An Unfinished Work

I am an artist who works very slowly. I make numerous studies before beginning an artwork. Sometimes I work on projects that I am unable to complete. Sometimes the problem is that I simply don't have the skills to realize my vision, so I end up abandoning work that has consumed many studio hours. 

In 2007 I started a very large charcoal drawing. In addition to being an artwork in its own right, it was also meant to be a study for a very large landscape painting on canvas. 

After beginning the drawing on one large piece of paper, I ended up enlarging the composition with additional pieces of paper. The drawing became so big and unwieldy, I had to lay it down on the floor of my studio to work on it. Sitting on the floor and leaning in close to the drawing surface to apply or erase charcoal, I had the sensation of truly entering into the space of the landscape. In working on the drawing, I discovered methods of using charcoal that were new to me: moving and blending charcoal dust with brushes, and cutting leaf and grass shapes to use as drawing stencils and erasing shields.

I never completed the drawing, but parts of the composition appear in two oil paintings that make up a diptych: The Sustenance of Light and The Radiance of Dark (See Oils: Landscapes).