Maurice has a problem. He just cant get enough of that chocolatey-peanut crunch. I’ve suggested he seek treatment for his disorder but he wont. Instead, he lurks inside my sketchbook licking his way across the pages in search of a way to pacify his need. It’s possible that I could draw a Baby Ruth bar for him but I don’t want to be an enabler. And besides, he’d finish it and still want more. I’d spend every day drawing chocolate and peanuts and I don’t have time for that. So Maurice, my friend, I wish you luck and a swift recovery.
It’s hard to tell from this photograph but there are layers upon layers of washes and splatters in this painting. My goal was to create a varied background so that when I flung the black paint on it the black specks would appear to vibrate in place. It sort of works, if you stare at it long enough.
I still can’t come up with a title for this piece. If you have any suggestions leave a comment. Until then it gets the name my camera gave it.
Before getting to work on a new drawing I usually do about an hours worth of sketching. This gets hand hand-eye coordination warmed up and my mind in the right state for art . It’s almost like meditating.
I usually carry with me a red back pack. Inside you will always find these three items; whatever book I’m reading, a black ink pen, and my Moleskine sketchbook.
This comes in handy when I’m stuck somewhere for a long period of time. Like, say, the Cincinnati airport.
Back in art school my instructor, Maggie, handed me a mangled paint brush, a jar of ink, a cup of water, and said, “You’re going to draw that model.” I pointed the frayed bristles at her and said, “With this?”
Up until then it had never occurred to me that one could draw with a paint brush. After getting over the fact that we had a hot model for a change (no more Brian with his hairy belly and random assortment of hats) I got to drawing. By working with the brush for an hour I learned that I had no skill with it. I politely returned it and went back to using my quill and micron pens. My mistake.
Maggie was right to force the brush on me. No tool can be used with more variety or create a more professional line than the brush. Last year I picked it up again and now I use it almost exclusively for finished drawings.
What you’re looking at now, a continuation of my layout sketches post, are work in progress shots of a drawing I did using techniques I learned in Maggie’s class.
When I lived in Virginia I would go to Cheeseburger In Paradise about 3 times a week. It was my favorite bar. I liked it so much there that I thought I wanted to work there. So I applied, got the job, and on my first day of work they handed me a pink shirt and a stack of material I had to memorize and said welcome to CIP.
I really tried to memorize everything they gave me. Actually I had to or I would be fired. I filled up pages and pages of my sketchbook with notes on the new menu, but in the end I was too lazy. So I went back to work at Ruby Tuesday.
This painting was an attempt to cover up some of those notes and make my sketchbook prettier. Again, it’s house paint because that’s what was available at the time.
Two half-empty cans of latex house paint, I found them next to each other in the garage of my old house. One a rusted out red, the other a green like the patina on copper.
The cans’ contents dripped carelessly down their sides. Both colors enhanced the other while still fighting for the eyes attention. How lucky I was to find two pigments in such perfect compliment.
I spent the next few hours experimenting with wash techniques on a piece of discarded particle board. The finished piece is about 3×4. If i get a better picture of it I’ll re-post. I’m not happy with the glare on the top and the lighting makes the colors look more pale than the original painting.
These trees hang over railroad tracks that cut across town north to south. At night the train announces itself with its horn and I feel my house shake with its passing. I often think about waiting by these trees to catch a slow moving train. And why not? There are benches there that welcome me to wait. I have three days off every week. I wonder how far I could get by train and make it home in that time.
Back in May i was flying home to Virginia from Ohio. On the first leg of the flight, Cincinnati to Philly, I managed to get some drawing done. I was inspired by James Jean’s sketch books and Alex Sinclair’s zoo studies.
