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Watercolor 14x11 soldAnother pesos for photo transaction. This guy must have been in a fight recently after a night of drunkeness as he was missing most of his front teeth. I couldn't tell at first untill he bared a big bloody smile. I was taken a little off guard at the sight of it... but quickly recovered my control and went about my camera business. I started to attract attention from other onlookers and as this was a tough neighborhood... I became mildly concerned. When it became apparent that all was ok I relaxed and photographed to my heart's content. It just occurred to me the real impact of this work was the dignified even heroic pose this guy struck. Even in a state of humiliation there was this capacity for worthiness, nobility.
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19 comments:
He's got a James Dean thing goin with that shirt & coat. Of course, I don't believe James Dean lost any teeth...
Order out of chaos. Shapes from splashes.From this comes an enhanced sense of the subject. The pools of paint are released to coalesce into the form. I think it is in a sense an abstraction of the guts of the thing (the essence of the subject) which is more convincing than a more literal rendering. I think it is a primordial impulse that has to do with a form of symbolism. Like the cave painters telling you what a horn would do if it got you.
The past watercolors were so good and this one is even more expressive. Your story and the picture go so much together and you have captured the violence that lies under and on the surface.
Your end of the description seem so right on. And you must have been some kind of zone when you painted this one. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! You Bogota man!
Another nice one, Bill.
I cracked up when I read the 'toothless" part because when I first looked at it, I said "Wow.....he painted a really good looking guy today."
And he is good looking....at least with his lips closed.
Man, I did have kind of a bumpy childhood, but compared to the folks you paint, I've let a sheltered , charmed life!
Hey Grimm... James Dean died with his teeth on... or did he??
Ron now that's a comment and a half. Tomorrow you only have to write half a comment. Seriously.. you make perfect sense.. and that may be bad news for both of us. As a fellow watercolorist you know the joy of splashing on the paint. The trick is to splash it in the right areas with the right color and value. I'm still struggling with that.. hee. Primordial... I'm going to let that percolate for awhile while I finish my coffee. thx!
Stefan - violence.. yes - come to think of it my painting reflects a lot of violence. From roasted pigs to poverty there is much cruelty and violence. I draw much inspiration from the raw edge of human's capacity for inhumanity - perhaps because it puzzles me so. I have no judgement on the human ability to love or to hate, to create or to destroy.. both are realities to paint and perhaps one is more difficult to look at.
Bogota man to Keewon... yeah the zone.. you know the zone.. that place that keeps us coming back. I was there and rode it for awhile. One of these days I'll organize these paintings into some kind of collection. They are starting to pile up. The story is starting to develop.
Hi kay... the toothless portrait is coming... painted on top of a sepia 30s cartoon background. Yes you do have it pretty good after all!
This is a great style for you, kind of a combination of control and loose and the blue locks it down. You have taken some chances & I hope no one ever accosts you--you never know what the other person is thinking. Remember when people are desperate they can also be paranoid and dillusional--and you could be their target.
Thanks Michele for the warning. I always am thankful when I return.
I think it's all been said, I really like it.
Thank you Dorothy... now it's all been said.
Not just yet... You should definitely get whole series going.
Zonked in to the zone.
I think I enjoyed the observations more that the painting... I kid, both are great.
Incredible how you can take a 'malevolent' concept and interpret it so beautifully and eloquently......
something you can sink your teeth into (or gums);-)
Thx Will... the comments are a fun part of this process now... alive and requiring attention.
Hey Jennifer.. now you did it.. you made me think again! Thanks for looking up the spelling of malevolent so I can cut and paste it here. I find many people become uncomfortable at the drop of a hat... including myself. I want to look straight into the eye of chaos and survive and paint about that experience... There are other artist to paint about order and balance - I respect that! But personally it is more than being focused exclusively on the "raw feed" - that is the current direction of this alley cat.
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