LIGHT DRAWINGS

JANUARY 27, 2010

Being a big fan of motion in photography I was thrilled to have found a photo of Picasso light drawing last February, in which I used it in my 'Favorite Links' blog (as well as Jose' Parla's).

Little did I know that shortly thereafter LIFE magazine featured a series of prints of Picasso light drawing from that session.

I can't help but be amazed of the greatness of the artists before our time and the brilliance of their minds.

Let's not forget our forefathers of the art world.

LIFE photographer Gjon Mili visited Picasso in 1949. Mili showed the artist some of his photographs of ice skaters with tiny lights affixed to their skates jumping in the dark—and Picasso's mind began to race. The series of photographs that follows—Picasso’s light drawings—were made with a small flashlight in a dark room; the images vanished almost as soon as they were created.

Photos: Gjon Mili/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1949

Picasso Begins Light Drawing

Picasso Light Drawing

Elephant In The Room

Vase Of Flowers

Master Squiggle

Everything Is Illuminated

Picasso In The Middle

Triple Exposure

Running Man

...so inspired by the photos above, me and my girls decided to do some of our own

experimenting with light drawing. We had about a 10 second window time frame to draw each photo. We used a dark room with minimal lighting. Lotta fun!

B Light Drawing

B Really Gettin' Into It!

N Goes Vertigo
It's Tough Writing One's Own Name Backwards

Retro Mosaic?

Attempting to sketch my typical punker. Ha! More like Bart Simpson with bedhead.
10 seconds is not enough time for this rookie!

Will try the film camera next time...

JACKSON POLLOCK

JANUARY 24, 2011

"I believe easel painting to be a dying form, and the tendency of modern feeling is toward the wall picture or mural..." -Pollock

"Jackson Pollock, 37, stands moodily next

to his most extensive painting, #9. The

picture is only 3 ft high, but it is 18

ft long and sells for $1,800 or $100 a

foot. Critics have wondered why Pollock

happened to stop this painting where he

he did. The answer: his studio is only

22 ft long." -LIFE 1949

So some of you may already know that I'm

a self-taught artist. A few years ago I

remember one of my friends, being in an

art history class at the time, matter-o-

factly telling me that I was an 'Outsider'.

Not knowing weather I should be stoked

about it or shrink back in despair, I

could only relate it to Johnny and Ponyboy...

two poor greaser rebels from one of my

favorite 80's movies. Ha! After finding

the true meaning, I was just fine with

that label. After all... I had no formal

training whatsoever.

In late 2002, while looking through a

modern art book, I came across a photo

of what looked like drip painting

(Lavender Mist). I had always been

fascinated with that style, yet had no

clue it was the work of old school

abstract expressionist, Jackson Pollock.

This would mark the beginning of a love

and passion to paint. I immediately went

to the library and checked out as many

books as I could on Pollock. I began to

buy some canvases, acrylic paint, as well

as latex household and aluminum paint. I

did my first painting in 2003, squirting

out the acrylic directly from the tubes.

That being said... Jackson Pollock's

work has been a tremendous influence on

me and in my work since the beginning.

I've always admired his absolute freedom

in his work and ability to create through

his feelings.

For my Birthday this last year, my family

bought me Life Magazine's August 8, 1949

issue featuring a 4 page spread on Pollock.

Definitely one of my best gifts ever.

Top Photo: continuation of "Number Nine"

Bottom Photo: "Number Seventeen was

painted a year ago (1948) in several

sessions of work which took place weeks

apart so Pollock could appraise what he

was doing and 'get acquainted with the

picture'. He numbers his paintings instead

of naming them so his public will not

look at them with any preconceived notion

of what they are." -LIFE 1949

__________________________________________________

Jackson Pollock 51, 1951 (excerpt)

Hans Namuth and Paul Falkenberg (directors)
Morton Feldman (composer)

"A method of painting is a natural growth out of a need. I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement."

-JP

Paul Jackson Pollock

(January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956) was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist

movement.