White Cap Crowd

Some folks on Metro last week. The tan paper on the left is the BFK again. I am obviously into those white gouache highlights. This is a page and a half scanned from my small everyday sketchbook.

The little blue sliver on the left is a page of Québécois St. Armand paper, which was part of a sample pack that I found in New Mexico. I chopped it up and put pages into the sketchbooks here and there. Nice to have different textures and colors to mess around with.

Pinch

Fingers portrait and why not? Done with ink, watercolor, white gouache, and then finally some smudged Pierre Noire, on tan BFK Rives paper. The "negative space" is kind of a smile, isn't it? Hadn't noticed that.

BFK, by the way, stands for Blanchet Frères et Kleber, the original manufacturers of the 'Rives' paper, at a mill in Rives near Grenoble, France.

Speaking of France, I have been studying (not reading, but actually studying) the old and respected book about Cézanne by Erle Loran, an art professor at UC Berkeley, entitled Cézanne's Composition: Analysis of His Form with Diagrams and Photographs of His Motifs. It was written in 1963 and lately re-printed.

The term 'motifs' in the title refer to photos of the actual places and scenes in France that Cézanne used as subjects. One of Professor Loran's excellent analytic diagrams is reproduced below, from page 77. (It's his diagram of La table de cuisine, now at the Musée d'Orsay.)


I have learned two new and interesting things from the book so far. First, that Professor Loran is convinced that Cézanne himself did NOT construct his compositions using the same kind of analysis or forward planning that the professor uncovers. He goes to great lengths in the introductory material to 'prove' that Cézanne had no systematic/academic understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of composition.

It was all pure instinct, according to the fine professor.

And second, for Cézanne, the choice of initial subject matter had little to do with the success of the painting, as measured by Professor Loran's analyses. So really, all the parts in the book that are devoted to discussion of the original 'motifs' are pretty moot, in my opinion. Cézanne wantonly re-arranged what he saw in front of him to meet the needs of his picture. He made a timeless masterpiece out of a picture of some old rocks in a quarry.

What this also says to me is that you need not and ought not to wait for your surroundings to provide you with exciting or inspiring subject matter. You can learn and grow and get satisfaction and enjoy the heck outta just drawing a door handle or a chair leg.

And so there it is.

Sketchcrawl, Saturday June 21st

Sketchcrawl June 2008! Once again, I am the only one to show up. But it's still fun. Above, on the right of the sketchbook page, is the view along the north side of the golden NMAI, with pinky-gray Air+Space in the background (with the top of Ad Astra, which means 'To The Stars', that spiky sculpture by Richard Lippold in front of Air+Space, popping up above the trees), as well as ye ole Washington Monument.

On the left side of the page is an experiment: sketching a face with just a dark watercolor tone. No detail, no line. A few more wc sketches are below. (Here is another one.)

Speaking of NMAI's Mitsitam Cafe, is it my imagination or is it getting even more expensive? A simple lunch of roasted salmon with two sides, and a Key Lime tart (excellent!) cost just shy of thirty bucks. Oh, wait. I guess it was that cup of coffee that almost put me over the top. Hmmm!

Gouache for Field Studies

I enjoyed my weekend workshop at the Art League with Diane Tesler entitled Gouache for Field Studies & More. We spent all of the second day outside, painting scenes in Old Town. There were a few demos at the beginning, but we were pretty much on our own, with a little bit of individual critique, when and if Diane could catch up with us. It was very instructive just to get down to it and mess around.

One of the elements that she emphasized was to begin with strongly tinted paper. Depending on the scene you intend to paint, tint with a warm or cool acrylic wash. The watered-down liquid acrylic wash also seals the charcoal underdrawing, which is very handy. (But I'm not sure I am willing to give up that pristine white page! I suppose when one of your colors is white, it isn't that critical. I have put some BFK Rives tan colored paper in my everyday sketchbook, to test it with watercolor. If it works well I might add that white gouache to my palette.)

Once again, there were some very nice folks in the workshop. As always at the Art League. One of them is going to Provence with Susan Abbott in a few weeks. ENVY!!

I spent some considerable time on the painting above. Really messed around with it. The one below was a very quick sketch with minimal prep. Gouache worked well for both of them. I think.

Pierre Noire

Here is an experiment with Conté à Paris Pierre Noire charcoal pencil and watercolor. The charcoal is dark as the darkest night and smears really nicely. More experiments to come!

I have enrolled in a two-day workshop on gouache this weekend. I am worried because the techniques used for gouache are diametrically opposed to all those used in watercolor. In common with oil painting, with gouache you apply the paint dark to light. Where in wc, you do the opposite. As per MacEvoy: We get a hint of what's involved in the use of gouache (pronounced "gwash") by considering the origins of the name: it comes from the Italian aguazzo, for "mud." I may be hopelessly muddled/muddied by Sunday afternoon.

Corkscrew

I don't know why. Why not?

Back Home Again

I arrived home here to Maryland yesterday and very much enjoyed all the familiar smells. Particularly the smell of honeysuckle. Honeysuckle and rain-fattened foliage and the smell of Thirteen Original Colonies dirt. At the least the northern seaboard Old Confederacy Thirteen Original Colonies dirt and foliage. There is something very satisfying and cozy -- for me -- about the smell of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. In the spring and autumn especially, the smell is all of mustiness and life. Or maybe it's just a reminder of the good memories of my time in NC and now here in MD. This is also the season where I have to resist the very strong urge to buy a farm. Or at the very least a cottage in the countryside.

(I visited my favorite cottage in the countryside, overlooking Burkittsville and, yet again, there was no For Sale sign on it. Luckily for me, I suppose. I ought to go back there and sketch the expansive view from the front porch. I wonder if the residents would mind. Hmmm! Field trip! For a photo at least. Quickly snap a pic before taking a pants-full of buckshot, for trespassing.)

The sketch above is of another lazy old porch in the late afternoon, with the sun on the backs of the dark green Adirondack chairs filtering through some enormous trees. It's part of an old country inn nearby that I stopped at, to prolong my vacation.

El Santuario de Chimayó

I went on a scenic tour of the area north of Santa Fe yesterday because I wanted to sketch the church at Chimayó. It's a very powerful pilgrimage destination. It was a very nice drive up there and a lovely day. There were a few folks inside the church chanting the Hail Mary, a group that I joined for a while. Then I found myself a seat outdoors, in front of the famous doors that have never been closed. It's a lovely spot and I did a few drawings, one of which is above.

Next I stopped at the famed Rancho de Chimayó Restaurant, which on all my other trips to Chimayó I seemed to hit at a time when the parking lot was overflowing. Yesterday I got there at about 11:40am and got right in! The service was delightful, a very sweet waitress in 'traditonal' Hispanic costume of black full gathered skirt, mid-calf length, wide red sash, white blouse with white lace around the neck, and puffed sleeves. (The blouse was worn sort of off the shoulders and, on my waitress at least, revealed a --[sigh]-- tattoo on her back! But oh well! She was a sweetie!) Anyway, the food was not at all great and the place was messy and cluttered and dusty. The gardens around the patio showed quite alota bare dirt.
But! When I left, the parking lot was overflowing. Which says that yes, you can rely entirely on reputation, service, location and dispense with that pesky detail of offering good food.

The sienna tint on the blouse of the woman in the above sketch is done with the red pepper sauce from my Carne Adovada, smeared onto the paper with my little finger. Discretely of course! Alas, the peppery aroma has since vanished...

Grand Pic

I got only one good picture of the Grandest Canyon. It is a view down the Bright Angel Trail, with the oasis-like Indian Garden in the foreground.

Grand Canyon webcam is here.

Shorts, you think? Ha! Not in May!

I left Flagstaff this morning at about 8:30am, having made the foolish decision to wear shorts. Subsequent events will cause me to rue that recklessness. Arrived back up at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon later in the morning. There are gray clouds all around. Real windy too.

I began to lament my decision about the shorts as soon as I got out of my car near the lodge.

I suppose I could have scrounged up a restroom somewhere where I could have changed back into jeans, but nooooooo. I am Betsy Backwoods and a toughie. I commit, brazenly, and go to find the shuttle stop. (Most of the rim west of here is under re-construction and is closed to all except shuttle buses.) But I have second thoughts when a big gust of wind and rain hit me while waiting for the shuttle. I estimated the wind chill at that moment to be somewhere in the thirties. Thank goodness for my hoody fleece and the rain jacket on top of it. My legs, however, were out there a-hangin’. Yee-ouch. Too late now. I get on the shuttle. We’re off. (Gad, this shuttle is nice and warm!)

So we get to the first overlook and it’s still windy and drizzly and natch – no one gets off the shuttle. Yeah, we all say to ourselves, glancing around at each other, it’s grand and all but, umm, I’ll wait just a bit on this particular view. I’ll come back! (Oh yeah, right.)

Second overlook is Maricopa Point and now the sun is shining, the wind is gone, so I got out and sketched for a quite a bit of time. Next stop is Hopi Point, the last stop, and the wind is kicking up again and here come some more gray clouds. But this is the westernmost viewpoint that is currently accessible, so I get off the shuttle. I had to!

My remorse about the shorts reaches a new high when the wind comes back and it starts to rain again. I shelter under a small piñon pine tree and am pretty snug and kind of change my mind. I am actually enjoying it, in an irrational way probably induced by the lightheadedness that accompanies hyperthermia. That is, I like it until I hear thunder. Uh oh. Ummm, thunder is possibly not a good sign when you are sheltering under a tree on the very rim of a massive chasm. I make a note about the rain and thunder in my sketchbook, but then look up and notice that the rain has turned into little white balls. By god -- it’s frigging hailing! Sheesh! But … WAY COOL!!!! I shout to the person across the walkway ‘Hey, look! It’s hailing!’ My icicle legs are forgotten. This is fun!

Alas! The hail lasts only a few more moments, turns very briefly to sleet, and then is gone. Blown away. In about five minutes here comes the sun and I stick around at that Hopi Point viewpoint for quite some time after that, to do more sketches. The ink lines on the one drawing that I had open when I was under the tree is all mottled with water drops. Extremely nifty and I have enjoyed it all quite a bit. Despite the fact that I can no longer feel my legs. (That coffee after lunch sure tasted good!)


My palace of a room in El Tovar is finally ready at about 3:30 but when I get into it is smells odd. Like cleaning products from 1920. I have opened the windows but they tell me it’s going to go to 22 degrees tonight. So close them I’ll have to. Later on. I may leave here tomorrow smelling like a flapper. Albeit a clean one!

The dining room here at El Tovar is listed as one of the best 50 restaurants in all of Arizona. I confess that I am a doubter. This is a federal operation (at bottom -- despite being a “concession”) and I have my doubts about a federal operation spawning an outstanding restaurant. That concept conflicts with good reason. Anyway, we’ll see!

Later: Unfortunately, I was right about both the food and the service. Especially the service. Blah.

Significant Grandness

Yesterday John and Marie and I made a pilgrimage to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. None of us had never been there before, so we felt a proper day of homage was necessary. It began with a stop at Cameron Trading Post north of Flagstaff on Highway 89, based on a tip John had gotten in Utah. I have seen quite a few native arts stores but this one (I have to admit) was the best I have ever seen. To think that I have passed it by well onto fifty times in my travels hither and yon, thinking it was just a tourist trap/gas station. WOW! Great stuff to see (museum quality) and buy. It's now on the 'must stop' list. Above is a sketch of John driving up there and Marie in the other front seat.

Arrive at the East Entrance of the Park and we're a bit let down. Very few overlooks and the rim road is hemmed in on both side by dense pinon pine forest. (Is this Maine or Arizona?) No views! Except at overlooks overrun with German and Japanese tourists. Then --- gosh. We stopped at Desert View overlook, the one with the faux Watchtower, and we could clearly see the Colorado below. I felt a peculiar tightness in my chest -- which was (I decided) a remnant or a memory of the fear and anticipation from thirty years ago --> when we assembled outside of Page, on the shoreline of the river, at Lee's Ferry just above Marble Canyon, and got ready to launch the 2nd River Trip. Sanderson River Expeditions. Back in the 70's, a million years ago, but the sensations were vivid.

In any event, I sketched the view of the green-watered river from that overlook:
And wrote a bit about what I was feeling/reliving. It was exciting, the remembering, And presto --> all the yammering tourists disappeared.

We three had a nice picnic (sort of, given the bee the size of a hat that was hanging around and the fact that the picnic table was so tilted on the slope that no bottle on it could stay upright --- the future 'Legend of How the the Picnic Table got to the bottom of the Grand Canyon') and then went on to a few other overlooks, To jostle other tourists. ("Entschuldigung." "Vielen dank!")

But then finally got to the El Tover Hotel overlook area at about 4pm. Hey, wait!! LOVELY!!! And few folks there! I am going back on Wednesday to spend the night there (don't even ask how much the rooms cost) and to sketch again. Below is my fav of what I sketched from that walk area yesterday and what follows it is a quote (to go with it -- to engender suitable humility) from the current show at the Museum of Northern Arizona entitled 'Grand Canyon Grandeur':
"I struggle in mad haste to utilize the moment but ah! How futile! How hopeless! What a wretched makeshift these paltry pigments! How hopeless to attempt. What inconceivable impudence to dream of imitating anything so ineffable! It challenges man’s utmost skills. It mocks and defies his puny efforts to grasp and perpetuate, through art, its ineffable grandeurs." William Robinson Leigh at the Grand Canyon, 1929.

Arch at Arches

Relaxing in and around Moab with my friends Marie and John. (It has been quite a pleasure showing my dear friends all my favorite spots hereabouts.) I sketched this view of South Window in Arches while they hiked up into it. I thought that I ought to add a vibrant blue sky to it, especially inside the arch. But decided not to. It's my favorite thing that I've sketched so far. Off tomorrow at the crack o' dawn for Sedona and the drawing class.

Colorado Plateau Week One

Day 1: end at 726.8 mi. on the trip odometer, ending in IN (the first 0.1 of which, I noticed, was getting out of the Irene parking garage)
Day 2: end at 1,165.1 mi. ending in KS
Day 3: end at 1,795.3 mi. ending in drab Dillon, CO
Day 4: finally off the interstate at 2,033.6 mi. in UT ← hip hip hooray!!!
All is well here in Moab. I am busy getting reacquainted with all the spectacular scenery and coffee shops. Love it here!


Trip Notes

Q: Was that really the carcass of a bear in the median of the Slot Car Track section of I-70 west of Denver through the gut of the mountains? Couldn’t have been! But there were indeed three different herds of big horn sheep grazing along the shoulders of the highway. They looked pretty ratty, ragged winter coats partly shedded and partly hanging on in tufts. To think that in most places you need a telescope to see big horn sheep where they (literally) hang out on remote mountain cliffs. In CO you just pass them on the left.

Coldest Moment: Vail Pass, where it was 28 degrees.

Wind Farms: I’m sorry but I find these "farms" beautiful. Passed one in west-central KS that is called the Smoky Hills Wind Project. Its two phases will encompass 26,000 acres and hundreds of wind turbines. I passed sections of the shiny smooth, bright white poles (pylons? towers?) being hauled on semis on the highway the day before and wondered just what they were. They were so pristine and perfect. I couldn’t imagine. And when I saw the wind farm, I realized what I had seen. The blades are most graceful in shape as well. The full spread of the three blades is about 270 feet. Spectacular to see hundreds of these things across a low ridge with no other landforms in note anywhere in site. They were visible from about 30 miles away. Lovely! Works of art! I rarely thank engineers for anything, but I make an exception with this grouping of objects.

Microbrew at Elevation: Note to self→ at 9,100 feet above sea level beer must be consumed very slowly.

Home made pigment: I have decided to collect various kinds of red rock soil around here and see if I can make watercolor pigment out of it. I have studied my geology and am ready! (But dang, I forgot my mortar and pestle!)

The image above I took yesterday afternoon of a big bend in the Colorado River, seen from the overlook at Dead Horse Point State Park. I shared the overlook area with an entire busload of French people. (Hey, aren't French people supposed to be the best dressed people on the planet? I guess not so much when they are on vacation. Je suis désolé, mal habillés dame, mais il ya une file d'attente ici.)

Warriors among the Rhodies

Yesterday was a beautiful day that I spent roaming around town, with my particular sights set on the newly-re-opened museum at Dumbarton Oaks. Whoopee! What a GREAT space! There are dark and intimate rooms with textiles, a stark white museumy room with Byzantine pieces, an indoor columned court with ancient sculpture set against blood-red walls, a turn of the last century Music Room with ornate ceiling, a hallway where you are walking on an actual ancient mosaic floor (ouch!) and finally my favorite by far --> the Philip Johnson Pavilion, a cluster of "rooms" that so spectacularly displays the pre-Columbian material. Holy cow!

Per the Post: "It consists of eight circular spaces with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, arranged in a circle around a fountain; light floods the space, which particularly flatters the gold artifacts. And the gardens surround you on all sides."


Exactly! You can hear and smell the ancient cities of Copan and Tenochtitlan right now, right there amid the blooming rhodedendrons in upper NW. The space is very finely done and is now one of my new favorite places in Washington. I look forward to visiting it in all seasons, to see and feel how it changes with the changing light and colors. (My interior sketch is above.)

At the very top is my sketch of a "Wari" mirror from the 'Huari culture' of Peru, from 650 to 1,000 CE*. The square mirror back part is about 6"x"6 and made mostly of Mother of Pearl but also turquoise, other colorful stones, and purply-pink Spondylus shell, all inlaid in a very intricate pattern. It was very lush. And very nifty. (And I finally found a use for these very skanky iridescent watercolor paint samples from DSmith: painting the Mother of Pearl parts on the mirror!)

*[The dating system that is used throughout the museum is the fairly new and politically correct 'CE' system. "CE stands for "Common Era." It is a relatively new term that is experiencing increased usage and is expected to eventually replace AD. The latter is an abbreviation for "Anno Domini" in Latin or "the year of the Lord" in English." The other side of that particular coin being BCE, "Before the Common Era", naturally.]

Fury for Nought

Here is gent in Metro. I think I am beginning to understand how to slightly exaggerate some aspects to get closer to 'character'. At least 'character' as I see it. He was a little rumpled and a little resigned to his fate, yet he had a "little black book" in his shirt pocket.

For me, the mental and physical exhaustion from the brutally abrupt end of the hockey season is just beginning to wear off. Despite all that, I was chipper yesterday in my colorful garb -- no black mourning duds for me!

It's a Miracle

Savoring the Historic Week That Was from OFB

18th World Wide SketchCrawl

The 18th World Wide SketchCrawl was yesterday, Saturday, March 29th 2008. I had put out a note a month ago in that forum, that I was going to meet whomever wanted to join me at 11am in the Mitsitam Café inside the National Museum of the American Indian. About 125 folks looked at the note but no one replied that they were planning on coming.

So tomorrow morning, given all the action downtown, I was not rushing. There was the Smithsonian Kite Festival, Opening Day of the Cherry Blossom Festival (with the blossoms at their peak this weekend), the National Marathon, and the Circus at the arena. Whew! Needless to say public transportation was at a strain point. It took me an hour and a half to get to the Museum and (as I suspected) no one joined me for sketching. So I just relaxed and enjoyed myself.

First with an excellent breast of duck and root veggies lunch at the Mitsitam Café. That place is great. Luckily I did arrive at about 11:30am, and so had no trouble getting in and getting my lunch. I sketched a few fellow diners. Then saw the tear-jerker of a movie in the Lelawi Theater, sketched some items in the exhibits, and then went out and sketched the kite-flyers on the Mall. It was a lovely day and everyone everywhere was having an equally great day, judging by all the smiles, the laughter. Good day! More of my sketches are here. Not a great body of work, but I had a fine time!

Who's old? Not me!

A thoughtful but hunched-over fellow Metro commuter. Along with some detail from a handy crape myrtle.

I enjoyed my visit to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore the other day, to see their Maps: Finding Our Place in the World exhibition. Maps of all kinds are a treat for me, both to see and study and to make. You can both learn (know) and claim a space, if you map it. My favorite "map" from the Walters' shows was from the Mapping the Cosmos section. It was the photograph of the 'Hubble Ultra Deep Field'. It was about 4'x'4' and I stood very close to it. The distance and the time that you can see into are beyond imagination. But it is very comforting to look at that image and to be absolutely sure that we are not alone.

The Walters itself is a museum to be proud of. The coolest room by far is their Chamber of Wonders, which is so chock full of cool stuff, all jumbled up, you could spend the whole day there. Just my cup of tea. They also have what I believe is the most extensive local collection of art of the ancient Americas (since Dumbarton Oaks' Pre-Columbian Wing is still closed for renovation), which was also a treat to see and study.

One Wary, One Bored

I got these two ladies in Metro the other day. The lady on the left was up against the window and wary, eyes darting, even though there wasn't much of a crowd at all. (She is done with my new Le Pen pen in the color "brown", washed with the Pentel Waterbrush. The "brown" Le Pen washes into a nifty burgundy-brown. Very nice!)

The lady on the right was in the middle of the seat behind. Fat, bored, and disdainful. (She is done with Private Reserve 'Velvet Black' ink, in the Lamy Vista fountain pen, also washed with the Pentel waterbrush.)

I have been reading quite a bit about the solarplate printing. It has allure because you can use photos and images from Photoshop. It's worrisome because it sounds very complicated. Must read more and maybe find someone locally who is adept. Watch them!

Relief Printing: My Book List

Here are the how-to books on the topic of relief printing that I found most useful.

• Relief Printing, by Anne Westley (2005). Part of the British set entitled Printmaking Handbook Series, "aimed at the student or the practised [sic] printmaker who is experimenting in a new area".
• Relief Printmaking: A Manual of Techniques, by Colin Walkin (1997). Another British publication. Many illustrations, but none in color, which is shame.
• The Complete Manual of Relief Printmaking, by Katie Clemson and Rosemary Simmons (1988). This is an excellent book and I recommend it highly. It's my favorite of these three.
  

Other useful books

• Printmaking for Beginners, by Jane Stobart (2005) has a chapter on relief printing.
• Handmade Prints: An Introduction to Creative Printmaking Without A Press, by A. Desmet and J. Anderson (2000) has a number of chapters on various kinds of relief printmaking techniques.
• The Complete Printmaker: Techniques/Traditions/Innovations, by J. Ross et al. (1990) has a whole 50+ page section on relief printmaking.
• The Woodcut Artist's Handbook: Techniques and Tools for Relief Printmaking, by G. A. Walker (2005) is also very good.
• Hand of a Craftsman: The Woodcut Technique of Gustave Baumann, by David Acton (1996) is an exquisite book.
  
  

Carborundum Experimentation

I tried a few carborundum plates here this weekend. Notes:

• Plate material: The 2mm thick clear plastic sheet worked well. Scrubbing with kitchen cleanser gave it good tooth, so the glue had a good surface with which to bond. I also wiped it with rubbing alcohol before I put down the glue lines. And since these plates were transparent, I traced drawings from my sketchbooks! (The lady below was on a plastic plate. Overall dimensions of the print are 7-1/2" x 11". She is one of the faces in this composite.)
  
  Regular drafting mylar worked well too, except the large carborundum areas cracked and started to peel up after a few pulls, and had to be re-glued. I believe that the mylar can be a bit too flexible for this process. But with care it can work just fine too. (The peaked hat gent above was on the mylar plate. Overall dimensions of this print are about 5" x 7".)
  

• Glue: I used Titebond "Original Wood Glue" full strength, laid down with a bamboo pen. It worked very well.
  
  I made one plate with glue diluted with a bit of water, in an attempt to get finer lines, but this mix didn't stick to the plate at all. Lesson: Don't dilute!
  

• Carborundum: I used the #180 size grit. I let the glue/carborundum areas dry overnight.
  

• Sealing: The next day I used the spray can version of Polycrylic Protective Finish Clear Satin, by Minwax to seal the carborundum on the plate. And I believe that I put too much on. The carborundum lost some "tooth". The carborundum areas didn't feel at all vulnerable -- stuff was not coming off -- before that seal coat and I think just a very thin coat of this would serve fine.

• Ink: I tried DSmith Water Soluble Relief Ink, Faust Aqualine Ink, and Akua Intaglio Ink and I like the last the best.
  
  
• Paper: The paper was Rives BFK Heavyweight Paper in the color 'Tan', which I don't particularly like, but what the heck. These were experiments! I think that regular weight paper would have taken the embossing better and I will try that next time.
  
  
• Press: I used the little Blick Econo Etch Model II, cranked down pretty tightly.
  
  

Zig Zag Often

This past weekend was yet another printmaking workshop, this time Linoleum Cuts, back at the Art League at the Torpedo Factory with Penny Barringer. It was a good group and I enjoyed watching my colleagues' work develop. I played around with various textures. The lino that was sold by the Art League Supply Store at the Torpedo Factory was very rubbery and took scratched and gouged lines well, almost like a drypoint line with the burrs. We used various pointy tools to scar 'em up. I enjoyed that. I also tried cutting that soft rubbery lino up and printing the pieces as islands, among various other textures. Nothing that I did especially moved me during the course of the weekend, but it was all fun.

The background for the above piece was printed on the etching press with a piece of crumpled tin foil, inked with black and yellow, centered in a mylar sheet with the rectangle cut out of it. Then I printed the Zig zag often lino block on top. I enjoy working with words and am going to try 'Zig zag often' again. Maybe with a more evocative and ziggidy ground. Although the foil crumples work well too.

The Masa Dosa paper that I got from McClain's continues to be my favorite paper. It almost glows with 'whiteness'. It is lovely blank! I am going to order more.

Carborundum Printmaking

I took a Collagraph/Carborundum Printing workshop at Pyramid Atlantic this past weekend, from Charles Cohan, and enjoyed it very much. I also learned a great deal about the processes that are involved. I made this print from a sketch of an old Jowly Gent that I made on the Metro. It was blown up, transfered to a screen and then the screen was used to print wood glue on a Masonite board. The wet glue was sprinkled with carborundum and left to set up a moment. The excess was tapped off and the plate dried overnight. Once sealed, it was inked, wiped and printed intaglio style on an etching press on dampened paper. It was great fun and I really like the fuzzy edges. (It reminded me of the line in Max's Monoprint.)

Each print above is on 11" x 15" paper. The one on the left is the first pull. The one on the right is the ghost. The ghost is printed without re-inking. It uses just what ink is left on the plate from the first printing. I like them both!

I also had a fine time rummaging around in the drawers full of handmade paper that is for sale at Pyramid Atlantic. They have a thriving papermaking program there and some of the paper was lovely. I plan on printing on it this weekend in my Lino Class at the Art League.

Mid-Morning Metro Humorlessness

It can't all be this grim and dour, can it? Maybe they all start to look how I feel? No! It was a nice day today. (If you'd like, click on the image to see a larger version of it.) The blue stain on the right is where I am experimenting with ink colors in my Pentel Waterbrush. That was Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor in Ultramarine, diluted. I have now settled on a diluted version of Noodler's Walnut. Very warm and cozy. Which I like better.

David in the Cast Hall

I attended a weekend drawing workshop at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and enjoyed the day spent in the historic Cast Hall most of all. It's a remarkable warren of lofty rooms in the back of the adjacent Museum. In it are dozens and dozens of dusty life-sized reproductions of sculpture from all eras in Western art. I especially loved the look of a massive David looming over the top of a what? Yes, a blackboard! Delightful! I felt the ghosts of students past, all intense and devoted and serious, bent double over their drawing boards. Scratching away with their slender sticks of "vine charcoal".

The class itself was very much about how to do faithful and meticulous reproductions of whatever was in front of you. Valuable skill! Priceless ability! To be diligently sought after! Nonetheless, I liked the quick sketches that I did much better. Is this laziness on my part?
I just liked him best. Just for scale, this is an 18" x 24" sketchbook. Much beyond my regular sketchbook size. But fun!