About

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Background

SW/ 1     

One thing that initially attracted me and which has been the driving influence on my current Southwest works, is that of a landscape shaped by time. Obviously, all earthly landscapes are a product of their geological histories, most by nature though many altered by human intervention. Having spent a decade focused on the granite facades of Yosemite, I found in my initial travels through the Southwest states a strong connection between the two. While each is most notably defined by their unique topography shaped by their own geological histories, I was struck how much more observable that the Southwest landscape’s history was evidenced, unconcealed and much more prominent than the subtle granite formations in Yosemite.

    Much like my attempts to come to a response to the Yosemite terrain, so too has it been with this current pilgrimage through the Southwest states. Both began with a more impartial, traditional approach that over time evolved into a more simplified, pared down response that focused on images that better illustrated what nature had shaped. 

The refined focus of the early SW paintings was on highly detailed images that addressed what I found to be the primary identifiers, ones that merged my academic side of art making with my growing understanding of the SW histories, both geographic as well as human.  

    What has intrigued me most has been the history of a given location, geological features that were often defined by their juxtaposition of incongruity and variation. Of particular interest has been the contrasting features of the exposed sandstone, unmasked over time with the stains of ‘desert varnish’ , layers of microscopic organisms, a patina of manganese iron and clay that often colors entire mountain ranges black or reddish brown which becomes highly reflective when angled towards the sun or sky.

 There are particular areas of the SW, like the gorges of Zion and the bordering cliffs that follow the Colorado River near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks that I have continued to return to, locations that offer by their  access, to and the kind of imagery that drives the work..

SW/ 2    

Though I am currently exploring a different process from the early painted images, I find that the fundamental issues remain essentially the same. As noted, these paintings, drawings as well as my current efforts remain focused on those components within the landscape that have been defined by nature’s intervention. 

    Last Spring I spent several weeks in Utah, returning to locations that I had wanted to explore in more debt. Two of these were a distinctive canyon, a segment of the Burr Trail, high up on the Grand Staircase-Escalante. The other was the vertical rock faces along the Potash Road, boardering the Colorado River just West of Moab, Utah.  What was different with this recent visit, was the opportunity to get physically closer to both, experience and to document (photograph) the cliffs and crags. What ensued from that trip was a unanticipated interest and impulse to respond with a process that was more direct, immediate and investigative. 

    To that end I began a series of works on paper and board, modest in scale, building surfaces with tinted gesso and lava gel (sand textured gesso). I then altered the surfaces by sanding, scrapping and spaying them at sharp angles to emphasize the imposed relief. I referenced not only the photo documentation, but relied equally on my own recall and experience from the years of viewing these solitary, yet distinctive sandstone rock faces. The work has gone through several alterations as I try to accommodate my response to both the academic and conceptual base with my personal exposure to the infinite nuances at play in these vertical rock faces.  

    The earlist works in this SW2 series focused on replecating a factsimli surface, taking note of not only the tme altered sedimentary sandstone formations, but also the resulting conditions exposed through geological uplift, erosion and volcanic activity.  As with the painting and drawings from the SW1 series, the resulting images are continusly filtered through my personal sensibilities, be they overly academic or purley subjective.  

In SW1 the process incorporated numerious options through alternative croping and formatting from my on site experience and photographs taken at the time.  

The SW2 series, by comparison, has drawn influence that has impacted the process and outcome, but are inherently more instiinctual, and yet, remain fused with my methodical and scholastic requisites.

    Concentrating on the issue of Southwestern mythology was not a initial focal point in this particular body of work.  However the steady unveiling of the history and cultures of the numerous tribes and peoples that occuppied these vast regions, has led me to my most recent series of works.

One of the areas of intrest in my latest trips to the Southwest was in search for elements in the landscape were conduets for tribal beliefs and a link to their beliefs or myths.   Often noted was the connection between the the tribal belief systems and mythology that are promently eulogized through generations of Rock Art, Petroglyphs, Petrographs and Petroforms.  Coincidently, I had been photographing numerous petroglyphs in and around the Captol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands NP’s. on this particular trip.  Of particular interest was the fact that most petroglyphs are commonly found on the black or brown surfaces (desert varnish), an occurance that has been expored into many of my SW1 works.   One focus of the SW1 series had been about the juxtoposition of the reflective desert varnish and the varied sandones, exposing history through a deductive transformation.             

What followed in many of my most recent works has been the persuence of the idea of utilizing the petroglyphic prosess, by using the methodolgy of exposing the colored sandstone through the darker layers of  iron and manganese in the Desert Varnish. 

     The first of several works in my petroglyph ( Petro) series explored and utalize segments of existing SW native images and symbols. One process involves several layers of tinted and textured gesso with a final layer of metalic grays or graphite before etching through the final surface with specific images.  These depictions relate to, but not duplicate, existing SW petroglyph imagery, especially ones that were tied directly to tribal culture or mythology.  Many of the symbols or graphic elements, such as the circle, maze and cross, have been incorporated intentionally as while they are represented across many of the SW cultures they are also historically embraced worldwide in concept and practice.    

Background

This series of paintings and drawings  advanced toward a certain resolve over several years, however the genesis for this Yosemite series took root several decades ago with our family’s annual visits the park .  Those years  served as a informative and valuable footing as to Yosemite’s human and geologic history.  It also established a growing familiarity with the Park’s shifting weather, majestic granite outcroppings, high country lakes and meadows and became my initial forage for a personal and appropriate visual language in which to respond.

My early artistic efforts to this varying, yet often intimidating landscape was through photography, rewarding, but, at the time, not my medium of choice.  Over time, these yearly experiences in the park initiated a somewhat undefinable, yet personal connection, a sense of place, which was brought a little more in focus, over a decade ago, while teaching in the Yosemite Valley each summer as part of the Park’s guest artist program.  

Drawing on location became my first attempts to respond in a personal way, bringing me face to face with the complexities of the granite cliffs and the perceptual demands inherent in capturing the ever changing light.  These drawings were initially seen as outside of my studio work, which was focused more on the urban landscape, they differed notably in both content, process and perceived outcome.

The repeated experience of working on sight in Yosemite in the early years of 2000 overlapped with a then ongoing re-assessment of issues related to my studio work.  Subsequently I began to take new and altered interest in my connection to the Landscape’, which initiated the decision to take the studio, in essence, on the road   Since 2003 I have made repeated road trips through most of the Western States, focusing on the National Parks, but I have always found my way back to Yosemite, it was and remains a enduring priority. 

While I had spent a few winter holidays in the park, it was not till 2007 when I began to conduct annual Winter workshops in the Yosemite Valley that I recognized, or appreciated, my deep connection to Yosemite.  While not exactly a epiphany, it was rather a realization and artistic recognition, that the Winter months brought a certain clarity, austerity, and visual simplicity to the landscape. These were issues that I have addressed consistently in my art over the years.  Since 2007 I have been painting, drawing and photographing in Yosemite several times over the Winter and Spring months, mainly or preferably after a major snowfall, working in repeated 1-2 hour blocks over several days in order to manage the rapidly changing southern light.  

 Yosemite Winter Series      

John Muir, the naturalist, helped create Yosemite National Park - securing the site's extraordinary life and topography against human exploitation. A century and a quarter later, Jim Murray, the naturalist, has helped re-create Yosemite National Park - regarding and replicating the moods and atmospheres of its higest points.  The "naturalism" of one J.M., of course, is not that of the other. But they both spring from a love of nature's grandeur, and in particular from an abiding awe in those climatic Yosemite moments where the ground touches the sky.     Peter Frank  June 2014          

The nucleus of this Yosemite Series focuses on the Winter and Springs months, with most of the paintings and drawings finished or begun in the Yosemite Valley and others developed from sketches and photo documentation done on location. The exception would be the Cam Series which has referenced images from the Yosemite Conservancy’s web cams. 

This series can be generally umbrellaed under four main areas that have evolved to denote different modes of interpretation or connection to the unrestrained Yosemite experience.   The three represented here are those paintings and drawings completed essentially On Site at specific locations, a second body of works are paintings that have their inspiration drawn from Yosemite, but executed in my Studio and a third group, the Yosemite Cam Series.  A fourth series is a collection of Winter related photographic images that I see visually embracing many of the unique nuances of the season and the my personal sense of place, Yosemite.

On Site: Drawings and Paintings  

      Like many first time visitors to the park, and in particular the Yosemite Valley, I encountered both a sense of wonder, while at the same time being visually overwhelmed by the sheer number of significant formations and waterfalls, a experience intensified by access and proximity.   It took years of visits and repeated exploration before I felt the certitude and conviction to become more than just an observer.  

As a guest art instructor I became responsible to actually make decisions for accessible and visually viable locations. That responsibility created the base and impetus to later explore alternative sites at various locations in and outside the Yosemite Valley, first on film, then as drawings and eventually with paint.   

The majority of drawings and paintings that are done on site are only partially rendered to a more finished state.  This is partially a consequence of limitations imposed by time, light and conditions, but it is also intentional, left in progress, a visual notation of both place and process.

Yosemite Studio Series 

  Since most of the On Site works only involve the Winter months, it was not just logical, but became essential to continue to develop additional responses that were intensifying with each Winter’s visitations.  Between my individual documentation while painting and the significant amount of time spent photographing during my workshops, I have accumulated a sizable reference source.  It is from these photo files, much of which were shot with the intent for future works, that I have been able to expand on my experiences within Yosemite.  These works have sought to address several of those fundamental elements that define Yosemite’s character and temperament.  They are often grouped in a smaller series, that continues to expand, but are current responses to Yosemite’s granite cliffs, domes and spires, to the numerous waterfalls, to the creeks and rivers and to the ever changing conditions that infuse Yosemite’s landscape with remarkable displays of light and clouds

These works tend to respect the source but are noticeably infused with a more concerted approach that often plays the details against the whole, recognition against the abstract and often seeks specific, engaging imagery.  This incorporation of the more academic side of image making is a personal connection that is necessary to retain many of the core considerations that I have continually addressed in my work over the past four decades.

Background

The one issue that I was unable to resolve with the previous decade of figurative paintings, was the inordinate amount of time it took to complete a single painting. I would normally work on one piece at a time with drawings taking weeks and paintings four to six months. This protracted pace was a necessary part of the process and one that I came to realize could not be abbreviated.  Scale and rendering in particular, refused to be compromised or downsized.  

  Reflecting back, through a decade of full time art making, was the key to making a change. I found that there were many components from my figurative works that I wanted to continue to embrace. Amongst those were the retention and specificity of information and sense of place. While the focus of the figure series was on the dialogue between the viewer and the subjects, it was also about positioning them into a specific setting, yet undefined local. 

The scale of the work was now smaller and more intimate and void of any figures. The images were often from a distance and atmospheric. But while the dissimilarities were noteworthy, the drawings were being grounded in many of the key positions that I had incorporated into my work a decade earlier.  The strong perceptual reading of place, reinforced once again by the the documentary nature of b/w photo, much as the first set of paintings in the Figurative Series, and supported by the clarity of detail and the choice of charcoal and pastels as mediums. These alignments with past work retained the disconnect from stylistic issues and authorship.

Over the years the b/w landscape drawings evolved, moving from local images and the first focused series ( Chevron refinery) to even more specific subject matter ( Century Freeway and LA Disturbance series).   The first introduction of color to the drawings was ushered in by the nearly monochromatic winter landscapes of the Colorado ski trails, and extended into the often distinctive and singular colorings of the fire drawings.

My intent was not to overly editorialize, but to assume a more objective view, and much like the figurative paintings, focus on the exchange between the viewer and the subject matter.  For it was the relative positioning of man in his environment that attracted me in the first instance, driving my response both intellectually and more important, visually.                           

    In the end and to the degree possible, I worked to continue to keep my presence out of the conversation, leaving more room for the viewer’s dialogue with the work, not it’s creator

Background

Early 1970”s... I was finishing up my undergraduate work at the Art Center College in Los Angeles, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Illustration, I followed graduation with an acceptance into Art Center’s Graduate Program, and amended my major to focus on painting and a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Studio Arts.

The graduate program at Art Center was structured towards each candidate’s unique resolve, responding to ones individual ideas or perceptions, and to an extent, breaking from the technical and utility that was at the core of the undergraduate program. The end result of that effort set in place the conceptual foundation that has become a major component in my work over the years.

While attempting to construct a defined working premise, I realized that what I had been observing and putting to use as a undergraduate illustration major, namely, the use of photographic source material, was in fact, central in its application to my painting efforts at that time. The actual process of working with this source material appealed to my pragmatic side as well as being germane to my focus on the figure as my primary subject matter. I had come to recognize and expropriate the psychological and perceptual benefits of photography in the delivery of both concept and subject in my paintings. It was not exactly an epiphany, but rather recognized and utilized as a potential vehicle for a more direct link between the painted figure or figures and the viewer.

Though time and advances in the technology have diluted that premise of equating photographic information with factuality, photo based imagery, be it analogue or digital, still retains much of its ability for the artist to override the often entrenched issues of style and authorship. It allowed for a more direct or increased viewer dialogue with the subject or subject matter.

This premise became a working concept, initiating a process, that became realized

The figurative paintings and drawings that were conceptually forged out of the graduate program and first shown in the 1972 Art Center graduate exhibition, continued to mature and be exhibited well into the mid 1980”s . The paintings had expanded from a black and white palette to full color, but they retained the core focus on minimizing the artists signature, coupled with the same attention to detail and the formal architectural backdrops that were often reconfigured to complement the centralized figure or figures.

The decision to shift from a black and white palette to color was marked but was seen as the next logical step. I had opted to leave behind the inferred documentary nature of the b/w image for the recent advances in color photography and it’s growing public access. Color had become the norm.

While my work tended to fall under the general heading of ‘Photo Realism’ , I worked in a manner that differed notably from many of my peers. Rather than replicate the photographic nuances that are particular to camera based imagery and the photographic process, I chose to use the photograph as source material and translate the information with a more traditional approach. Choosing to work from b/w photographs rather than color and utilizing a highly restricted primary palette. These constraints were seen as consistent and in line with my attempts to minimize distraction and keep the focus on the subjects rather than the supporting components.
The working premise was that the further the viewer moved away from the painted surface, issues of style, and authorship and shifted closer to the perceptual reality of the camera’s image the more likely would be the connection to the figures in the paintings.

Speculation had become concept, less had become more

My interest in working from the live model dates back to my undergraduate studies at the Art Center College, then located in the mid Wilshire area of Los Angeles. It was there that I was mentored in the skill sets of the old masters under the guidance of Lorser Feitelson and Harry Carmean, two recognized twentieth century maestros. That training not only set in place my long-lasting avidity to drawing, but was a major factor in being hired and spending four decades teaching figure drawing on the university level and after retirement within several community based programs. 

I currently draw weekly with other artists in open studios, uninstructed groups. However, because of  the different methodology and processes, I have long seperated my figure drawing activity from my studio works, as seen elsewhere on this site.  

 Like most of us, who work from the model, be we professionally garrisoned or novice, it was and often remains a love/ hate relationship. The love is in the instant feedback associated with drawing directly from the models, ideally, both instinctive and spontaneous. The odium is based in the reality that working figuratively and in particular, with a live model, is often the most difficult and dispiriting odysseys we take on as artists. 

The first of the two most formidable foes is   in the transfer of a three dimensional reality to the reductive, two dimensional format. The second is that the human personage is a known and pervasive entity and any illustrated variation outside the norm, will carry a response, intended or not. Depicting the likeness is one thing, rendering the factual is quite another.

That said, for me it remains both the challenge and confrontation within the process and the confidence in my experience and adeptness to come to a satisfactory outcome, be it a two minute quick sketch or a four hour drawing. 

While the drawings that are illustrated here represent only a small selection of my drawings over the years, they hopefully convey the approach and the considerations that I bring to each drawing secession. These drawings represent a range of images, that are often conditioned by the ‘open drawing studio’ format. The standard arrangement for a three hour secession is that of short to long timed poses, an example would be 10 at 2 min., 4 at 5 min., 2 at 10 and a series of 20 or 25 minutes. The models break between each set and depending on the drawing group may or may not include costuming. There are some sessions that focus on longer poses that run in multiples of 1 to 4 hours. Though I still attend the shorter formatted groups, in the last few years I have focused on the longer poses that allow me to push the drawings to a different level of completion. Stylistically, I tend to stay close to my founditatioal beginnings, but often will push the figure into a different direction, frequently more illustrative or demonstrative.