Nude, a study in edges

[Clayton J. Beck III]

This is a painting done with edges in mind. From the start this was a soft edge study. The paint handling was not mushy. The soft edges were created as the paint was being put down through tight value structure and paint application. The canvas, brushes, amount of paint and action of the brush all came together to create brushstrokes with ragged edges.

All work such as this can be very difficult because of the obvious inherent problems with drawing in a traditional sense. It is not possible to begin a work like this with a line drawing and then "soften" it up later. Every mark on the canvas is in concert with every other. Every time that two pieces of paint come together there is an edge created. The edge created must fit with all edges created previously and those yet to be. This requires a clear mental image and a great deal of planning before the work is begun.

I highly recommend doing this type of study, even if your drawing suffers a bit, in order to make advances in the area of edges. Edges, I believe, are the only way that we as painters can convey our true point of view to the viewer. This is something a camera will never capture because it requires understanding and choice, both of which the camera does not have.