6 small black and white pieces

A challenge to limit the palette to black and white. No depending on color to create a focal point or visual flow. Each of the small pieces (3.5" X 5.5") were worked (and I mean worked! - not easy) on together over the past few months. I'll list the media below.

Ink wash, acrylic, black gesso, black and white charcoal, colored pencil, sgraffito

Ink wash, acrylic, black gesso, black and white charcoal, colored pencil, graphite

Ink wash, acrylic, black gesso, black and white charcoal, colored pencil, pastel, paper collage

Ink wash, acrylic, black gesso, black and white charcoal, colored pencil, pastel, paper collage

Ink wash, acrylic, black gesso, black and white charcoal, colored pencil, pastel

Texture created by placing plastic wrap on gesso and letting it dry, black gesso, white acrylic, charcoal, sgraffito

Drawing/Day 1.6.16

This wasn't a one-day drawing. I've been working on it, along with 7 other small black and white pieces, for a few months. They will be in a show I'm curating called "In Black and White" - a collection of work by 14 artists using a variety of media - at the Ice House Gallery in Berkeley Springs, WV - opening Jan. 15th and there until Feb. 28th.

Black and white is a challenge if you are used to being able to grab a color to solve a problem. I struggled mightily with this one in particular because I just could not get the top half to work with the bottom.

On this day I was able to complete the painting to my satisfaction by adding that component of what looks like a pile or wall of rocks. I had spent the morning hiking with friends on the Appalachian Trail. Around here there are a lot of massive limestone formations, as well as structures built with the stuff. I can't help but be drawn to it. And it solved my problem.

The painting/drawing is 3.5" X 5.5", ink wash, charcoal, acrylic, colored pencil, graphite and probably some pastel.

Drawing/Day 1.5.16

3.5" square, colored pencil, composition abstracted from a photo fragment, colors randomly chosen

Drawing/Day 1.4.16

Instead of depending on a 1" square cut from another picture, for today's drawing I was inspired by a visit to the Renwick's "Wonder" exhibit ~ a collection of amazing works that truly represent the concept of the show's title. This composition came to me spontaneously in reaction to the experience.

One of the most fun parts of the visit was watching all the people in the museum responding and interacting with the artwork. Photos were encouraged  - lots of selfies with the massive pieces of sculpture. I think I enjoyed it even more because of the crowd, which made the exhibit sing.

This colored pencil drawing is 3.5" square. No white showing (except for those little circles), very opaque, dense color. That's how I like it! Some areas are layered with more than one color. Some colors bleed into each other.

Drawing/Day 1.3.16

Composition abstracted from a 1" square of a newspaper photo. Drawing is 3.5" square. Colored pencils, layered and scratched.

The reference, cut randomly and blind from the newspaper was of a close-up of the top of someone's nose with glasses. Finished, I preferred it rotated once counter-clockwise. Colors chosen randomly, without looking. Found I wanted to add pattern and textures to the large spaces. Left one part of the border broken open on the right edge.

Wasn't as impatient with this one as I was with yesterday's. More into the play of it. Thinking while I was working on it that another big reason I need to do these daily drawings, besides using them as a way to combat creative inertia, is that I need to connect with an audience, you, my appreciated interested person. What would I do without you? Good question. Maybe nothing? Not sure. I think I would still need to create, but it certainly wouldn't be as fulfilling.

Drawing/Day 1.2.16

Colored pencil, layered, scratched with X-acto knife, 3.5" square.

I felt impatient working on this, afraid I was wasting time. But I think I need to trust that this is a necessary exercise, doing these daily drawings, that something beneficial will come of it, in the long run. At this point, at least it has me in my studio, working, thinking, experimenting.

The composition was from a 1" square cut from a newspaper photo. Colors were chosen randomly from my considerable stash of colored pencils. There are many layers of different colors, mostly light over dark, before and after the scratching.

Drawing/Day 1.1.16

I can't believe I haven't posted a new painting on this blog since early October. I knew I was busy with other things, like portrait commissions and orders and holidays, but I didn't realize it had been THAT long. 

That explains this inertia I've been feeling.Why I keep getting distracted by the empty bird feeder or cookie making or the laundry or anything else that seems like a worthwhile, productive activity that I can use to justify not being in the studio, so that I can ignore the fear of starting up again.

And the longer I procrastinate, the harder it is to get back in there. (That nasty little voice that tells me I'll never have a new idea gets louder.)

It's not like I haven't been painting at all, I have. There are about ten pieces started and sitting around the studio in various stages. I just haven't been getting back to them.

So to get back in the groove, I'm thinking about doing a drawing a day. Something that, for those of you who know how I work, is not a new thing for me. I figure if I start my day with this simple exercise it will help me summon a new confidence.

There is the lovely ritual of beginning a project like this. (We could consider this another way to procrastinate, but it feels important and enjoyable nonetheless.) I start by cutting a 3.5" square piece of mat as a template. I find the center of the 8.5" X 11" card stock and trace the square.

 I erase the centering lines.

I cut another 1" square from a piece of card stock and use it to trace a section of folded up newspaper.

I cut out a number of layers...

...and see if I have anything interesting to use as an abstract composition.

The one I choose has a figure on it. I don't do figures very often. I turn it sideways so that it looks like a mountain reflected in a dark lake. I draw it that way with colored pencil.. When I'm finished I prefer it turned right side up, to read like the figure again, I scratch into it with an X-acto knife.

It's a start and maybe has helped with getting those creative juices flowing again. We'll see how I feel about what I do tomorrow, and the days after that... a happy new year.