After quite a productive weekend, Art wise, today saw a bit of a slow down. I sketched this one (above) last night, in bed. And I coloured it today. Or rather this evening. Once again, in bed!
Yet another ‘via Matisse’, from the above book, which is one of several I bought from the wonderful Black Gull Books, in St Leonards, during our holiday there last year.
I feel this one is more like a sketch ‘along the way’, if you like? I’m taking a work by Matisse, and trying to extract something from it I can turn into something of my own. And it’s not there yet.
I like using the woodworking clamp, as pictured above, to keep the sketchbook under control, whilst I work on the opposite page.
I’ve gotten into the habit of using both sides of every page. Given how expensive art materials have become – they’ve always been expensive, and are now getting to be insanely so – this gives more mileage.
Up until now, I’ve been almost rabidly enthusiastic about Picasso. And I’ve had little or no time for Matisse. Picasso’s often more brutal, sometimes even downright ugly work, always bowled me over, with its sheer raw energy. I felt Matisse was too slick. More designer than artist, perhaps?
This Tate book, however, juxtaposing as it does, the work of these two modern masters, has taught me, at long last, to really love Matisse. It’s opened my eyes to his work, in all honesty. He’s certainly more overtly and obviously sensual and seductive than Picasso.
What previously seemed a little odiously smooth, has started to look, very simply put, plain gorgeous. For all the parallels and similarities – and this book/show/curatorial theme highlights how close they were in many ways – there is also a striking difference.
I could waffle on about all of this here. But I haven’t even read any of the book, which most likely addresses such issues. As with most art books, I’m here for the imagery, not the text. I’ll leave further cogitation for another time/place.