By candle light

Since Hurricane Maria devastated Dominica three months ago, we have been without electricity. For one hour a day we run the generator to charge batteries, but after that it's candle light.

Yesterday evening, when glancing in the bathroom mirror, by the afore said candle light, who did I see staring back at me: none other than Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt (1606-1669).

Rembrandt, and other artists from earlier periods, lived and worked by candle light. I now realise that it is this light that gave their painting dramatic heights and depths. 

It is not often that I indulge in a self-portrait - my last dates from 1974 - but here I am, in the bathroom mirror in candle light.

Perhaps for the New Year I should tell my models to forget the morning and afternoon sessions, from now on we will work after dark by candle light.

The heights and depths

For a watercolourist the highlights are the white of the paper and, at best, the depths a thunderous wash that is weakened by the inherent transparency of the medium.

The gem-like jet blackness of my present model forces me to risk all I know in my attempt for a likeness. One wash is thrown down on top of another and the inevitable runs mopped up with a tissue.

Mind you, tissues have been heavily in demand today as both my model and myself are recovering from a severe bout of flue.

Thank you Verlena for seeing the session through to the end. Today's picture shows that it was worth our efforts.

Footnote:

This painting reverts back to my 22" x 16" format. It was painted through out with a number 16 brush and took 20 minutes, or rather 60 years, from beginning to end.

All that I need to say

Today's painting, small by my standards, is no larger than a sheet of typing paper. Nevertheless, it says all that I have spent a lifetime trying to say in terms of capturing the beauty of the nude figure through the elusive medium of watercolour. 

I did not set out to paint a picture, but rather to give a new model and myself confidence of working together. In ten minutes we had broken the ice.

Thank you Verlena.

No sooner said than done

No sooner had I lamented in my last post of the dearth of models than I got a message from Annabelle, my number one model, to say she can fit in six sessions before finally leaving for medical school in January.

Picking up the painterly threads after three months is not easy. But Annabelle was true to her inspirational self and today’s five minute opening sketch gives me hope that I too can still work the magic.

I regret not capturing Annabelle as she breezed into my studio. While nothing can be more beautiful than the nude figure, the image of Annabelle in an alluring white dress comes close. The next time she wears it, I shall paint it!

In vacant or in pensive mood

It is not oft that I lie upon my couch in vacant or in pensive mood, and on the rare occasions that I do what dwells upon my inward eye is the beauty of the female nude, rather than daffodils. But I confess, the aftermath of Hurricane Maria has me vacant and pensive.

With little time left I need to get on with life, but now every move is tens times more difficult than it was before. Finding suitable models for my paintings and sculptures is a case in point. I search the island like a detective following possible leads. But alas, so far they have come to nought.

Today's drawing of the pregnant nude dates back to 1993.