SEEING

Realized I hadn't tried my hand at several techniques that were introduced in Lesson 3 so I set out to do so this afternoon. Even so, I still have a few I haven't tried yet. In this piece, the new-to-me techniques were to create a shape with wax resist using a crayon and painting over it with watered down paint to reveal the shape, and to draw a shape with water soluble graphite and go over it with water in a brush to disperse and move some of the color. Turns out, I don't have only soluble wax crayons, and the graphite crayon I have is not soluble. I improvised with Elmer's glue instead of a white crayon, and a watercolor pastel pencil instead of a graphite crayon.

That said, my goal today is actually not to report on the techniques or materials I used but to be as objective as possible in looking at the finished piece to make observations—not evaluations or interpretations, but straight up observations. As part of the class I'm taking I'm practicing SEEING. Steep learning curve here, since I repeatedly fall into interpreting, often with no awareness whatsoever! Bear with me.

Shapes #11, 9x12"

I see a stack of three simple strong main shapes—a brown ovoid, a blue circle, and an irregular red triangle with torn edges. These shapes are only slightly different in size, and they're the dominant features in the piece. Three much smaller shapes also sit in the stack, two of which are red and carry the color of the rectangle at the top into the rest of the painting. All the shapes touch at least one other, connecting them into the single stack that sits on a diagonal from bottom left to top right and divides the page pretty much in half. The ovoid at the bottom and the rectangle at the top both touch the edge of the page. I see a neutral background, lighter in color than any of the shapes and having a layered quality and color gradations; the background provides softness and contrast to the stack of shapes. Some of the background appears to drift over parts of the two lower shapes, veiling them slightly. Use of line in the ovoid and circle accentuates each shape but doesn't dominate. Textural elements (scribbles, hatch marks, small grid marks) are evident throughout but also don't dominate. The piece includes mixed media—I see what looks to be colored pencil, paint, and collage.