Page 29 - International Artist2 110

Stephen Shore, black and white watercolor and colored pencils
with fountain pen, 5 x 8" (13 x 20 cm)
Photographer Stephen Shore gives a presentation at my local
bookstore. I sketch his portrait from the audience as he speaks.

He briefly strikes a pose with a hand to his mouth, both pensive
and guarded. His wild nimbus of white hair is backlit from the
projection screen behind him. The fluorescents light him from

the near side. I choose to portray him in gray colors, wanting
to keep my tools simple. As I jot down his quotes, I enjoy the
irony of what he says about how we see the world in color.

Diner Table,
gouache
with white
chalk, 5 x 8"
(13 x 20 cm)
As I finish

my meal in a diner, a group
of high school girls starts
their lunch at a table near
me. I get out my gouache
and start painting them. A
couple of them look over,
but they don’t seem to care.
I limit my colors to: purple,
raw sienna, cadmium yellow
deep, plus white. When it’s
nearly finished, I add a little

bit of white pastel color stick
to convey the effect of the

window glare. The gouache
has a receptive matte
surface that takes the pastel

well. I rub it in firmly with
my fingers to make the

rough texture disappear
and look like airbrush.
Shape Note Singers, casein, 5 x 8" (13 x 20 cm)

I’m at another Sacred Harp singing. While my wife sings, I sit off to
the side and paint in casein. I’ve got four hours. The poses are great,
but they don’t last long because people keep changing seats.
Here’s my strategy:
1. Limit the color to a warm monochrome. That simplifies

the variables and fits the starkness of the music.

2. Go immediately to finish on the central head and

paint outward from him.

3. Draw with the brush. The figure on the right and all
the books are completely drawn with a round brush
late in the session.
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