first stumbled upon, source being unremembered, it was identified as Saturn Devouring his Son (ca.1501). I think that is off, Cronus/Saturn would eventually  devours his  Olympian young  (as magnificently represented by Rubens), perhaps the artist was confused as I haven’t stumbled upon Zeus/Jupiter castrating Cronus/Saturn. I believe this image simply illustrates Cronus castrating Uranus with the prophetic image of Aphrodite in the background. The bloody child-devouring a cinematic bit of excess to gets one’s attention-if severed genitals weren’t enough. It is perplexing that the castrated figure is wielding the Cronus’ scythe of Time. Whatever, its a grand image. 

First day back to the studio, now I will try painting , I feel quite rusty…and anxious.Will keep my progress posted, until then, be well, LG

Herakles and Telephos

In my ever expanding collection of books , I possess a well worn volume that I treasure dearly. It is The Odyssey of Homer,  translated by Alexander Pope and illustrated with lovely line drawings in the manner of Flaxman. As I mentioned, it is in sorry shape, but I picked up this gem for a quarter at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh  many years ago. I confess I haven’t read this translation, the pages are brittle, the text so teeny I can barely focus on the page. I merely enjoy the book ; its fussy attention to detail, each page framed by an elegant red line, its many musty charms. I particularly love the ornamental spot illustration, micro plates , somewhat Greek (sometimes not) in nature,that intersperse the text; they are often enigmatic and always delightful .

One such micro plate inspired this painting/drawing, Herakles and Telephos.

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Herakles and Telephos

2015

graphite and watercolor on YUPO paper

9 by 12″

Initially when I stumbled upon the plate (set neatly between Book  XIV and Book XV) I couldn’t figure out what the hell I was looking at. The image seemed  vaguely surreal in its composition and in its elements: a big headed man, a putto, a doe (with antlers), a strangely phallic cloud and a menacing raptor. But as I began working on my own interpretation I began to realize I was looking at an image of Hercules and his infant son Telephos. In  a nutshell, Telephos born of one of Hercules’ many dalliances, was ill fated, and like the babe Oedipus, sentenced to death, in this case by his fearful maternal grandfather. Our Hero-daddy rescues the boy, entrusting his care to a lactating doe. For a better explanation, this link might help, HERE.

The following is the initial image, blown up quite a bit, the original is the size of a postage stamp; I have no clue as to who the artist was.

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If the original was enigmatic, my interpretation might be more so. I of course retained the phallic cloud, and the doe’s perplexing antlers, but Telephos is no mere babe and the raptor/Zeus ( the boy’s grandad) is no mere bird. I’m not going to analyze the drawing to deeply but let’s just say the notion of a protective father figure resonated for me. Session ended.

In this drawing/painting I experimented with a new material, the synthetic paper YUPO ( link HERE). I was introduced to this paper by another artist who extolled its virtues, namely its ability to take a lot of medium and still remain flat and unwrinkled. It also allows for errors in watercolor to be easily removed. Alas it also allows for details you value to be easily removed. It takes a bit of time for paint to set up, and I must figure out how to work with it. YUPO may not be my go-to paper just now but it does have possibilities I would like to explore. It is marketed as a watercolor paper yet it takes graphite beautifully, the pencil glides upon the smooth surface. The following is the drawing before I added watercolor.

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Today I will be back into the thick of oils and perhaps venture into a hand puppet ( one idea will not leave my head so I better let it out).

Be well,

Lg

Goblin Market

I’ve been reading a fair amount of poetry later, mostly for class, but also revisiting  some old favorites; one being Christina Rossetti’s  pre-Raphaelite jewel, Goblin Market (Link Here).

This little graphite drawing was inspired by her wonderfully dark poem.

IMG_5739_2Goblin Market

2014

graphite on paper

8.5 by 11 inches

“Morning and evening
Maids heard the goblins cry:
Come buy our orchard fruits,
Come buy, come buy”

A Case for Doodling

I have consistently high blood pressure which is maddening, I’m fit, I’m vegan, I exercise daily, I practice yoga and yet the numbers soar. My doctor advised I buy a home monitor (if you want to feel decrepit, buy a home monitor) and now I have the added delight of watching the numbers rise on a daily basis.

This morning I decided to experiment, ordinarily I fuss trying to stay still as possible when using the device. I naturally run high on nervous energy,even sitting perfectly still causes me anxiety, a creepy Catch-22. My experiment was to draw during the monitoring. I was happily but not really surprised to see my numbers close to the desired range(125/83 whereas target blood pressure is 120/80).

I was delighted, it has been years since the numbers have been this low. I have known that when I draw my breathing becomes less frantic and I can experience a bit of calm. But perversely I always feel as if on some level drawing isn’t “real” work; I do not  regularly show my sketchbooks to others. And yet I doodle and draw all day, often with a weird sense of guilt. But this morning’s numbers have liberated me a bit from that ridiculous thinking, I’m not wasting time or procrastinating-this is therapeutic !

The following are a few pages from my sketchbook from the last few days. To a new and reasonable acceptance of doodling.

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the following two were from dreams the evening prior:

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Well that is it for now, off to yoga, then doodling perhaps. This evening one of my prints is in an exhibition, tonight is the opening. I’m so lame, I should go, but I would rather paint , will see what happens.

Until then, be well,

Lg

Sometimes you just want to draw…prepping for 2014

I have for the last several months  been ruminating upon a large canvas to tackle. I want a big scene, along the lines of my beloved Pousssin, but as usual tackling a Meso/metaphysical theme. Old gods, Gnosis, toppled usurping false gods all play a part in this newly conceived project. After notebooks of doodled ideas , oil sketches,elevated renderings and readings, I have begun fleshing out details.

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A familiar cast of characters, including from right a little Teotihuacan fellow, Tlaloc with lightening/storm cloud staff, Quetzalcoatl descending from above, She of the Serpent Skirt,Coatlicue, and the great and mighty war god Huitzilopochtli clutching his mother’s serpentine skirt.

A bit of the process for tackling a large (or small) project.

 Spontaneous sketching, confirming ideas.

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More sketches, some in color,

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Elevation renderings to help determine composition,

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and now, working out details, what stays , what goes, more color compositional sketches…I’m daunted already.Looking forward to seeing how it professes, wish me luck.

Take care, Lg