Discussions with Mark Norseth

I’ve finished Erik’s portrait.  The sittings, about an hour each day over Spring break, were a wonderful shared experience, but frankly more so for myself than the subject!

Erik was a trooper, but at 14, being painted by your father is not a high priority when compared with all the other things that teenagers have to occupy themselves. And I can agree with that.  However, that being understood, at one point I reminded him of the investement he was making.  It’s not about today, my son. After I’m gone, this will remind you of a sliver of time that has truly passed like the wind.  In hindsight, the time spent sitting will seem like nothing, and that’s when you’ll be really glad we got together on this project.   Trust me.

Erik at 14 Oil on linen               20 x 16″

Once or twice I thought that the sittings might actually cause him to explode somehow.  Boys aren’t psychically built for posing, not at 14, and I remained pretty sympathetic throughout.  12 minutes on the model stand, 5 minute break was the pattern  Next time, if I can get up to bat again, I’d like to get him playing guitar or something characteristic of his interests.

My goal, to directly create a simple and fresh likeness with as little fussing as possible, is largely realized.  It’ll get signed today, and then we’ll wait a couple months for varnish.  The frame is under construction, a fairly simple 2″ poplar moulding I designed.  I’ll post that when the time comes.

It’s good to break things up with a morning on the Waikiki side for some watercolor work.  Like anywhere one lives, it’s one of those areas that is sort-of off my radar unless I have a specific reason for being there. But it’s beautiful, no doubt, and there is always something to paint as long as you look with your own eyes.  And the weather is almost always something like what I had today.

Here’s this mornings catch…don’t have a title yet, but one will come, as they always do.

11 x 14″ watercolor on paper

Here’s the latest on the beach painting I’ve been working on.  Surfaces building nicely, and character of the paint surface is coming along…the values are working better.

There are a lot of places for the eye to fall, and it’s difficult to arrange the eye’s path given that complexity.

I still wish to build more complex, interesting surfaces. No reason I can’t, the subject lends itself to what I have in mind. It gets me thinking of William L. Picknell.  Now, that man created painted surfaces like nobody  else, like a pastry chef.

But, it’s getting hard to see this piece with a fresh eye, and to continue painting when you aren’t able to see the work afresh is almost as grave an error as waiting for inspiration.  When you hold on too firmly to what you think your strengths are, they eventually end up spoiling the game.

My son Erik is on Spring Break for two weeks, and so we’ve been scheduling sittings each morning as part of an attempt to capture the look of him at 14, and the crazy rate of growth he’s experiencing.  I know that it’s hard to manage the sittings at his age, but he’s giving it a good shot, and for me the time spent together is precious because I can see how fast this is all going away.

We’ll have time for, perhaps, three more sittings before school and life reclaim him.  But the likeness is there, and it’s minor shifts and  background work at this point for the most part.  Wish us luck.

Erik at Fourteen, oil on canvas, 20 x 16″