Ottawa Drag Saw - finished!

 I think I'm done. This is 8 x 11" on cold press watercolor paper.

Wall painting commission, in progress

 Some friends of ours turned the area beneath their basement steps into a playhouse for their daughters, and they asked me to paint a mural on the outside of it.  I was happy to oblige, although I don't think they realized what they were getting into when they asked me.  They probably expected me to just whip up a quick cartoon house.  Instead, I have been camping out in their basement drawing grids for bricks.

Painting and shading bricks is actually sort of meditative (the gridding and drawing, though, is a pain in the ass).  I like it much better than drawing tiny bricks with pen and ink.  For one thing, the color red is fun.  For another thing, creating the illusion of sunlight and shadow with paint is very satisfying.  I just hope my friends aren't frustrated with my slow pace.

The bricks are pretty much done, and that's the slow part.  Just after I took the second photo, I added some vines to the lower right side of the house, and put yellow black-eyed Susan blooms on the green plants at left.  All the plants together took much less time than even a small area of bricks.  I'll take shortcuts on the roof, also.  The rest will just be butterflies and stuff.  I think I'll put an illusory bas-relief sun above the door; that should be fun, and also easier than the bricks.  I'll probably cut a stencil for it.

Ottawa Drag Saw, Progressing

Ottawa Drag Saw drawing in progress

 This is a commissioned drawing I'm working on. It is about 8 x 10 inches. I hope to have it done in the next couple of weeks.

Theft

This artwork was stolen from The Comfy Cow on Frankfort Avenue on Sunday, February 5.  If you have any knowledge of its whereabouts or who took it, please call the Louisville Metro Police Department at 574-7111; or contact me or the management of The Comfy Cow.

The stolen artwork was an original pen and ink drawing; the framed size is approximately 11 x 14 (image size 7 x 10 inches).

Along Main Street

 

 

Showing at The Comfy Cow on Frankfort Avenue

Yesterday I put up nine drawings and paintings at a local dessert place, The Comfy Cow, on

Frankfort Avenue

.  One of their rooms has an area designated for display of local artists, and the manager there was helpful and gave me the freedom to put up a selection of artwork.  I put up most of what I wanted to hang, including all of my local landmark pen-and-ink drawings.

It will be up through the end of March.

After I was done putting up my works (and drinking a chocolate malt), I stopped at the nearby B. Deemer Gallery and enjoyed a retrospective of painter Robert Knipschild, who (I learned) was an instructor to well-known Louisville oil pastel artist Martin Rollins, as well as to two of my former university professors, Ying Kit Chan and Guinever Smith.

Here’s a picture I took yesterday when I was done putting up the artwork.  It’s a cell phone photo, so it’s not very high quality.

Painting a horse

 I've drawn horses before, but I've never drawn *on* a horse.  Here's my daughter painting a horse.  All the kids at the birthday party, about a month ago, took turns.  Quite a canvas. 

Another house portrait

I logged a bunch of drawing hours the past couple of nights, scrambling to get this finished.  Now I’m very tired, but I’m pretty pleased with how this turned out, and happy to be done.  This is 11 x 15 inches, drawn with several brands of disposable and semi-disposable pens, as well as sumi ink and brush.

The second detail I added simply because I enjoy zooming in on an area until it becomes to see it as representational.  However, it does look like a bunch of soldiers with spears headed into battle with a throng of martial artists and dancers.

Latest house portrait

This is my most recent completed drawing, measuring about 8 x 10.  Black walnut ink on paper.

It's not a super reproduction, since I failed to get a good photo or scan of it before it was framed.  This is a photo taken through the glass.

I think it's an attractive little house.

Artist statement, finished, for now

 Here's my first completed artist statement.  I've never before actually completed one to my satisfaction, but I needed to turn one in with my submission to the Mazin Annual Art Exhibition at the Jewish Community Center, so I worked this out as best I could.  It's specific to my pen & ink work.

"I am most satisfied with my art when I use it to document my experiences and explore my environment while also seeking nuance and subtlety in my medium.  I primarily see this exploration as intellectual, as opposed to emotional, though it is based in my sense of wonder and appreciation for nature's beauty.  My favorite subjects are landscapes and old architecture, but I prefer to combine both.  Places and things that have been worn or aged by both nature and humans catch my eye, and I always want to learn the history of the area in which I draw or paint.

"Of art media, I love oil paint, but a few years ago I became curious about making my own black walnut ink. I was quickly drawn into pen & ink.  Almost without intending to, I developed a sideline of drawing house portraits, and recently began working on a series of Louisville landmarks.

"The whole process of working with ink intrigues me; making ink, experimenting with homemade drawing tools, watching how the ink changes as it dries, and building up drawings with layers of pen marks and brush strokes.  Most especially, I love to look at that borderline between the whole work and its component marks--to be far enough away to see the illusion of the whole image, but close enough to see how the illusion is constructed."

Artist Statement

 I've been working on an artist statement.  It's a struggle. Here's what I have so far:

 

 

Of art media, my first love is oil paint, but I started exploring pen & ink a few years ago for reasons of convenience.  I then sort of blundered into a sideline of drawing house portraits, and my appreciation of the medium grew as I began exploring it more earnestly.  I like the whole process: the experimentation of making my own walnut ink and drawing tools, watching how the ink changes as it dries, and working in building up layers.  What I like best, though, is seeing how individual marks and brush strokes build an illusion.  I love to look at that line between the components and the whole, where I can see the parts that are working together.

 

My favorite subjects are landscapes and old architecture, and I prefer to combine both.  Places and things that have been "worked over" by both humans and nature catch my eye, and I find the history of an area is always worth examining.  My art feels most satisfying to me when it combines the journaling my experiences, exploration of my environment, and experimentation with variety and subtlety of color and line.

 

 

 

 

I'm sure I'll be changing it in the next few days to get something ready for the Mazin show at JCC.  I welcome any comments.

Falls of the Ohio, beginning and end.

I finished this black walnut ink drawing earlier in the year, but was looking at my sketchbook the other day and I thought it would be fun to post the earliest draft of the drawing alongside the finished product.

The ink drawing is the completed work, about 11 x 14 inches.  The sketch done in pencil is the first thumbnail sketch I did.  It’s about two inches wide.

I got five jars (various sizes) from this batch of walnuts. Now I'll just add a little gum arabic and denatured alcohol, and I'm done.

Making more black walnut ink

Well, I was planning to get some artwork done today, but I've been multiply foiled. So I decided to get that pot of walnuts that's been in the garage for two years and make more black walnut ink.
They've been soaking in water the whole time, and I also added some old screws and nails a while back to see if the rust will help the color.
Two years of soaking is probably excessive, but I just haven't needed more ink. Plus, I've had better things to do. Now I'm home alone and it doesn't matter how bad the kitchen smells. And it does, in fact, smell.
Looks like it will be good ink, though.

Initial post

Well, I decided I'd better start a new blog that is dedicated solely to visual arts and related subjects; I'll do my best to keep out things like what I cooked for dinner or what I'm growing in my garden.