This is an older piece, and it shows more of a direct influence from Stuart Davis.
It was made by severe restrictions on what I would do. I would lay color side-by-side only. It could have a few larger shapes, lightly penciling in the borders. I would pre-mix all the colors., including neutrals mixed from complements. I would start with nothing in mind, just adding shapes at will. I would think about music.
People often wander in during First Friday (before covid) and ask where do my ideas come from? It’s easier to point out specific connections when people come in. Most of my ideas come from looking at art, from my own work, from observations of nature. In this one below, this started as a large non-objective ink drawing, just random marks (although one could argue this point) in india ink on a large page. Then I would crop and review the page, looking for any areas that seem to suggest something larger-like a bit of landscape. Two points to consider here- this process takes practice. And what I would see in a bunch of shapes and lines is likely not what you would see. In many ways this process relies on my experience as a artist, my training and perception. This manner is much like psychic automatism, a Surrealist method for creating imagery not based on observation, but seen by the artist in something else, like when you see animals in cloud formations.
A band of tree-like forms all drawn together, side by side. The tops of the trees are stylized and abstract, almost like letter forms, but also like strange cartooned figures. The branches have been reduced to a line and placed in the centers of the trunks, and placed in the spaces between the trees, compacting the space, slowing the cadence. I’m especially fond of the bottom, where the land shape becomes another tree at the far right. The bars along the bottom make a playful road. The pebbled texture of the grey paper shows up in the pencil shading, not alluding to light and shadow, just a design element. The darkest watercolor shapes start the action on the left side, and finish it at the right.
