An annihilation of time and space

From the window of a high speed train, the world becomes a smear that verges on the abstract. Thankfully, the angularity of human constructions - in this case wind turbines - provides some punctuation.

This is the ninth in a series of nineteen paintings.

Dorianne advances

self-portrait with glove

I found a pair of huge buff leather cavalry gauntlets in a second-hand market in Florence, and just had to make a picture of myself wearing them.

It was done with china marker on a large sheet of textured paper. You can see the laid lines of the paper through the marker strokes.

Barbara pays attention

Amy's hands

...and also her feet.

Reinisa stretches

The view from Via Montalbano, Florence

Far in the eastern regions of Florence, above the loop in the Arno which enfolds San Jacopo al Girone, the Via Montalbano winds up into the hills.
One day in May I climbed it all the way to the dead-end, past ruined farmhouses, late renaissance villas, and the occasional lone cypress. At the top I painted this watercolour:

never let me go

Portrait of Rachel

One part of a portrait triptych by Tarragon, who was channelling Alex Katz when he painted it.

3 academics...

...listening intently to a lecture on the early stages of the invention of the astrolabe.

red shoes

Megan drawn from life in about 20 minutes.

why the long face?

Emily's hands

Drawn from life at the Arts Project in London, Ontario.

maybe after

don't even

A figure painted from life in watercolour.

gentle comes the dawn

lonely all these years

Drawn from life at the cafe of the student centre at the University of Toronto.

some toes

A snapshot of part of a work in progress...

Kara

She could have been a Della Robbia

Sunday best

Tired of Sleeping

A painted sketch from my art college days, done from life in about half an hour.

just friends

3 times around

Three rapid sketches of the model, done with a Copic brush pen.

the most beautiful boy

Egyptian and her girlfriend

Drawn on the iPad using the Procreate app.

tarragonsmith.com

Aaron

...before a fall

Drawn from life at a Keyhole Session in Toronto, Ontario, with various Copic markers.

jessica

my man Jesse

Off the Coast

tarragonsmith.com

Lily

Drawn from life in about twenty minutes.

Transitory things

A snapshot of a drawing still in progress, to be titled Alles Vergāngliche ist nur ein Gleichnis (Everything impermanent is but a parable). It's a line from Goethe's Faust, but it appears in a number of places, not least the tombstone of Max Weber, the great theorist of early capitalism.

The drawing depicts a confrontation between two characters, perhaps of a spiritual or metaphysical nature, that is nonetheless taking place in a setting redolent of advanced materialism.

out of the Aldo

 

Romney and I were in Italy, in the Museo di Arte Contemporanea.

We were marvelling at the indigenous talent when we saw this half naked young woman engaged in study of an Aldo Salvadori painting.  She looked over at us and we were both struck as if she had walked out of the very picture.

This was some time ago.  I have drawn her from memory.

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Amy at the Arts Project

the orator

Drawn from life at a Keyhole Session in Toronto, Ontario, with various markers and crayons.

time of your time

Drawn from life in five minutes with a china marker.

Grisette, the principled type.

A quick iPad portrait by Tarragon.

tarragonsmith.com

the boa

Exported artwork from Procreate

Drawn in the Locomotive Espresso cafe in London, Ontario.

the heart is a lonely haunter

Drawn from life in ten minutes.

Green field with sheep

barbara again

Drawn from life in about ten minutes.

Kathleen

I did the drawing in ink, in about 15 minutes, and added the colour later on my laptop.

Antonia poses

It was a cold day in the studio in Florence; that is a space heater adjacent to her knees.

It was done with pencil and watercolours, in around half an hour.

Taking a break from Harry Potter

steve

anywhere out of the world

Some boys haunt you more than others.

kara

sharp-eyed card