Drawing Lessons

From Robert Genn~


Yesterday Raynald Murphy wrote from Montreal: "I'd like your
thoughts on drawing. In the drawing course I offer at a local
Museum, I have only two students registered for the fall
session. Yet all three of my watercolour courses are
overbooked. I developed the drawing course in order to help
painters. Don't they get the message that drawing is important?
My drawing course is publicized in the city's folder which
reaches 60,000, not to mention my personal publicity. What goes
here?"

Thanks, Raynald. These days drawing still suffers from the
anti-tradition sentiment that has been with us for a few
decades. Many art schools are only now getting back to teaching
the subject. You are a pioneer. Another problem is that many
collectors still don't see stand-alone drawing as a
collectible. It's unfortunate, because drawing has its own
unique delight for both the doer and the viewer. Let's face it,
drawing skills have largely fallen on hard times. A few years
ago it was nearly a dead art. Lots of folks still think they
don't need it.

While painting can often be brought back and upgraded by a
strong shot of desire, it's been my experience that drawing,
not practiced, soon becomes rusty. Ordinary drawing is okay and
useful, but above all it's an opportunity for "line style."
Expressive, searching, definitive, linear, broken, lost and
found, there's an energy in line that tone and form do not
have. In drawing, artists have to determine whether the objects
or ideas drawn are suitable for line--or would they be best
suited for mass and area. For subjects with what I call "inner
glow," such as faces and the nuances of nature, line can take
second place. Think of trying to stretch a coat hanger around a
cloud. But line is of value for its own sake and can carry its
own meaning. Paul Klee noted that "a line is a dot that went
for a walk." More creators and more collectors need to be taken
on that walk. Edgar Degas noted, "Drawing is a species of
writing: it reveals, better than does painting, an artist's
true personality." A student who sees progress in drawing gains
the greatest self-esteem. For that reason alone artists ought
to be drawing like crazy. When Michelangelo died, a note for
one of his assistants was found on the studio floor: "Draw,
Antonio, draw. Draw and do not waste time."

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "Do not fail to draw something every day, for no matter how
little, it will do you a world of good." (Cennino Cennini) "You
can never do too much drawing." (Tintoretto) "There is nothing
so delightful as drawing." (Vincent Van Gogh) "You never
graduate from drawing." (John Sloan)

Esoterica: Last Thursday night I was a guest speaker at a
retrospective for Jack Hambleton, a friend who passed away 18
years ago. Jack was a consummate professional in many mediums,
but it was in drawing that he found his greatest joy. He drew
in a distinct style--with pen, brush and palette knife. He
chose his subjects carefully--ones he could "get the tool
around." "Drawing," he said, "is a way to keep subjects fresh."
Jack found drawing suited his nature and his span of attention.
He often produced several in an afternoon. As he owned his own
gallery, he soon had them framed and on other people's walls.
"It's an absorbing way to spend your time--it's my
calligraphy," he said.

Lipstick in School

According to a news report, a certain school in Garden City, MI was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the washroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night, the maintenance man would remove them and the next day, the girls would put them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. He called all the girls to the washroom and met them there with the maintenance man. He explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night.

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, he asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY..

There are teachers, and then there are Educators!

Signing your work

Robert Genn's pearls of wisdom~

Yesterday Margie Deeb of Roswell, Georgia, had some questions
about signing paintings: "I make large oils," she said, "and I
don't see as many artists signing their paintings as I used to.
If I sign them, ought it to be my full name? What about putting
in the year? Initials only? How about signing on the back?"

Thanks Margie. You just have to know I've got some prejudices
on this one. The current trend of not signing paintings is one
of the truly dumb ideas. Whether it's shy humility or an
attempt to de-commodify one's art, it omits and makes more
difficult one of the greatest values--the connection to and
recognition of you the artist. Making it tough for viewers to
make this connection is an insult to them and serves only to
shoot yourself in the foot. Also, signing is the stamp of
finishing. While nothing in life is truly finished, a signature
is a sign that a process has now come to an end. Collectors
need this stamp.

To add more prejudice, I believe in clear or relatively clear
front signing with your full or "art" name. I believe that
people ought to have the choice of knowing you by both your
first as well as your last name. Consistency is important.
Viewers, you'll note, lean forward and check this vital
information early on in the viewing cycle. Without a name to
hang onto they move on to your competition. You can watch it
happening. While lots of historical artists have gone for
initials only, this shorthand is not practical in today's world
where there are far more in the game.

With regard to dating your works, dates ought to be left off
the front unless it's a specific dedicated work. Dating on the
back is also problematical because dealers and others tend to
be more hesitant about stale-dated work. "This is four years
old--how come it hasn't sold yet?" they ask. On the other hand,
works from specific trips, time sensitive projects, and those
that are going right out the door, can profit from dating.
Place, in most cases, is more valuable than date. In a way, art
is timeless. Incidentally, an authenticating touch is to sign
your work on the back with your regular cheque-writing
signature. In any case I believe in keeping a card file that
records info that can be made available to interested parties
on request.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of
ending." (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Esoterica: When I was a kid I used to think my name was too
short and simple for an artist. I thought I really needed a
long, foreign sounding name like Kokoshka or Lichenstein. In a
bout of weakness I even considered becoming a Kabalarian and
getting myself a new name that matched me better. Roberto
Gennslovski, or something. Then one day the light went on that
my name wasn't as important as my work. Also, there were lots
of admirable artists by the name of Betty Brown. About eight of
them subscribe to this letter. In the age of google it's better
to be Betty Biggerstaffe Brown--the search engine can find you.

All the days are busy

Lordy things are busy right now. Last week I think I spent at least 30 hours on homework.
Today is no different. Wake up, have my tea and jury a show including 45 artists and 225 pieces of artwork, including what is hopefully insightful and accurate commentary.
Got a proposal this week for some freelance work for a new company starting by one of my favorite former clients, lord knows I am no graphic designer, but hopefully I can create something compelling for these smart, talented women. Julian Schnabel just designed a hotel didn't he heh.
Have to get my butt in gear and get another layer of glaze down on my color space#2 project in Painting, trying yet another new medium...And not sure if I like it al all...Tried the Daniel Smith oil/alkyd painting medium in a tube and its still as wet and shimmery as it was last night, that is not amusing to me at all...Ah well, it's all a learning experience.
I was very nervous about my first project, but Claudia and Desire both thought it was successful, there is one area I might alter for next weeks commentary on both exercises. I truly love that class and get so much out of it from my professors and my fellow students. Toting all of the stuff required on Wednesdays gets a little nuts though.
Need to get some sketches in for an etching plate that will be produced tomorrow as well.
Later today am gonna zip down to Grover/Thurston Gallery in Pioneer Square to see James Lavadour's phenomenal paintings so I can write up a little paper for next weeks painting class. Hopefully the traffic won't be too rough so I can get to Drawing Applications on time at 5:00...Love that class, so relaxing to turn on the ipod and just draw from observation for 4 hours. I have been learning a ton from our professor Han. He was a bit hard to understand at first, as he is quite soft spoken but what gifts he has to share!
The biggest challenge of the week (other than making sure 8 million layers of oil glaze are dry for transport by next Wednesday) is coming up with something interesting for the Spoke installation at the Cornish gallery. Not sure If I want to shoot video or do something with the free speech machine, or something all together different.
http://www.cornish.edu/events/eventlisting.aspx?eid=514
Spoke

Then we have a quiz tomorrow in Print (which I should be studying for now instead of writing this lol), a look into my Modern Art History weekly buffet of history and information, this week we have Divionism, the Decadent Movement, Symbolism, and Art Nouveau. Each week we view slides on our own at Artstor (best resource EVER!) and read these amazing essays assigned by our professor Su Job, who is indeed one of the smartest, coolest women I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I am a bit out of practice with my writing, so completing my assigned paper a week on the essays takes me a bit longer than I think it should, but hopefully that will get better as I hone my insight into aesthetic theory and history, and get into the habit of a regular writing practice each week.

I think 5 former clients have contacted me this week, either for formula information, to say hi, or ask me if I was interested in work. I need to get back to a few more.

Time to stop typing, and get on with the business of the day!

Advance Men in charge

The New York Times
September 9, 2005


The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced this week that it didn't want the news media taking photographs of the dead in New Orleans. A FEMA spokeswoman talked unconvincingly about the dignity of the dead. But the bizarre demand, a creepy echo of the ban on news media coverage of the coffins returning from Iraq, is simply the latest spasm of a gutted federal agency.
It's not really all that surprising that the officials who run FEMA are stressing that all-important emergency response function: the public relations campaign. As it turns out, that's all they really have experience at doing.
Michael Brown was made the director after he was asked to resign from the International Arabian Horse Association, and the other top officials at FEMA don't exactly have impressive résumés in emergency management either. The Chicago Tribune reported on Wednesday that neither the acting deputy director, Patrick Rhode, nor the acting deputy chief of staff, Brooks Altshuler, came to FEMA with any previous experience in disaster management. Ditto for Scott Morris, the third in command until May.
Mr. Altshuler and Mr. Rhode had worked in the White House's Office of National Advance Operations. Those are the people who decide where the president will stand on stage and which loyal supporters will be permitted into the audience - and how many firefighters will be diverted from rescue duty to surround the president as he patrols the New Orleans airport trying to look busy. Mr. Morris was a press handler with the Bush presidential campaign. Previously, he worked for the company that produced Bush campaign commercials.
So when Mr. Brown finally got around to asking Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for extra people for Katrina, it wasn't much of a departure for Mr. Brown to say that one of the things he wanted them to do was to "convey a positive image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations and the general public." We'd like them to stay focused on conveying food, water and medical help to victims.
Political patronage has always been a hallmark of Washington life. But President Bill Clinton appointed political pals at FEMA who actually knew something about disaster management. The former FEMA director James Lee Witt, whose tenure is widely considered a major success, was a friend of Mr. Clinton's when he took office in 1993, but he had run the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services. His top staff came from regional FEMA offices.
Surely there are loyal Republicans among the 50 directors of state emergency services. But President Bush chose to make FEMA a dumping ground for unqualified cronies - a sure sign that he wanted to hasten the degradation of an agency that conservative Republicans have long considered an evil of big government. Katrina has proved that federal disaster help is vital, and that Mr. Brown and his team of advance men can't do the job. What America needs are federal disaster relief people who actually know something about disaster relief.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

Barbara Bush: It's Good Enough for the Poor

Barbara Bush: It's Good Enough for the Poor John Nichols
Tue Sep 6, 1:08 PM ET

The Nation -- Finally, we have discovered the roots of George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism."

On the heels of the president's "What, me worry?" response to the death, destruction and dislocation that followed upon Hurricane Katrina comes the news of his mother's Labor Day visit with hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston.

Commenting on the facilities that have been set up for the evacuees -- cots crammed side-by-side in a huge stadium where the lights never go out and the sound of sobbing children never completely ceases -- former First Lady Barbara Bush concluded that the poor people of New Orleans had lucked out.

"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them," Mrs. Bush told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, before returning to her multi-million dollar Houston home.

On the tape of the interview, Mrs. Bush chuckles audibly as she observes just how great things are going for families that are separated from loved ones, people who have been forced to abandon their homes and the only community where they have ever lived, and parents who are explaining to children that their pets, their toys and in some cases their friends may be lost forever. Perhaps the former first lady was amusing herself with the notion that evacuees without bread could eat cake.

At the very least, she was expressing a measure of empathy commensurate with that evidenced by her son during his fly-ins for disaster-zone photo opportunities.

On Friday, when even Republican lawmakers were giving the federal government an "F" for its response to the crisis, President Bush heaped praise on embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown. As thousands of victims of the hurricane continued to plead for food, water, shelter, medical care and a way out of the nightmare to which federal neglect had consigned them, Brown cheerily announced that "people are getting the help they need."

Barbara Bush's son put his arm around the addled FEMA functionary and declared, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

Like mother, like son.

Even when a hurricane hits, the apple does not fall far from the tree.

MSNBC's Keith Olberman Editoral

The "city" of Louisiana (Keith Olbermann)

SECAUCUS — Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said it all, starting his news briefing Saturday afternoon: "Louisiana is a city that is largely underwater..."
Well there's your problem right there.
If ever a slip-of-the-tongue defined a government's response to a crisis, this was it.
The seeming definition of our time and our leaders had been their insistence on slashing federal budgets for projects that might’ve saved New Orleans. The seeming characterization of our government that it was on vacation when the city was lost, and could barely tear itself away from commemorating V.J. Day and watching Monty Python's Flying Circus, to at least pretend to get back to work. The seeming identification of these hapless bureaucrats: their pathetic use of the future tense in terms of relief they could’ve brought last Monday and Tuesday — like the President, whose statements have looked like they’re being transmitted to us by some kind of four-day tape-delay.
But no. The incompetence and the ludicrous prioritization will forever be symbolized by one gaffe by of the head of what is ironically called "The Department of Homeland Security": "Louisiana is a city…"
Politician after politician — Republican and Democrat alike — has paraded before us, unwilling or unable to shut off the "I-Me" switch in their heads, condescendingly telling us about how moved they were or how devastated they were — congenitally incapable of telling the difference between the destruction of a city and the opening of a supermarket.

And as that sorry recital of self-absorption dragged on, I have resisted editorial comment. The focus needed to be on the efforts to save the stranded — even the internet's meager powers were correctly devoted to telling the stories of the twin disasters, natural... and government-made.
But now, at least, it is has stopped getting exponentially worse in Mississippi and Alabama and New Orleans and Louisiana (the state, not the city). And, having given our leaders what we know now is the week or so they need to get their act together, that period of editorial silence I mentioned, should come to an end.

No one is suggesting that mayors or governors in the afflicted areas, nor the federal government, should be able to stop hurricanes. Lord knows, no one is suggesting that we should ever prioritize levee improvement for a below-sea-level city, ahead of $454 million worth of trophy bridges for the politicians of Alaska.

But, nationally, these are leaders who won re-election last year largely by portraying their opponents as incapable of keeping the country safe. These are leaders who regularly pressure the news media in this country to report the reopening of a school or a power station in Iraq, and defies its citizens not to stand up and cheer. Yet they couldn't even keep one school or power station from being devastated by infrastructure collapse in New Orleans — even though the government had heard all the "chatter" from the scientists and city planners and hurricane centers and some group whose purposes the government couldn't quite discern... a group called The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
And most chillingly of all, this is the Law and Order and Terror government. It promised protection — or at least amelioration — against all threats: conventional, radiological, or biological.

It has just proved that it cannot save its citizens from a biological weapon called standing water.
Mr. Bush has now twice insisted that, "we are not satisfied," with the response to the manifold tragedies along the Gulf Coast. I wonder which "we" he thinks he's speaking for on this point. Perhaps it's the administration, although we still don't know where some of them are. Anybody seen the Vice President lately? The man whose message this time last year was, 'I'll Protect You, The Other Guy Will Let You Die'?

I don't know which 'we' Mr. Bush meant.
For many of this country's citizens, the mantra has been — as we were taught in Social Studies it should always be — whether or not I voted for this President — he is still my President. I suspect anybody who had to give him that benefit of the doubt stopped doing so last week. I suspect a lot of his supporters, looking ahead to '08, are wondering how they can distance themselves from the two words which will define his government — our government — "New Orleans."
For him, it is a shame — in all senses of the word. A few changes of pronouns in there, and he might not have looked so much like a 21st Century Marie Antoinette. All that was needed was just a quick "I'm not satisfied with my government's response." Instead of hiding behind phrases like "no one could have foreseen," had he only remembered Winston Churchill's quote from the 1930's. "The responsibility of government," Churchill told the British Parliament, "for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate. It is in fact, the prime object for which governments come into existence."

In forgetting that, the current administration did not merely damage itself — it damaged our confidence in our ability to rely on whoever is in the White House.
As we emphasized to you here all last week, the realities of the region are such that New Orleans is going to be largely uninhabitable for a lot longer than anybody is yet willing to recognize. Lord knows when the last body will be found, or the last artifact of the levee break, dug up. Could be next March. Could be 2100. By then, in the muck and toxic mire of New Orleans, they may even find our government's credibility.
Somewhere, in the City of Louisiana.

Links ~ September 2005

With fall approaching, a list of somewhat spooky links.

The Fine Art of Poisoning

The Marsden Archive

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

A Tale of Two Sisters

And some non-spooky links~

Colourlovers

Design is Kinky

Portfolio Exhibition

Factory4

Post Secret

Vacation is Over...an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush

Dear Mr. Bush:

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?

Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com

P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.

Please Help!

Message from the American Red Cross:

Thank you for your donation to the American Red Cross in response to the Hurricane 2005 Relief effort. Your donation enables the Red Cross to provide immediate relief and long-term support through shelter, food, water, comfort kits, and other relief supplies. The Red Cross is mobilizing thousands of volunteers from our nationwide network of 850 chapters to assist those in need. The American Red Cross encourages you to learn more about these and other efforts by visiting www.RedCross.org.

Together, we can save a life.

American Red Cross

I know my $50.00 is just a drop in the bucket, but if everyone could find it in their hearts and wallets to help the people devastated by Hurricane Katrina it just might make someone's life a tiny bit better. A cup of water, a blanket, a hot meal when you have lost everything can mean the world, please help by donating to the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief effort!