After a difficult June—I got sick and was out of commission for about 10 days, which is not something that usually happens to me—I traveled to Nebraska for my every-three-months visit. I was feeling a lot better by then, but still frustrated because I hadn’t been drawing or painting for weeks, and it didn’t feel good.
But while I was in Lincoln, I was able to sit down in my studio at Parrish and start drawing. As usual, the first few were not great, but after a bit I got lucky and things started to percolate! Those of you who don’t draw maybe don’t know how this works: I’ve been drawing for most of my almost 70 years and I’m a pretty accomplished draughtsman, yet just a few days, let alone weeks, without drawing can totally dent my confidence. It often takes quite a few hours or days of drawing to get things moving again, to get warmed up to the point where I’m doing what I consider “good work.”
This was one of the first drawings I did in Lincoln. It’s called “Briefs in the Garden.”
The warm-up process happened faster than usual this time, and boy, was I happy! It really lifted my mood after having been sick for all that time. I found myself not worrying about making the drawings “nice” or “beautiful” and instead focused on honesty and authenticity. The line needn’t be perfect, but it must feel honest. I’ve found myself in this space before, but it comes and goes and I can’t always find it. But this time, it helped me produce some drawings I really like.
Another Lincoln drawing: “Zach Posing by the Car.”
Then when I flew back to Puerto Vallarta a few days later, I went into the studio and sat down to draw and found I was able to continue this drawing streak. Besides the drawings shown here, you can see all of my latest sketches on the first page or two of the Galleries: Main Gallery Members-Only Gallery
Above: “Israel Relaxing.” Below: “Brazilian Boy on the Boat.”
Below: “Brazilian Boy on the Boat 2.”
See more of my recent rough sketches on the first page or two of the Galleries:
Main Gallery Members-Only Gallery