Day Two: #OneWeek100People, 2021 – Portrait Sketches

Day Two! Today is devoted to the ios app Skchy, with its community of models donating selfies for artists.

Here’s a video demonstration of this watercolor sketch of Bennet P.

It was interesting – looking back at my own footage – I can really see the abstraction that’s happening in my oil painting, showing up here in the portraits. Probably nobody else would say that – but it’s like, I could feel the assembly of shapes happening without much concern for the drawing. I used to be very concerned with getting a likeness – even while I was not very good at it! But now, I’m just painting shapes.

The eye sees, the hand records. It’s like it doesn’t matter to the eye if it’s a rock, or a face.

That’s not a very romantic thing to say – but there you have it. Painting is getting to be like automatic writing. Transcription of the visual field, without much conscious mediation.

Ok everyone! That’s the highlights of my day. I’m heading over to the Facebook group to comment on everyone’s stuff.

See you over there. ~marc

Photo Credits, from top: Bennet P, William F, Ray Williams, Marissa M, Teri Babayeva, Madison Bradley, Hana Moayedi