Fiftytoo Makings

White Chipping Paint

2012-01-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

This week I learned something new. Along the way somewhere, I was asked if I was afraid of painting the pipe. It looked complicated and complex. My answer at that time was "No, I do not fear anything in painting". I must say that although my reply sounded heroic, I questioned my abilities more than once while bringing this part to life.

The novelty of its newness made it exciting. I was painting with blinders on, having no pre-conceived idea of a process, colour palette, or texture. I feel that because of this, I may have made something more interesting than other parts of this work.

"Bookshelf" is a painting by Chelsea James, a US painter who toggles between still life and landscape paintings. Her still life subject matter is concerned with relics and traces, much like mine is. What I find curious and exciting in her work is how it seems to give the viewer two experiences. When looking closely, the loosely finished drawing and impasto brush work take hold but when you take a step back, the blocking and colour work resolve to make the image come to life in a way that is soft and secret. I also like the patterns she creates.

Boat boy

2012-01-20T11:05:00.001-08:00

I began work on the image for my most recent plate this week. I'm still fully developing my ideas for a series of work , but this is the first sneak-peak of what's to come.

New Plate!

2012-01-15T09:02:00.001-08:00

After putting to rest an old project and having a successful opening, it's time to move onto new things! I'm looking to start pushing my work in a different direction through the winter and into the warmer months.

Working in Mezzotint will continue to be at the root of my creative process. With only a small number of artists actually out there and using this technique I've found it challenging to troubleshoot when things aren't going according to plans. I feel like I'm always learning new things with each project, and making new discoveries about bettering my process.

I was recently given this amazing book by artist and author Carol Wax about Mezzotint, and it's more or less the only book out there on the subject. If there were a bible for the technique, this would be it! It's been instrumental in helping me along the way, particularly as if late.

I'm currently experimenting with better ways to prepare the surface of my plates and really minimize the physical impact and strain it has on my body. I think I'm making great strides! Here's what I've found:

1. Rocker MUST be sharp! Also, Sharpen often. Below us a picture of the sharpening jig I made which has the rocker hook onto a mount and pivot from left to right across the sharpening stone at the same angle as the teeth of the rocker blade. Works like a charm!

2. Pressure MUST be consistent. I added a sharpening stone as a weight to my rocking pole to keep pressure constant and consistent... And it saves me on putting strain on my body!

3. Be precise about rocking directions. 0 deg, 15 deg , 30 deg, 45 deg.... And so on until a full rotation of the plate has been made.

As I take these considerations into account for prepping this plate, I'm seeing some real results which I think will really serve to help make the final print a great success! Below is also a picture of the plate texture that i'm creating.

Rusting Copper

2012-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Moving from the highly reflective and complicated chrome faucets to the rusting copper pipe was quite a shift in gears. I found the texture in the rusting challenging, but intriguing. Working in layers proved to be the most advantageous. I started quite dark and then added layers of blue and green mixed with ochre.

I really enjoyed painting this.

Ceci n'est pas une pipe

2011-12-26T10:27:00.000-08:00

This week I have turned attention to the pipe below the sink. As an introduction to something I have never painted before, I have been studying many images including verdigris rusting, hoping some of what I see will help me to translate something realistic to the canvas. I have collected images and tacked them to my canvas. Direct references are only one part of my practice. Having inspiration or work I admire present is so very encouraging.

Lucien Freud painted Two Japanese Wrestlers By a Sink in 1983. I first saw this thumbing through a book at college, when Freud was a prominent influence for me. The image has stuck with me through the years, perhaps because there is not very much still life work in his catalog, but mostly because it taught me that still life can show so much movement.

Josephine Halvorson is a contemporary US painter. I met her work a few months ago through a blog post on New American Paintings. Her effort is to focus on uber mundane things. Her painting's subject images we can sink our teeth into, like this door with chipping paint, however she also takes her subject matter into obscurity. Works of elusive factory machinery and construction barriers leave their mark on the viewer. I find her work exciting and powerful.

Her image is tacked to my canvas also because it is a admirable example of white, chipping paint which I will consider as I work on the white part of the pipe.

Antonio Lopez Garcia is a Spanish realist painter. I happened on this painting during quite a random Google image search and I am so very happy that I did. I am absolutely enamored with his paintings! His still life images strike as very similar to how I would like to make a still life image. He makes his paintings from life and over years, coming to sit each day in the same place at the same time, until the next day, when he resumes his seat. I find it incredibly interesting to think that his relationship to this painting marks the years passing, adding a biographical consideration.

A lovely introduction to his work can be seen here.

Finally!

2011-12-19T10:09:00.001-08:00

So i finally nailed it! After 3 laborious attempts at completing this print I finally got a good proof and I'll now print the edition. I'll leave it at that... What a relief!

Fall to Winter

2011-12-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

We're Back! About three months ago, Laine and I were having end of summer pints discussing our commitment to our work. It seemed silly that we stopped our weekly posts and so the decision was made to bring it back to life.

I am 24 sits into this painting at the moment. The details are staggering. The faucet knobs pictured below illustrate my process and how I paint and repaint to try to get the work to look the way that I see it in my mind. The left shows the knob with around 5 hours put into it, the right, I can only guess, around 7. What is interesting is that when I took the photo of the one on the left, I felt quite satisfied with it, thinking that it was adequately representational.

But then as I continued with other parts of the painting, my eyes would carry over to it and a gripping dis-satisfaction started to creep in. I started re working and repainting it and I am happy that I did so, because the patterns that have started to appear now in the reflections and the sculpture are so much closer to the way my mind imagines it.

Time to get cookin'!

2011-12-17T07:11:00.000-08:00

Well clearly it's been a long time... in fact one might have thought we were done! It seems that both of us got way too caught up with life and making things that there simply wasn't any time left to get on here and blog about it all, but guess what!... we're back, and have lots of things in the works for the winter months.

I'm going to hold out on posting anything about my current project because it's actually a V 3.0 remake of my Tortoise-hare mezzotint from about a year and a half ago. Long story short was that it was completely botched from the way I originally prepared the plate, and subsequently that showed through in the final print. Currently I'm in the final stages of getting the image scraped out onto a newly prepared plate and should have some better results and some images soon.

It's funny how such epic failure (maybe not so epic, just time consuming) can be a great point to make some major strides. I realized that I needed to get better rocking on my plates and it needed to be even, and a strong, and save my wrist from strain. I devised this little device to help me out from here on in. It's actually a very simple construction but it works like a charm and not only saves my wrist, and gives great texture to the plate,... it cuts my prep time in SIGNIFICANTLY!

I'll leave on a hight note with lots more to come as we push towards the colder months, and the new year!

The ups and downs

2010-10-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

After some troubles with my Hortoise plate,... particularly in the print stage I managed to cut my losses and understand where I went right and where I went wrong with the making of the print. While everything looked good on the copper itself, when the time came to print, things just didn't go well and unfortunately the results were nowhere near what I had envisioned them to be. That said, a learning experience all the same.

Following this however I didn't loose perspective of things... I made another stab at a large and ambitious mezzotint project and what I had grasped from the first time around I was able to apply to this latest print. Below I've posted a couple shots of the plate,... inked and non-inked. The print itself is drying so i couldn't put anything up online yet, but I'm quite happy with the results.

Time out for play

2010-10-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

So often do I find myself getting distracted when i'm working on a large and intense project. Eyes start burning, and the mental energy to continue working at such intensity is on the verge of doing me in! Well, not literally.

Anyways, I've found that the absolute best way for me to keep focused and get shit done is really just to do more stuff... but different. Keeping a lot of different projects on my plate really helps me to dig deep on the big ones and get them done without breaking down and throwing in the towel.

I think there is nothing better than picking up a few scraps from around the studio (wherever that may be) and just making something from it. This week i saw a few pieces of rogue metal lying around at school and couldn't resist taking them on as 2-3 hour projects... enough time for me to prepare the plates, conjure up some random shit to put on them, throw 'em in acid and see what comes out on the paper. Albeit, these are certainly not great works of art, but I think they are fun to put up on here in keeping with the daily ins and outs of working on art.

Big Shit

2010-09-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

So in the mix, i think this particular print i have been working on has had little or no attention up on here,... and rightfully so as it is the project i go to when i need a break from doing more intensive projects.

Originally I started this plate because i had a huge piece of zinc and i just wanted to try out different techniques on it. With that as the basis for starting it developed slowly over a couple months with about 7 different kinds of printmaking technique involved... many of which were just a first crash course attempt at learning. I had not image pre conceived, and nor did i start with a sketch prior to touching the metal... most definitely a step in a new direction for me, particularly since I generally work with all my ducks lined up or atleast assembled before hitting the metal.

That said, it's funny how something so spontaneous, and almost stupid can turn out much better than expected. I refer to it as "my big shit"... simply something large and for lack of better words "shitty" that i work on to keep making, but to not feel overwhelmed in working on..... a place to freely make mistakes and a place where those mistakes can potentially become great points of learning!

Here's where it stands now... with hopefully more to go into it.

Major work done!

2010-09-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

I've done some major work on my Hortoise mezzotint since I last wrote about it. It's still not looking great as a print, but as a plate i'd say it's getting there. Have a peek at the progress....

September 19th through 25th

2010-09-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Quite the break. Returning to the canvas feels really good. I have not felt the much expected self doubt having taken such an indulgent rest from my paints. Perhaps this is because I explored very lovely things whilst being away. In Dublin, we visited the Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane.

We went to see Francis Bacon's studio which had been transported from his home in London after his death. From the walls, to the dust on the floor, one was able to be a Bacon Voyeur. The exhibit was more than just the studio, it was rife with personal effects and a looping video of an interview filmed in his studio years back.

We strolled through the permanent gallery, through rooms of Corot landscapes, and past large winterscapes made by Courbet. Just as we were leaving, my eyes found themselves pinned to Manet's Music in the Tuileries. I guess I did learn that this painting sat in Dublin somewhere along the way, but I did not remember this fact! Indeed, this painting is one of the first to mark the Impressionist movement but despite its lofty history, I was focussed on something more simple than that. Manet and his black line - will get me every time!

A sneak peek behind the scenes in the Apothecary

2010-09-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

It's about that time for another release in the Apothecary. I have been toiling away over the weekend to come up with my latest creation to give you all a little peak at what's to come once I complete my ongoing work on the 'Hortise'. Like all other images from this series, this one will also be rendered as a mezzotint. Enjoy!

As Promised

2010-09-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

As Promised, here is the print from the litho stone I wrote about in the last post. I also added a layer of fondino colour for the glasses.

A bit of a break to make something different

2010-09-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

After a bit of time away from working... and especially after such intense work on my mezzotint plate I was back at it this week with a few smaller side projects and a lithography workshop at school. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to just do something totally different and work in a much less controlled way. With a fully prepped stone just begging to be tainted with ink and pastel I came up with this.... a great memory from a great night on our summer vacation in Ireland,

I have since printed the stone with some additional work that I'll post in the near future. In the mean time enjoy the fruits of my labour this past monday morning!

150 hours in

2010-08-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

The weather has been good and hot here in Italy! Which means even more reason to keep on trucking along with this current project and stay cool in the shade of the indoors. I'm about 150 hours into the plate and this is what it's looking like. In about 25 more hours of work I should be ready to pull a first proof and see where to go from there. Luck for me this is the bulk of the work in this first stage and then everything starts to move faster and easier from that point on. Subtle blends of tone and strong highlights will really start to take shape at that point.

Summer Studio Sessions

2010-08-03T06:43:00.000-07:00

Just because school stops doesn't mean the studio closes! I've been doing my best to keep working hard even though I've been doing lots of R&R and travelling around Italy. Since the school studio has closed for the summer I'm somewhat limited to the kinds of work I can be doing at home,... nothing toxic, and pretty much no printing. I have however been going steady on prepping copper plates for future mezzotints. Its been a lot of hard work that has not only been physically tiring and time consuming, but has also started to take a bit of a toll on my right arm. I've ordered a Rollerblade wrist-gaurd to combat the strain on my wrist as well as a tennis elbow brace to help stabilize my elbow as I rock. All of this is more preventative than anything and will hopefully allow me to make these kind of prints for a long time to come.

I'm lucky right now that even though the school studio is closed, a good friend of mine has access to another print studio for the summer and has been kind enough to give me free access to proof and do small amounts of work after hours.

Most notably I managed to complete the rocking on my large 30cmx30cm plate for the Hortise as well as the initial tracing. These steps are always the most dull steps the process so now its all just fun and games as I work to make the copper come alive with an image.

On the side I've been making a few small plates for fun... nothing worth of writing about, but surely they will get filled with imagery soon!

Fugu Papilio

2010-07-04T02:50:00.000-07:00

The Fugu Papilio one of the rarer species of ocean dwellers. Feeds primarily on small bits of plankton and aquatic pollens.

I Managed to finish the plate and pull some good prints for this mezzotint this past week. Really happy with the results, however it was a real challenge cleaning the plate for print. Those familiar with mezzotint will know that when you ink the plate you cover the surface entirely with colour... in this case black. The entirely inked surface is then wiped very gradually and delicately with tarlatan cloth to remove excess ink. There exists a very fine line between an over-wiped plate and one that is not wiped enough, and somewhere between those two extremes (not extreme at all) is the perfect polish. This is a really difficult point to arrive at, and takes a great deal of practice to achieve and to recognize that point. When looking at a properly cleaned plate it will often look much much darker than what it will look like on the paper... and for me it proved to be the barrier to overcome with printing this plate as I would consecutively over wipe and have results that would render at texture that was far to strong.

Sadly, this picture doesn't quite do justice to the print.... however, so is the nature with most photographs of prints and paintings. In the case of this photo the texture appears far grainer than it really is, in favour of showing a relatively accurate representation of the tonal values.

Enjoy the Fugu Papilio

June 21st through 27th

2010-07-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

Some weeks just get the better of you. There is not at least three times every day that I think about/scheme/plot a schedule to paint either later that evening or the next day. When a week passes and you just cannot seem to shake off tiresome work days or events, the pressure from not working starts to build. But I have to let that be for now. I am embarking on three weeks in Russia Mongolia and China on the Trans Mongolian rail way. I am bringing my sketcher set with me and hope to post along the way but I know that internet access will not realistically be a daily occurrence.

The below is what I have done in the past 1.5 weeks - one single session from two Tuesdays past.

The Apothecary Grows!

2010-06-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here is my next concept rendering for the apothecary mezzotint series....

I think this one will be a little ambitious, but I already have the plate rocked, so I get to start soon! That said, because the studio is shut for the summer it won't actually come to life until the fall. I'm hoping that this one will be joined by another in a larger 2-plate print.

First Proof

2010-06-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

After about 60 hours of work burnishing work (on top of another 10 to prep the plate) I have finally arrived at my first proof of my current mezzotint. Because this image is quite detailed it takes quite a while to reach this point. It's far from done, but all of the basic elements are well starting to take form and from this point on this start moving much quicker between proofing.

I also nailed down appropriate ink for this plate which was based on my last mezzotint. I used 70% Charbonel #55981 black and 30% Transparent base. I also used the better of the 3 presses we have access to in our studio... something that i think will work to my advantage as I go forward with this print.

From here i will start to soften the overall shading and start to bring in more refined texture. I'll also have to create the floor element which has yet to be developed. With about 30 more hours this print should be good to go to edition!!!

More from the Apothecary

2010-06-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

On the heels of Sacha's last post I thought I'd put up the progress on my latest mezzotint plate. It's a HUGE challenge for me, and will take a lot more time than the last mezzotint I did. So far there has been about 35 hours that have already gone into this plate and I have yet to pull a proof. Hopefully in the next couple days I'll get a proof and can put it up then.

June 7th through 13th

2010-06-15T17:01:00.000-07:00

I have started the under-painting. I use acrylic paints and always use the same colours - burnt umber, burnt sienna and mars black. Under-painting can serve a multitude of purposes. Chiefly known through glazing techniques, it provides a framework for the image to rest on so that the painter can experiment. I rely on the under-painting to be a map of the image so I can fuss around with non forgiving oil paints and colour mixing.

It also gives me a chance to explore the lightest lights and darkest darks of the piece and to make decisions about line and form.

Note- this image is a detail.

Canis Mykiss

2010-06-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

Well after a hell of a print session last week the dust settled and I was left with the Canis Mykiss.

I had number of struggles along the way which all stemmed from one large problem off the bat.... I changed presses. In theory one press should be the same as the other, but also in theory it shouldn't. In this case the press that I had been proofing on before going to my final prints was much different and because of this it was a battle of adjusting inks, press blankets, pressure, and then ultimately realizing my folly. Sadly, because of the nature of mezzotint and it's limited number of prints I was only able to get about half of what I had originally planned for this edition. That said, this particular print is only the beginning of a large body of work that I'm starting to dip into, and it functions as a great point to learn and take the next print to the next level!

May 31st through June 6th

2010-06-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

To project my image, it has to be dark. Summer evenings seem never to part with the light. Now that is normally a lovely thing, but when you are exhausted from your work day and thinking only of getting to bed, waiting for dusk to take its last bow tests even a glaciers patience.

The below shot is a detail of the work so far. My apologies for the awful quality, it is hard to get a meaningful image when the pencil lines are so faint.

I am so excited to have my first steps of the piece complete!

The Apothecary is Growing

2010-06-05T14:42:00.000-07:00

Just as I have finished the plate for the Trouthound mezzotint (soon to be proper named according to it's genus), I have also finished the next addition to the apothecary. I have yet to formally give this guy a name, but it will soon have one! In the mean time, have a look...

May 23rd through 30th

2010-06-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

The March Of Maruice Del Taco

2010-05-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

I was involved in a silkscreen workshop this past week and i thought it would cool to post a little something that came of it. It wasn't my first experience with silkscreen, but that said it was my first formal training with it. I haven't done a lot of work with silkscreen and paper before and this gave me a chance to do just that.

Here is the original drawings on vellum. The 3 different layers are overlapped to see what the concept for the print is broken down as the necessary separated layers. I drew this with black marker, ink and litho-crayon. After the screens were exposed separately using the vellums.

Below is the final print... The March Of Maruice Del Taco!

May 17th through 23rd

2010-05-27T07:47:00.001-07:00

I pulled an old acrylic painting that I made in 2nd year art school off of its stretcher to use for my next painting, only to find that the stretcher was warped. A frustrating discovery. Especially on the heels of the You-Lost-Your-Staple-Gun-Again purchase.

I bumbled around my house looking for something to draw. I opened cupboards and drawers, watching for a little still life to appear, something with character. This time I elected to sketch something that is not normally appealing to me. Products that have modern packaging are not romantic enough to light up on my radar. There is not enough history with them, no real connection to my past - well not yet.

2010-05-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

Inked Mezzotint Plate

2010-05-24T12:34:00.000-07:00

Inking a mezzotint plate is a really cool thing because it's a chance for me to see the potential of what my hard work can become. In the initial stages of making and preparing the plate what we see inked isn't exactly what is the outcome on paper, but in this case it's a pretty good idea of the directions are starting to head with this print.

This was my second proofing of the plate... enjoy!

A few new bits

2010-05-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just as I'm about to take off for a couple days of holiday I thought the time was right to do a quick little post before leaving. I managed to get a very good start on my new project as well as take a shot of a larger work that I'm pushing along.

The first is a shot of the raw copper plate that I'm in the process of burnishing my apothecary image onto. It's quite a complex image in terms of shading... particularly the glass. I decided to show you the plate instead of the first proof as often with mezzotints you can see an image clearly on the plate long before it will ever be seen well on paper. Initially proofs are very dark and even though they look well established on the copper it's a long process of developing each shade further and further with more burnishing. This is after the first state of burnishing....

This second image is part of a more experimental etching that I'm working on. It's unique for me because it's quite large.... the sheet of paper here is about 18"x24"... large for me at least. It also makes use of a lot of different techniques... aquaforte, soft ground, sugar lift, pastello, and in the end it will be tinted with aquatint... and possible a little bit of spit bite for some atmosphere. Anyways, it is totally experimental and on the fly... no sketch before, just working straight onto the plate from my imagination.

Anyways, enjoy!

May 10th through 16th

2010-05-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

I am taking my time formatting the image to fit the canvas size I have chosen for my next oil painting as well as collecting all the necessary goods from the art store, hardware store and supply closet to get my canvas ready.

As this does not make for terribly interesting photos, I am sharing a photograph of this weekends plein air sketching session that my wonderful mother and I had. Pictured below is our impromptu set up and our model, the rhubarb plant, of course!

Building The Apothecary

2010-05-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

I was doing a bit of nosing around in some old print books at school and also in and around some antiques markets the past few weeks. It got me really inspired about the thought of my very own Apothecary or bio lab... only filled with strange and wonderful fictitious creatures. It got me thinking about building a curio-cabinet filled with them... or rather a series of pictures that I could hang up on the wall. I figured it would be fun to see if I still knew what to do in the photo-illustration world... seemed to be the best route for creating these kind of images the way my mind envisioned them. I tinkered around for a bit and came up with my first little creature.

I present to you the Trout Hound...

From here I'm thinking I'll see if my skills are up to snuff with mezzotint and start to turn this first creation into something dark and velvety on paper! I think it's just begging to be done and I can guarantee it will be months away. Anyways, thought I'd post the sketch up here. Enjoy!

April 26th through May 2nd

2010-05-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

Anslem Kiefer is a German artist working today. I first met his work projected on the wall of my European Art: 1960's -1980's class at art school. I have been enamored ever since. Maybe it is because his work deals with a past he just cannot seem to out run, or because he idolizes objects like train tracks, olive branches, and books to carry his message from decade to decade.

His work is on a huge scale, which is both jarring and apoplectic. At the same time, I have always felt that he is telling me a secret. There are fragilities dusted all over his work - they feel like little whispers.

Heavy Print Sessions

2010-05-02T13:46:00.000-07:00

Hi all...

been really keeping at it in the studio this past week with lots of printing going on. Things lightened up a bit so naturally it was time to get heavy into printing editions for a lot of my unfinished work. Here are a couple things that came out of this weeks efforts.

First, a second attempt at mezzotint. I wasn't able to quite capture the quality and essence of this print in my scans,... but it's good enough for here. I love the texture that comes with mezzotint... and with some real tinkering with inks i was able to really soften the image to something I was happy with.

Next is the metal engraving that corresponds to my drawing from a couple posts ago.

You can check out all the rest of the finished work up on my etsy site. There I have posted a couple of prints that were featured on here, but were never shown in their completion... do check them out as they are quite different now.

That's all she wrote for now!

April 19th through 25th

2010-04-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Gaston Bachelard writes in his study 'The Poetics of Space', that "a house constitutes a body of images that give mankind proofs or illusions of stability.".

I ardently believe this.

Waiting for the tap water to turn from cold to warm, lost in thoughts of the day, my eyes fixed themselves on the counter. This is such a generic scene but by plucking it out of the messy kitchen, cropping it, painting it, we are asked to examine it as something more ... well phenomenal.

Simple print

2010-04-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

I've been super super busy with printing larger prints and their respective editions this week... most of which I will print when they are finished and dried. Lots has changed with my kitchen series for prints, and each has taken on a new look and a more polished, finished look at that... I'll probably put those up sometime next week. I also continue with a new-ish mezzotint which I'm much happier with than my first attempt... I'll probably even edition it too!

In the meantime however, I had a little time to do a quick small print using just aquaforte and aquatint yesterday. It was for a card that I was putting together and thus it had to be small and fast. It's about 2 inches x 2 inches and was also a total deviation from my usual style,... something I probably wouldn't do normally, but because of it's purpose it was fitting. That said, it's a little project that I thought was worth sharing. Enjoy!

April 12th through 18th

2010-04-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

Most often I am painting in the evening. Sometime between tools down for the day and before the water boils for dinner. When dusk begins, white light gets replaced with blue light. In this moment I cannot read colour. My eyes work hard to try and adjust but they cannot. This is an involuntary break, where I am given a moment to consider the work before me. There have been some great developments born from this forced contemplation - this portrait suffered no exception. I am beginning to move past my frustration with the foundation of the portrait. I am beginning to see the personality of this man.

This photo was taken at dusk. One of the last of this weeks forced contemplations!

Everyday Superhero

2010-04-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

A little nugget from my sketchbook this week.

April 5th through 11th

2010-04-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

Toronto. I am hyper aware of even the smallest things embracing me back - the quality of light, stretching out my toes in my own bed, the water pressure in the morning shower. There is a window of time that I will be able to see and feel these warmth's before I am fully re-adjusted to my old routine and I am dutifully aware of how important this is to my work.

Although the break from this portrait was needed - to give perspective, to allow my frustrations to settle down - I am still quite nervous about it. But there are always pathways one can take that can start a slow brewing of confidence. In this case, I decided to literally ignore the mouth and chin (an area I feel is unsuccessful at this stage) by placing paper on top. I started working on different areas without the influence of the disaster lurking below.

Not As Planned

2010-04-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

It's easy for us to tout our successes, but sometimes things don't go quite as planned and you end up with something you just don't feel great about no matter how hard you work at it. After 3 tries... probably about 50+ hours of work... and a hell of a lot of strain on both my body and mind my first attempt at mezzotint turned out like this:

I'm trying to think of this as a learning experience rather than a complete failure, but nonetheless its definitely a tad disheartening to work so hard at something and not meet your expectations. Bummer!

Still smiling though and moving on to bigger and better things!... more mezzotint to come. (-_-)!

Melbourne Week Eight

2010-03-29T15:47:00.001-07:00

My final days in Melbourne have been mostly spent staring at art. I have known about Ron Mueck's work since the Sensationalist group show in the UK but to see it is another story completely. I wondered about the effect of making art on a larger scale, how it enables the viewer to easily engage in contemplation. His work is first a feat of realism, and challenges issues like body image. For me, I am most attracted to his focus on parts of the body that its owner has a relationship with, that are unique to oneself. The shape of your toes, the wrinkles in your lips.

I walked down Melbourne's laneways spotting for the perfect seat at one of the hundreds of cafes. I loved the idea that although I knew that I would sit down to sketch a tea pot, I had no idea what it would look like, or how much of a challenge it would be to draw until I chose a seat. Of course, I was delievered a stainless steel pot, which committed me to 3 hours of concentrated sketching, and of course, a caffeine high!

Melbourne Week Seven

2010-03-23T21:12:00.001-07:00

One of the things that I find the most appealing about still life's are the shadows that one object casts onto another. It challenges your perception of where the main source of light is coming from, and works to add a further realism. It also creates a tension that is unavoidable.

I stumbled upon this painting at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. I found the foreshortening really interesting. I am sure it informed the foreshortening used in the toothpaste in my sketch - although mine is a whisper compared to this massive painting!

Dressed to impress

2010-03-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

So just after I posted my last post I decided that I couldn't possibly make my last drawing into a mezzotint... basically it was a case of size and the fact that this was my first time doing the technique. I decided to make a little something else... here's the drawing and the print will show up sometime soon!

Melbourne Week Six

2010-03-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

Back to Sydney for a second weekend I noticed straight away that I was more familiar with this city. Is it the amount of time that you spend in a place or the return to a place that creates familiarity?

Going to Sydney also means coming back to Melbourne. Unlocking the door to my room in East Melbourne, I know what is inside, I know how I left it, and that is comforting to me. I have started to create a Home but there are still tensions.

The everyday - our routines, establishing habits. All these add to our sense of placement. What about the products that are apart of these every day scenes? My kitchen soap at home does not look like that. I wonder how much foreign labels effect your immersion into the Home environment.

Big Man Small Man

2010-03-09T14:39:00.000-08:00

As I've been really really busy working in the studio on some of my prints, I've found that drawing in my book has taken a little bit of a back burner to all of the other action going on. That said, in the spirit of Sacha's last couple posts I wanted to pop up a little something that I'm working on for a mezzotint workshop that's coming up. It's far from a complete drawing, but process is fun to check out too...

Melbourne Week Five

2010-03-08T23:46:00.000-08:00

This is a little doodle of my travel shampoo container. It was a blast to draw. Such a nice feeling when you aren't held back - no tentative marks, no self doubt - you just draw it, as you see it, in your own voice/hand.

I went on a drive along the coast this weekend. I watched three sets of rain clouds come and go past me. The views were so expansive - I cannot imagine really being able to commit them to canvas. In fact, they don't even feel remarkably the same in photograph form.

Melbourne Week Four

2010-03-03T21:09:00.000-08:00

This week I went to Sydney. I was staying with my friends and could not help but notice how comfortable their apartment was compared to my hotelroomliving. I concentrated on the corners of their apartment, the placement of photographs, the blanket on the couch, the candle sitting beside the remote control.

Back in my hotel room, I concentrated on my bag on the floor, the toilet roll being folded into a triangle by the maid, the old duvet cover which must have soldiered over 1000 washes. I scanned the walls, seeking any identifier of Home. My book. My hand cream. My cup of tea that I left sitting out.

I find it interesting how easy it is to stake a claim on the standard amenities in ones house. Sometimes all it takes to make it yours is a pot of cream:

Semolina

2010-03-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

Continuing on with my kitchen series, I present the lovely Semolina. Not complete yet, but definitely in a stage nearing completion.

I wanted to run through the basic process of getting to this point step by step.

First, I draw the image in pencil in my sketch book... just as I would with pretty much any other drawing.

Next I carefully coat my polished plate of metal, in this case zinc, with soft ground. When the ground has been successfully applied I wrap the plate with thin tissue paper and begin redrawing my drawing exactly (or as close to as I can) in reverse onto the tissue paper. This is a delicate process as the soft ground is pressure sensitive, so any mark I make with my pencil or finger or whatever is a mark on the plate/design. Making sure not to press too hard or too light with my pencil is also a bit tricky,... too light and i don't make enough of a mark, too hard and the line gets blown out. I tend to fall into a groove as I go and adjust my pencil weight as I go along. In this case, transferring the image took a full 24 hours of work.

When all of my drawing is complete and I'm absolutely sure I've covered all areas of shading & line I get to unwrap the plate like its Xmas morning. Beneath all of my pencil work is a delicately resolved transfer in the soft ground...

From here it's into the nitric acid for about 25 minutes. When I remove the plate from the acid I usually do a quick test proof to see how the soft ground etching turned out.

It's basically a one-shot deal, but from here there are many options to start refining the image. In this case my image turned out pretty well with just the soft ground, but the nature of doing this method produces a really soft image where as I need something that is going to have a real harmony of hard lines, soft lines, and a variety of tonal values. In this case I use the initial soft ground etching as a starting point for hard ground etching.

After applying hard ground I use fine needles to add various elements of detail as well as to firm up some of the finer lines that I need in the image. Here are the progressions through a couple layers of hard ground etching...

Finally, I fill in all of the remaining tonal values with different levels of aquatint. Aquatint is a process by which i coat the plate with resin powder and then melt it to leave a very very fine layer of resin bumps on the plate. When I put the plate in acid, acid seeps into the spaces between the bumps producing a hole for ink to rest in. With more holes in the plate I can achieve darker tones. More time in acid = deeper holes. By putting the plate in the acid for different amounts of time I can get different shades of grey. Of course I need to block out areas that can't be effected each time i put the plate back into the acid. Here is the end result...

Anyways, that's how it's done! I hope to finish this one off soon so I can press on to the next.

Just a quickie from the studio

2010-02-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

I wanted to fire a picture up here from the goings-on in the studio today. I'm busy busy crushing out this woodblock print for my HGS exchange. Had a little set back with a paper order gone bad, but found a different source for Japanese washi paper and I'm now in business. I've so far completed 80 of the 100 prints I'm making for the edition... they are layering up all over my work table to create a lattice of printed goodness! Here's a little peek...

Melbourne Week Three

2010-02-22T23:38:00.000-08:00

I was walking about Melbourne's laneways which are filled with smart little cafes when I happened upon an art shop. I decided to take Laine's advise. When you're frustrated with what you are working on, put it aside for the moment and do something else. I got a sketcher set and sat down to spend a sunny afternoon people watching and, well, sketching.

I love drawing glass. What a challenge!

I spent my Sunday at the National Gallery of Victoria with some really great paintings. I love walking through galleries that are not what the critics would call 'world class'. You still get the collections but the paintings from the masters are usually studies or not fully formed ideas - not quite yet the polished hero that they would become known for. It adds to their biography in a really lovely way for me.

Madeline Green - detail - Glasgow

Nicolas De Stael - Nature Morte

Progress in the Kitchen

2010-02-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to pop up a little update on some progress being made on a couple of the soft-ground etchings I'm working on... oh yah, and a little snap from the studio where I'm working out of.

Both have now been taken from sketchbook to metal etching, and are both currently unfinished works, but with a few more steps they should come together. I've used soft ground for the overall image, aquaforte for firming up the line work, aquatint to fill in subtle variants in shade, and will hopefully bring a touch of spit bite into the mix for a few select areas of atmosphere. Lots of process involved!!! That said, even before finishing these I'm already pushing on to others to keep the energy rolling along.

I find that working on lots of different projects at the same time really helps to keep old ones alive. As soon as I get sick of working on something then I can easily switch over and have something fresh to follow. Just like a fine wine, every work in progress needs time to breathe!

Japanese Print Exchange 2010

2010-02-17T14:39:00.000-08:00

So for many of you who know me, you'll probably remember that every year I exchange an edition of about 100 prints with a woodcut group that I'm associated with in Japan. This group has some really incredible artists and craftsmen and I'm always humbled to take part in the annual exchange. I thought I'd post a little sneak peek at what I'll be sending off this year. Of course this is not the final print as it's still going through stages of setting perfect registration as well as getting just the right colours. That said, it's a pretty good proof of the final.

Melbourne Week Two

2010-02-16T23:29:00.001-08:00

I am toiling away quite slowly. I think I am having such a hard time finding my footing with the palette because I am not terribly focused on the work at this point. This is the first time I have tried to paint while travelling and I am not sure it is as easy as just packing your set and jetting off. I'm starting to see some form come out but I am still unsatisfied with the colour. I'm working with a new set of paints and am not used to these new pigments. Albeit a frustrating thing - I feel as though it is a good challenge because it is forcing me not to rely on templates I've already made in my mind, forcing me to work harder. When I look at this image right now all I can see are how chapped his lips are - but fear not - I just did not get to finish them before I left today!

Meanwhile, I have been afforded a weekend out of the city! These shots are from Portsea and Philips Island respectively.

Makin' Salad

2010-02-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

Here's another drawing from the current series I'm working on. Admittedly things have been a little slow going to make prints from them as I've shifted attention to do some woodcut work the past week and a half.

Melbourne Week One

2010-02-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

Landed and finally settled in Melbourne. After a week of jet lag and working straight since I got off the flight, I have found that opening the paint set was constantly pushed to the back. I have touched brush to paper finally! Starting a new painting is really tough. Self doubt pops out and you question almost every second whether or not you can do this. One challenge that I am facing right now has to do with colour. My last portrait was in black and white, which meant I really only thought about form and shade. Going back to colour has confused me and I have to take small, considerate steps to get a palette sorted out. This is where I am now -

Anytime we travel, we are consumed by our new environ - of course. I thought it may be neat to add some photographs of the things I am seeing while here, which have peaked my curiosity and as well are surely influencing me.

The Baker

2010-02-07T16:26:00.001-08:00

Continuing along with some more drawings for this print series I'm working on,...

Dish Duty

2010-01-31T14:38:00.000-08:00

Just completed another drawing for a series I'm working on. I thought I'd post it up here before I get down to the nitty gritty of flushing it out onto metal... aka, redrawing it, etching it, printing it, etc.

January 25th through 31st 2010

2010-01-28T15:05:00.000-08:00

I'm off to Melbourne, Australia for 6 weeks. Talk about last minute work trip! The past week has been superbusy trying to get organized to pop over to the other side of the world. As a result, no painting! But I am bringing my set with me and shall post from there. I am very excited to see the apparently thriving art scene of Melbourne. Stencil art is a big movement there, as well as many indie galleries and of course, stately museums. Salud!

First etching on the Chef!

2010-01-28T13:47:00.000-08:00

After about 16 hours of delicately drawing this image on the soft-grounded plate i etched the bastard! It's gonna need quite a bit of work from here in, but for a first pass I think it turned out pretty good.

A couple more passes

2010-01-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

After a couple more passes and completely destroying the clean edges of my plate, I have now arrived at something that I'm really starting to get happy about!

I also introduced a little colour to the mix by applying my first layer of ink in the traditional fashion (apply & and wipe), and then rolled on a secondary coat of slightly transparent brown to give the overall tint of the image.

From here I'll introduce a little bit of aqua tint to some areas and then possibly a little bit of texture into the background... not sure on that yet though.

Below is a close up of some of the detail.

Soft Ground dabblings

2010-01-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

As my etching plate sits in the acid... the edges slowly corroding away for the next couple days to get them to that perfect state of imperfection... I decided that I need another project to keep me trucking along in the in term. I had my drawing already made up and decided that I would dabble with soft ground etching.

Basically this is a similar process to hard-ground (which I've been using) except the layer of ground is much thinner when applied and it remains tacky while on the plate.

My teacher suggested this method to me and I took it on without really knowing quite what I was getting in to,... but that's also the fun part!

What I've had to do thus far is coat the plate, trace my drawing (outlines only - on tissue paper), and now I'm very gingerly transferring the drawing onto the plate making sure not to contact any part of the plate with pressure from my hand or foreign objects. In this step I draw directly onto the traced out image and do all the delicate pencil shading. In the end I should have a final image on the plate which will then be etched with acid.

Here's the set up... original on the left, tracing and plate on the right, mirror used to see the image in proper orientation for the shading.

Print after 3rd etching

2010-01-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

So here's a quick update on the progress I've been making with my print. So far I have taken my original sketch and done a series of 3 stages of etchings, each stage consisting of 2-4 acid dips to complete the full etch. I have spent a considerable amount of time working up the detail in the dot work to give a sense of shading and texture. From here I will do another 2 or 3 stages of etchings to change the actual shape of the plate as well as bring a little bit more detail into some of the areas that still need it.

Last but not least I am looking to integrate some aquatint into the print to fill out some areas that could use subtle shades of grey.

Below is a little compare and contrast from the initial etch to the current state of the print.

January 18th through 24th 2010

2010-01-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

When you project an image, you really only get the 'bones' of it. Because you are drawing from what is essentially light, getting finer details is really not possible. Well maybe it is - but not on my top of the line projector. So I am left to round out the image. I love doing this with portraits. From flat lines on a page to something more alive. These steps are really the first opportunity I have to figure out the feeling of the painting - from the gaze or the eyes, to the persons age, and manner. Also, drawing is fun.

Chef Brunoise

2010-01-18T15:33:00.000-08:00

As the clock counted down to midnight on New Years Eve 2010 Sach challenged me to make a drawing every day as part of a resolution for the year. In keeping my promise I have been trying to make a drawing each and every day... so far so good!

Here's a little sketch that's going to be part of a longer-term series I'm planning to put together as I work on.

Chef Brunoise.

January 11th through 17th 2010

2010-01-17T14:58:00.000-08:00

This weeks focus was searching out an image for my next work. This can take hours because I've got to get an image with a high enough resolution and one that of course inspires me to make it into a painting. I do lean quite heavily on the camera's perspective but use the image as only a base, something to reference. I see this step as the foundation. After I'm satisfied with the image, I will project it with my toy projector! Not ideal, but hey, its working for me now!

First etching

2010-01-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick peek at my current print after the first round of etching. Lots of detail and shading to build up, but the bones are there. With further rounds of etching I should be able to create something that looks similar to my drawing... but with a uniquely printed quality to it.

To Accompany My Plate

2010-01-13T15:25:00.000-08:00

So my freshly smoothed, polished, and coated plate couldn't just stay as is... naturally I had to draw a little something to put on it. I came up with this...

Plate Prep

2010-01-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

I had to post a little something to highlight a my first experience with preparing metal for engraving. I know its not rocket science, nor is a big leap for mankind... that said it was great to take a dull piece of metal and transform it into a shiny piece of glory just begging to be carved!

Taken to the stars

2010-01-09T03:07:00.000-08:00

This one is out of my sketch book rounding off some of the stuff from last year. I was thinking about great things for the future... moving on and up!

January 4th through 10th 2010

2010-01-08T20:28:00.000-08:00

I have been working on a series of watercolour portraits lately. This one is of Franz Kline and is the third in a series of artists whom I admire or have influenced me. I like the working on these because the are small, quick and allow me to feel a sense of productivity. I am thinking now of who I will paint next. It is strange how you already start to work on your next piece when you have yet to finish the one in front of you.

Fire it up!

2010-01-07T22:41:00.000-08:00