23 Minute Meditation

Whenever I go downtown, I make time to drop in for a visit at the AGO, even if it's for less than an hour.

Yesterday, I decided to find an art work I liked in a quiet room and look at it for 25 minutes. Look only at that. I found a piece from Abstract Impressionism.

Interesting experiment. It is amazing what I start to see and notice. I discover more as I look at it.

I see which strokes went over the white paint, which strokes were made over the black paint. What

strokes were made under.

Some of the black seems wet.

I see that not all the white is the same white. Not all the black is the same black. I see a darker black and a lighter black.

I see the width of the brushes.

I thought about the movements, the ballet, the artist's body made while he painted.

The artist's signature is absent. I found out when I researched it later that the work is indeed signed but on the back.

photos of Franz Kline's Cupola, 1958 - 1960, first floor at the AGO, west wing.

dimension: 198.1 x 269.9cm (78 x 106 1/4 inches)

In the Mood to Draw

I have been working on a series...well, it was in my head for a while and last year I printed some fabric for it but it never went further.

Today, I was in the mood to draw.

Sketch, a fast one

I did many blind contours. For blind contours you have to keep your drawing instrument on the paper at all times. You can not look at your drawing as you draw. You can only look at the contour of the object you are drawing until you decide the drawing is over. It's always a nice surprise to see what is left on the paper.

I like the shapes. Fun to draw. Very quick to draw. I like working fast.

Vertebra of a cow, a Canadian cow.

These are drawings for the series I still have in my head.