(Dec. 28, 2009) Posted Dec. 29, 2009: I've been meaning to do something like this for a while (the animated image above). I figured I'd tackle it when I put the re-design down on the site. This thought was a few drawings back (aka a couple of years ago). Sooooo/And..... Gary's site is ahead of mine on the schedule and BOTH of them are waaaay behind client designs AND the fine art ....so ...this is a rough animation but I thought you MIGHT find it interesting. Want more details? Images AND artist notes are broken out below. Click here for the fast track to the beginning.

Enjoy.

(Dec. 27, 2009) Posted Dec. 29, 2009: This is the annual artist retreat, which means there is TIME enough to draw. Minutes, hours, AND days of ART strung together in a row. Creativity rampaging, pushing the mundane right OUT the door. ...AND, I am finally done (BIG sigh of relief). Poor Gary. At one point I ran in and pulled his pants up to look at the hair on his legs (the photo just wasn't too clear on this aspect). Gary is EXTREMELY supportive and the reason that I am still drawing. He knew EXACTLY why I was staring so hard at his legs (and the whole pant pulling up bit <g>). BIGtime :)

Final moments? There are a LOT of little things that were finessed to complete the drawing. The sky in the background and the door glass both had a layer of VERY light graphite added (to make the white spot in the foreground even WHITER). The ground, grass, flower and stars had another layer of darkness added (to bring the tone more in line with the shadowed figure, the girls and her hands). Some of the stars in the dirt acquired trails of blackness (to emphasize the downward movement in this part of the artwork). The triangle between Pete's legs was re-worked (to get his leg stand out more distinctly from the background). Tiles in the front had another layer or two of darkness added (to bring the foreground MORE into focus). Etc. Etc. It's all about eye flow, depth, contrast and beauty.

One of the final steps was to take my BLACKEST pencil and outline Pete's shoe and the edge of the path looming over the abyss/aerial shot. THIS is the ONLY pure white in the artwork and I wanted the DARKEST black RIGHT HERE (to contrast/highlight this exact spot). You know what my big problem was at this point? Where in the heck was I going to sign it???? EVERY bit at the bottom had a rhyme and purpose. Any signature of mine would just interrupt the flow. Jeez. I finally pulled out the black pencil (again) and john hancocked a black tile. Just in case that doesn't work...I did sign it where the mat will go. TOO FUNNY. Woohoo! I am DONE. Now... to start the torture all over again. This is artist retreat and I just can't stop now...

(Dec. 20, 2009) Posted Dec. 29, 2009: You would not believe how MUCH erasing has been going on here. Some of it is to get rid of pencil strokes that just didn't work out, some of it is a kind of drawing in itself. A kneaded eraser is an artist's best friend. It's a wonder that I haven't torn through the paper yet (but I am being VERY careful). LOL. This pencil drawing is starting to look like a painting. This is just too weird AND very cool.

(Dec. 06, 2009) Posted Dec. 29, 2009: So at some point the question arose...why am I so fixated on the hands? The FACES are almost secondary (and that is very weird). The subconscious decided to float one up for me: hands are MORE important in this work of art than the many faces. Wow. I kind of had a clue (after all, there ARE a LOT of hands in this drawing) ...but I'm beginning to get a REAL clue into this drawing. When following the muse, one doesn't think too much. That's just trouble (and ego) and neither of those needs to be here. I'll think about the hands later, when I'm done. Clues come together then. Right now is drawing time.

Speaking of drawing, another thing or two came loose from the good ol' subconscious. All of this frustration AND working through it seems to have loosened up some interesting accents to the drawing. It's funny but the very whirlpool like effect running through the faces/hands is detrimental to showcasing ALL OF THOSE DETAILS I just spent ALL THIS TIME ....putting together. But... I'm okay with it as this is REALLY COOL. LOL. I am DEFinitely re-connecting with the artwork AND it is going places I did NOT see coming. Wow. THIS is why I fight so hard to find time to draw. I am NOT getting this feeling watching "House", "CSI", "American Idol", etc.

(Nov. 23, 2009) Posted Dec. 29, 2009: More erasing. More fine tuning. Ugh. This is just TOO exciting. I know. This is all my fault. I can just pretend the hands/faces are fine and move on ...and then NEVER look at it again. It's weird but I just can't figure out WHY I can't be proud of something that is half-assed. ROFLMAO. There is just TOO MUCH time invested in this baby to let it all go now. I must be crazy 'cause this is a choice thing and I'm still here. In hands-ville. Sheesh.

(Nov. 04, 2009) Posted Dec. 29, 2009: Lots of erasing and redrawing of the girl's hands AND her many faces. No excitement at this point, it is ALL TECHNICALS and hard work. Can you believe that I FIGHT like crazy to find time to get THIS frustrated ...on purpose? LOL. Too funny.

(Oct. 18-25, 2009) Posted Dec. 29, 2009: I started drawing in the final parts mid-October. Keep in mind that I am SO READY to be done and move on... and add in the fact that the part of the art that I wuz working on ...was getting fucked up. Double ugh. Man. About that time I started really looking at the hands that I was drawing. THAT stopped things cold. I realized that I was JUST drawing what I saw ...and I wasn't SEEING much because it's a blurry .jpg off the internet. So, after much experimentation, I ended up in front of the mirror in the bathroom ...trying to get my fingers in a similar position to that of the photo. Major cramps in the fingers precluded drawing. It was just taking TOO LONG, so I pulled out the camera. Of course this meant that I kept getting flash in the mirror (you saw this coming didn't ya?). No flash means long exposure time...and my tripod is not that tall. So, we're talking fuzzy picts added to the mix. By now the bad words are FLYING baby. The vibes are tense, etc. Because the HANDS are just a small part of it all. The faces are out of whack (proportionally).

Gary was awesome (as always). He jumped in the tub and started taking photos while trying to line up with my angle. He's taller. My fingers are longer than those of the girl in the pict. Etc. Etc. Etc. Finally ....an acceptable alternative came up. Since then I've been working angles, sketching and trying to get my nerve up to jump back into the artwork. Of course, last weekend I ended up working on Pete's face some more. Sheesh. I NEED to finish this artwork and move ON. Keep your fingers crossed. Plans are to go in this weekend :)

(Oct. 04, 2009) Posted Oct. 05, 2009: the last hard part of the artwork has been sketched in. This part is considered hard because this is a situation where the image of the girl is repeated (albeit enlarged) and the smallest difference in any of the three sketches could cause peeps eyeballs to stop and play, "what's the difference between these three images?". LOL. And, it is preferable for your eye to floooooow, effortlessly through this part of the drawing onto another part. No stopping here, that is NOT on the itinerary. Sooo... I spent time drawing, erasing, etc. And now that the weekend is over, there is a smaller copy of the current stage of the artwork hanging up where it can be seen and digested. THIS is the time for flaws to be found: NOW. Plus, posting a copy of the artwork keeps the connection alive. Especially since I can only really approach drawing on the weekend right now. BTW, I think that it is TIME to be done with this one. BIGtime. It's time to finalize.

(Sept. 20, 2009) Posted Sept. 21, 2009: I took last weekend off to work on Gary's most recent CD artwork, "Second Wind". He only finished the CD three months ago. Waay past due. Argh. It has been YEARS since I've been bored. Years. Really. LOL. Too funny. Anyway.

As to the drawing? Adding ANOTHER layer of detail to the pants and shirt (as though there weren't ENOUGH already <sheesh>). I am discovering ...that just when I think I'm done with a part of the drawing... I'm only halfway. @#!! HALFway. BUT, going back over the same old ground again is WAY worth the effort. Frustrating but worth it. There is a LOT of cussing while traveling between what is APPARENTLY a mere sketch to an actual (extreme) DRAWING. Go friggin' figure, eh? I can't believe how many ways there are too SEE the exact same thing. For example: I JUST discovered that there was a seam to the pants. How does that get by anyone who is staring INTENTLY at a photo for days on end???? I mean: STARING WITH X-RAY EYEBALLS ON. Every time I come back to the drawing, it's like I'm seeing everything for the first time. I see MORE. Every time. And each time, I think I've seen as far as one can. (This is the person who completely micro-focused SO much that the seam was completely missed.) It's crazy the levels of SEEING one can reach. See what I mean: compare the artwork below to the artwork above -- keep your eyes on the pants and the shirt. Triple friggin' sheesh!

(Sept. 09, 2009) Posted Sept. 10, 2009: Gary and I took a few days off (for the Labor Day holiday) and strung them together to make a small artist retreat. We do this as often as possible throughout the year 'cause artists GOT to get away and be ARTISTS. (The BIG retreat is at Christmas <g>.) If I'm lucky, it only takes a day to take that big step all the way into the ART. Because I work my art in such (relatively) small increments on the weekend it can be VERY stressful trying to get into something that I WANT to do SO MUCH. Think of it as jumping into a cold pool on a very hot day, getting out, and waiting until you are COMPLETELY dry and then jumping in again ...then waiting until you are completely dry to jump in, ...and think of it as a VERY COLD pool. The drying out part ...is the work week. Which is part of what makes it so nice to have multiple hours and DAYS in a ROW ...just being an artist. It's like taking a big, deep breath and feeling your soul stretch ALL the way out and relaxing ...in the deep end of the pool (with absolutely NO thought of getting dry).

So, you can see that I spent a LOT of time working on the main character. Especially if you compare this pict with the one below. Sheesh. Gary SAID that he saw a HUGE difference in the faces (when I came up for air). hehehe. Too funny.

It is just absolutely mind-blowing how much difference a few strokes made with the slightest pressure of a pencil can make. Well, I suppose that making a couple here and there (and here and there again and again and again) ...can eventually add up to a HUGE difference. Ya think?

(Aug. 23, 2009) Posted Sept. 03, 2009: For some reason I have REALLY been procrastinating on starting to draw the main figure of the piece. Lots of possible/plausible reasons come to mind. Some of them have to do with recent readings by other artists who maintain their artistic purity by ONLY taking their own photos, and who NEVER draw just from one photo, etc. etc. THAT, mixes up quite terribly with the fact that quite often my subconscious draws on photos of creative, occasionally famous people to incorporate in my artwork. Usually I try to change the image enough that it's not quite the same and/or I don't try REAL hard to make sure it looks like them <lol>. After all, WHOM is being drawn usually has nothing to do with the placement of their image within the symbolic meaning of the actual artwork. Wow. Come to think about it, this is the same conundrum I had with the whole "bus to Pomona" aspect of the title. Crazy stuff man. Soooo....I seem to have hit an internal nexus that needs defining.

My conclusions as to this moment? When I have time to worry about my artistic purity... I'll effort that <lol>. I am just WAAAAAY toooo busy right now just trying to find time to draw. I pick photos of creative people because they usually go beyond the stereotypical mundane pose AND these photos are VERY available. I NEVER pick the photo because of WHO it is and I KNOW this. AND, a lot of photos are of people who may be famous, may not or might have been or could never be... It's all in the eye of the beholder. Actually, to get quite technical, I don't pick the photos ...my subconscious does. I don't like limiting my artwork to the world that I am (personally) in contact with. I like to draw from the subconscious of the ENTIRE relevant universe... so I use other people's photos, as well as my own, to help translate/phrase the artistic statement that I am putting together in my own creative way.

For example: "The bus to Pomona". Why that phrase/symbol? Well...my subconscious FINALLY clued me in while I was talking to someone else about the whole thing. THAT particular scene, in the David Lynch movie "Inland Empire", has to do with one woman/the main character dying on the street while surrounded by homeless people talking about ...a person who rode the bus to Pomona. Just stop right there. At that exact second in the scene (regardless of what it means to anything in the movie)... A woman is dying. Her world is ending. Everything in disarray. Extreme tumult. And. For everyone else? LIFE GOES ON....(people get on the bus and get off of it).... And for those who don't follow David Lynch ..."the bus to Pomona" ...is a bus and people get on it and off it. A bus takes you places <lol>. I like the openess/double entendre-ness of the phrase.


Soo... what does this mean in regards to my recent period of procrastination...? Well. Part of the reason that I picked THIS photo of Pete Townsend has to do with (1) the posture of the body, (2) the shoes on the feet AND (3) the saintly look in the eyes (Pete is REAL good at that <lol>). Sooo... if this one actually LOOKS like Pete ...it might have MORE to do with an effort to capture the saintly look in the eyes than anything having to do with Pete Townsend. It could also have to do with really trying to work my chops AND my eyes so they are COORDINATED. hehehe. Anyway. So now I'm clear on that. It seems to have been important to me to clarify this. Sheesh.

(Aug. 23, 2009) Posted Sept. 03, 2009: When you look at Vincent Van Gogh's self portait(s) close-up (like within a few inches of the original ...enough to make the guard a tad uncomfortable <g>), you will notice that ALL of the lines/brush strokes circle round ...except for the eyes. That part of the artwork is painted FLAT. That is why the eyes are so penetrating. It's all subliminel and on the down low ...and SO effective <g>. BIGtime :)

Soooo..... I thought that I'd play around with this concept in a beginner sort o' way <lol>. All of the underlying pencil strokes of this piece circle round the head of the central/male figure. I've tried to keep continuity throughout ...but this IS the first time and that ISN'T the way I normally work. Anyway. Click the image above and you'll get a REAL close-up that MIGHT let you see SOME of the underlying lines :).

(Aug. 08, 2009) Posted Sept. 03, 2009: the figure in the mirror. That's where it's at right now...

(July 26, 2009) Posted July 31, 2009: A couple more layers of graphite were added to the face and a crack in the wall appeared, next to the doorway, etc. etc. I also added a very thin layer of pencil to the path... because even the whitest point on this path CANNOT be whiter than the planned white spot for the entire piece, ....eh? :)

I think there were four to five MORE layers of pencil added to the face in the doorway. All different pencils too. That totals us out at somewhere between seven to an even dozen layers of pencil(s) on this teeney part of the drawing ...and that's par for the entire artwork. The funny thing.... there isn't even a category for my art in most shows. REALLY FRUSTRATING. Pencil work... apparently... is REALLY underrated. Triple fricking UGH.

(July 19, 2009) Posted July 31, 2009: ...another face in a door <lol>. Well, the symbol is working for me right now. It's a VERY potent symbol combination indeed. An older, similar(ish) symbol makes an initial appearance in "Part III: Denouement: Midnight" and also reappears here: the face in the mirror. The face in a mirror vs. a shadowed face in a doorway. Two different symbols but, at the same time, very similar. Here we have both. The face in the doorway also appears in "Curiouser and curiouser: 3.1415926535897" Yes, that face is framed by a door too, but....the emotion called forth is completely different ...and that path leads past not INTO the door..... Almost completely different but not really. LOL. You could say the same about the face in a mirror. Any of this making sense? hehehe.

You could also (DEFinitely), call this my path period as that symbol is working well too. Too funny. I believe that repeating symbols can be helpful. Hopefully this repetition acts as a stepping stone into the world this artwork is drawn from :) BUT....I don't want to get too repetitious. That's called being lazy. darnit. ugh. laugh.

As for the face: this is just the preliminary layers of graphite, there are about three showing at this point.

(July 12, 2009) Posted July 31, 2009: It kind of looks like I haven't gotten far, eh? Well, I've found myself going back and adding layers of finesse to the upper parts of the drawing. Layers and layers of pencil work are accumulating.

Some of this work is to add definition to different areas of the drawing. Some of this additional pencil work is to move the eye around the imagery in a (supposedly) planned way <lol>. We'll see. In the past, I've seen GREAT artwork that actually moves your eye right OUT of the drawing before you hit the focus. Go figure. Definite lack of planning. The trick is NOT to over plan though. You WANT spontaneity and freshness ...but structure is also a requirement. It's a tricky business: drawing with pencil ...from your gut <roflmao>. Thinking is involved but you can't think about it. The thinking/learning has to go/filter in, be processed internally (this can take years) ....and come UP from the gut spontaneously. Sheesh. VERY tricky indeed.... but a LOT simpler than it sounds <g>. It's a wave. And, you ride it :)

What am I talking about here? For example: an arrow of shadow has been drawn in behind what will be the legs of the figure behind the door. This is pointing to what will become the WHITE spot of the drawing (or so goes the plan at the moment <g>). Additional elements, let's call them accidents made while drawing that worked REALLY well, are also pointing downwards <lol>. There's a lot of movement in the drawing right now and it's DOWN. There's more, but it's teeny, tiney finesse stuff <g>. Time consuming but fun. I just have to make sure I don't point you right out of the drawing here (by the end of it all). hehehehe.

(July 5, 2009) Posted July 31, 2009.

(June 22, 2009) Posted June 26, 2009: Saturday mornings there is NO TV on in the house. It helps. There is more than enough "reality" to go round without facilitating the damn thing.... especially if you are trying to separate from "reality" and step into an ARTistic frame of mind :) This particular Saturday morning was a tad tough as I left off at a hard part (drawing the three part woman's face) and then had to skip a weekend. Double UGH. Stuff like that doesn't really leave you on the run to come spring boarding back into it all. LOL. BUT, that was the last rough spot (ARTistically speaking <g>). After the face was drawn... I found THAT (art) zone. The one where you loose sense of here and now and are only there.

Past the layout and getting started on the actual drawing part of the program: I pulled out my pencil palette to find my lightest black. I wanted the background to be BLACK ...but since it is distant it could NOT be intensely black. You know? :) Anyway. Careful selection pulled out the "colors" I wanted to "paint" with. Now. It's go time :)

Posted June 09, 2009: more than halfway there. The shoes were a real pain (bad printout of the photo) ....BUT, that made for a super intense effort which seems to have translated into groovy details. Groovy. Where did that come from? Too funny. Anyway. I hope to finish this stage of the drawing next weekend: all sorts of possible interpretations are beginning to float by my inner eye :)

(June 06, 2009) Posted June 09, 2009: after the main areas are blocked out the first wave of detailing begins... Of course, this means working from the upper left hand corner first to keep graphite smears to a minimum :)

(May 24, 2009) Posted June 09, 2009: the actual pencil sharpened, drawing portion of the program is officially started. LOL. The first step is to block in the major areas. This is where the interesting correlations between main lines begins to show up. It is good to note this information and let it stewe in ye old subconscious between times :)

For years now I have been trying to squeeze in a few hours for ART on the weekends. Usually an hour or two on Sunday. Year after year. Still trying. Still working it. I'm stubborn. ARGH. SO, it's time to up the ante: I re-arranged my weekend schedule. It's true that in order to add more things you must subtract something (i.e. add MORE art time into my weekends). BUT, that's only if you don't suck at time management. I SUCK at time management so I thought I'd try that first. ROFLMAO. No subtracting. Yet. Results: MORE time for art. Finally. After all of these YEARS of effort, my soul begins to breathe better.

NOTE: this drawing is sans grid. That technique is no longer in use ...but the lessons learned about negative space and focus remain :)

Posted April 12, 2009: Ok. Stage one accomplished: artwork collage completed. For the last couple of years the artwork collages have come together in the computer. After that a master is printed for use in the drawing portion of the program <g>. The computer you say?? Yes indeed. Use your tools baby :) This really allows me to put the many elements together in ALL sorts of way (sometimes even upside down <lol>). You know. See how they can work together. Before the computer came into play, the process involved collecting pictures and then putting them together in my head. This actually simplified the drawings I was working on at the time, because I can imagine a LOT but I wanted to imagine even MORE. One tends to be more careful when not quite sure if the imagined results will dwell well in reality. Anyway. Using the computer DEFinitely allows a lot of mental elbow room (and I can get down with my natural, inherent Baroque-ness<g>).

Now onto the part that is SO much fun <groan> ...the layout of the soon-to-be artwork collage in pencil. It's funny but I compare this to when Gary has to put down the drums on his songs ....if you are off even a teeny tiney bit in the timing, the song suffers. Ditto with the perspective on the layout. Gotta keep it tight and FOCUS on the big picture or ALL THAT EFFORT IS WASTED. I can't even look at a finished drawing when it's out of whack. ugh. There will be time enough for details AFTER the layout is complete. Gridding out pictures has REALLY taught me a LOT about focusing on the drawing of and NOT the subject being drawn. BIGtime. Anyway. Counting the mural in the bathroom <lol>, this is artwork #2 for 2009, or at least the second artwork started this year.