The illustration inspired by the poetry of Jonathan Geffen
Steps in the creative process for drawing by Marina Manukian
Jonathan Geffen, 1977: "Sometimes goes shadow after the man and sometimes goes the man after the shadow. We'll never know if we are first or later. Without a shadow of a doubt, not any doubt of shadow."
The Diary of an Artist - Marina Manukian's blog 0007 - Jonathan Geffen
What do you think came before?
Jonathan Geffen's quote haunts after me more than two decades. I was exposed to it during my studies in university. I connected to the quote so much that I decided to keep it. And so I did. I copied it on the page and to this day it is in my memoir "Things to keep". In this box are stored quotes I collected over the years, postcards with illustrations I liked, photographs I created and more. Today, after the surprising death of Jonathan Geffen, I decided to give a life to his extraordinary poetry by trying to illustrate the meaning.
What did the writer mean?
Similar to the question of the chicken and the egg (which came first? The egg or the chicken?) it seems that Jonathan Geffen is trying to answer the question of who follows who, the shadow or the man. Who preceded whom? And is there any doubt at all about the answer?
In the visual world, a shadow gives depth to a figure. Without shading the figures are flat, graphic and two-dimensional. The shadow adds the element of time in the landscape illustration. According to the fall of the shadow we can identify, more or less, at what time the event takes place: morning, noon or evening. The fall of the shadow indicates the direction of the light and one does not exist without the other, not even in animations for infants.
It was created unintentionally
The shadow in my illustration became a silhouette in the shape of the Israel. I recognized the shape after I finished drawing. I did not plan to draw the map of Israel. I didn't think about Israel at all during the creation. Perhaps the silhouette was created unconsciously, but it fits Jonathan Geffen's love for the State of Israel. Maybe in his spirit he cast the shadow on me.
And what did I want to say through the painting?
The gameplay on words that Jonathan Geffen created at the end of the song captivated me then and still today, "without a shadow of a doubt, not any doubt of a shadow". In my paintings I wanted to describe two situations happening at the same time, the shadow in front of me and behind me. A situation for which there is no doubt that this is the shadow.
Did I succeed?
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