truth

[Pinecone. charcoal on paper, 2007. 5x10"]

"The great artists of all periods, though they have the highest regard for truth, have never regarded truth as identical with deceptive imitation."
- C.J. Holmes, Notes On the Science of Picture Making, Ch. XVII: The Painter's Aims and Ideals (1909)

While packing and moving, I had the chance to go through boxes of sketch books, drawings, and color studies. This charcoal drawing I did four years ago caught my attention. I remember doing it. It's an enjoyable way to pass an hour --- find an object, pick up a pencil or whatever, and draw. Working directly from the object sharpens perception, stimulates the imagination, and should encourage a process of paring down a subject to its essentials. This is, in essence, a form of abstraction, based on observation and knowledge. A realistic abstraction, as such, because all great painting or drawing represents Truth, which need not be expressed (in the words of one critic) in "slavish rendering of surface detail".