Scott's drawings begin with a single freehand arc in charcoal on raw canvas, repeated thousands of times until the marks gather into fields of light and dark. Working on unstretched canvas stapled to the wall, he was free to work at monumental scale, often 8 to 20 feet wide, without stretcher bars or frames.
The work evolved over decades. Early atmospheric "blurs" (1975–1977) suggested fog or diffused light. Geometric armatures embedded in darkness followed (1977–1978). Large urns on white backgrounds came next (1980–1984), described by the Los Angeles Times as appearing "to float in ethereal space." Since 1984, Scott has worked on "Study for a Black Drawing", an ongoing series of black rectangles that function both as individual works and as parts of one conceptual piece.
Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, Thomas Albright noted that Scott's urns "take on a looming, almost sculptural presence" while maintaining "a disembodied, transparent quality, so that they seem to detach themselves from the acres of blank canvas around them and hang, like free-floating mirages, in some ambiguous space."
For over 40 years, Scott taught drawing and painting at College of Marin, Academy of Art San Francisco, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis, influencing generations of Bay Area artists. He continues to work in Fairfax, California.
The work evolved over decades. Early atmospheric "blurs" (1975–1977) suggested fog or diffused light. Geometric armatures embedded in darkness followed (1977–1978). Large urns on white backgrounds came next (1980–1984), described by the Los Angeles Times as appearing "to float in ethereal space." Since 1984, Scott has worked on "Study for a Black Drawing", an ongoing series of black rectangles that function both as individual works and as parts of one conceptual piece.
Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, Thomas Albright noted that Scott's urns "take on a looming, almost sculptural presence" while maintaining "a disembodied, transparent quality, so that they seem to detach themselves from the acres of blank canvas around them and hang, like free-floating mirages, in some ambiguous space."
For over 40 years, Scott taught drawing and painting at College of Marin, Academy of Art San Francisco, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis, influencing generations of Bay Area artists. He continues to work in Fairfax, California.
