SKETCH=germination?

Ah...sketching is such sweet fun. Whether it has a purpose or is just free-based thought. It can be creative bliss. Frequently when I sketch I have an objective. It could be designing a painting or creating a color combination for a painting to get the color harmony I seek. These are merely steps in the creative process. It is like magic to look at a blank sheet of paper and then have your vision materialize in front of you. I once worked in black and white in my books but then discovered what a watercolor wash could do to a line drawing. I once sketched in pencil, a.k.a. graphite, but found it messy and as a male member of the species rarely had some hair spray to use as fixative. There is no doubt that graphite and charcoal give infinite variation in value. But I find the use of a ballpoint pen with black ink the most convenient for me. It doesn't smudge or smear and is waterproof and by theuse of such techniques as cross-hatching I can create a reasonable amount of variation in value. My favorite pens are procured gratis from motel rooms.

In the above sketchbook page on the left I am working of designs for paintings. The page on the right depicts seasonal activity on a sharecropper farm of my youth.

Studio Listening Matter

• Mason Williams
• Bob Marley
• Zachary Richard
• Boots Randolf

...more of the same...

I continue to work on prints. There is a tactile element to the creation here that is missing in watercolors painting. The brilliance and gradation of the colors is awesome. I don't have the skill to do this with paint but can do it with ink. Although the prints are singular, I can record the colors numerically and can reproduce them in RGB. However, the stencils are another matter. The cut stencils could probably be saved but the torn paper stencils could not be salvaged printer merely prints a field of color with no other input from the computer. I am struck by the binary nature of the process. 1's and 0's, off and on. The electrical state of a switch. Hence, the paper receives (on) ink or not (off). ...and the thighbone's connected to the hipbone... Say no more. Currently There are many other things I would like to try with this process. Also,I am considering increasing my web presence with the posing of some of my better photographs.

But, alas, 'tis the time for Christmas shopping.

Studio Listening Matter

• Mason Williams
• Ibrahim Ferrer
• Josh Groban
• Dion

just another post

I've been tinkering with images again. I have been primarily a realistic or representational painter. That is what sells. If you are not following your muse then painting is a waste of time. Sure, you make images that people like and buy. But most of the time you are just painting what everyone else does. You may have a style that no one else has and that's great but I want to get completely out of the box. I want to create images unique and I want to do them fast. That eliminates oil painting. I am not interested in the medium but the image itself. The method of creation is secondary to the image itself.

The image above is a combination of accident and technique. It was created on a inkjet printer. The letters printed when I wasn't expecting it. The printer gremlins did it. I incorporated the print into the design. (I'm real cheap and did not want to was te a piece of watercolors paper.) I completed the work by printing colors over cut and torn newspaper masks.

Listening Matter

• Hank Williams
• Frankie Laine
• Patsey Cline
• Doc Watson
• Ya Ya Ma

mono update

I have continued to work on my monoprints. The one at the left is based on a rock formation in Utah. We had a Charleston French Quarter Art Walk this past Friday evening and it was great. We had out-of-town guests. It was good to see what local artists were doing in the production of new works. They always present a new ideas. I am beginning to think as a mixed media artist and maybe moving toward multi-media.

Studio Listening Matter

• Mozart
• Wagner
• Blind Boys of Alabama
• Hank Williams
• Ibrahim Ferrer

Reading Matter

• The Murder Book--Jonathon Kellerman

other things

There has been some water under the bridge since my last post. I've been working on some new projects. One of my projects is a Redneck Zen Garden. The project requires a lot of cigarette butts and I don't smoke anymore. I finished my Thumper Motorcycle Poster. Whattaya think?


One of my newest projects in this vain has been the "Diet Patch" This diet device is guaranteed to work. Weighing in at 260 at a height of 72 inches, I had to do something. Therefore, I developed the Patch. It is guaranteed to work. You'll find yourself fizzling away like and Alka-Seltzer.

I've been continuing to load music into iTunes and making some compilation disks. The labeling program has been giving me fits. Guess I'll have to study the directions.

Studio Listening Matter

• Alan
• Better Than Ezra
• Train

Current Read

The Murder Book--Jonathan Kellerman