“Liquid Light”

Before photography that’s all there was…that’s how life was witnessed and recorded — pencil on paper. That’s how discoveries were communicated — pencil on paper.

There is actually a heavy tome called “Pencil” written by Henry Petroski, civil engineering professor, that celebrates the history, design and enduring invention of the pencil. I own it. I’ve never read it. But I will someday…

Although blogging is writing the Brush Strokes site’s emphasis is on using visual means to convey the experience and environment of rowing. Many of the poster images start with a rapid pencil sketch on paper, scanned and developed on the computer.  I’ve always had great admiration for such masters of the quick sketch such as Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent. It would be an interesting artistic challenge to not rely on a camera, to capture vignettes of daily life with “thumbnail” sketches and see where it goes.