Dissecting "Holy"

For me, there's a difference between making art and making art that I want exhibited.

I have plenty of art. 6 completed oil paintings, three currently in process, countless sketchbooks that are half full, and two Sterilite containers with sketchbooks that are completed. I've even already thrown out seven oil paintings because I don't my want name associated with them.

But I've got only got a dozen or so pieces that truly encompass what I want to say and exactly how I want to say it.

As I've progressed I've become more in tune with my materials and message, and ultimately the goal is for everything that I create to be something I would have exhibited.

For now, one of my purest pieces is "Holy"; a graphite/watercolor piece on 11"x14" 184lb toned gray Strathmore.

How is it pure?

Look at the graphite lines. They are confident. There are no second guesses, no eraser marks. Each line is not perfect, but it has purpose and intent. The watercolor brush strokes follow the same philosophy.

This piece is indisputably feminine. Yet, it is not a blatant copy of a woman in realism; but there is enough from nature to suggest that this woman exists uninterrupted in the world I've created. If we were to turn her around she would possess all the quantities of a woman from our material plane (except maybe a right forearm).

There is a touch of Voyeurism as the subject is not aware of the viewer: but we are not looking at her in a moment that is meant to be private or intimate. Instead it is a moment of confidence and certainty.

I've given a nod to the studies of masters before me: Egon Schiele and Albrecht Dürer, by blessing her with the white halo around her head.

Realists would bring nature and bullshit in to tear it apart, but true artists, and the ones I wish to associate with, would appreciate it for what it is, delivering feedback from an artist's perspective, not the crutch of nature.

These are all qualities that I want in everything I create! This art piece is precisely where I want to be!