Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Bird Boxes, Number Two

This is my second attempt at the bird boxes. Number one was a failure, and so was this one. Closer, but no prize. This is a homage to spring. Yet the dark blue does not conform to the idea of spring. My wife suggested more pastel shades and I agree. The quote popped out of me and I think it is a wonderful way to express the idea of the coming of creativity. The emergence of God in all His glory. For me, winter is my most creative period, but my thoughts are always on the third week of March... Stay tuned for attempt three. It will be less derivative, hopefully, and more in keeping with my expression of the vernal equinox. Stay tuned   and God bless you for following my progress at this thing that has always colored my world. Dale

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Bird Boxes

A painting that was inspired by a photograph. The photographer is unknown. The idea came from a colored pencil drawing from 2000. I have been following an artist who turned professional four years ago. It is amazing the difference between the amateur work and the professional stuff. How does one develop the ability to create professional work? Many years ago I sold everything I did at one point. Now my work just sits. I know I have developed some lazy habits and find myself more interested in selling work than perfecting it. I'm not sure how to get past this. How did the artists who developed into professionals find the necessary spark? Was it always there? I am not talking about artists like O'Keeffe or Calder or Wyeth. I am referring to just talented artists. I am in a rut and I'm unsure how to push past it. Lately my life is moving in an entirely new direction and I'm not sure if it is a good thing. People just don't seem interested in the new directions my life is going. There are times in an artist's life when he or she must commit to moving ahead. But outside pressures create tension and unmanageability. There are distractions that take so much energy that work becomes chaotic and uninspired. One wonders if the art one creates will ever move beyond amateurish. One wonders if there is a good reason to push past the blocks.
    I recently found Pinterest and it is an incredible source of inspiration. So much creativity flowing out of this site. Many good inspired artists end up on the site. There is so much good work going through  here that one can spend hours a day looking and it can be addictive. Pinterest has become the place that I go to see work that moves me.
     Well, just wanted to post this work to keep in touch. It is as usual watercolor and pen and ink. I'd like to discover who the photographer was. I lost the photo long ago and I'm  uncertain where it came from and how much the art deviates from the original photo. I do like  the work and would like to do more with it. But I'm just not motivated. 
     Hope that everyone is enjoying a good week. This section of the country has been relatively mild. Potential for snow tomorrow, not enough to worry about. Take care and God bless... Dale


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Sgraffito

This is my second attempt at sgraffito. It is kind of different from the first attempt that I made in that the entire time I was doing the first piece I was laughing most of the time. . I had wanted to do this for years and I began by ordering some used dental picks to scratch through the colored pencil image. It was not a complex image, just something I enjoy drawing, flowers. The sun and flowers are stylized and the composition is very simple. I decided that once I learned to do it I would try something more difficult. I found that dental tools don't work especially well but that an X-acto #11 blade does. So this is my second attempt and though I enjoyed the colored pencil drawing, the sgraffito technique did not work especially well on the back of matboard. My next attempt will be to use the dental tools on scratchboard. We'll see how that goes.
     I went to a shop on Friday to demonstrate my watercolors. I  spent three and a half hours working on one of my little inspirational drawings that was done in pen and ink and then painted with watercolor. The time spent was very exciting even though there was not  much interest. I was using a Kolinsky sable brush that I have had for years but I am not especially fond of. My other sable brush was forgotten in the rush to get out of the house. The Kolinsky showed me how to use it by trial and error. It is great for fine detail but not broad strokes. It is not stiff enough. I do these demonstrations once a month and I am beginning to really enjoy them. I never thought that I would get to the point where I would be able to block out the people around me but this proved to be quite easy. The Kolinsky brushes unwieldiness proved to be just the ticket... Well, I am sorry that I have not posted much lately. There has just been no time. Hopefully things will open up soon. God bless you for reading my posts. Dale.