Back to the Present

Today the opposite of tomato is going loco down in Acapulco


graphite & watercolour/30x21cm

Given recent separate developments in subject/object matter, & factoring-in the tendencies & weight of personal artistic history, there was indeed an inevitability in a pear & a bowl coming together in a composition to be actively contemplated through the drawing process.

Again, the fascinating challenge is to represent the manner in which light describes shape & form, the complementaries of such in this instance, through processes of falling directly upon & reflecting against surfaces, as occurs here: the robust form of the pear contrasts somewhat with the fleeting subtleties of light upon its skin, for example, & the process of drawing & watercolour becomes an attempt to record this as it also endeavours to preserve itself (better in this case than other more overworked examples, perhaps).

The drawn marks upon the horizontal surface before the pear introduce an element of narrative to the drawing as it forms part of the general body & sequence of such, engaging in dialogue with a recently preceding example through being the locational guides to the position of the sprig of japonica blossom that featured in relation to the bowl in place of the pear in that particular drawing.
Additionally, similar marks have been drawn around both bowl & pear for such purposes in this instance also: as such positional marks, represented as a compositional feature of the image, they might be claimed to have a certain 'Uglowian' quality, even if being rather loosely applied & thus less precise than such source in the habitually 'exacting' nature of that artist's measurements.

Soundtrack:


The Pastels 'Up For a Bit With...'

A most welcome re-acquaintance with a classic from the ‘shambling’ era of the mid-1980s, once owned on vinyl (although cassette might perhaps have been its ideal format, iconic of the 'C-86' scene as it was &, I suppose, remains), subsequently proving a rare beast on CD but affordable in downloadable form & recently capitalized upon thus. Words are so woefully inadequate to describe the wonders of this seminal album & the contents thereof, but an unalloyed joy it is indeed to immerse in the enduring sonic pleasures that overflow its 30-minute duration, the irresistible tunes, idiosyncratic lyrics, the twanging guitars, strings, bells & whatever else is loaded into the mix of the sheer glorious noise that constitutes such a magnificent, perfect whole, more delightfully arch even than the collected works of Belle & Sebastian, for whom the trail was blazed so gloriously by such a precursor (& what a devastating pair this & ‘Tigermilk’ make). ‘Up for a bit with The Pastels’, sir? Not half…