Abstract art

Helen Frankenthaler Talking about abstract painting, and attitudes towards it in general, countering some things I’ve heard said many times over the years, sometimes about my own work. Modern painting is easy to relate to […]

Best books: Working Space

Here’s an old favorite, by the painter Frank Stella, who died this week: Working Space— you can read it online at that link. It’s pretty dense, but there’s a lot to learn about art in it. […]

Freehand sketching

A couple of interesting art books available “free” on Scribd, for anyone interested in art, or in getting into art, and trying some non-music related creativity. … which I highly recommend. I gave myself permission […]

Painting is a psychological game

I’m a painter as well as a musician— I work in what’s generally called an abstract expressionist style. I’m not making pictures of things, I’m painting until I have something that looks like a painting. […]

About vibe

Vibe: a scientifically accurate illustration I’ve been thinking about something the saxophonist Donald Harrison said in a clinic some months ago: “Music is about vibe. Music is all about vibe.” It was a useful comment […]

Bruce Gilden, a street photographer

A few videos of Bruce Gilden, a New York photographer. He’s known as a street photographer, and a rather invasive one. He gets right up in people’s faces and photographs them with a flash. It […]

Keep your pencil sharp

Drawing by Josef Albers Every student was required to have a pencil sharpener and to keep a sharp point on the pencil when drawing.  — Rob Roy Kelly on studying art with Josef Albers Reading […]