Investigations in drawing and painting

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Janet Newsome Abbott (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Andrew Martin

Abstract: My thesis consists primarily of investigations with various media into problems presented by the figure and the portrait. My subjects are live models, isolated and in pairs, fragmented and whole. Both drawings and paintings are notations of the subject as it occupies space and is defined by light. The portraits are shown in Juxtaposition to the work done from studio models. Each head is the result of an intense exploration of not only a form in space, but also of the idiosyncracies of the individual's temperament. Also included in the exhibit are five drawings done from a captive sparrow and a cardinal as they sat a few feet from me, and several drawings of orchids in bloom. These works are meant to convey the sense of specific living things, which reveal and withhold information about their existence. I feel that working on a small scale allows me an intimacy with my subjects that I find desirable, hence the tools I use are very important. I use Arches paper for drawing and 140 lb. Murilla watercolor block for the quality of skin their surfaces provide. For oil painting, I use rough paper or sized, unstretched linen. My palette in both watercolor and oil is limited in most cases to alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, naples yellow and white. I find these colors adequate for developing the nuances of passages of skin tones, yet their limitations encourage careful observation and mixing.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1975

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