the photographic source continued

Students are usually unfamiliar with the assemblages of Whitfield Lovell. When I flip through the worn catalog (evidence of repeated scrutiny) there is an immediate attraction. His drawings of archival photographs are not the conventional renderings of charcoal on white paper. Instead planks of knotted wood add a sepia tone and a roughened texture to the imagery. Combined with found artifacts, they create a story - personal to the artist - yet historically ambiguous. Intrigued, we naturally fill in the gaps to these visual narratives. 

Whitfield Lovell, Plenty, 2001, charcoal on wood,
found objects, 95 1/2 x 56 in.

Whitfield Lovell,  Epoch, 2001, charcoal on wood,
found objects, 77 1/2 x 55 x 17 1/2 in.

Whitfield Lovell, Tea, 2001, charcoal on wood,
found objects, 108 x 73 x 25 in.

Whitfield Lovell, Cage, 2001, charcoal on wood,
found object, 54 1/2 x 36 1/2 x 23 in.

If you are wondering: who are these posed individuals, so formally attired?, watch this recent TED talk on finding the story inside the painting, given by Tracy Chevalier, the author of "Girl with a Pearl Earring."

the photographic source

I teach how to draw and to paint from life. But let's face it, it's easier to work from a photograph, than it is to coax a subject to stop squirming, to get the sun to never set, or to bring all traffic and tourists to a standstill. With a photograph, you can go at your own  pace - stop, have lunch, come back in the morning, and continue where you left off. How easy is that?


Maybe too easy. If an image is right there in front of you, already done - in all its saturated color - why bother?! What are you going to do that is any different? More specifically, how does the image speak to you, or about you?  What is its emotional content and/or conceptual idea? Does it grab you in some way? (If it doesn't grab you, it won't grab us.) Challenge yourself. One way is to work from life. Otherwise, look beyond just the photograph. 


Marlene Dumas, a South African artist, "may crop an original image, removing subjects from their original context and strip them of any identifiable information." What remains of the photographs? A disquieting lineup of portraits.

Marlene Dumas, Chlorosis (Love sick), 1994, 
ink, gouache, and synthetic polymer paint on paper, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Close up of Chlorosis (Love sick)

Close up of Chlorosis (Love sick)