Cubist Comix

Two for Two

Here's another "Organic design" that I recently found while digging through piles of other art stuff. What is it? What does it mean? You're asking me? I'm the last one you should ask when you look for an explanation about my work; I just draw and paint and that's all I know - the rest is a mystery. I intend on finishing this series of paintings so keep a look out for those to pop up somewhere: here, Etsy, post cards, etc. So far I've had great feedback on these and would like to do something with them in the not too distant future.

So, what's next on the agenda? What am I going to throw myself into next? For the next six months or so most of my attention will be focused on the comics stories that I'm currently in process of preparing; my hope is to have at least thirty-six pages of material ready for this fall. I will post examples of what I'm working on as I get it done. Writing and drawing your own stuff is very time consuming so please bear with me. Aside from that the only other thing I can think of doing is... drawing. Pen and ink, watercolor, and colored pencil on bristol board.

The Door Must Always Remain Open

I recently found this painting while digging through piles and piles of art books. I did this ten years ago with the intention of doing a series, but as usual, other things got in the way and I ended up doing only two of these. When I did this I did it because I was feeling burned out with representational pictures and I wanted to do something, anything, no matter how strange or bizarre. Oddly, at the time I planned to do these solely for my own pleasure and this is why they were put away for so long.

This find couldn't have been any more timely for me; even though I started this project a decade ago it really pointed to where I am now - I guess you could say that I've come full circle. Over the last few days I've felt very restricted in my work; I do less of what I really want to do and more of what I don't want to do. How crazy is that? Strange, nonsensical ideas are always coming to me but they're not being put on paper and that must stop. Many of my recent posts have, to one degree or another, been about this;I guess it's just a natural part of growing and maturing as an artist. You reach a point where you know that you have to be yourself and follow your heart without caring about what anyone will say; I definitely have reached this point and there's no turning back now. It's do or die, folks. Over the weekend I had a conversation with a dear friend about this but in a more general sense; we both agreed that most people are unhappy with their lives because they're stuck where they're at and they think that they can't get out. They have literally shut the door behind them; they've given up on their dreams. It's all about the credit card payments and the mortgage payment. No thanks; I'll pass. Being yourself  is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but in the end it's all you can be. Pen and ink, watercolor, acrylic, pastel and gouache on bristol board.    

Aguste Rodin

Some years ago I bought a set of author/ artist collector cards. Amongst the pack was a portrait of Rodin, the famed French sculptor. I have always been a fan of old black and white photos, especially if they are of artists, writers, etc. I have a couple of books full of photos from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that I need to dig out and look through again. Someone commented that this drawing resembles a German wood block print and they were right in saying so. My work is influenced by pen and ink illustrators of the early 20th century who often emulated the look of wood block prints in their drawings and so therefore that influence comes through in my line work. Brush and ink in Aquabee.

My Nod To The Past

This preliminary sketch is the first in what will eventually be a series of  large scale pen and ink drawings based on favorite works by some of the artists that I admire.The first  is by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, the great Spanish Plein Air painter. Sorolla, born in Valencia in 1863 was noted for his mastery of striking sunlight in his work. An incredibly prolific painter, Sorolla acheived fame in his lifetime. His greatest success was his Visions of Spain , a series of 14 huge canvasas that dipict life in Spain. These are hung at the Hispanic Society of America in New York City. The painting that I have chosen to draw is a portrait of the artist's daughter, María. This, of course, is only a portion of the the painting. Pen and ink in Aquabee.  

Words and Pictures

I grew up reading comic books as a child and spent countless hours reading them and absorbing their four color graphics. In the beginning I was exposed to the work of classic comics artists such as Jack Kirby, John Romita and Neal Adams. When I reached my teens I discovered many other things, one of them was French Bande Desinee. That discovery radically changed my perception of what  comics were and what could be done with them. The two artists whose work  impacted me the most were Moebius and Philippe Druillet. Their work was nothing short of a revelation for me. This fueled the flame that burned within me to draw comics. In the 80s and 90s when I was actively pursuing getting into comics I still thought that I had to impress the big mainstream publishers such as Marvel and DC to get my foot in the door. What a bad idea and what a waste of time! It was during this time that I decided that I had reached my limit with the comics industry and their stupid attitudes. I decided to stop drawing comics and not think about doing them until other options existed for me and my work.. American comics have unfortunately always suffered from the stigma of being thought of as reading for children. In many ways the people in the industry itself have perpetuated this. The stigma still exists but there has been some progress made within the last few years, especially with the growth of the  alternative comics market. Artists such as Robert Crumb, Dan Clowes, Jessica Abel, and Phoebe Gloeckner amongst many others have been making a big difference with the material that they have been producing. There's still hope for American comics and I still want to write and draw stories. The image pictured here is from the same period as my previous post. Watercolor and pastel on illustration board.

The Passage of Time

This image of singer Sade dates from the mid 90s and was intended to be the first in a series of portraits of beautiful and intriguing women all bound together in one sketchbook. For some reason I never got around to doing any others but now that I've found this it makes me want to renew my goal. The challenge in doing this piece was to do something loose while still maintaining the essence of the source material. Despite the date of this piece, I consider it to be a success and one of my better works from the time period. Pen and ink and watercolor in Aquabee.

An Enigma

Sometimes you do things and they turn out far better than you imagined. This would be the case for this painting. When I was working on it I, of course, was positive about it's outcome but never thought that it would turn out they way it did. Not only did it turn out better than I thought it would but I did it more quickly than normal. Although this is highly unusual it does happen from time to time. At the time I was studying Burne-Jones' work and felt very inspired by what I saw, especially his superb pencil portraits of his mistress, Maria Zambaco. Seeing something is one thing, capturing an inkling of it's essence is something else. Pen, ink, watercolor and gouache on illustration board.