Crock c. 1941

John Tarantino made this drawing of a crock with what looks like blue pencil. It's a pretty straightforward image of a utilitarian object, but the way Tarantino lays down the color, using a kind of stippling effect, gives it a really dreamy, almost psychedelic feel. The texture is built up with these tiny dots and dashes of blue, creating a soft, almost fuzzy surface. The color isn't solid, it's more like a haze, which makes the whole thing feel like it's floating. Look at how the base of the crock seems to dissolve into the background, those little dots scattering like atoms. There's a real sense of movement and energy. It reminds me a bit of Cy Twombly, in the way he used simple marks to create these epic, sprawling compositions. It's like Tarantino is taking something ordinary and turning it into something cosmic. The way he leaves things unfinished, open to interpretation, is what makes it so interesting. Art's about embracing the unknown, right?