Click the image to view my new Eclipse series of Charcoal Collages.
These drawings were an experiment in scaling up from the charcoal collages I made in 2020. I began with a couple of physical and meditative drawing sessions, working off of a 4' roll of paper. They were a sort of yoga-with-charcoal approach that I would love to turn into a class someday. I thoroughly enjoy how the initial energetic marks became the support for the juxtaposition of shape in the final pieces.
I titled this series after the three most recent eclipses (November 2022, April 2023, and May 2023). An eclipse is, by definition, the total or partial obscuring of one celestial body by another (Merriam Webster), or in this case, the obscuring of light (our Sun) from our perspective on Earth.
When working in black and white I naturally regard value as positive and negative and enjoy the play on this astronomical theme as I imagine the darks and lights each blocking out the other in turn; a celestial dance.
> Eclipse #3 (in Aries) 26" x 22", Charcoal Collage, 2023 Sold