"Study for 'On Deck'" 1993

34" x 24"

pencil and wash on foamcore

 

 

 

 

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This preliminary drawing above is almost identical to the final painting 'On Deck', one of the largest paintings David did. However, if you look at the various sketches below you can see how much work, as well as how much fun, my father had in arriving at his final destination. I've put them in order of how developed and how similar to the painting they are, and this is probably, but not necessarily the order in which they were drawn.
One thing they all share is the man playing the guitar (although he moves around quite a bit in the composition), and the strong verticle mast. Some feature a naked woman, some don't, but all play off a feeling of festivity against an underlying sense of danger, and all I think share a kind of absurdist view of Moby Dick and of the human condition.