Skip to main content

Do The Math

 

Do The Math

Do The Math -- pencil sketch by Douglas Brent Smith, 20 October, 1999. 

Is it odd that I don't usually draw in pencil? There is so much more opportunity to make changes in pencil, both additions and subtractions. Somehow, though, ink has usually been my choice. I think it might have something to do with contrast. For this rendering I increased the contrast in the file and saturation to bring the drawing out more. I also did what I could to minimize the notebook lines, even covering over the holes and cropping beyond the wire binding. 

I'm not sure what my head was thinking at the time -- we were shopping for a car to replace the Chevy Cavalier that "drowned" in a storm. 


Comments

More...

The Mysteries of Love

  The Mysteries of Love -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, acrylic, 14 x 18, painted at 2065 Pennington Road, Ewing Township, NJ, not dated.

The Towers of Vettunder

  The Towers of Vettunder - painting by Douglas Brent Smith, acrylic. This one feels like another cover to a science fiction novel. In the 70's I might have tried to write that book. Maybe it's not too late. 

Machine Work

  Machine Work - collage by douglas brent smith, 1980-81 Note: As a part-time security guard, I sometimes would read books to pass the time. One night my job required me to guard and observe a location from my car -- a black 1966 Volkswagen beetle. It was night, so I brought a kerosene lantern to read by. It was almost like camping out, as long as I kept watch on the construction site and reported anything out of the unusual. Nothing was out of the unusual. That has nothing to do with this collage, except for the one line on John Updike. Run, Rabbit, Run.

grand canyon

  she shared some details of the road trip with the teen in a van not too many intense infraction type details it was fill in the blanks with too much thinking heart wrenching imagination like why would two people in a van driving together sharing inside secrets and cheap road food not be more than she said playing a players game of silence and selective facts believable whether deceivable  or not who could know she met a native american guide entering the great grand canyon already ahead of her hiking below the entertainer chevy chase working up his best sweat "losing weight for a part," he told her he seemed nice she told me she, so sun tanned deeply in pain followed the guide's instructions scaling the canyon, seeking and finding her peace on her own in shorts and a shirt a weight loss plan of her own for that burn in her heart immune from her lotions medicines and potions yet falling away as she scaled deeper to release the one-hundred-and-ninety pounds of disappointm...

87th Place Oak Lawn, Ilinois

 87th Place Oak Lawn, Ilinois -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, 1977. I lived with my mother for a brief time in 1977. My girlfriend at the time, Annie, wanted to escape herself to Florida (haven't seen her since) and so she plotted with my mom for me to move to Oak Lawn. The first gift my mom gave me there was a blue T-shirt that said "Wellinthehellis Oak Lawn, IL?".  Jack, Mom's husband, was mostly on the road working but when he was home he'd often give mom a hard time so she wanted me there to calm things down. Jack and I got along great but he was an alcoholic and would hit mom -- but not when I was there, which was why I was there.  After I returned to New Jersey Mom would eventually have Jack arrested and Jack straightened up. He stopped drinking. He became safe and loving. They had some happy years together. This painting is a self-portrait. I was blessed with lots of time so I painted. Gosh, how I loved painting. I used acrylics because they dried fast....

The Insecure Plumber

  The Insecure Plumber -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, acrylic, 16 x 20, December 1976. As I photo these paintings the change in the light delights me. So much depends on how you look at things, how long you look at things, in what light, in what mood...it brings art even more alive. I didn't say it was good art, just delightful art. Only you can decide if it's good (to you). I have not painted like this in years. Perhaps someday I will again.

With Every Available Device

  With Every Available Device -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, December 1976. This is another of the series of acrylic paintings that I did in Oak Lawn, IL, living with Mom and Jack for a brief few months. My favorite art movement is surrealism, and this one clearly emulates the work of the surrealists, in particular Yves Tanguy .  When I moved from Colorado to Newtown in 2016 I threw away a number of my paintings, many from this period of time. I did not like them enough to keep them, I guess although I feel some regret at heaving them, one can't save everything and I live in an apartment that's about 600 square feet. No real storage room. This one survived the cut.