Crosshatching's

Peace and Joy this holiday, and all the years to come.

2011-12-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

Time to referesh

2011-12-01T14:38:00.002-07:00

Lately I've been wanting to do more figurative drawings and started one which almost immediately got trashed and now I have another on the drawing table. But, lacking the opportunity for now to draw from life I quickly saw that I was in need of some good old academic refresher studies. I've set myself to drawing after copies of the Bargue plates which are a mainstay of many ateliers worldwide for drawing students. My goal is to do at least two per week working from the most basic plates up to the more complex drawings in the catalogue.
Below are my first two drawings which are copies of the most elementary forms and shading. Seems redundant maybe to some who work with the figure quite often but I felt I needed this exercise to reacquaint myself with the human form, light and shadow on the form, and most of all, patience!

I was excited to see my results as rather good but I know if I was a student at any atelier using this process my copies wouldn't pass muster, the copies should be exact replicas down to proportion and line. Nevertheless, being an old dog teaching himself new tricks, I'm pleased with my first effort. I know as the drawings become more complex my own exacting habits will take over. Originals are on the left (not that I really had the need to make that apparent!)

Got 'er done!

2011-10-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

"Sunset Window"

Graphite on Canson Dessins JA Drawing Paper

12" x 16"

Took my sweet time on this one! Guess I was trying to drive myself mad with all the different textures. This is the second piece I have used the Canson paper and I like the surface a lot. It has just enough grain to hold the graphite without imparting too much surface texture of it's own and it's heavy enough to stand up to some rough treatment with an eraser if needed. I'm anxious to try other media on it as I've been searching for a paper that both fits my style of drawing and can take a lot of different media.

The woodworking about complete!

2011-10-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

Have worked on all that wood texture the last few days - looked at it and thought "Holy crap, it really took me that long to draw wood?" Yeah, it did. If the devil is in the details then I do tend to sell my soul sometimes, but I am a realist after all...

This is where we stand as of now, working the glass reflections and whatever lies behind the panes.

Back at it!

2011-09-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Got a delayed start on my newest effort. Late summer cold kicked my butt for almost a week but it's nice to be back at it AND finally being able to enjoy this beautiful Northern Arizona Indian summer! Still fiddling with camera settings in new light, hopefully corrected with next in progress post.

Graphite on Canson Dessins paper

12 x 16

"Old Paint"

2011-09-19T15:04:00.002-07:00

Actually finished this one on Saturday evening but wanted to have it sit aside for a day or so before deciding I was completely through with it. Added a few paint peel marks and deepened a couple of areas and that was that. Ready to move on to the next one.

"Old Paint"

Graphite on Canson Dessins 123lb/200gsm paper

8" x 13"

Dots, dots, dots

2011-09-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Here's where things stand this morning before I get started again. Starting to get a handle on the stipling process. Pleased so far, lot's more to do!

New work on the drawing table

2011-09-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

After moving back to Flagstaff two weeks ago I finally (almost, sort of...) got my workspace set and started on a new drawing. I apologize for the really bad photo but this was my first attempt at photographing right off the table handheld and not used to the new lighting and settings for the camera. Nevertheless, it's new, with about twenty hours into it so far. Call me crazy but I'm using a lot of pointillist technique on this one, hence the greater amount of hours into an image this size at this stage of completion.
Graphite on Canson Dessin 123lb/200gsm paper. Image approximately 13"x8". Choice of "tools" this time around shown are 6H, 2B, and F leads.

TODAY'S SURPRISE!

2011-08-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

I received a nice surprise today in my email inbox; my watercolor painting entry into the July 2011 Bold Brush Painting Competition was awarded one of two Outstanding Watercolor honors along with a beautiful watercolor by Keiko Tanabe. It is an honor to be placed beside such an outstanding award winning watercolorist. Congratulations to all the award winners, that is an amazing bunch of talent to be grouped along with!

The top 15% of entries into the July competition can be viewed online by clicking the following link:
http://faso.com/boldbrush/fav15/60
There were some fantastic paintings entered by fantastically talented artists!

New Landscape

2011-08-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

Morning Shadows on the Ramparts, Lukachukai Mountains

Graphite on paper

8 1/2 x 12

Going back to familiar surroundings with this one from my past. Growing up on the Navajo Reservation about 15 miles north of Canyon de Chelly I was fortunate to see this view quite often. The great sandstone cliffs form strikingly contrasted ramparts at the base of the Lukachukai Mountains, rising in tree covered heights over 10,000 ft.

A reworking

2011-04-16T10:31:00.001-07:00

I was doing some organizing last week and sifted through some of my previous drawings I had set aside to consider whether or not to work them along some further. I decided this one was a prime candidate for a reworking and spent some hours on it. I felt there was too much going on that was distracting in the lower portion so I simplified the shapes there. I also reworked the shadow areas to deepen them giving more more emphasis to the figure and the birds. The first image below is the newly reworked drawing and the second is the drawing as I had left it before last week. The original photo is a greyscale jpeg and the reworked photo is an untouched camera shot. The new photo shows the actual warmth of the graphite on the paper.

Ravensprize

16W x 14H

Graphite on Arches Hot Press watercolor paper

Trying to get back in the saddle

2011-03-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

Many months back I remember posting here at least on a semi-regular schedule. Oddly enough, it seemed to coincide with new works in progress or completed pieces. That was a couple of hospitals, a long ambulance ride to Phoenix, loads of tests, doctors appointments, and prescriptions ago and it's definitely time to get back on that horse and ride!

I've put up some graphite studies done on various papers I've gotten into over the last few weeks in hopes of finding the next more highly rendered drawing or the basis for painting. A couple of these were actually done while staring out my third floor hospital room, They were done on copy paper; ever try to get a blank sheet of paper and a pencil of all things in a hospital?? I'll let you figure out which two those are. As I tend to do with my drawing studies, they are much more finished drawings than mere studies, but I've always worked that way, never having been taught otherwise. It does make me intimately closer to my subject working this way but it can also create tightness and I overwork. I tried to make an effort with a little more looseness, a little.

Now that I've got one foot back in the stirrup...

Launched!

2010-08-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

After what seems months (only been a few weeks) since my last post, I've gotten caught up in too many things distracting me from working on art. I had an instructor once though who told me to always keep your hand in it even when not actually doing it. Sweep the studio, reorganize your supplies, do some matting and framing, anything to stay connected with it. I did manage to do some matting and framing but I am more excited about the fact that I finally have my own art portfolio website which was launched today! I have spent a lot of time the last couple of years researching the many hosting sites for artists websites and with the recommendations of quite a few of my Facebook artist friends decided to go with FineArtStudioOnline. It was a great choice, they made it so simple to set up and the support in getting it set was great. I'd recommend to anyone considering their own art site to at least check out FASO. Please, visit them and please, take a short click over to mine! Comments and suggestions are welcome, I've much to learn I'm sure.

Final photo, completed image

2010-07-14T10:56:00.001-07:00

Lantern, Light, & Lacework

Graphite on 100lb Bristol

16"W x 12"H

$475

Just a few minutes this morning at the drawing table and I was able to deepen the cast shadows giving them more emphasis to the central image. Ready to move onto something new!

Thinkin' it's 99.9% complete...

2010-07-13T11:19:00.002-07:00

At this point I am 99.9% sure I have this one completed. I am going to let it hang on my easel the rest of the day to get a different perspective on it and decide if I should go any further in any area. I'm quite satisfied with the cast shadow of the globe and the refraction of light within it and I do like the reflections in the globe itself. If I were to venture a guess I would probably deepen the lantern shadow and the shadows of the decorative frame around the glass. I think that was what pulled me to this subject in the first place, the lyrical movement of the window glass frame created some really nice negative spaces.

At any rate I will probably take a better photo, this was a handheld shot on the easel under a skylight and I usually take final photos with a tripod setup. In the meantime I'll start rifling through my reference materials to get the next project going, or might sit out in the shade of the oaks and cedars in the yard and create some new reference material.

Lettin the light in!

2010-07-09T17:11:00.001-07:00

After getting some quality time over the last few days since the previous update things are now starting to come together. I saved the cast shadow of the lantern along with the glass globe for last thinking I would have a lot more fun with those surfaces and so far I am. Finishing up those two areas will give me a better sense of the overall darks I might still need to deepen. My friend and fellow draughtsman Lynda Schumaker commented on my last post how she stared and wondered how I got these transitions from darks to lights to be so seameless, almost like velvet. I took that as a high compliment coming from a signature member of the CPSA, and replied, "layers, layers, layers!" In essence, graphite drawing IS most usually all about building layers to get to the definition of darks versus lights you're looking for. I cannot say for sure since I don't usually keep track of the numbers, but at least five layers in the darkest areas and at least three in the medium to lighter tones. Yeah, it's a pretty labor intensive process at times but, it keeps me out of most trouble other than what I get into on the drawing board. At least I only have to answer to myself for that trouble!

Progress, albeit little, has been made...

2010-06-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

This is how my current drawing sits as I get a chance to work on it this afternoon. The darks and the textures of the surface the lantern sits on seem to be just about right though the cast shadow of the lantern will determine the final balance of lights and darks. So far the entire drawing has been done with Staedtler Mars Lumograph H pencils and Sanford Design H pencils, two decidedly different "H" leads, on Strathmore 100lb Vellum Bristol.

Still a work in progress

2010-06-10T11:22:00.003-07:00

After moving several months back to become full time caretaker for my aging parents I knew I would have much less time to work at my art and also that my space to do so would be severely limited. These are just minor restraints compared to the time I was going to have to spend tending to the everyday needs of 80+ year olds suffering from an almost total loss of eyesight with one and the advancement of Alzheimer’s with the other. I would not want to wish anyone ever having to take on this task but in doing so I have come to realize how precious time spent on the dreams and goals one has set for their lives really becomes.

The day starts early and ends late so one would assume there would be a plentitude of minutes to be spent at the drawing table or easel. However, those moments are little snippets between meals or during naps where work can be squeezed in on a current piece. My present in progress drawing I have been working now for over a month compared to the week or less I may have spent before on one. We artist’s know the exhilaration of working continuously on a piece to fruition, the joy of seeing your idea appear on paper or canvas before your eyes in sessions of hours lost in the creative process, yet feel the frustration of interruption perhaps more than the average person who has to change directions during the workday. Now I find the enjoyment of even the most fleeting of moments spent creating more intensely gratifying than I have before for I know it is fleeting and may be the only moment of the day I have to do so.

Frustration is still there. Tthe emptiness of a creative block can be merciless right now so I have learned to channel it all to another creative effort of one sort or another. (Believe me, I’ve learned more about cooking the last few months than I ever did know before, and learned to recognize it also is a creative venture). During the past week the inability to concentrate on my latest drawing became overwhelming and I had to find a way to bring the process of creative thought back. I am a novice woodworker, more astutely, an expert manufacturer of sawdust, and with much less space to work than I previously enjoyed, and still working out of packing boxes, I needed something to both hold my supplies and an accessory which would assist my painting and drawing efforts. Not being able to just take off to the local Home Depot with a cut list and plans I had to use on-hand materials and came up with the plan for a taboret which I have diligently coaxed into being, sans back and side panels, and drawer pulls for the moment, but it has given me a creative distraction to my creative frustration and was easier to stop when needed in the house without feeling like “darn, I was just getting into that passage of texture and now I have to stop!”

In short, we live temporal lives for the most part without realizing we can fulfill our creative desires and needs in many ways other than with pencil or paint. We can enjoy every moment of creating to it’s fullest without complaint of the lesser time we get to spend at it. Whatever reason life has decided to take some of that time from us we do have the ability to steal it back and purposely use it and use it well.

Front view, the top drawer was a last minute addition, still have to cut a drawer front. Made of poplar, pine, fir, birch, cherry, almost more species in this thing than the local Humane Shelter!

View from top showing palette in place.

Top view with palette removed, thinking I may leave it removeable to ease in cleaning between paintings.

New Work in Progress..

2010-05-20T14:51:00.006-07:00

Graphite on 100lb Bristol
16W x 12H

Seems forever since I last visited my own blog and posted and well, pretty much has been, two months anyway. I've been having to put in a few minutes here and a few there to get to this point but you work with what you got and that includes time. Since I'm addicted to graphite that means I have lots of layering to get the darkest blacks where I need them to be but that's all part of the fun. Different surfaces affect what you come up with also and bristol with a vellum surface as I'm using here makes for some interesting texture opportunities. The cast shadows are on a painted wood surface. There's always some really nice brushstrokes in a painted surface to render and, another challenge. I love a challenge, either that or I'm certifiably out of my mind, but I love being able to portray so many different textures with graphite on paper. That's the mystique of working in pencil, that such a simple tool can be so adaptable.

This piece I previously posted (my last post in fact, back in March!) and I had yet to come up with a title for it. After a couple months of thinking on and off about it, it hit me that since this was the third in my series of old locks set against weathered wood, I have proudly proclaimed the title "Third Lock From the Sun" OK, corny and you had to be there to know, but at least it has a name and it's own claimed place in the world now!

Now complete...

2010-03-23T16:13:00.002-07:00

Graphite on Canson 2-ply Bristol

9 1/4W x 6 1/4H

$475

I finally got to the point of noodling things that I decided this was complete. Though not really as complex and detailed as the previous two in this series it seemed (to me at least) that it took as long to complete as they did. Perhaps having to sneak in hours here and there between moving and taking on the new responsibility of attending full time to aging parents gave me the impression that it took much longer. Working on a new surface was fun, I liked very much how the paper responded to pencil and will definitely use it again. I limited myself to using three grades of graphite, 2B, HB, and H (all General Pencil) which I have not done before to challenge myself to patiently compile the layers I needed to arrive at the tones I wanted. I've been told that one should not be afraid to "go dark" when drawing and here I tried to keep the darkest areas like the shadow of the lock dark enough to be believeable as a cast shadow but did not want the darkest blacks possible. I'm always looking at shadows of objects I draw and try to portray the textures of the surface the shadow is cast upon. A black shadow seemed as if it would be a dark hole in the drawing.

This piece is currently untitled, which is out of the norm for me. I usually have a title somewhere around the halfway point of completion, the result of something the drawing itself was saying but this one hasn't spoken yet. Or maybe I'm just tired and my brain is mush.

Most recent work in progress

2010-03-11T15:21:00.001-07:00

Graphite on Canson 2-ply Bristol

Spring is finally starting to creep back to Northern Arizona which means changes in most all life. I am having to relocate to another town for family matters and just have not had the time to devote to drawing as I wish but did manage to sneak in some hours on a new piece. This is a continuation of my series of locks on weathered wood and so far I feel it to be about the most successful of the series though still incomplete. The previous drawings in the series have taught me much about depicting realistic detailing on objects of contrasting surfaces and a few more hours here I should have this complete. I also am using a new bristol surface which is much whiter than the Strathmore bristol I used in the previous drawings of the series. I like the whiter surface as it's much easier to determine values on it and it photographs for reproduction much better without correction with photo software.

A figurative art blog...

2010-02-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

I've added a new blog to concentrate only on my figurative work,
"Purposely Figurative", please stop by and have a look, leave a comment, become a follower, all are welcomed!

Working out kinks...

2010-02-16T10:07:00.004-07:00

After working for so long on mostly landscapes I felt I needed to get back to developing my figurative skills. I have always had a love for doing figurative art and my times in many life drawing classes have shown I do have a better than average proficiency drawing the human figure. However, I am lacking the same level of skill when portraying facial features, so I put pencil to paper yesterday working on a study of the face. As you can see, I missed the proportion of the nose to the rest of the face, though she doesn't actually look really awkward with such a long nose bridge. I also struggle as many artist's do so often with the eyes. I think I fairly well depicted her right eye but when attempting to draw the other fell so short of it working that I frustratedly squiggled a hard line through it, then got hold of myself and worked the squiggle into an abstraction of the left side of her face. I hate not having something productive come out of any work, probably a shortcoming I need to accept is going to happen more oft than not and move on, but I did come up with a result that perhaps can be the basis for something in the future. One of my grievances is that I do not have accessibility to a live model to work from and have to rely on photographic references. That does restrict your depiction somewhat as the camera, though capturing every nuance and detail, flattens what you see and therefore affects what you draw. Only working from life can you see and feel the depth of the figure. Plugging along though, I want to continue these studies and learn all I can to draw the figure and face better. With some good fortune maybe an opportunity will arise to have access to a live model.

and we're finished!

2010-02-12T14:21:00.005-07:00

"Bridge Partners"
9 7/8"W x 6 1/4"H
Graphite on 100lb Bristol Vellum
$475

Now we're complete, pigeon poop and all!
One of those drawings that taxed my skills and patience at times but as with all of them I learned a lot of new things about my drawing technique, and that is my intention with every piece, to learn and grow.

Finally making real progress

2010-02-09T11:15:00.003-07:00

After a couple of days interrupted by more snow, power outages, and a little football game on Sunday, I've gotten my feathered buddies about 90% complete. With their values mostly set I can now see how dark and detailed the rest of the drawing should be. With more hours today and tomorrow of work I should be able to bring this to completion by Thursday, maybe sooner if I get really on a roll! This being my first attempt with wildlife of any kind and birds in particular the challenges gave me an appreciation for all of you out there who depict wildlife quite often. Trying to maintain a high level of realism had me using every skill I had ever learned in drawing and I probably picked up a couple of more here.

Taking shape

2010-02-04T16:08:00.004-07:00

With a few more hours today my little friends are starting to take on their birdlike appearance. I also worked on the texture of the bridge trying to capture the feel of the steel behind the birds. After the birds are to the point of almost complete I will have a better idea of how much further to take the texturing behind them. So far, so good.
This cloudy winter sky is still hampering my good light for capturing a good photo of this but the darks being added have helped tremendously.

New drawing on the table

2010-02-02T22:30:00.004-07:00

I'm having issues with getting a good photo of this for some reason but wanted at any rate to get an in-progress view of something new posted for you. This is a subject that is quite new for me. I am more of a landscape and figurative artist and have never attempted wildlife before but these two little guys caught my eye and I thought it would be fun to tackle something new. It's a good thing to do once in a while to expand our experiences, and fail or succeed you nevertheless do learn from it. I'm making the effort to develop the textures in the background before I get into the birds. They will be the dominant feature and I need the background to be believeable but not competing with the birds. Wish me luck!

A reworking

2010-01-27T09:42:00.003-07:00

In the few days I had set aside my previous posts subject I had the chance to revisit some other sketches I had started long ago and was able to rework this sketch to a more defined composition. Why I settled to work this one out of the many I have collected I don't know for certain. Perhaps the memory of the seven months I lived and worked in Colorado, which were good months, made me want to revisit it. Most likely the huge amounts of snow we've received as of late had a more current impact on the decision. Since we're closing in on February and spring is coming soon I wanted to start putting together ideas for new watercolor and perhaps oil paintings. I've always wanted to tackle a scene such as this with watercolor. Revisiting older works can sometimes give us the spark of inspiration we didn't have before when we first put the idea to paper and now the wheels are turning.

Exposed

2010-01-26T15:09:00.006-07:00

"Exposed"
Graphite on Stonehenge paper
22W x 11H

After a few days mulling this one over I was able to finish it up last night. I took the opportunity also to post the last in-progress view here on my RedBubble account just to ask for comments and critiques from my fellow "Bubblers". I got some great suggestions, some of which I followed to complete this, and surprisingly, got quite a few "It's finished" comments though the lower right corner really had nothing in it. (see my previous post) I'd like to thank here all those who took the time at RedBubble to have a closer look and for their help. I would suggest to anyone who likes to interact with other artists to use RedBubble for posting your art to the world. You just might sell a print or two but you certainly make some wonderful friends who are very talented artists. This was a true learning experience for me as it was the first time I had used Stonehenge paper for my graphite drawings. It took some adjusting to and I am pleased with the final image though I feel Stonehenge doesn't fit my graphite style as well as other papers. Most of us I'm sure are always looking for new and different supports to draw or paint on and I am no different in that regard. Seems as if I'm always in search of the perfect surface, trying to find the combination of the just right texture and whiteness and I've come close with a couple of other papers so far. I bet another new one will show up soon with my work soon.

still a work in progress

2010-01-21T16:51:00.004-07:00

This piece is taking it's own sweet time getting completed. There, I blamed it on the art and not the artist! I was hoping to have this done a while back to keep up with my two completed works a week goal but a serious sinus infection set me back a week and then contending with this January Arizona weather has been a distraction. I'm also having no luck at all in getting this piece to behave like I want and that is likely due to the Stonehenge paper I'm trying out. I'm not getting the intial clarity I want with my graphite, the surface of the paper probably being too soft for my style of work. Although I work in layers upon layers with graphite defining edges and details isn't easily done here. I figure I have about 20+ hours into this one and am going to put it to the grindstone tonight and see how far I get with it. And, I'll probably go back to using a heavy bristol or a hot pressed watercolor paper and find another use for the Stonehenge.

...and for those of you wondering what the heck kind of weather we have to deal with in January in Arizona, the photo above speaks for itself. Yes, that's a six foot fence. This week has brought us three strong snowfalls, our gift from the weather system flooding southern California right now and we're up to actual accumulations officially of over three feet but as you can see, my unofficial total is a bit more. Currently the snow level is rising to above 7,000 ft (which is just where I live) and the snow is at this moment turning to a light rain. That will cause some real problems in parts of town for sure. The snow on the rooftop is starting to calve off like an iceberg with the rain melting it away and though that will ease the stress on my roof when the snow level drops again tonight to below our elevation and the temps drop we're going to have some serious ice around town. I have definitely gotten my workout shoveling the drive several times this week already and we've another day of this to go. But, the ski resort on the mountain will have a nice season and that means tourist money coming into our local economy which is not a bad thing given the times we're all going through. Also gets you riding the fence on the global warming issue when you get this kind of pounding. We're all looking to spring aren't we??

New year's first efforts

2010-01-06T10:26:00.008-07:00

Resolving to be a more consistant blogger means I'm going to have to be a more consistant producer of art also. I've set a goal to produce at least two finished works each week, no matter the medium, which I will post here as both work in progress and completed. My first piece is graphite on Canson 70# paper, 12"W x 9"H. I wanted it to have a bit of a plein air painting look to it and left a couple of small areas more impressionistic to that purpose. I'm thinking of matting and framing also with one of those really great plein air metal leafed frames.

Being mid-week I have a work in progress view below of my second piece which, by the way, is about mid-finished... Graphite on Stonehenge paper, approximately 22 3/4"W x 11 1/2"H. A drawing like this one affords a lot of detail opportunity and I love detail, just have to keep from overdoing them so they don't run away with the work. The Stonehenge paper helps in that regard as most all of the pencil marks have a softer edge to them because of the softer surface of the paper. The details have less contrast so they don't jump off the paper at ya!

Lost time, or is it lost in time??

2009-12-30T15:10:00.004-07:00

The last few weeks since before Thanksgiving seem a blur to me, wondering where all the time I was going to spend at the easel went to. Family obligations kept me away from home for at least three and a half of those weeks and now I have to rekindle the painting flame once again. I have for the moment let the previous blogging subject sit at rest on the easel while I catch up on putting down new ideas in my sketchbook and work on a new drawing. Besides, ever try to squeeze oil paint out of a tube that has been sitting in an unheated house in early December? It just don't work. I'm counting down the days to the Vernal Equinox in anticipation of good ol' warm spring weather, only 88 more days!

But, early December runs into late December which means another year is closing on us. Normally not a resolution making kind of person I did do some hard looking inside, especially where it came to my art, and saw things I needed to do to improve on it all, from the work itself to marketing the work. I'm not going to call them resolutions, but will consider them necessities in order to improve and grow. It's a good thing to delve within yourself with an open mind about what you find from time to time. Some of us probably do it rather regularly, others as myself not so much so. Aside from what we do as artist's for the progression of our work, I believe we have a responsibility to the world at large to give it our best, fill it with the beauty in a way only we can see, and in our own manner improve the lives around us. It's another necessity.

I did make one resolution though...keeping up a consistancy on this blog.

Happy New Year to all of you. May we all enjoy greater successes in our work and hopefully change the world one painting/drawing at a time.

New Work in Progress

2009-11-18T12:57:00.009-07:00

Oil on board
40"W x 17 1/2H

OK, finally picking up the oils and getting to work! After spending most of the summer and warmer fall months working on outdoor projects and some woodworking (more of that perhaps later) it was time to get serious about painting again.
Earlier this year I finally put the effort into a Facebook page devoted to exposing my art and to network with artist's the world over. Shortly after I got it up and running I had a short conversation with Emilia Cantor de Klegerman who is one of the instructors at the Ravenswood Atelier in Chicago. Emilia was gracious enough to praise my work and suggested I had enough of a basis to study with a traditional atelier such as hers. Wow I thought, such a gratifying comment on my work, and it touched on the fact that the last few years I dreamed of finding the way to travel to Florence and even apply to the Florence Academy of Art. Even now that my age has passed up double nickels it still places high on my own "bucket list" to do. I did promise to consider if financially I could cut it but replied that until then I will have to teach myself traditional painting. This new piece is my real start with that process.
Atelier's such as the Florence Academy and Ravenswood emphasize drawing skills first and foremost, which is great, more artist's should make that concentrated effort. Below is my preperatory sketch for the painting and although not fully developed as a more finished drawing it does give me all I need to keep my idea and the composition moving forward as I paint. The painting as it exists now is the culmination of about 16 hours of painting, developing the upper sky to as complete as I wished and working the middle sky to convey the sunset mood I envision. I'll try to keep this updated every couple of days with progress shots and in the meantime please take the time to click on Emilia's name for the link to her on Facebook and on Ravenswood to visit their website. Peruse both the work of the staff and of the students to see the wonderful work they are doing.

Graphite on paper - image approximately 13 x 6

Arizona Northlands Calendar

2009-09-25T11:45:00.005-07:00

I enjoy landscape photography and especially photographs of the north country of Arizona where I have spent the last 40+ years of my life. I created a calendar with a collection of some of my favorite shots of this great state. It is now available now on my RedBubble page by clicking here. RedBubble produces a high quality calendar at very affordable prices and for gift giving to friends, relatives, business associates, giving Arizona this year would be the perfect idea for everyone on your list. If you live in Arizona or are one of the millions worldwide who have visited this wonderful land why not give yourself a memory of places perhaps you visited or plan to one day.

Sometimes it just don't work!

2009-08-01T07:03:00.003-07:00

Ultimately, not everytime we touch a pencil to paper or brush to canvas do we come up with something we feel is worthy of completion. We do tend to discard (or at least put aside) failing attempts for various reasons, mostly because we feel it's not measuring up to our expected standard for ourselves. The drawing started in my last post I have set aside just for this reason, it wasn't working for me. It was my first use of Stonehenge paper with graphite and I felt I wasn't able to work the surface as well as other brands I have used working in the style I am accustomed to. It happens, sometimes it just don't work! So now, off to investigating something new to work on!

Along the Mogollon

2009-07-25T13:06:00.011-07:00

I've made the trip countless times south of Flagstaff , Az dropping over the Mogollon Rim on the way to Payson, Az and have always wished I wasn't driving and could stop to take pics of the drive up. The Mogollon Rim divides Arizona's Colorado Plateau northland from the desert valleys below and holds some of the most beautiful scenery in the state. I had the fortune to be a passenger earlier this year and took the opportunity to finally get some shots I wanted to use as reference material for my art. Since there is no place on this road to stop and pull over I had to set my camera to take multiple frame shots, pointed it out the window, clicked the shutter and actually wound up with some really nice shots. It is amazing that in the 1000ft climb (all in less than a mile) the geologic strata remains the same, great sandstone layers that are the remnant of a vast sea once covering the southwest eons ago. I started a drawing using one of these for reference this morning included at the end of the photos.

Artist of the Day

2009-07-22T21:31:00.007-07:00

A nice surprise awaited me today when the website I offer my original art for sale on, Zatista, advised me they had chosen my "store" on their site, Michael Bailey Contemporary Art, to be the featured Artist of the Day on their Facebook page. No big bells and whistles going off, just some nice marketing support from what is becoming a quality venue with a lot of high quality original art offered for sale. I thank them for their efforts and support, all of which was supplied to me and others so chosen on other days at no charge. Nice litle perk in today's world of having to pay for every little extra (try getting that from your cell provider for instance). Any artist who might consider adding another venue for possible sales should consider Zatista, I've included a link to their site and Facebook page. Click on the title to this post to view my store on the site (a little shameless self-promotion)
http://www.zatista.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zatista/108980621421

Links

2009-07-14T06:59:00.007-07:00

Links
Graphite on 100lb Bristol Vellum
7 1/2 x 10 3/8
$475

Finished up all the nit-picking artist's usually do at the very end of working on a piece and decided it was time to lay down the pencils. Dramatically lit subjects always make for an interesting composition and I always have to think hard about just how much detail to include in the highlighted portions. I felt that the suggestion of the metal surface of the links worked well rather than go into more detail as I did with the surface of the hasp. They sit in different planes in comparison with each other so the links were exposed to more direct lighting. All in all I am happy with the results, now I get to make the frame!

'Links", another progression

2009-07-12T13:13:00.003-07:00

Now things are starting to really take shape. The shadowed areas have all their layers and are as dark as they possibly may go. The midvalues of the woodgrain are coming along nicely and that will help set the value of the metal surfaces of the hasp and the highlights on the links. Almost there, just about time to where the picking and prodding to finalize things will start.

'Links', in progress

2009-07-10T16:34:00.004-07:00

I thought I would post an in progress view of the next in my series of locks, latches, and other objects.
Summertime brings with it every project imaginable to work on besides art that was put off during the winter so progress has been slower than I wanted on this piece. Again, I am using 100lb Bristol Vellum paper for the drawing which has a very slight off white tint that warms nicely in comparison to the graphite. The initial drawing was set up with an H pencil using very light strokes so as not to indent the surface of the paper. The H pencil is hard enough to make a very light mark that can easily be corrected if needed. The shadows were crosshatched lightly first with the H and then switching to an HB lead in a lead holder for the next layer of crosshatchings. After this layer I came back to the H pencil and crosshatched again over the shadow in a different direction. The harder lead started filling in the white of the paper left by the intial light layers, unifying the shadows, readying them for the next layer(s) which will be darker from softer leads.
By this point I have started defining the woodgrain lightly with the H pencil and working into their darker areas with the HB lead. Other than in the shadows all the drawing is now more direct rather than crosshatching.
With a few more hours this weekend the drawing should be complete.

Premonition

2009-07-03T15:04:00.003-07:00

"Premonition"
Graphite on Canson 70lb paper
13 3/4 x 16 3/4
$475

While working on the next in the series related to my previous post, Shadowlock, I am going to indulge myself and post one of my explorations in surrealism/fantasy art. I've always enjoyed fantasy art and thought I could give it a try. Premonition was born out of an initial rubbing with a graphite stick on a flat stone surface along with random marks made with a pencil and then I let things flow as the drawing sort of directed me. It is maybe a dream sequence drawing, relying on some unconscious memory to move my pencil, and that is as deep as I am going to get here, nothing more metaphysical or physchological in meaning. I suppose there could be an interpretation of symbolism if I were to inspect it very closely but I would rather you do the interpretation according to your reaction to the work.
While much of today's fantasy work is done digitally, especially in the world of illustration, I feel that traditional methods still work the best, including fantasy art. I have an immense respect for the works of Brom, Frazetta, Vallejo and the likes, who are fantastic visual artists and work still in traditional methods rather than using the computer to execute their work.
Surrealism/fantasy work will be an ongoing exploration for me at times, nice break from really traditional subjects.

Shadowlock

2009-07-02T19:21:00.004-07:00

"Shadowlock"
Graphite on 100lb Bristol Vellum
7 1/4 x 9 1/2
$475

Finally! I decided to post a graphite piece!
This is the first of what I hope to be a long series of locks, latches, knobs, and other ordinary everyday objects set against naturally weathered wood backgrounds. I will at times traverse the alleys and deserted buildings around the city looking for interesting subjects in dramatic light and shadows. I hope no one calls the police thinking I'm "casing" the place for later nefarious activities! Weathered wood always makes for an interesting drawing and really is not too hard to depict. Time consuming yes, but that's the nature of drawing with a point less than 2mm in size most times, it does take a while to cover the paper. I'm always intrigued with the interplay of light and shadow in a piece and I take great pains to follow the natural "laws" of how light and shadow are cast on a subject.

March Madness

2009-04-09T19:11:00.001-07:00

"March Madness"
Watercolor on Arches 140lb Hot Press Paper
18 1/2 x 19 1/2
Private Collection

You gotta love rainy days, especially the moments when the sun bursts through the clouds for a short time and lights up the buildings and sidewalks with myriad refelections. Watercolor is the perfect medium to capture this feeling.

Canyon Light

2009-02-19T15:52:00.005-07:00

"Canyon Light"
Watercolor on Fabriano 140lb Hot Press Paper
21 1/2 x 13 1/2
$545

A painting I completed late last fall using a reference photo shot at Lake Powell halfway up Navajo Canyon on the Arizona side of the lake. It was almost noon and the sunlight was very intense on the top of the rock wall. This was challenging trying to achieve the intense darks of the black shadowed areas while maintaining the feeling of depth to the walls. I used a combination of glazing, drybrushing, and wet-in-wet techniques to portray all of the different textures along with masking to save the "white-hot" sunlit areas.

Kashmir

2008-06-08T18:21:00.003-07:00

"Kashmir"
Colored Pencil on Mi Tientes paper
16 3/4 x 9 1/4
$475

Juried into the Colored Pencil Society of America's Arizona District Fall Show November, 2008

Kashmir was created using a reference photo I took several years ago of one of our spectacular Arizona sunsets. I've always felt you cannot see sunsets like these anywhere else and this is one of those that support my feelings. Again I chose to use Canson Mi Tientes paper, this time using Felt Grey, a very sandy beige. I always use the smoother side of the paper as it suits how I work better than the flipside which had more texture.

The photo above illustrates how I lay out my image and experiment with color applications making notes of the colors in the margins of the paper. I will often use Photoshop to play with the composition and values of a photograph before deciding to start the painting. I tend to keep my paintings small since colored pencil is a time consuming process, laying down many layers of color. Someday I'll make the leap to full sheet but need to heal from the carpal tunnel in my wrist and shoulder first!
I was sort of strapped for a title for the piece but while working on it I was listening to Led Zeppelin and as their song Kashmir played it just seemed to fit. Besides the natural colors of cashmere scarves or sweaters my palette reminded me of, the mood of the song spoke to me saying use this!

Spring Break

2008-06-08T17:19:00.002-07:00

"Spring Break"

Colored Pencil on Mi Tientes Paper

10 3/8 x 7 3/8

$475

Juried into Colored Pencil Society of America's Arizona District Fall Show November, 2008

Colored pencil is one of those mediums that until recent years hasn't gotten the credit it deserves as a quality fine art medium. If you have never viewed a work in colored pencil then you are in for a treat that will surpass any expectations. Colored pencil is no longer just something used in elementary school art class but has been taken to a high level of artistic skill by some very talented artists. I invite you to visit the site of the Colored Pencil Society of America, http://www.cpsa.org/ , and view some of the tremendous work in the galleries by those artists.
I had the idea to do Spring Break in late April when the light during the transition from winter to spring in the Rocky Mountain West was cool but held promise of warmer days to come. I chose Canson Mi Tientes Flannel Grey paper, which is a cool beige color, and a heavier weight (98lb) paper with a "vellum" surface which holds a great deal of pigment. Colored pencil is translucent like watercolor and the colors sparkle through the next layer laid upon it. as does the paper color. Working on a toned paper does have it's issues to deal with even before laying down a mark as the color you choose immediately changes from the actual lead color so there is a lot of experimenting on scraps of the same paper during the entire process but it's a great learning experience and a very enjoyable one.