Charles Ritchie
Gallery Affiliations: Gallery Joe, BravinLee programs, Center Street Studio
Region: South
Website: http://www.charlesritchie.com/
City / State: Silver Spring, MD
My drawings are constructed over extended periods—months and
years. Darks are usually mixed from other colors, not including
black, as a means of keeping warm and cool tonalities in flux. My
primary medium is watercolor, and in recent works I have used
gum arabic to help build tone, add transparency, control washes,
and increase reversibility. At the same time, I have been observing
color more closely and have added more hues to my palette.
Since 1985, I have been drawing from the same window, studying
a limited group of subjects. At night, I find that the streetscape
merges with the reflection of my studio interior, and I am intrigued
with the disorientation and the associations that arise: security
versus freedom, transparency and juxtaposition, the equivalence
of near and far, and evocations of intimate immensity. After years
of scrutiny, these subjects have accrued greater meaning and
mystery for me. As I evolve with them, I come to deeper levels
of awareness and to more fully interpret the magic and mystery
behind the surface of things.