Finally, the slide cartridge arrived! I didn’t get a chance to test everything until yesterday, but it was worth the wait. I unwrapped it and loaded my slides…
And, drumroll please…
This was the moment I had been waiting for. From the very beginning, all I really wanted was to see one of my photos displayed through the old projector. The smell of the electric fan and the projector bulb was beautiful; that old-time flavor reminiscent of the days when everything was electric.
From here I went out to my garage to sand down one of my boards. I really expected the gesso to sand down a bit smoother, but I knew it wouldn’t be perfectly flat. The result, as you can see, is a surface that allows itself to exist as part of the concept. The texture is as real and timeless as they come, and it lends (at times it commands) a presence to every stroke I drew.
Using black oil pastels, I decided to treat this first one as a litmus test for things to come.
As I began to draw, I began to discover the nature of the materials I was working with, and how each reacted to the other. As the artist, I had originally thought or hoped to capture some of the finer details presented within the photographs.
This photo, taken in the fall of 2006 in Bloomington, Indiana shows a grouping of massive limestone blocks, fresh from a nearby quarry. As you can see from the next picture, the texture of the wood surface coupled with the fine detail a photo can provide presented a challenge in my approach.
This is a challenge that I knew would present itself, and as such fulfills part of a process of discovery. I am not trying to recreate an exact replica of the photos, but rather discover a path inspired by the photos that allows me to convey the meaning or emotion captured within. When adapting an image from one medium to another, you can’t think of it as a mere transfer of surfaces. You must adapt to the materials, and let the piece evolve as it sees fit.
What ends up happening, and what I intend to keep investigating, is that when I turn the lamp off periodically, I see an abstraction of the image taking place. As I was not ready for it at the time, I think I’m more prepared now to embrace that abstraction as it comes along. I was too busy fighting with the materials to notice it right away. After a while, I left the lamp off and decided to give it a life of it’s own, created by me in the moment. That allowed me to get out of the literal mindset that “I must re-create this image” as closely as possible. I’d be kidding myself if I really thought that were possible.
Conclusion: I still would like a finer point to work with. I’m considering gel pens. I’m also considering the use of black gesso, with a fine brush, but I don’t think that would be quite right for what I need. The problem is, I need the macro ability of the oil pastels at times, but then the need for the micro details is also evident. Perhaps I’ll use both. One final note: as you see in the photo below, I think the resulting wood texture is beautiful, where the pastel fails to fill in as I draw. It’s starting to feel more and more like a wood-cut image, which is very very exciting.
Though you can’t really tell it’s a quarry field, it has a unique beauty all its own, and shows strong enough on its own, regardless of the subject matter’s precise existence. With these truths revealed through process, I intend to improve upon my learnings in the next piece.
Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.
