Monday, June 11, 2012

Scholar's Rock II



This charcoal is a second version of a "Scholar's Rock" formation.  Such rocks served as objects of meditation for scholars and were admired for their abstract beauty and unusual convoluted shapes symbolizing mountainous landscapes of Buddhist and Taoist immortals.


I started this one (like the last) by rubbing my fingers in charcoal dust and smudging the paper with it much like finger painting!


Highlighs are then brought back in by what is call "negative drawing"....or ERASING!
(click of any photo to enlarge for better detail)


Although it is messy and does not mix with finger food snacking, this method has the effect of creating soft gradations without the use of harsh lines.


BTW:  I actually documented this one with my little point and shoot set in video mode and hope to post it soon.   Well...as soon as I teach myself how to edit video!

4 comments:

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    1. Yeah... probably because it's closer to AnnO's stuff...right?

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  2. These are wonderful Ruth. I'm thinking of those soft, water eroded large rocks lining the mid-California coast line - have you seen them? They'd make excellent subjects for this technique. Down below the Hearst mansion and around Carmel along the coast. I thought at the time that they would be great for your large scale paintings. Took lots of photos of them in different light but I think they're lost to Hurricane Wilma's flooding. Gonna look for them. GEORGE

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    1. I'm sure I did see during the years we spent doing winters in Berkeley. But my mind was more on the landscape and botanic then...and less on the geology. Hmmm Maybe time for a second look.

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