Barbara Grossman, Blues Trio, 2015, 26×20″ charcoal
I was interested in learning some new language to talk about what is so captivating about Charity Baker’s drawings and paintings. Charity gave me a list of her teachers, Barbara Grossman was one of them.
Barbara Grossman, Islamic Tiles, 2016, 28 x 30″ oil on linen
Barbara Grossman’s artworks are impressionistic, abstracted, full of color and pattern. Instead of drawing with focal points and perspective, she describes space in a more abstract or impressionist way. In these works, you’ll see that Grossman creates interest by leading us through the composition via pathways and a variety of marks that maintain their intensity all the way through and to the edge of the composition. Pathways to the edge of the rectangle can function as a powerful tool to hold us in a drawing and painting; tools that in the process of trying to render the figure, I often neglect. I frequently emerge from a drawing session with a drawing of a face or figure, without the impact of a full composition. This is most often a mistake of a desire to get it “right” and hyper-focus on the features of the face and form. It’s something I am working diligently to change, especially now that I’m seeing the student works that implement the strength of these tools, and notice how impactful they are.
Barbara Grossman studied art and music at Yale, and in the drawings below you’ll see making music as a theme. In these artworks that describe both the experience of making music and the experience of making art, notice how the shapes, marks, and pathways hold us in the frame, and lead us around the composition, continuously giving us something new to discover in the work.
Barbara Grossman, Trio Singing, 2015, 30 x 22.75″ charcoalBarbara Grossman, Trio Rehearsing, 2005, 26×20″ charcoal and conteBarbara Grossman, Duo Andante, 2005, 26×20″ charcoal and conteBarbara Grossman, Trio – Vermillion 2002, 30 x 26″ charcoal Barbara Grossman, Trio – Blue 2002, 30 x 22″ charcoalBarbara Grossman, Duo – Bright Red, 2002, 30 x 22″ charcoalBarbara Grossman, Trio – Naples Yellow, 2002, 30 x 22″ charcoal
There are at least 9 portraits made of the Postman Joseph Roulin, and 17 of his family. The Postman became one of his Van Gogh’s favorite sitters in the French town of Arles. Van Gogh wrote to his brother about him: “I am now at work with another model, a postman in a blue uniform, …
One year ago in March, to protect our students and teachers from a new coronavirus, the Seattle Artist League moved our classes online. The virus was declared a national emergency, and we went into quarantine. We have now been in quarantine for thirteen months. Through this year, we have met each other online to draw, …
I chose the clip above for Kerry James Marshall’s thoughts about how identifying as a Black artist is not a real choice, because only white artists are not burdened by the problems of race. Then the paintings of Black artists in the ‘Being an Artist” video (above) led me to seek out more of Marshall’s …
I’ve been talking about how to use hands as expressive elements within a drawing. I love this idea so much, both for technical practice and for powerful personal expression, that I made a class to study expressive hands and heads, and I started collecting examples. Some I collected because I appreciated the rendering. Some I collected because the artist …
8 Drawings by Barbara Grossman
I was interested in learning some new language to talk about what is so captivating about Charity Baker’s drawings and paintings. Charity gave me a list of her teachers, Barbara Grossman was one of them.
Barbara Grossman’s artworks are impressionistic, abstracted, full of color and pattern. Instead of drawing with focal points and perspective, she describes space in a more abstract or impressionist way. In these works, you’ll see that Grossman creates interest by leading us through the composition via pathways and a variety of marks that maintain their intensity all the way through and to the edge of the composition. Pathways to the edge of the rectangle can function as a powerful tool to hold us in a drawing and painting; tools that in the process of trying to render the figure, I often neglect. I frequently emerge from a drawing session with a drawing of a face or figure, without the impact of a full composition. This is most often a mistake of a desire to get it “right” and hyper-focus on the features of the face and form. It’s something I am working diligently to change, especially now that I’m seeing the student works that implement the strength of these tools, and notice how impactful they are.
Barbara Grossman studied art and music at Yale, and in the drawings below you’ll see making music as a theme. In these artworks that describe both the experience of making music and the experience of making art, notice how the shapes, marks, and pathways hold us in the frame, and lead us around the composition, continuously giving us something new to discover in the work.
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Van Gogh: The Postman and his Family
There are at least 9 portraits made of the Postman Joseph Roulin, and 17 of his family. The Postman became one of his Van Gogh’s favorite sitters in the French town of Arles. Van Gogh wrote to his brother about him: “I am now at work with another model, a postman in a blue uniform, …
Online Anniversary Show: Scenes in Grey and Green
One year ago in March, to protect our students and teachers from a new coronavirus, the Seattle Artist League moved our classes online. The virus was declared a national emergency, and we went into quarantine. We have now been in quarantine for thirteen months. Through this year, we have met each other online to draw, …
Being an Artist; Kerry James Marshall
I chose the clip above for Kerry James Marshall’s thoughts about how identifying as a Black artist is not a real choice, because only white artists are not burdened by the problems of race. Then the paintings of Black artists in the ‘Being an Artist” video (above) led me to seek out more of Marshall’s …
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I’ve been talking about how to use hands as expressive elements within a drawing. I love this idea so much, both for technical practice and for powerful personal expression, that I made a class to study expressive hands and heads, and I started collecting examples. Some I collected because I appreciated the rendering. Some I collected because the artist …