Working Sometimes from the Fact

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I can’t work completely out of my imagination. I must put my foot in a bit of truth; and then I can fly free.

Andrew Wyeth

It was 85 degrees in north Texas yesterday, November 16. I have been impatiently waiting for fall weather and winter to follow. One of the reasons is that I enjoy so much gazing at winter trees with their core anatomy on view. Leaves, like clothing, conceal the tree’s essence, and I regret that living in the southwest, I see the bare trees for such a short span of the year.

I have posted the Andrew Wyeth quote because I feel those same sentiments. Beginning last winter, I drew trees in pencil, rendering them as accurately as I could see them. I know that Wyeth and Edward Hopper said that in later years they could work out of their imagination, no longer requiring the “fact” in front of their eyes for scrutiny. I am not there yet; if I try and draw or paint something that I am not looking at, then it comes out looking like a cartoon or cheap illustration.

The tree above, I guess, is a hybrid. I began drawing it from life Tuesday evening, as I awaited my artitistic friends for our weekly gathering at the cafe. I didn’t get very far before they arrived. So, I finished the drawing yesterday, using my imagination rather than a reference photo. I’m satisfied with the result, and am now ready to move on to the next tree. Unfortunately I spend my workdays indoors in an interior room without windows. So I’ll have to wait . . .

Thanks for reading.

I make art in order to understand.

I journal when I feel alone.

I blog to remind myself that I am not alone.

David Tripp's Watercolor Wanderings and Recollections