Harrison Storms and the enigma of Johns Canyon at El Camino College
Harrison Storms with (l-r) “Beyond the Wall #3” (pastel on paper; 36”x26”) and “Premonition of St. Matthew” (pastel on masonite; 25”x23”). PhotoThat magic moment “Johns Canyon” is a survey of work by artist Harrison Storms For over 30 years, Harrison Storms taught life-drawing classes at El Camino. He instructed his students from an academic and historical point of view, emphasizing (his words here) “anatomy and proportion and form and gesture in a traditional way.” If they could master this, his students would possess the basic skills from which to pursue other aspects of making art. In short, knowing the rules before venturing out and breaking them. While Storms himself continues to enjoy traditional figurative drawing, he has also spent many years experimenting with the human figure, essentially creating, obliterating, and resurrecting or reconstructing it, and often repeating this process several times within the same composition. This may sound confusing without an illustrative example, but as Storms begins to explain what he’s doing, and why, it all falls into place and should both impress and astonish the viewer. “Beyond the Wall #11,” by Harrison Storms (charcoal on paper…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com