Joy of Life #006 Print

Chris Miller - art critic, fine art translator and collector of David Jones writes --- 'Line drawing is the high-wire act of the graphic art: it has to evoke with nothing more than outline, dispensing with the luxury of modelling through shadow (shading and hatching). Moreover, since the marks are so prominent, they have to afford pleasure in themselves. There is much common ground with calligraphy. The paradigm for the 20th century was Matisse’s outline nudes, magically evoking solidity through the undulation of pen or brush. David Jones has made a speciality of line, to which he adds the further challenge of Zen drawing. Most drawing depends on a moment of memory, as the artist’s eye moves from subject to paper. David places the pen on the paper and then, without looking away from his model, inscribes his mark. Each drawing is made of the minimum number of marks. The procedure involves a kind of essentialising brevity, a bare economy of elegance. The result has something in common with Paleolithic art, such as the Lascaux paintings. A process of abstraction is involved – the drawings seem at once particular and archetypical, as if the reduction of naturalistic detail had a power of evocation beyond the particular. And, the shape of each line, the way it swoops, swells, narrows and ends, comes to seem intrinsic to the representation. When all of these aspects come together, David’s art is very nearly unique, and seems to impart, by its very simplicity, an aura of grace.' Chris Miller, literary critic, fine-arts Translator. is the main site for a comprehensive collection of my nude line drawings.Suitable for viewing by all ages, promoting a positive image of our bodies. ESSENCE OF BODY SIMPLICITY OF LINE BREATH OF LIFE The human form expressing our different emotions and feelings, expressed simply through a few lines. After 2 major brain operations 20 years ago an artist friend suggested life drawing to help with memory problems. I use a technique known as Zen drawing - as each line is drawn one only looks at the subject (the model) and not the paper. The line is drawn on the out breath for best concentration, power and control. I hope that as you look at these line drawings you can 'draw' them again with me. To breathe slower and smoother with each line. The poses are usually between 1 and 5 minutes(max 10) .