Tree mural...done?

 Well, I'm calling it done.  I can easily rattle off five things I'd like to change or work on some more, but I am done with this section of the mural. I think I got it to a state where it looks attractive and the family I am painting it for can be very satisfied with it; I will only work on it some more if they tell me otherwise.

Happy Easter!

Steven Walker - paintings at B. Deemer Gallery

I went to this gallery opening for a painter, Steven Walker, on Saturday after I saw it mentioned on Facebook.  I was struck by the guy’s landscapes.  I took my daughters to B. Deemer Gallery on Frankfort Avenue, and we enjoyed the paintings and got to watch him paint a little.  Today I decided to look him up online, and found his blog, and then laughed when I saw the third photo down—that’s one of my daughters and me by the front door.

Steven Walker's blog


I didn’t realize our photo was being taken because we were trying to get out of the way of the door.  Looking back, I was dimly aware that there was a young lady taking a lot of photos.

I appreciate many different styles of artwork, but this is the way I personally want to paint. I’ll have to go back to get another look at his work in person.

"Horse & Jockey 3" pen and ink

I put some finishing touches on it yesterday, and I think it's all done now.  This is on 11 x 14" cold press watercolor paper.

For some reason, my favorite parts of drawings like this are the large shaded areas (in this particular drawing, it's the horse's coat I like best.  Just one big area of cross-hatching. I love it. Why? I don't know. Probably the same reason I enjoy the flat drive through southwest Indiana or all 14 minutes of Nick Cave's "Babe I'm on Fire.")

If you think the man in front looks sort of like me, that's because it is.  In my original reference photo, I didn't like the man's pose, so I posed myself in my living room and had my daughter stand on the couch (so she'd be at eye level) and take some photos of me to use as reference.

Next up: two more house portrait commissions.

Too many interests

I really like pen and ink. I also really like oil paints. Lately, I’ve had a strong urge to do some more linocut prints. On top of that, I’d very much like to get some acrylic painting done.  Prioritizing and focusing can be so difficult.

I’ve started another horse and jockey pen and ink drawing.  I’ll be working at it in my spare time between mural painting and another house drawing commission I am due to get started.

This pen and ink drawing (plus the act of having reproductions made of them) somehow triggers in me the increased desire to do linocuts.  I think it’s a combination of equal-but-opposite reaction to the fine line cross-hatching of pen and ink, and the notion of searching for graphical clarity with very limited colors, and the idea of creating multiple reproductions.

It wasn’t until fairly recently (just the past few years) that I became interested in relief printing, and I haven’t done much of it, and I can’t say I’m very good at it.  However, I now find block prints very alluring, and the process is intriguing.  Despite that, my inexperience and lack of advanced equipment (I don’t have good inks, I use a wooden spoon as a brayer) is a reason not to pursue it further and focus on other things instead.

Oil painting is even worse.  I don’t have much space for it, and the set-up and take-down time is troublesome.  But the return of spring and all its colors, on top of all the stored-up ideas in my head for paintings, plus the feeling that my pen and ink work has given me more experience from which to draw, makes me really really want to paint.

I spent some time last night setting up my PayPal seller account.  I think I have it ready to go, but I’ll be spending more time—when I can make the time—exploring effective uses for it.  Also, I have re-opened my Etsy store, although I only have four items listed right now.

Horse & Jockey prints

I just had reproductions run. This is the first time I have done this via offset printing; I had them run digitally before. I am very pleased with the results. I feel that there is a good range of tone and subtlety in the prints.

Tree Mural, in progress

I'm nearing completion of this mural, which is in the same play room as the giant box of Crayola crayons and other objects I painted just before last Christmas.  This photo was taken before I finished working on the tree trunk and limbs last night, so it's already dated, but you get the idea.  I'll also be putting some tall grass in the foreground behind the tree.

Bed and Breakfast - black and white drawing

 Here is the small house portrait I completed last week. It's 6 x 9 inches.  It's a bed and breakfast, and the business owner wanted a horse featured, since the area used to be a horse farm (and home to a Kentucky Derby winner.)

Stolen artwork -- recovered!

One of the owners of The Comfy Cow called me today to say that a lady had called him to say she had my drawing that was stolen last February. He gave me her name and phone number.

This evening I called her, and then went to her apartment near the river in New Albany.  She gave me my drawing, in great shape and undamaged except for some stains on the backing board of the frame.

She told me that up until the middle of last summer, there had been some teens, eighteen or nineteen years old, living in the apartment behind hers (She didn't say so, but I think she meant it was a boyfriend/girlfriend).  Last June they had a big fight, and the place was trashed.

The landlord told this lady that he would knock off some of her rent in return for her going over to this apartment to clean it out. She found my drawing on the wall there, liked it, and hung it up in her apartment.

Then, yesterday, she and her roommate were watching "Antiques Road Show" and saw them discussing artwork appraisal.  They looked at my drawing on their wall and wondered if it was worth anything.  My name is on the drawing, so they Googled me and found my web site, on which I have the drawing listed as stolen with a request to contact The Comfy Cow with information.

So she called The Comfy Cow.

I am very grateful to her and to the owners of The Comfy Cow; I never expected to get the drawing back, especially now that a year has passed.

Rough sketch, bed and breakfast

I've been commissioned to do a small pen and ink drawing of a local bed and breakfast. The land used to be a horse farm, many years ago, and a couple of Kentucky Derby winners were raised there.  That's why the owner asked to me to include a horse.

I've spent some time this week trying to figure out a layout.  This is the one I came up with last night, and I think it might work.  I decided to take a slightly more stylized approach to the drawing, shorten the yard to the horse and house were closer together, and keep an open mind in deciding on shading in the road and the yard.  This won't be much more than 6 x 9 inches, so playing up clarity and contrast will be important.

I sent a scan of this sketch to the owner to see how she likes it. If it will work, I'll start on the drawing shortly.

I also need to keep planning the next phase of the mural work I'm doing.  The next part will be a tree, and I've decided to include some macaws.  I'm kind of looking forward to working on that, but getting the planning work done is tough.  I'm off right now to do some selecting from the macaw reference photos I got courtesy of the image library at wetcanvas.com and the kind contributors there.

Mural section - completed

 Last night I finished this first section of the wall. This is an art & craft area of a children's play room.  The next section will feature a large tree.

Mural progress

I worked on the mural for a few more hours last night. The Crayola box is pretty much done; I am pleased with it.

Thumbnail sketch

 Preparing for another house portrait...

Marina on the Ohio River - pen & ink

 

Here is the last of the house drawings I've been working on for the same customer (the first they got through a charity auction bid, and after that they asked me for three more.)  I had to get the last three done by Thanksgiving, and I made it just under the wire.  This was finished last Friday night, and I delivered them yesterday.

They wanted the marina side of the house drawn, which presented a bit of a challenge: How do I make it a house drawing, but still do justice to the great view of all the boats?  Well, I had already done the front side of the house in an earlier drawing (the back of the house is towards the marina.)  I felt that freed me up a little to make the boats more dominant, but I still wanted the house clearly visible and to stand out a bit, even if it was in more of a backing role.

I find that each drawing presents its own set of challenges and tough decisions. There were plenty in this one, but the two that seemed to stand out the most to me were how to handle the water (consistent, flat pen strokes to emphasize the plane, or more varied strokes to give more of a sense of "shimmer" and shifting light? And, how do I shade the large white areas of the boats?

This drawing is 11 x 15 inches, drawn with .05 and .1 Sakura Pigma Microns, a .1 Staedtler Pigmentliner, and a .03 Copic Multiliner.

This might also be the first pen and ink drawing in which I used a straight edge for a notable portion of the inking. I used one to get straight lines on the rigging.

Two more pen and ink house portraits

Here are two more finished pen and ink house portraits. Both are 11 x 15 inches.

House number 1:

 (detail)

(detail)


House number 2:

 (detail)

(detail)

In progress

Another late night spent cross-hatching!

Happy Halloween

This is my best one for 2012.

Second Pumpkin

This was my second pumpkin this year. I particulary like the forehead and the lips.

Pumpkin sculpting

This is my first attempt for this year.  I found it to be a particularly tough one to carve; it was coarse-grained and fibrous.  I also ended up going too deep on the eyes. I had no intention at the outset of going all the way through.  Overall, though, I think he looks pretty decent.

Cherokee Cottage, Jekyll Island

 Walnut ink on paper, 11 x 15 inches.  This was a bit of a rush job. I finished it last night around 12:45. I've been staying up late all week.