[July 11, 2008]
I spent the morning finishing the Micahel Mazur painting. I worked with some of the paint and a dry brush to mimic pastel (the original is a pastel drawing), worked on the grass and the sandy area in front. Last, I painted in the wires coming off the telephone pole. There will always be more to do to it to perfect it, but I felt I had gotten it to a fairly good stopping point. I liked working on this one.
I had a few visitors: a man came buy who was an art therapist in Long Island. He had gone to school in Philadelphia, first at the Philadelphia College of Art (I think that’s what he said–it has since changed its name), and then at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Later in the day, Gary, from the Physical Education Department stopped by. He told me he used to make paintings, based on geometrical designs using folded paper. He said he had a good friend who was (is) a sculptor, and who used to encourage him to make stuff; he thought because his friend needed an artist buddy. I encouraged both to make a trade.
After finishing the Mazur, I re-measured the medieval manuscript, and scanned it so as to make a template. I also re-scanned most of the pages of the Ed Ruscha book. I had scanned this before, but in piecing the scans together, found I was missing some sections. I then stared on the George Dugan self-portrait. I drew out the image, but then covered it in a brown-gray wash, thus losing my drawing. I started painting it. This one has a sense of process in it, there are darker lines, almost like a drawing underneath areas which are painted.
