"Sovereignty" finished.

Well here it is, finally! Each summer my family and I visit the 1000 Islands and the St. Lawrence River for a week in a wonderful little cottage near some great friends. I took along this work so I could finish it up in my friend's nearby studio with views of the river.

This is the final image after some last minute adjustments. I must admit it became a total struggle! I was waging a brutal war between darkness and light. I don't remember any drawing being this challenging or difficult. Makes me wonder if I approached it the right way and it leaves me skeptical about it's success.

At the moment I'm too close to it to make a proper assessment. I do not usually spend that many hours working continuously at that level of deep involvement. I'll look it over again in a few days with fresh eyes and pass a final judgement.

Getting past the halfway point.

The shadow cast across the back of the bull really brought this to life for me I think. It really seems to have lit this up with full sun. Next to the dark background he looks very bright, just what I want.

The upper left corner gives an idea of where the background is heading. Rocks and brush with more in between the deer. As that develops I think they will stand out more. As I've mentioned before this will be a very strong contrast work with the sunlight being key to it's success. Guessing I'm better than half way which is good since I have a September deadline for release of the limited edition. I love pressure.

Moved my easel again!

I just can't work in one place. I'm going to get an easel with wheels on it so I can roll it all over. I took it to my studio at Fort Drum in order to chip away at this while I'm "on the job". It's great being your own boss.

Once I roughed in the background I worked up the contrast behind the bull. Getting those antlers right is my main concern.

This close up really lets you see how much texture is on this. It makes it very challenging to lay down clean lines when I need to. The vine charcoal seems to be very forgiving and I just let it do what it wants. I need to get the antler shadow across the body soon, another key part of the work.

Hurdle passed

Well I put the lines into the face and most importantly the antlers. They were the most critical aspect in my estimation since there was just one for each tine and I had to get them correct. At the moment there is not the contrast around them I want but that will come with the background work. At least I got past my mental road block and got this important part roughed in. Now I can put in the habitat and then spend some time refining the deer.

Comfort Zone

I've talked recently about loosing confidence with this new approach. I realize that I've been just plain intimidated and scared of this thing. It dawned on me over the weekend when I tried to sit down to work and just didn't feel good about it. I felt apprehensive. So... I rearranged my studio, switched the board back upright and moved it across the room. I felt like a dog spinning around before finally settling down to sleep.

That is actually when I realized I was afraid. Afraid of not getting the perfect line put down to capture the essence of the animal. Realizing that more was on the line and there was no where to hide.

Jack Hines, an artist said it best...

"...Drawing speaks directly to the viewer about the mind, soul and hand of the artist without pretense or falsehood".

There is NO WHERE to hide! So face it head on, step way outside the comfort zone and move forward. The one confidence you do have is that you gave it your best.

Remembering my way.

It has been some time since I was last able to sit down and actually draw. I have to admit that I lost confidence in my approach to this new technique I've been using. I think it is not ingrained in my mind like my other drawing styles are. You hear of writers block and I guess this is like that. I got over it well enough to add a few more calves and a cow before embarking on the bull.

I am trying very hard not to overwork this thing. I'm still using mostly vine charcoal and smudging with my fingers. Another aspect of this new approach is that because it goes so quickly that I find that I look for larger blocks of time that I can work. It is not something that I can pick away at a few hours here or there. I need to dive right in because each elk takes only a few minutes and once I get started I need to keep moving or else I lose my focus.

This probably sounds blah, blah, blah, but this is such new territory that I'm really fumbling in the dark. Maybe I can draw again tomorrow and get the bull done. I'd be pleased about that and can move onto the habitat. Thanks for checking in.

Cave Painting

I did some cave painting today. It looks like anyway. This drawing is high contrast and VERY loose as you can see. Working mostly with vine charcoal and my fingers. Just bits of detail work where necessary.

I expect this will become more refined as I work but I remember a lesson I learned in recent experiments. I fussed with it too much! I need to stop touching it!

I'll get to the habitat once all the elk are drawn in. Starting on the bull next. Love that rack of antlers and the shadow they create across the elks back.

It's finally started... again!

I was wondering when I might actually get to touch this work? Today I rubbed in a medium tone over the entire board and began picking out a few highlights.

Then a few dark areas to round things out a bit.

About an hours work. Tomorrow I'm looking forward to the better part of the whole day. Once the thing is moving I can stay with it until it's complete, hopefully inside the next week or two. It depends upon how many interruptions plague me.

It's finally started!

Hey, at least I'm working right? I've been very busy keeping our businesses from becoming a statistic of this global recession. Due to the type of work I do for the 10th Mountain Division I'm kept fully scheduled with production. I'm not complaining because many people are impacted by the economy in difficult and heart wrenching ways. So far it's just kept me from the drawing board.

I did manage to get the line drawing transferred to the gessoed panel yesterday. My wife had an artisan event with musicians and craftsmen at our bookstore which I was scheduled to exhibit at. I ended up in the workshop building frames. Like I said, no complaints... at least I'm working.

Now that the linear drawing is done I can start getting it all smudged over with a beginning layer of charcoal. Then I can dig in, when I don't know.

Cheers!

101 things...

Among many things I've been responsible for recently is this pencil illustration commissioned by the Armed Services Y.M.C.A. This is one thing that I do as part of my day job. Small framed prints will be provided to ASYMCA using collectible coins and an inscription for special honorees. I have created many illustrations like this for the 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, New York.

During wartime the Y.M.C.A. offered Soldiers hot coffee and food items on the battlefield using this horse drawn wagon. Later it became motorized as seen in the background. Currently the 10th MTN DIV is returning from yet another deployment to Iraq and that means a very busy several months for me providing custom framed items for the Soldiers needs.

Before that all takes place I'm determined to start and complete the elk commission I've been referring to lately. I'm more than ready, stay tuned!