WRONG UNITY
Unification of the painting has been an important goal for great talents in the West. We laude paintings that seek spatial unification, unification of paint with subject, unification of paint with paint, a oneness...
Author: Kurt
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
What is it? What is the narrative? That is a joking question that I get from those nearest to me when looking at my latest drawing. And my joking response is, I have no...
WORLD LEADERS NEED TO DRAW
That’s my answer. If it were up to me, I would say, yo, all of you! Stop it! You’re not playing nice! You world leaders need to draw! You need to sit down in...
LIGHT FROM WITHIN
Where does the light come from? We light from within. Many pages ago, we eliminated the confusion of shadows. Our transparent forms, existing as possible experiences, do not cast shadows. And the primary reason...
DRAWING MATERIALITY 2 – THE STICKY SIDE
We started the category, Drawing Materiality, awhile ago. And there has not been much follow up. So, to correct that curatorial deficiency, let’s dive back in and see what we have. For this outing,...
ALL IN ALL IT’S JUST BRICKS IN THE WALL
While reading and annotating Norberg-Schulz’s Intentions in Architecture, I wrote “all in all it’s just bricks in the wall” three times in the margins. The book was all just words piled upon words. Tortuous...
ARCHITECTURAL ACTION
Mogwai, a post rock band, put out an album in 2001 titled Rock Action. I’ve always liked that title (the music is fun also), and as I was drawing recently, it occurred to me,...
WHAT MAKES PEOPLE MAD
There is one thing about Transparent Drawing that irritates people the most, and it is my use of the phrase, “smear around opaque blobs of paint.” As I make clear in the book, I’m...
ALL WE WANT IS UNITY
All we want is holistic unity. Everything that we are striving for is aimed toward unity and peace. This search underlies nearly any book I pick up. To name a few: –Arnheim “A thoughtful...
BUILDINGS IN BUILDINGS OUT
If you use buildings as your Source Image, you likely will get a building as a result. At least this is what I have found. But maybe that is just my architectural genome kicking...
THE ARCHITECTURAL IMAGE
In the seven years that I have been working on Transparent Drawing, I have done everything in my power to include other transparent thinkers. The third chapter of my book does just that. ...
A BUILDING TO SOOTHE
It’s been tough, I know. Two pages ago, there was a mind numbing 2000 year argument over natural forms. Then there was the saran wrap page. Saran wrap? Seriously? So I thought I better...
SARAN WRAP – DRAWING MATERIALITY
I promised that I would use saran wrap. And now I make “good” on that promise. Cellophane kitchen wrap, or to use the generic term, saran wrap, is transparent. I realized that I was...
THE ARGUMENT OVER NATURAL FORMS
One of the fundamental precepts of Western art over the eons is that art copies nature. And by nature, I mean any natural form that we knowledge with our senses, from outside the body....
IN THE MANNER OF JOSEPH BEUYS
The comment came after the incredible dinner at the enclave of Linda Beaumont and Steve Badanes on Whidbey Island. Linda said, well, surely you know the work of Joseph Beuys? And of course, I...
DRAWING MATERIALITY
Our drawing tools influence our forms. Drawing is a physical act. Johannes Itten, working at the Bauhaus, developed Vorkurs, which was the foundation course of design. Itten was primarily interested in the fusion of...
TRANSCENTAL FORM
Kant, in his Critique of Pure Reason, is focused on what he calls pure, or transcendental form, and how it comes to be. Are the forms that we generate transcendental, and would Kant agree? ...
A BUILDING, BY REQUEST
Why am I not drawing more buildings, like I used to do? Two readers recently asked this question. The drawing below is an attempt to get back to buildings. It is of Hagia Sophia,...
APODICTIC CERTAINTIES
I just finished reading Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. I can’t believe how closely it tracks with the basic premises of Transparent Drawing. I don’t want to spend any time “telling you what it...
DON’T ASSUME FORM
When you draw, don’t assume form. Don’t assume that you understand a holistic form unless you draw it entirely. Let’s say you want to draw a human head. In every how to draw book,...
IS ART USELESS?
A couple of pages ago, I wrote that art is useless. I have received two wonderful responses, one sent by Philippe Desfonds, and another by Michael Berry, both longtime readers. These passages are sage...
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