Why do I do this? I know that I have difficulty working loosely. So, why do I try? The most recent example is this drawing of World War Observation Tower #1 on Cape Henlopen.* The idea is to create a blurred and subdued image with the same pastel technique I have been using in my drawings this century. I use the pastels themselves as mark making tools. I use triads, analogous colors, and complements plus tints of these, the marks (squiggles, dots, dashes, parallel lines, and other types of scribbles) overlapping together to create new colors. NO BLENDING ALLOWED – except as the marks themselves overlap and mix - Only now, I want these marks to create color so subdued and vague that the image can only be characterized as loose. It isn’t working because I keep getting sucked back in to creating more definition than necessary. I add contrasting colors at the edges of form, and more brilliant color where none is necessary. A blurred or soft form seems to frighten me.
OK, so this is only a first try. I’ll get better at making vaporous seascapes and saltwater marshscapes - right?
*The designation “#1” is entirely my own. There are 5 or 6 of these towers on Cape Henlopen, and all are slightly different. I have photographed and drawn the two towers located on North Shore Beach repeatedly. In order to clarify which tower is in a particular image, I chose to label the towers # 1, #2.
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