Truffle

Dark chocolate truffle with lemon verbena. A truffle is simply a piece of chocolate with a soft center, but most customers think a truffle is supposed to look round. Another illusion broken.

My friend Dianne sent me this incredible video about Jill Bolte Taylor who brilliantly explains the roles of the left and right brain after experiencing it firsthand when she had a stroke. What she says reminds me of the flow that I feel when I'm really into a drawing. In that flow it's as if there's no separation between myself and the object. And after I draw something I feel a connection with that object that I hadn't before. According to the right brain's perspective, it's because we are each other. Sounds crazy? Watch this video and it will make sense. It's 19 minutes long but well worth the time. Just grab a cup of tea and a truffle and enjoy!

Chocolate almonds

Dark chocolate covered almonds, dusted with cocoa. 

I've really been struggling with light, or lack thereof, when I do my daily drawing. It's amazing how much light affects a painting. Light is a painting. It's the difference in values that create a form. When I draw at night I need light on both the object and the paper, but using two lights creates scattered shadows. Daylight is perfect but it changes so quickly, and I don't often get to draw midday when the sun is fixed high in the sky.

I had to photograph this drawing outside while it was snowing this morning because it was the best lighting I could find, but the quality pales in comparison to the scanned images. The frustration and mystery of light. When I get back to Albuquerque I'll scan these images and post them again.

Salted toffee

Dark chocolate covered toffee with a touch of sea salt.

I've noticed that when light falls on something brown, it creates a bright blue high light. I discovered that when I painted the couch with Louie napping, and now while painting chocolate. I have a little left-right brain battle when I draw. The right side sees it clearly, while the left insists that chocolate can not be blue, it must be brown. The problem is that the left brain's way of doing it makes for a boring drawing, so the right brain wins. I've also noticed that when I'm tired the left brain takes over the drawing, putting down on the paper what it thinks something should look like, not taking the time to observe what really is.

Drawing depends on a different type of seeing than the kind used for daily life. It involves seeing through an illusion into what is real. I like taking this idea off the paper and into the world, noting how many other little truths might be available when my mind gets stuck in its ways.