Bathers and My New(ish) Bamboo Pad

In my intuitive painting class we are are exploring our own personal imagery and beginning to experiment with using it (or not using it) in our paintings.  This causes some amount of trepidation as sometimes I think my paintings tell me to paint something I usually avoid painting - human figures and faces.  This painting that I posted a few weeks back is a good example.  You may remember I saw one of Edgar Degas' bathers on the right side of the canvas.

Since then I've been thinking a lot about those bathers, revisiting some of those gorgeous images and reading up on Degas' methods and intentions.  He painted literally hundreds of these beautiful images.  I thought I'd share a few here just for you to enjoy.

Edgar Degas.  Woman Combing Her Hair. 1885.

Edgar Degas.  Woman Drying Her Hair. 1889.

These were painted over a span of many years so it's interesting to see the progression of style and emphasis.  Degas' eyesight began to decline in his mid-thirties due to retinal disease and he painted many bathers after he had lost his central vision and much of his ability to see color.  (Read a fascinating account of the loss of eyesight by Degas and Claude Monet in this article by Tracie White)

Edgar Degas.  After the Bath, Woman with a Towel. 1893-97.

As for my painting, I'm putting it on hold for a while.  I don't really know where to go from here so I'll let it sit while I play on the other canvases in progress.  For now, though, I doodled a rough outline of the bather I originally saw since she may disappear the next time I work on this canvas.  (I finally learned to use the Bamboo Pad I got for Christmas!  Yay!)

The Bamboo Pad is a very noncommittal way to experiment a little with form and line without committing to marks on the canvas.  I know, I know...intuitive painting is not about being safe, but I love the direction of this painting and I have no idea how I want to proceed.  I think I'll experiment on some other canvases before I dive back into this one.

I've had a lot of fun playing with my new toy this week.  It was easy to learn and I am amazed at how much the stylus feels and works like a pencil in my hand.  The first thing I did was jot some quotes on top of detail images from some works-in-progress.  I post them here in honor of my creative, inspiring friends (that's you)!

Linking up today with:

Paint Party Friday

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