Deadline

There is an art show at the end of August, it has been going on for quite some time and is always a big event. Usually I don't do anything with it because I just don't create a large enough body of work during the year. This year there is going to be an experiment to open some shops near the show. The shop where I sell my work is one of those to be open. Most of my recent work has sold so I have to create some new work between now and the end of August. That is quite an order. I have just one idea so far, but it is a start. Once I finish one piece, the momentum builds. Usually I find other ideas in quick succession and I can knock out 3-4 ideas in a week. My work is not overly complex and fortunately I work small. Five by seven inches is usually the size of a completed work. I found out a few years ago that if the work is small a lot of things can be solved. And perhaps most importantly, a small size pretty much guarantees the work will be completed. Costs are kept down and compositional issues are more easily solved. It is definitely a guarantee that work will be met with more enthusiasm if it can be completed in one to two days. I happened to open an old sketchbook today and found my first idea. It is a quote by Goethe. When I saw that the composition was nearly complete, I knew I had my first idea. We will see where it goes from here.

New Work

I was at the shop where I take my work yesterday. I found out I sold a work, a nice feeling. There has been too much emphasis on getting work out and copies of work haven't been made. This is the wrong decision on my part. Several works have sold over the last few months and I haven't made copies. New directions demand documentation and it hasn't been done. Last month I created a number of graphite and watercolor pieces. They sold quickly and this surprised me. The main reason the work was done was an experiment. I have been following the work of another artist and I wanted to play around with pencils to see what happened. The result was better than I expected.
There is a show coming up at the end of August and I need to get some new work together. The question then becomes what should I do? Should the direction be graphite and watercolor or pen and ink and watercolor?

new work

I took some time this week to go down to the Studio to drop off some new work. The Studio is where I show my work. I took four works down. Two were 8x10 inches, two were 5x7 inches. The works were watercolor and pen and ink. Earlier this year I did some graphite and watercolor pieces. These received a very good reception. I am still trying to figure out how to post my work. Do I scan it in? I just recently bought a digital camera, but I still haven't had it out of the box. I know that I can use the camera to post work, but I am unsure exactly how this works.
I almost deleted my blog entries a few days ago, who wants to read this crap? But I decided to keep posting-for whatever reason. It is kind of interesting to see this develop, I am still unsure where it is going.

Learning curve

I am not sure where I am going with this blog thing, as I said, it is an experiment. I am older and I did not learn about all this new technology until recently. I imagine that there are many people that share this viewpoint. I imagine it is like learning a new language. I want to learn as much as I can, but I'm afraid of a mistake. I want to post my works of art, but I am unsure as how to do it. I sell my work close to home but want to try other things. I want to show the world my work. Don't get me wrong, my aim to get my work out is not all about money, it is about trying new things out. Learning more about new technology. This blog is a way to try out new things.

I hope to begin creating a blog to share my art online. I don't have a lot of experience, so this is an experiment. I work in pen and ink and watercolor. Most of my works are inspirational quotes. I attended art school in the eighties, but did not get a degree. My favorite artists are mostly those who work in pen and ink. Gahan Wilson, David Levine, R.O. Blechman, Edward Koren, Shel Silverstein. Illustrators like Trina Schart Hyman, Pinkney, Quentin Blake, and James Stevenson are a few of my favorites.