Temporal Reverie

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A new drawing is complete...I have taken a few snapshots (not the fancy digital images from the art photographer, but the idea still comes across).

Temporal Reverie

Graphite and watercolor on Arches hot press watercolor paper
26 x 32 inches

Temporal Reverie

Some detail photos:

coelacanth-detail-3

coelacanth-detail-1

detail of watercolor on the pearl

That magnificent fish is a coelacanth...and yes, I used the common free use image as a reference (to some degree) - lets just say, they ain't easy to find and I looked for a specimen to photograph myself (boy, and how), as I had a specific need to appropriate a specific fish that had to do with a specific dream (the fish are considered to be a missing evolutionary link because they have leg-like fins, therefore, when I was having my reverie on the temporal and the transitional, it was the coelacanth that swam into my vision).
I cannot figure out how to import video into this blog  (Jo, tell me what to do) but there is gorgeous, and exceptionally rare footage of them swimming and eating in their very unusual handstand position on ARKive (a site that documents all endangered animals on earth...a real time suck if you are into that sort of thing).
I loved making this drawing - I do not find that creating drawings is a drudgery or a fight, and I am perplexed when artists talk about their struggles with creating their art or the chore of having to complete the task.
When in the studio, there is a state that I enter where executing the drawing becomes both a cerebral and an intuitive experience - yes, it is a struggle of sorts - with shape and form and marks and interaction with the pencil and the paper.  But, I love that sense of struggle and that feeling of adventure and risk - will this happen and how will it happen?
This is not to say that the process of art is easy - although it should be enjoyable, gratifying and pleasurable - and I question the motivation of those artists who complain about the actual execution of their vocation.

I trusted what I wanted, not what I thought would work.  I did what I myself thought was interesting, and left its reception to the gods.

- Stephen Pressfield, The War of Art

The magnificent Jo Bradney, who does all of the HTML voodoo to make my website and blog appear, told me how to make image links appear (thanks Jo!):

ARKive logo

Coelacanth in deep submarine canyonCoelacanth in deep submarine canyonHans Fricke

ARKive logo

Coelacanth displaying characteristic handstand postureCoelacanth displaying characteristic handstand postureHans Fricke

Strange Tales From My Little Black Book #6

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Another little drawing from the beloved Moleskine...around 5 x 7 inches:

Rowan
Rowan

It is a personal goal not to find myself in the midst of idle down time without my sketchbook in hand.  It occurred to me (perhaps a little too obsessively) that I spend 20 minutes a day waiting in the car for my pair of first graders to emerge from school and if I spend that 20 minutes a day sketching, by the end of the week I have about an hour and a half of drawing time...and this is the time when all of these little finished sketches are being created.  Measuring out my drawings by the spoonful...
On the studio side of things, the graphite section of my current large scale drawing is nearly complete, and the last step is a small black pearl that will be painted in gouache (subtle bits of opalescent color - fun to paint - hurray!), but I have to wait on the gouache pearl until I finish all of the pencil parts and stabilize the drawing with fixative.  Maybe next week it will be in a post-able state.
Currently listening to: The  Cocteau Twins Victorialand, my winter record, and perhaps the only record that I have listened to at least one thousand times.  Really.

Strange Tales From My Little Black Book #5

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Another little drawing from my black Moleskine sketchbook, approximately 5 x 5 inches:

Girl with a Pearl
Girl with a Pearl

I ordered an 8.5 x 12 inch folio size Moleskine sketchbook which arrived in the mail last week, and it is as wonderful as I was hoping that it would be: the same plate-bristol-smooth paper, but in a larger size than the Moleskine sketchbooks that are usually stocked at the local art supply stores (the standard is the 5.25 x 8.25 inches "large" sketchbook, though large is relative, of course).
I love the smaller sketchbook because I am forced into simpler compositions and creating a depth of space on the sketches that I refine past the scribbly-idea stage, plus I have to work out very delicate details. But I am happy with this new, larger sketchbook because having more space for the composition is necessary for a few of my sketch ideas that just can't fit within the smaller-sized format.
For drawing in my sketchbook, I use .3mm and .5mm mechanical pencils  with 2H and HB leads (plus the occasional 2B or F).  Staedtler makes a very nice .5mm mechanical pencil that can be found in the drafting section at Staples (which has a surprisingly good selection of drawing supplies), but I have only found the .3mm pencils at art supply stores (which typically have a wide variety of pencil grades for the mechanical pencil, even the hard-to-find 'F' lead).
I do not usually use mechanical pencils for large scale drawings because my mark-making is too aggressive for the leads to hold up under the pressure, but the mechanical pencils offer the convenience of having a perpetually sharpened pencil for stealthy, on-the-go sketchbook drawing...and you don't have to carry a sharpener.

Currently listening to:  New Order Power, Corruption, and Lies (a favorite record from my high school years - 26 years old - I can hardly believe it - how did that happen?)

Strange Tales From My Little Black Book #4

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Another selection from my little black Moleskine sketchbook, approximately 5 x 7 inches, pencil on paper:

Play with Fire
Play with Fire

Apparently, I am not the only who is enamored with Moleskine sketchbooks - there is a website dedicated to the creativity of those who use Moleskine journals - Moleskiners.com - and they have very kindly featured one of my Strange Tales in their Showcase Gallery on the right side of the web page.