the art: surreal + symbolic

...MORE Surreal Artwork by
Chris Eisenbraun.

  • Surreal ink doodle (2012): "Tenuous Minor (A Flatted Third)."
  • Pencil art (2011): "Just Passing Through".
  • Complex sketch (2010): "Whisper To The Thunder."
  • Pencil artwork (2009): "The Bus To (Pomona); King To Queen's Rook 13."
  • Surreal pencil (2008): "Instant Karma With Marshmallows. Just Add Water!"
  • Pencil sketch (2007): "Curiouser And Curiouser: 3.1415926535897."

  • The Drawing Board Blog:
    "A Natural Pearl In My Careless Hand."
    part I - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    Artist précis.

    STARTED: July 07, 2011.
    COMPLETED: Aug. 27, 2012.
    UPDATED: Sept. 02, 2012.
    REVISITED:Apr. 19, 2013.

    This pencil drawing has been MADDENING. This is the least fun AND the MOST exhilarating pencil drawing that I have EVER drawn. Why? The @#$!! gradient that expands outward from the apple. Most of the time I just seem to be pencilling in ultra thin layers of graphite trying to sync the radiating waves up to each other (drawing something most people will probably never really notice). Sometimes it feels like I'm JUST coloring in the drawing...not drawing it. LOL.

     

  • Artist blog: the drawing starts here...

    POSTED: Aug. 21, 2011 | ART BLOG: July 7, 2011

    The girls, the apple and the guy.

    Getting started. I found a photo of the two girls shopping the closing of a Barnes and Nobles store. The image (of the girls) came from a really cheesy calendar that I bought for $1. I don't know why I bought it, but that's what I do: I collect pictures and put them in the box. I don't judge them, I pick them up as instructed. It's a COLLECTive subconscious thing. (What's that? Ask Jung.) LOL.

    Anyway. The girls, the apple and the guy started this particular pencil drawing. I liked the guy for lots of reasons (symbolically speaking). He has a business suit, the not-so-normal behavior of dancing AND the box. It might be somewhat coincidental but I just finished a drawing featuring boxes. Hmmm and Go Figure. I like to carry symbols throughout the collection. It is hard enough following what I am doing (art-wise)...without forcing everyone to start COMPLETELY fresh (on the symbol side) each and every time. Anyway. Onwards. The apple. A favorite symbol of mine. I really like the symbols that have MANY layers of meanings and this particular one crosses from the B.C. to the new millennium. Wow. Talk about LAYERS. Next, I felt a need for something medieval (on the right side of the drawing). Death seems to work well there. LOL. Ok. Death/change, etc. Another potent symbol. Especially when it is noted that both Death/change and the business man are in similar positions and both are dancing. You'll see. Hang in there. Hmmmm. I am NOT going to think about it at this stage. Right now it is JUST about capturing the Art wave and riding it through. I'm letting the pencils do the thinking baby, cause real thinking is for later. Death/change came from the internet. You would not believe how many times this image popped up. VERY popular. So many different variations on the same image. Ironically, also VERY medieval. PLUS: (apparently) VERY collective subconscious indeedy. ALL of THAT pretty much SCREAMED "use me!" LOL. The tree is from my neighborhood. These trees have wonderful lines. I noted this and hoped for a tree need to pop up. Well, it did and I have a camera so that worked out well. Now that the collage is done, the graphite can get underway.... NEXT

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  • POSTED: Aug. 21, 2011 | ART BLOG: July 2011

    Experimenting with the pencil lines.

    More startup stuff. About 20 copies of the collage were printed out so I could draw hair and ropes around the girls. I wanted to experiment with the pencil lines a bit. The problem was: interesting patterns would crop up but I wouldn't like the ENTIRE effort. In theory, the plan was to copy bits and pieces, ...merge the best of each and then take THAT to the paper. Instead, I would get carried away (over and over again) and loose focus somewhere along the line. This made for many, many sketches (and a LOT of man hours). Me and a cup of coffee, pencil and hardcopy would hit the chair. The fingers tried to work through the problem-o. It was fun at first. FINALLY, the idea of minimalizing the curves down to just ONE line each occurred. Simple lines were drawn for directional and design purposes. Details could be filled in later AND the final design would be MUCH easier to translate to the drawing paper. Too cool. It worked like a charm. Now I was READY to start penciling in the BIG picture...but... as for the drawing paper ... (awkward silence) ...
    NEXT

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  • POSTED: Aug. 21, 2011 | ART PICT: July 18, 2011

    PAPER??? This is just blowing my mind.

     

    Ready Freddy Go. Now you can SEE the art too. If you've read many of these artist blogs, you KNOW that I've (recently) had PROBLEMS with my drawing paper. TOO much pencil and the drawing paper warps. Too much kneaded eraser and ditto again. Trying to mat a drawing with a pre-cut white mat made me realize that my paper was NOT REALLY white (as advertised). During the course of this ongoing argument (!@#$!!) with my drawing paper, sketch pad after sketch pad was purchased at the local art supermarket/franchise store (each featuring heavier and supposedly whiter paper). STILL NOT HAPPY and READY to draw, I hit the internet. Luckily for me, I found a local art store and a wonderful man who talked me off the ledge. He was a fount of information about artist drawing paper and this store carried a lot of choices. Who knew? I know this sounds stupid but I never thought about drawing paper until the last couple of years. I was MUCH more concerned with the act of drawing Art. THAT was my focus. I have to say, this new professional grade art paper (Canson) is WONDERFUL. It's more white than anything previously purchased AND because it is 100 lb. weight, it seems to really take the punishment. The right paper REALLY does make a world of difference and I am SO HAPPY. It's a luxurious experience. Yes, really. This is just blowing my mind. It's just PAPER and I feel like I bought myself a mink coat. You should have SEEN the smile on my face as I bought it home. Jeez. We're talking Paper here. Who frickin' knew it could make SUCH a difference? Only an artist could get SO EXCITED about drawing paper. I'm sure a teacher somewhere somehow talked about artist's drawing paper and I'm SURE I zoned it out ...'cause that was a BORING detail and I wanted to DRAW. LOL. Anyway. I paid for my paper and I am NOT getting paid to say this: if you live in St. Petersburg (FL)... check out the Central Art Supply Company on Central Avenue. Support the ARTS baby! NEXT

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  • INDIVIDUAL BLOG POSTS:
    "A Natural Pearl In My Careless Hand."

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