happy tuesday. here we are again.
things are gathering speed again as we roll into summer. somehow without noticing it i suddenly have a lot of things going on again. i looked away and my calendar filled up. my list of chores and personal to-dos is tumbling further and further down the page.
work deadlines. writing class. this newsletter. the gym. cooking. volunteering for political work. planning summer trips. checking my budget and re-planning summer trips. fixing pieces of my car. dating. trying to read even one book. organizing my camping gear and filling in missing pieces. keeping up with friends and family. thinking about the trajectory of my life. wondering if i’m correctly balancing all these things.
and in the background, the constant low hum of playoff basketball. more of a roar, this past weekend, though, am i right? lots of surprises.
i don’t think i have too much else to say in this section this time. i’ve got to get to work and draw some windows. they’re not all going to be winners. as much as i would like to distill some universal human experience into a uniquely devastating turn of phrase every week that’s just not realistic. some weeks it’s more about the art.
so let’s get into it.
1. painting
last week i did some sketches re-thinking some of of the compositions of a few of the pieces i’ve done for this newsletter before. this is one from back in december. as i think i wrote last week (not checking), i liked the colors and some of the stuff going on in that one but the composition was a little clunky to my eyes.
there they are for comparison’s sake. this week i was aiming for more of a sense of depth and distance, better visual hierarchy between the elements, and more of a dynamic composition of the major shapes. the colors ended up a lot more orange than the original so i guess that was a miss. but otherwise i think i achieved most of the goals.
last week’s sketch on the left, with cleaned up linework on the right. i didn’t spend a ton of time cleaning up the linework because i knew i wasn’t going to be using it in the final anyway. but it helps get elements positioned well and gives me an idea of how i’m going to handle some of the details etc. when i get to that point.
again, the main things i’m going for here are a) rebalancing those big stone pillars so they’re not hunkering awkwardly in the middle-far distance. using three of them instead of two gives the composition some asymmetry already which in my opinion feels more dynamic than a more symmetrical composition. and b) creating more of a sense of depth and layering. in the original there’s a pretty big visual jump from that first clump of trees in the foreground all the way back to that nearest pillar. there’s just nothing really happening in that in between space which makes it almost feel like there are only two “layers” of things happening.
do i know what i’m talking about, from a technical fundamentals perspective? only a little. nevertheless.
first pass of colors with the linework on. i’m using my patented method of laying down the sky first, then color-picking a shade at about the mid-tone of the sky, darkening it just a scooch, and using that for the first “layer” of mountains. the upside of this method is your colors usually end up pretty harmonious because they’re all only slight derivations / darkening of colors that exist in the sky. the downside of this method is your color range can be pretty limited, i guess. it can feel kinda safe. so i will sometimes (this time included) throw in a way different color in the foreground, then work my way backwards towards the fusion point where the saturation and values get pretty similar due to atmospheric perspective and there’s only a slight difference in hues.
if you look at like a sydney laurence painting, and you get really close (or, realistically, if you zoom in) you will see that wayyyy back towards the horizon the colors are extremely similar to each other in value (how light / dark they are) and pretty similar in chroma (how saturated the colors are) and only slightly different in hue (which colors they are.) but in context, your eye is very good at picking them apart. and as you get closer to the camera, there’s much more dramatic variation in all those things because you are looking through less air.
wow! look how similar all those are right up close. but when you step back you can clearly feel at least a couple layers of ridgelines, and you can feel the sun hitting different parts of those far distant hillsides and lighting them up differently. the colors of those pine trees are so close to each other and yet clearly different enough for our eyes to pick them apart and layer them up. also look at the mountain ridgelines. they’re stylized with cloud, a little bit, a classic move, but you can tell they are extremely close to the color of the sky.
anyway. looking really closely at paintings by people who are much better painters than you and identifying a couple very basic concepts and methods you can instantly rip off and use in your own work is known as “studying.” give it a shot.
another big goal of this one was to get the shadows on those rock pillars to look even kind of realistic. i think this is starting to do it. the trees are all still pretty sloppy but we’re starting to get some detail in the foreground grass. keep your eyes on that first clump of trees, and the shapes of the hillsides as they march back into the distance — i didn’t save a lot of intermediate shots so there’s gonna be a bit of a jump.
moon, clouds, more detail on the trees. the moon is way less prominent this time. the two in the original were way too bright, i think, too visually dominant. still not sure i should have put trees on top of that first rock pillar but oh well.
scroll up to see the final, with birds and a light color overlay.
2. poem
“bad news poem” - april 2022
when i heard the news i had to stand up
and walk around the kitchen i had to get a glass of water
stand there for a minute
put my socks on put my shirt on
i had to go to the grocery store
i had to take a nap on the couch just while the soup bubbled to itself
when i heard the news i had to do the dishes i had to brush my teeth
and then it was pretty much time for bed
3. vegan ceviche
this isn't really “cooking” or “a recipe” or “interesting” but i already wrote a lot about painting and anyway i couldn't think of anything more fun to eat this week that didn’t involve frying various shapes of tofu in various batters.
normally ceviche involves fish of some kind. instead we are using oyster mushrooms. you don’t have to use a mushroom that has the same name as a type of seafood, necessarily but it might help. the citrus will “cook” the mushroom and soften it up just like it would fish. so that’s handy!
the rest of this stuff i believe you will be able to visually identify.
not much else to say here. toss it all in a bowl with the citrus juice and let it sit for a couple hours. put the avocado in only at the end because it’s more delicate.
and there you have it! easy as that. i made approximately seven times as much as one single person needs so i will be eating a lot of ceviche this week. i might try it with some cold noodles. that sounds pretty good. i definitely won’t be getting scurvy anytime soon.
4. advice if applicable
advice for a younger me:
eat less popcorn. stretch more often.
advice for a younger you:
do the things you’re going to hate, but do them sooner.
advice for the next generation:
hey keep your head up. work hard but not too hard. give it your best shot. a firm handshake will get you a long way.
advice for a bank robber:
just put the gun down man, cmon. we’re all just gonna go home and chill out. just take it easy, okay? we’re all on the same side here.
advice for the chef:
no notes. that was really excellent! what did you think, honey? right? we both loved it!
advice for a kitten clinging to a branch with one paw:
hang in there!
advice for the guy at the grocery store:
grab a basket next time, genius. thanks a lot.
advice for the princess:
kiss as many frogs as you can. you’re young, what do you have to lose? you can always settle down later.
well that’s it. have a good week everyone. see ya next tuesday. bye.