On (and Off) the Grid

painting into the apocalypse

When the going gets authoritarian, what could be better than making copies of paintings that are about seemingly powerless people standing up and defeating their oppressors?

A friend set me on this challenge, to do a copy of Caravaggio’s Judith and Holnefernes. Many artists have depicted this theme, including Artemisia Ghenteleschi, Klimt, as well as other not so well known painters.

I spent the last three weeks working on creating this drawing, which will be my guide through making the finished painting, which will be traditional egg tempera, finished with oil glazes. I don’t think Caravaggio worked in egg tempera, but for my purposes, want to do lots of rich glazing, this will shorten the process…a bit.

The process of using a grid to translate a drawing from my source material is harder than you might think. I impose a grid over the source material, then correlate the grid on paper to the exact proportions of the original. The trick lies in not getting off course, because once you do, you are screwed, and any hope of getting a good copy is lost. I started with the “easiest” part, the drapery hanging from the top, then moved to Judith (the young woman cutting H’s head off) then working between the old woman looking on and gradually drawing their clothing. The more you get on the paper, the more guides you have to accurate placement. Again, the grid lines are crucial to keep everything placed correctly.

I did the body of Holofernes last, along with the drapery rests on, finally turning the whole thing sideways to draw his face. Faces are hard enough to draw, especially one that is so distorted by getting his head whacked off, let alone trying to draw it sideways.

I will keep you updated on my progress.

I am exceedingly pleased with myself.

As you can see from my photo, I always have a guardian panda guiding my work!

Of course there must be bears, to keep things from getting too serious.

About a month ago, I wrote a post called Despite Everything. After the fact, I realized I must have been thinking about the poem by a friend from my past life in Seattle, when I first started graduate school at University of Washington, and had a work study job in the art school office. Jody Aliesan was a department secretary, her day job to support her life as an accomplished poet.

I want to share her poem here, As If It Will Matter, written almost 50 years ago, but still so spot on to what many (most?) of us are feeling right now.

as if it will matter

in spite of the coming destruction of everything
I compost my garbage and separate
the metal from the glass, I turn off the gas
close the doors and shades to the hearth-room
and burn wood, slowly.

in spite of the abyss and the fireball
I wrap the water heater, buy second-hand clothes
as if it will matter, as if it makes sense
to save, conserve, protect, reuse
the vegetable water in the next soup.

any day now the end, bomb or leak
or the aftermath for those unlucky enough
to survive. no civil defense drills
anymore, they might alarm the populace—
better we should be digging potatoes
when the thunder comes, than
bolt around now glassy and numb
like fear-crazed rabbits.

someone’s in control,
I trust, what a waste to go in an accident
but whoever’s in control I can’t control
or even persuade. So I eat well and
healthily, run to keep in shape
as if strength mattered, as if I could run away.

Thank you all for being here.