photography – Page 168 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Project 1: Corners

There is something about corners that I really like. Corners intimate something new and unseen. Corners provide a place to hide. Corners are edges. Altogether, corners have many meanings, some subtle, some not.

There are lots of phrases about corners, too:

A tight corner
All corners of the world
Blind corner
Coffin corner
Come the three corners of the world in arms
Corner the market
Cut corners
Drive someone into a corner
From the four corners of the earth
Go to a neutral corner
Got you cornered
In your corner
Just around the corner
Kitty corner
Little Jack Horner sat in a corner ( line from nursery rhyme )
Paint yourself into a corner
Painted into a corner
The Naughty Corner
Turn the corner

Yeah, lots! Then there is the definition of corner from Merriam-Webster, also loaded with information, some of which I don’t get (like “cornerback”).

1a : the point where converging lines, edges, or sides meet : angle
1b : the place of intersection of two streets or roads
1c : a piece designed to form, mark, or protect a corner
2a: the angular part or space between meeting lines, edges, or borders near the vertex of the angle <the southwest corner of the state> <the corners of the tablecloth>:
2b: the area of a playing field or court near the intersection of the sideline and the goal line or baseline
2c (1) : either of the four angles of a boxing ring; especially : the area in which a boxer rests or is worked on by his seconds during periods between rounds (2) : a group of supporters, well-wishers, or adherents associated especially with a contestant c : the side of home plate nearest to or farthest from a batter d : corner kick e (1) : the outside of a football formation (2) : cornerback
3a : a private, secret, or remote place <a quiet corner of New England> <to every corner of the earth>b : a difficult or embarrassing situation : a position from which escape or retreat is difficult or impossible <was backed into a corner>
4: control or ownership of enough of the available supply of a commodity or security especially to permit manipulation of the price
5: a point at which significant change occurs —often used in the phrase turn the corner

You get the idea. Now I have you cornered!

New Year, New Focus

I’ve done watercolor off and on since I was a teenager, back before the dinosaurs disappeared, but I have never made it a resolution to spend time – a lot of time – mastering it. Rather, the approach I have had has been sporadic and amateurish. Now, I want to be the “serious student” I never was . . . and while I think I am off to a good start, the real question which lies ahead is how well will I integrate painting into my work life? I’ve managed to integrate both sumi-e and photography into my life, but I began both of those long before I ended up working 10-hour days.

There are a lot of good books about “how to” watercolor, and I have looked through and purchased a number of them. As well, there are a number of good YouTube channels with talented artists, with whom you get to cruise along with as they produce a painting. For me, this visual is what gets me all the time. While books show you step-by-step photos, some in color, some in black and white, there is absolutely nothing like the video of beginning-to-end, with commentary as the painting develops.

I still plan on pursuing photography – in fact, I have a 365 project planned, with different subjects on a monthly basis. While I am shifting my focus away from photography as my primary creative outlet, I really want to master watercolor and drawing, and to do so, I need to spend more time doing it rather than thinking about doing it.

So, Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you have new intentions to keep you happy and creative in your life!

Reflections and Projections

I’ve been looking over a lot of my photography from the past few years. I’ve learned a lot. Sometimes I wonder why I do it. Digital and analog photography have become quite comfortable . . . and, admittedly, I’m bored with what I am doing. Something needs to get shaken up a bit.

This past year I’ve totally enjoyed the 366 photography project by Fraggy. She did a different subject every month, planned out ahead. Following her, I know at times she has been stuck or frustrated, but as each month wore on, there was progress and creativity that developed. Inspired, I will do the same for 2017. I’m feeling a bit burnt out with what I have been doing, so I figure it could prove to be inspirational and creative. Here is my list for 2017:

January: Corners
February: Bathrooms (I promise, nothing disgusting)
March: Lines
April: Plants
May: Down Low
June: Paper
July: Shiny or Reflective
August: Vacation (I should be traveling a bit)
September: Anatomy (nothing that is X-rated)
October: Nothingness
November: After Sunset
December: Tools

Perspective in Retrospect

I have no head for heights, and just watching this video has made me jump a number of times! Despite that, I have always loved this picture because of the simple fact I could never even think of something as working up so high. There is something so awesome about these men . . . and the photographers as well.

Looking Ahead to 2017

As I write, I am sitting down to lunch, looking at the total destruction and reconstruction of my studio. Unlike those more fortunate, my studio is really a bedroom in the house that doesn’t even have a closet. As a result, all storage is on shelves with plastic bins, all in the hope of keeping the dust to a minimum. In addition to having shelves of cameras and lenses and other photography equipment in the studio, I also have my sewing supplies, a desk, a drafting table, two filing cabinets, two chairs, a computer, a printer, a scanner, and a couple of monitors. The destruction of the studio is the cleaning out and throwing out of things, as well as reorganizing it to accommodate painting more readily. Things are being moved around to make access to certain items more comfortable.

When I think about my focus on photography over the past several years, I am so glad I feel that I have mastered it to a degree that makes it comfortable, and gives a certain level of satisfaction. Both digital and analog are areas where I feel a level of proficiency – I can take good pictures. I know my cameras, I know my film, and can determine an exposure for a manual technique by looking at the light. This is something that once learned is never lost – the knowledge may get a bit rusty without doing it, but it always comes back once being used again.

Photography, though, is not my first love in the visual arts. Painting is always where I want to come home to roost. The feel of a brush or pencil, the colors of paint or gradations of ink, the physical experience of painting and drawing: all these combine for an experience that photography has never had. I am not interested in painting realistic images – that’s what photography is for – but in the emotional expression or abstraction of whatever that painting provides. Besides painting, I love woodblock printing, and sumi-e. There is a sensual quality to working in these areas that, if I had a darkroom, I might find as satisfying.

With this focus on painting – mostly in watercolor, possibly in acrylic – I will need to revisit the skills I’ve lost over the past several years. Because I tend to be rather fixated on painting in certain ways, I also hope that my sense of exploration and adventure will get piqued. It’s easy to become formulaic in art, I think, but that doesn’t necessarily indicate a lack of focus. Rather, being formulaic means a level of success in given techniques, but it may not open the door to that magical realm of creativity that leads to new insights and processes. This is where I want to go. I want to study botanical illustration because I am too splashy and undisciplined, but I also want to explore different ways of using colors, papers, paints, and pencils. The process, ultimately, is the most important experience to me. Whether or not I become an artistic celebrity is immaterial; it is the doing and being the art itself.