Inktober: One Through Five

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October 1

Finally decided to commit to Inktober this year. Because I've been using a lot of ink lately, it dovetails nicely with an upcoming show I'm working to fill. The goblin above--and his antagonist-- may end up in a larger, finished work.

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October 2

Dragged a beautiful old chair-back carving out from under a pile of neckties in a shite-store one day. (It really has both sides, but I was too lazy to sketch symmetry that day.) I'm using it for an above-door carving in a small painting.

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October 3

This little guy--a mug with a mug with a mug with a mug--will be finished in watercolor. Was working on that before I took a break to blog.

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October 4

Random--sorry. But that morning I was sick of figures. And all I had with me was a ballpoint pen.  Added the watercolor wash and white prismacolor later.

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October 5

A clockwork, steam-punky sketch. He came out of nowhere, while I was drinking my morning cup of coffee. When a character just develops on the paper without any thought from me, well that is one of the best feelings!

Jake Parker came up with Inktober back in '09. He comes up with many creative things. 

He must be a character. 

Here's the site: http://mrjakeparker.com/inktober

Got a few more days to go before November. Maybe some Halloweenie stuff will be next.

Thanks for reading!

Perfection, Personality, and Paralysis

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I've always liked things rough around the edges, with an authentic, far-from-perfect, handmade quality about them. But as a young artist, I got caught up listening to art school classmates debate and chatter, and sadly, virtuosity became my goal. 

That pursuit of precision suited my personality not at all. The result: Immobility (or often, crappy work that had nothing to do with my passions or my temperament). 

In attempting to emulate illustrators and artists who were my heroes, my self-talk became hyper-critical, and that most often stopped me dead in my tracks.

Fresh out of art school, my wife and I were renting a tiny bungalow house. 

It had four rooms plus a slice of a room to the north. That's where I made my studio. You can see a bit of it at the left side of the photo. Only slightly wider than my drawing table, it was bright, quaint, and inviting. Or so it should have been.

I spent more time slumped on the couch than in that great little studio, paralyzed by my own expectation and desire for perfection.

I've battled the same demon, on and off, for years. With age, though, that perfection-inspired torpidity has disappeared. Rather than focusing on any goal, I just keep in mind that I'm joggling along on a nicely bumpy and pretty fascinating journey.

Nonetheless, the snide voice in my head that says, "Well that's far from perfect" is not completely neutralized. I've just become more practiced at ignoring it or actively shutting it up.

Sketching is always a no-pressure pleasure, and I obviously still check out and admire great artists and illustrators my friends recommend. Some are pretty darn perfect, some have that scruffly-quality, and I can enjoy looking at both. But where my own work is concerned, I've got to keep to the journey. Marcia Brown, in addition to her gifts of children's illustration, offered this reality-check quote:

"Sheer virtuosity is often more useful in a juggler".

That's a much better voice for me to heed.

Thanks for reading!

Frankenstein Returns!

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The Creature (detail). Mixed media.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has fascinated me since I was lucky enough to be forced to read it in high school. 

As a kid, I loved the 1930s movie. The fear Karloff's face inspired remains a vivid memory.

I didn't know of Thomas Edison's movie--the first film version--until adulthood. You can see the
whole thing here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcLxsOJK9bs

Mary Shelley's description of the creature has been ignored, attempted, and also revised by movie-makers and artists, but it is definitely evocative: His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid 
contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the 
dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.

I've ignored it for my versions as well. Following is the progression of the newest painting, done as a poster design soon to be released. Hope you enjoy it!

Lots of sketches preceded the final face. Here are a few.

After a search for a border I found this copyright free design in a Dover book.

I modified it greatly as you will see.

Here's the initial pencil prelim (on watercolor paper) of the lower part of the border...

...and here's the big guy, with his initial pair of boots, later changed to somewhat goofy slipper-shoes.

Inked with both pen and brush, it's ready for watercolor.

After an initial wash of raw umber, my colors were added in layers. Striving for a monochromatic look, my palette was mostly limited to ultramarine, burnt sienna, and raw umber. 

The bits of green came from raw sienna mixed with ultramarine, but I brightened his eyes at the end by adding lemon yellow and cerulean to the initial green mixture. (Shot with a camera phone, these look more saturated than the actual piece.)

For another rendition of the creature, you might enjoy http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/2014/04/pen-and-ink-plus-franken-creature.html

As always, questions and comments are welcome.  Thanks for the visit!

Feeling, not Facts

Willows in Bloom 

Arthur Wesley Dow

Dow was a great teacher and a great artist. He taught and influenced a long list of creatives from Georgia O'Keefe to William S. Rice.

Here he is in 1890.

My favorite Arthur Wesley Dow quote: "The artist does not teach us to see facts; he teaches us to feel harmonies and to recognize supreme quality."

Dow was part of a time in history bursting with invention, innovation, and discovery, he also believed in art for everyone; one of his goals was to provide quality art at a reasonable price. Peyton Boswell, writing about Dow's prints: "They occupy a middle ground between the art demands of the wealthy and those of the poor, and satisfy both. Although not costing much, they are real art and fulfill their mission to be decorative and bring happiness."

I offer the following artworks by artists taught and influenced by Arthur Wesley Dow. They are some of my favorites. I've learned from them as I've learned from the works and words of Dow. 

They give me feeling, not facts. I wish the same for you.

Untitled 

Alice Ravenel Huger Smith

Telegraph Poles 

Clarence H. White

Lamp Base 

Newcomb Pottery

The Pier Alvin 

Langdon Coburn

Paris Rooftops 

Max Weber

Thanks for reading!

Pinocchio Versions from 1883 to 2014

Roberto Innocenti, 1988

Pinocchio kills the talking cricket.

 

Yup, Pinocchio smashes the cricket with a mallet in the original tale by Carlo Collodi. I like Disney's version, but am pretty much enthralled by Collodi's book. Unlike Disney's interpretation of a naïve and gullible Pinocchio, Collodi's puppet is a saucy, selfish, woodenheaded brat throughout most of his horrific adventures, which include being stabbed and hung by the fox and cat.

 

Roberto Innocenti's illustrations remain favorites of mine. They are gorgeous, dramatic watercolors that don't shrink from the violence within the tale, and also celebrate the evolution and eventual redemption of Pinocchio. Check out the atmosphere in these:

 

Pinocchio meets the fox and the cat.

 





Pinocchio is hanged by the assassins

 

The magical piece of wood from whence came Pinocchio.

 

The book is tough to come by, but be sure to see more of  Roberto Innocenti's artwork at http://www.robertoinnocenti.com/

 

Many illustrators have tackled the irritating little puppet's story. Here are a few of my favorites, which range from early black and white engravings to lushly detailed paintings:

 

 



Enrico Mazzanti, 1883

 

Carlo Chiostri, 1901

 

Charles Copeland, 1904

 

 

Attilio Mussino, 1911

 

 

Luigi Cavalieri, 1924

 

Gianbattista Galizzi, 1942

 

And last, this inspiring, fresh illustration by Kayla Edgar, 2014.

It blew me away when I first saw it!

Please enjoy more of Ms. Edgar's amazing work at http://kaylaedgar.com/ 

 

Thanks, as always, for reading!

 

*Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi, compiled by Cooper Edens,

was my source for most of the illustrations in this post. You can buy it used at

 http://www.amazon.com/Pinocchio-Classic-Illustrated-Carlo-Collodi/dp/0811822834/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407873433&sr=1-1&keywords=Pinocchio+cooper+edens 

 

 

 



Heinrich Vogeler

 Die Hex mit Eule (The Witch with Owl), by Heinrich Vogeler, etching, 1895.

Recently ran across this work by Vogeler, which was unknown to me. Not only am I drawn to images of witches, ghosts, and the metaphysical, in this particular case it was the placement of the bright whites of the hair, trees, and toadstool. Check out that serene but creepy smile on the witch, and that exquisite door. 

Heinrich Vogeler

More on Vogeler: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/631806/Heinrich-Vogeler

Thanks for the visit!

Of Haunted Clocks and Clockwork Monks

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Old clocks have been a passion for years. Like most vintage objects, they were crafted 

with the artistic care that doesn't exist these days, in modern clocks at least. This particular 

beauty--not working and pretty beat -up--was found for me by my brother. 

As creepy-looking as it is, this is not the haunted one.

Still, I like it--tend to like the inside as much as the outside.

I'm not an horology fanatic, but I readily admit to being a clockworks nerd, so I can't 

imagine these gears being uninteresting to anyone.

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Now this fellow--in working order and the best time-keeper I own--is my absolute favorite. 

And it's haunted. I'll get to that.

But first--the aesthetics! Look how the wood grain in the twist still glows--even though the finish is checked and worn. The scratched and rubbed face shows that it was well-used and wound for years. And the ghost-story?

When I got this clock, it worked right away, ticking along like clockwork. But when brought to 

my studio, it stopped and refused to run. I took it to Jake, my clock repairman, who got it ticking right away. Still, I had him clean it and keep it for a few days to make sure it was running well.

Took it back to the studio and it stopped again, not a tic nor a tock to be heard.

So back to Jake's shop, where of course, the clock started right up.

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"There's nothing wrong with this clock," he said, matter of fact. Then, raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Is there another clock in your studio? 'Cause if there is, I'd try taking it out. Bet this one will work then. Seen this kind of thing before. You know clocks, they got wound and touched a lot by the owners, so they get haunted quite a bit. And sometimes they don't much like any competition."

Not a skeptic when it comes to that sort of thing, I removed an old clock--not a favorite--that I'd had ticking in the studio for a few years. And after that, you got it: This great old stubborn and haunted clock 

has been working fine ever since!

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But speaking of haunted, this is the guy that I'm sure initiated my itch for the clockworks.

I snapped this photo when my wife and I, as a young couple, visited the Smithsonian and saw it in 

a case there. I wanted it so badly!

Here are a few more views from the internet, and a video of the ancient monk walking around. Made in 1560, this eerie automaton still works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycyj76VPOtc

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The best I can do, since I can't have the monk, is collect and draw old clocks. It sort of 

scratches the itch, so that's gotta be enough for now.

Thanks for reading!