Eyes that seek the Unseen
From “The Man with the Blue Guitar” by Wallace Stevens (1879-1955), a fragment from part XIV.
“…A candle is enough to light the world,
It makes it clear. Even at noon
It glistens in essential dark.
At night, it lights the fruit and wine,
The book and bread, things as they are.”
For those interested, the complete Wallace Stevens poem inspired, in the seventies, the series of etchings “The Blue Guitar” by David Hockney – well worth to be seen.
Just by chance I was surprised by a book of drawings by the poet Sylvia Plath, edited by her daughter Frieda Hughes . High quality drawings most of them in pen and ink on paper, also some pencil sketches, made in England, France, Spain and the U.S. Sylvia Plath had art tuition in her teens and she used to draw during her life – many of her poems were said to inspired by visual artworks. One of her drawings
Harbour Cornucopia, Wisconsin (from Sylvia Plath drawings, edited by Frieda Hughes, Faber & Faber, 2022, London, U.K.)
This drawing brought to my mind one of her poems
A Winter Ship
At this wharf there are no grand landings to speak of.
Red and orange barges list and blister
Shackled to the dock, outmoded, gaudy,
And apparently indestructible.
The sea pulses under a skin of oil…
The complete poem can be found here https://allpoetry.com/A-Winter-Ship
My long-time friend João Spratley is an excellent writer. He wrote a series of short texts in the form of traditional Fables, and asked me to illustrate them. This resulted in a short book, in French, that was published in 2021 (“Le Sourire du Chat et autres historiettes”). In the same line, we have just published a second (and last) book of Fables, also written in French (“Le Dernier sourire du Chat”), and also illustrated by me. I created a page Books im my main menu joaoavelarnet.org/books/ where you can find more details
Yesterday, another model drawing session of the Lisbon Drawing Club. The venue was again the Roman Museum, more precisely the ruins of the old Roman Theatre. The model was dressed according to the place and historic time. , Nice session, a beautiful place with a superb view to Tagus, many sailboats under a bright blue sky. Some sketches from that session
Some recent sessions at the Drink&Draw initiative and at the Lisbon Drawing Club. A mix of snapshots and sketches
Study (oil pastel and graphite on paper) for an oil painting featuring African migrants – a subject that concerns us all
From last night a sketch of a female model (mangaka thin marker and light grey brush pencil)
And two more old photos from Lisbon.
Two musicians at the Campo de Santa Clara
And the chessboard we walk on at the Town Hall Square
Three drawings (india ink and kuretake brush) of a live model
… and a photo taken from a rural roadside stand, selling ceramics and statues. I am still in doubt if the two statues were put side by side just by chance… I should have asked.
Some recent drawings from a young asian girl wearing a traditional hindustanic outfit. Drawings on kraft paper using black marker, pastel, charcoal and white chalk
I found a photo of four ukrainians soldiers in a trench or in a sort of shelter, in a very heavy and dark atmosphere. I dared to make an adaptation of that image
Two quick sketches from a living model
João Avelar images 