pure white ground

"For those colors which you wish to be beautiful, always first prepare a pure white ground."
~ Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

Starting with a white canvas, is that a bit like starting with a clean slate? No clutter. Nothing in the way. Not even you.

Just a pure white ground that lets what you put down--brush strokes, words, notes--shine out in all their true colors.

In writing, I think that means getting out of the way so the story can come through.

My editor once gave me some great advice: don't ask, "am I a good writer?" Ask, "am I telling a good story?"

Joy and the story

"The story begins and ends in joy." J R R Tolkein

the decisive moment

"Boys Running Into the Surf at Lake Tanganyika," c 1930. Martin Munkasci

Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) saw this photo of boys running into the surf in 1932. “I must say that it is that very photograph which was for me the spark that set fire to fireworks,” he recalled years later. “I couldn’t believe such a thing could be caught with the camera.”

"The simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression... . In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotif."

"There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment."— Henri Cartier-Bresson

"Hyeres, France" (1932), from Henri Cartier-Bresson’s scrapbook.

He went on to say: "I suddenly understood that a photograph could fix eternity in an instant."

Reminds me of what Ecclesiastes says, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men" (3:11). Like a photograph.

I wonder. Is every form of art is trying to fix eternity in an instant?

seaweed head

what about this? It's My Cornish Hairdo (A Green-Slime Special), courtesy of my nieces and nephews (hairdresser's hand seen on right).

It looks like I'm laughing but I seem to remember it was a bit scary and claustrophobic so I might be screaming.

really cool trees

by Jago (illustrator of The Jesus Storybook Bible).

Dramatic Lemur

I'm sorry, but is it even possible not to laugh when you watch this? even for the tenth time?

isn't he good?

Moleskine

The sketchbook of
Vincent van Gogh (circa 1888–1890)
Van Gogh Museum of Amsterdam

I love this notebook.

It's a ... Moleskin, which is, as the website says, "that legendary notebook used by european artists and thinkers for the past 200 years."

(People feel strongly about their notebooks, so not everyone will agree but I believe The Moleskin to be the absolutely supreme notebooks among notebooks.)

They come in all sorts and everyone has a favorite. Mine's the squared one (you don't have to try and stay inside the lines); the hard cover; and small as above. It has a pocket inside (for stray cuttings and things), and most important of all: a place to write your name and address where you can be contacted for the huge reward you offer if it's lost. Plus what about the excellent elastic to keep it shut? (You can sneak a pencil inside.)

I carry my moleskin everywhere I go because you never know. Plus I think it's like saying you're ready--so you won't miss it when it comes--whatever it is--inspiration, an idea, overhearing something on the street, seeing something you have to sketch... having a notebook at the ready at all times is like having a camera on you; it lets you capture things you'd otherwise forget. Or maybe even miss altogether.

So which came first, the notebook or the idea?

sing louder

"If somebody's trying to shut you up, sing louder and, if possible, better." — Salman Rushdie