Factory Cartoon

April 22, 2007

Copy collage, permanent marker and white-out

8" x 10"

I worked the original monotype print in photoshop and then printed two copies that I collaged together to fix some of the problems with the composition from the original image. Worked the piece with a sharpie and white-out all weekend and this is pretty close to how I want it to be. There may be some minor changes made but I feel pretty good about it and hope to make it into a chiaroscuro print in the coming months.

Rustic Haven

April 18, 2007

Monotype

8" x 10"

It is funny how at the end of one of these sessions I work like a fiend on the last print of the evening and something special happens when I work quickly. There is something happening with this one, it is like a combination of Kandinsky's early period and the work of Marsden Hartley.

Mexico, Maine

April 18, 2006

Monotype

8" x 10"

This is one of the more detailed and I think successful prints I have made in a while. There is a few flaws in the composition but the variety of plate tone and ominous feel to the factory is exactly what I was trying to achieve. I need to look at this image and think about it but it may become the focus of my next chiaroscuro print.

North Montpelier Pond, Ghost

April 18, 2007

Monotype

5'" x 7"

I worked the ghost of the first print better than I have in the past. The distant clouds really push the space and the additional ink I added was done evenly and lends a feeling to the image that reminds me of Chinese brush painting. This past weekend I found a stack of some old buff printmaking paper from Graphic Chemical that I had forgotten about. The color did not scan very well but the warm color of the paper lessens the urge I have to hand color these prints and give the print a lush, finished quality that I enjoy.

North Montpelier Pond

April 18, 2007

Monotype

5" x 7"

This print is from a drawing I made of the receding ice on North Montpelier Pond. I started my evening at Studio Place Arts in Barre with this effort. There is a lack of middle tone as I over worked the plate a bit, but besides that it has some interesting qualities.

Starry Night

April 15, 2007

Monotype with watercolor

5" x 7"

For almost a year now I have been thinking about hand water coloring some of my monotypes and finally got up the courage to do so. I picked a simple image that needed a limited palette and I am pleased with the result. In the past year and a half I have done over one-hundred prints like this one and foresee working with them in this manner for some time. Using color like this, with the strong blacks from the print, has a powerful impact visually that seems to add to the emotional power of the image.

Spring Thaw II

April 11, 2007

Pencil on Paper

3.5" x 5"

Yesterday was another beautiful day. I went down to the North Montpelier Pond and sketched the receding ice and landscape. I felt satisfied with this drawing and left it in this early state, unlike most of the recent drawings. Which I have been working on at length after the original effort out in the field.

Spring Thaw

April 10, 2007

Pencil on paper

5" x 6.25"

A few weeks back when I was sketching down at Peacham Pond I found this little view and went back on my lunch break today. Even though the wind was cold and sitting on the frozen guard rail along the highway made my butt colder, spring was in the air. We still have plenty of snow but you can smell it in the air.

Starlight Woodblock 3

April 9, 2007

Cherry woodblock with marker and carving

5.5"x6.75"

It seemed like I had reached some milestone when I finished carving the swirls around the stars and the first batch of tree branches. While I have made a few minor errors, I have not messed up so bad that it cannot be fixed or worked with somehow.

April Fool

April 1, 2007
Charcoal Pencil
3.5"x4.5"

This little sketch is interesting as it is the only drawing I have done over the last few weeks that I did not feel the need to work on at length after the original effort out in the open air. There was an absence of clouds except for this pink haze that rose up at a sharp angle from the horizon that inspired me to jot down a few lines of poetry.

April Fool

No clouds in the sky
But a blue and pink haze
Hangs over the calm cold water
With a gentle breeze
for the lone artist
sitting among the rocks.

Sea Ledges

March 31, 2007
Charcoal Pencil
6"x8"

This view was a challenge as the absence of clouds always makes drawing the sky a little difficult. But the rock formation and these two lone trees on the edge of the cliff made up for the lack of detail in the sky. Right on the other side of the shrubs and trees is a 50' cliff that drops off sharply to the ocean.

Big Little Machias

March 30, 2007
Charcoal Pencil
5.5"x7.25"

This spot from Little Machias Bay is one of those places that I could sketch over and over again as it is just a beautiful place. The clouds were a challenge to capture but lent a dramatic feel to my drawing.

Mexico, Maine

March 29, 2007
Charcoal Pencil
5"x6.5"

I have driven past this paper mill many times and had wanted to stop and sketch this view for ages. It was very cold and the sky was clear which is a challenge as clouds somehow make depicting the sky easier. Now that the sketch has been made I think this one will make it on to the next phase in my process and a monoprint will be in order next time I am at SPA.