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Friday, January 29, 2010

Channelling my inner Chanel...365 Days of Drawing


I am crazy for Chanel. Wish I could afford it. So when I saw this vintage bottle of Chanel No. 5, my favorite fragrance, I knew Coco would approve of me drawing it.

A blog post by artist friend Shelley was very much in mind. She wisely asked when does a drawing cease being a drawing with all this wash stuff I do.

Good question. To my mind, if you can still see the drawing lines and the paper in parts when the drawing and wash is done, it still qualifies as a drawing. I wouldn't leave the drawing lines in a painting and I wouldn't leave bare white canvas showing. If you click on this to see a larger image of the bottle, the paper grain is still very apparent.

I agree the approach that I use is a very painterly one and perhaps not for everyone. But that charcoal stick is out to the very end. That is when I place the last few crisp lines to punch things up.

Things in art to my mind have to have a Yin and Yang. Hard, soft. Hot, cold. Lost, found. Love, hate.

I am sure Coco would agree. Her design aesthetic survives to this day intact.

SOLD

9 comments:

Shelley Wendland said...

I really like this one! It IS Lovely!

Shelley

Anonymous said...

Johanna, thanks for answering....and I agree with your intrepretation and definition. absolutely fab drawing today....i have you listed in my "blogs i follow" on my daily painting blog...and when i saw in the little inset of image preview, i thought "now why did Johanna put a photo of a perfume bottle up on her blog?"...but no it was this fabulous drawing. love it!

P.S. what size on average are your drawings?

Rhonda Hartis Smith said...

Chanel never looked so good and I do believe CoCo would approve!

Jo Archer said...

That is a fantastic painting!

Johanna Spinks said...

Thank you everyone. This drawing seemed to strike a chord with quite a few on Facebook too. What is it about Chanel that gets people all excited?

The drawing are usually all way over life size. I find it easier somehow. This perfume bottle measures about five inches.

Jo Archer said...

Sorry, I said painting, when I meant drawing!

Johanna Spinks said...

Thanks Jo...! It is all really the same.

Johanna Spinks said...

Thanks Jo...! It is all really the same.

Johanna Spinks said...

Thanks Jo...! It is all really the same.