It’s not everyday that you get a chance to see your life through someone else’s eyes.
We were fortunate to host our aunt and uncle, Barb and Warren, at our house in October. While they were visiting, Warren began a sketch of our back yard while sitting on our patio. Last week, he sent us a scanned version of the finished copy. Thanks Warren.
We look forward to this being the first piece of art we hang in our new studio.
And then I guess, according to Warren’s perspective, I might need to clean up the chaos that is our backyard…
Below is the finished sketch:
Warren's Notes:
"Here is a digital copy of a ballpoint drawing of your back yard, made from a sketch I did one morning when we were visiting, initially called "Backyard sunrise, 224 South Morrison, San Jose, California, 7 Oct 2006."
I've worked on it most every weekend for the past five months. Because the sketchbook is a little too big to fit in my backpack, I couldn't bring it along with me on workdays to work in it before reporting to the design studios (which is when I do most of my drawing), so it got relegated to those early morning drawing sessions on Saturdays and Sundays at either the Mule or Ozzie's coffeehouses.
This morning - at the Mule - I decided it is as finished as it is going to get.
I will be this first to admit it is a weird drawing - and that it has its problems as a visual statement. First off, it's way too dense. Very little "big" elements pop out of - and therefore it does not
transcend - the detail. There are certain stylistic elements that keep it from being a fully-integrated work - the most obvious one to me is the textural differences between the top right and left sides of the picture - that the rendering of the cypress trees on the right has a different stroke-feel than the smoother natural elements of the left. And even with all of the shadows I have added, the drawing remains extremely flat.
That said - my goal was never pure realism. When I make "landscape" drawings, usually I start from a sketch made on the spot, but then let it become an abstraction that plays with shape and line and texture and dimensionality until it becomes a mixture of fantasy and reality. Yet this piece, for all of the odd shapes and strange creatures that manifested while the drawing developed into a firm visual expression, resilently clung to its realistic roots ... and eventually acquired two new titles.
The second title is much more dramatic in a classical sense: "The Battle of the Sun and the Oranges." At times it felt like some Aesopian fable was taking place - which has more saturation, the oranges on the tree or the rising sun? The rays of the sun seemed to be crossing swords with the branches of the tree.
Then a third theme developed during a weird coincidence. I had noticed there was a fetus-like shape in the lower right portion of the drawing, which seemed appropriate given Mysti's pregnancy. Then you guys sent the 3-D ultrasound of BSB, and suddenly it became apparent that image was a perfect model to emulate - so a new title evolved, "Womb of Baby Smith-Bentley."
Hopefully, the drawing is all of these things - and more. I've attached a little pictorial guide pointing out the main visual features."
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