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Monday, January 23, 2006

Scribble


I guess there has to be an element of obsessive-compulsive disorder going on in anyone who makes images.
Hopefully though, most image makers know when to leave a drawing alone, whether they think it is finished or not.
Which leads me to these drawings.
Several years ago I was living with hugely talented pot smoking maniac (he was a very very fine illustrator).
We ended up going our separate ways, and one of the reasons was our interests in art were fundementally different.
I started doing these quite obsessive, laboured abstract scribble drawings, and he thought I was completely insane - could not comprehend why I would spend days crosshatching the white off the page when there were naked girls to be drawn (mind you, I'm kind of understood where he was coming from).
Anyway.
I did about 7 or 8 in 3 different sizes.
The medium sized one is the image above.

This is a detail


And this is the largest one I did - it's a rough panorama of the finished thing.
It's about 4 metres across and about a metre and a half in height.
It took me about a year to complete on and off and represents to me, the most obsessive I've ever been when it comes to my art.
I'm not sure if the work I put into it is something I'm proud of, but I am very pleased with the final image.
People inevitably ask what it is and I really have no idea.
I called it Stormfront in the end, deciding it looked a bit like rain clouds.
Someone I can't recall described it as "meditative" which I liked.


At the moment there are tradesmen polishing the floors in my house so I'm staying with a friend almost exactly opposite my place on the other side of the valley.
This was taken about 6 o'clock this morning.
It's going to be another hot one...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

obsession rendering subtle tones- tre' cool.

Oscar Grillo said...

I am not kidding, These drawings are perhaps so far my favourite pieces by you...and you know how much I like your work!....Here I love the boldness, the energy and the vision.

Elliot Cowan said...

Ah Mr Grillo that means a great deal to me.
It took a leap of faith on my own behalf to discard "characters" as it were and do this strange textured thing, but it certainly felt right at the time.
I shall get back to them at some stage I imagine - the big one was the last one and it kind of knocked it out of me for a while.

Boris Hiestand said...

Elliot, you are an artist in the true sense of the word, meaning you've got some screws loose. Seriously.
I mean that in a positive way though- these cross hatch things are great.

It would also be nice to switch countries for a couple of weeks,- over here it's nothing but ice and snow.. I yearn for the sun.

Marco Antonio Sepúlveda said...

elliot.
Interesante tu blog y por sobre todo los dibujos.

Saludos desde Chile.

Marco Antonio Sépúlveda

Elliot Cowan said...

Marco - I don't speak your language but I sense you are making a positive comment.
I shall visit your many blogs later today!

donnachada said...

Wow Elliot. That is amazing. I'm not surprised the large one took it out of you. It feels like it had a rhythm running through it. I'll say it again. That's amazing.

Elliot Cowan said...

Donnachada - That's me, Mr Rhythm!
(and thanks man, really).

 
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