Saturday, June 5, 2010

MOBY-DICK, Page 269

Title: The four boats were soon on the water; Ahab's in advance, and all swiftly pulling towards their prey. Soon it went down, and while, with oars suspended, we were awaiting its reappearance, lo! in the same spot where it sank, once more it slowly rose. Almost forgetting for the moment all thoughts of Moby Dick, we now gazed at the most wondrous phenomenon which the secret seas have hitherto revealed to mankind. A vast pulpy mass, furlongs in length and breadth, of a glancing cream-color, lay floating on the water, innumerable long arms radiating from its centre, and curling and twisting like a nest of anacondas, as if blindly to clutch at any hapless object within reach. No perceptible face or front did it have; no conceivable token of either sensation or instinct; but undulated there on the billows, an unearthly, formless, chance-like apparition of life.

12 inches by 9 inches
acrylic paint and ink on found paper
June 5, 2010

7 comments:

  1. Awesome, it reminds me of a verse from a later Melville poem

    'Competing still, ye huntsmen-whalers
    in Leviathan's wake what boat prevails?'

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  2. I love this one. you know i keep telling you i have a favorite drawing and then you do something else that I like even better.

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  3. This one actually looks much better in person. There are all sorts of subtle transparencies in the layers of white which for some reason the (multiple) scans aren't picking up. I was really happy with how this one turned out.

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  4. Scott, that is indeed a fine connection there. I have read very little of Melville's poetry and keep meaning to tackle "Clarel" some day. But I do like the way the verse you quoted echoes the tone of this piece.

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  5. Christy, that is always delightful to read and that kind of thing will keep me trying harder and harder for each and every new piece!

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  6. Epic! This may be the best one yet. It has a magnificent luminescence. Can't wait to see it in person.

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  7. Many many thanks Andy. I really wanted this one to have that kind of surreal, eerie quality. I think trying a less centered composition really worked for me, although it was challenging. I don't often see things this way, so it's a push.

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