Narraguagus Lake

August 22, 2007

Pencil on Paper

4.5"x5.75"

Of all the work I did while on vacation in Maine this is perhaps my favorite. the sketch is simple but I think it is my affinity for this particular spot on the planet that is influencing my enjoyment of this sketch. Only time will tell as I plan to make a monotype of this sketch as well.

Tunk Mountain

August 21, 2007

Monotype with Watercolor

5"x7"

I am constantly unsure about the hand-watercolored monotypes as it is new territory for me. I hope to have more time to concentrate on these paintings after my Final Portfolio is written and I can move on to life after Goddard when my MFAIA is done and finished.

Camp Moonlight

August 20, 2007

Charcoal Pencil

4"x5.25"

The partial moon was drifting above the lake while we sat around the campfire. I waited until it was low on the horizon to capture this tranquil moment at camp. This sketch is the perfect vehicle for a monotype and I hope to pull a print next weekend at SPA.

Same Old View

August 18, 2007

Color Pencils

4.25"x6"

As a drawing I did with the kids colored pencils I am really pleased, but the sketch was very light in tone and was tough to scan. I had to monkey around with the contrast and brightness controls and this is the best I could get without losing the tone of the original. I wrote a little poem that went to the tune of Pete Townsend's "New Song" as it had been running through my head while I sketch this view, which I have drawn several time before.

Same old view

Just a different day

Nobody wants to see it.

Been down this way

About a hundred times.

I can't seem to get enough of it.

Dead Tree

August 15, 2007

Monotype

10"x8"

I really liked the drawing this print originated from but this monotype was done at the end of my session and I rushed a bit. Sometimes when I work rapidly the print comes out surprisingly well but not in this case. There is little middle tone in the print and the other two from this session are much more successful.

Green River Reservoir III

August 15, 2007

Monotype

6"x9"

I worked back into the ghost image left on the plate from Green River Reservoir II and am pleased with the results. It is not as powerful as the first attempt but the sky has some very nice qualities.

Green River Reservoir II

August 15, 2007

Monotype

6"x9"

There is something about this image that fascinates me. Taken from a drawing done this spring at the Green River Reservoir I think I will work with it again in a week. Perhaps it is the lone tree on the island that seems to me to be somewhat haunting and almost sad. I plan to work on the big press on the 1st of September and hope to pull two prints that use the same image but are a mirror image of the view show here. In the past I have done this idea as a Rorschach landscape and have an idea of finding the right image and burning multiple solar plates to create a Rorschach diptych and this might just be the right image to use.

Sunday Morning

August 12, 2007

Pencil on Paper

5.25"x4.24"

Walked down to Robin's Quick Mart in East Hardwick to get the Sunday paper. On the way home I cut through this old pasture in the village and made this little sketch. The weather has been perfect the last few weekends but the cool nights let me know that fall is just around the corner.

Dead Tree

August 9, 2007

Pencil on Paper

3.25"x4.75"

Went down to East Montpelier Pond to make a sketch instead of working on my final portfolio. It is such a nice day that I could not spend any more time in front of a computer than I needed.

White clouds stretch thin

Behind a dead tree

In the green, wet world of summer.

Clay Hill

August 7, 2007

Blockprint with Watercolor

4"x6"

This is an old block that I printed an edition of 100 for a greeting card a few years back. A fellow employee had a Birthday and I volunteered to get a card and decided to hand-watercolor one of these instead of spending money. What is interesting is it made me think about 6 or 7 blocks in this style that are draw onto some cherry blocks ready to carve. In many ways I abandoned them but it made me think about working on them in a different way than I had. In the past I would carve a complicated color reduction block to go with a key block like this one. Perhaps after my thesis is done I will head in a slightly different direction. Carving these block and print larger editions on the press at SPA and then hand-watercolor them like William Blake did with his etchings. The work load will be about the same in the end but the resulting projects might be just change I need as I head into 2008.

February Ice

August 4, 2007

Monotype with Watercolor

5"x7"

This is third monotype that I have worked into with paint and it is the weakest of the three, but still has some nice things about it. I love that fact that these painted prints feel like old hand-tinted photographs. It speaks to the sense of nostalgia that informs my work.

Crawford Notch

August 4, 2007

Pencil on Paper

5"x7.75"

The story that goes with this sketch is pretty wonderful and makes me thankful that I am recording these "sketching adventure" stories in this blog. I pulled over at this scenic view and started to draw when a dozen motorcycles roared into the lot and started to talk amongst themselves. They were tourists and were trying to find some bar with a view of Mount Washington. I could not help but listen as they parked about 20 feet away from where I stood. I finished, closed my sketch book and headed to my car. The closest bikers were three women and one big guy in his 50's with a tank top and one of those half-helmets on. He walked out in front on me and said with a smile, "you can't get past me until I see if you are any good." I walked up to the group and showed them my drawing. They oooo'd and aaah'd and one of them said, oh you are good. We talked for a minute as they asked directions and then I went to my car. As they roared off something fell off from one of the bikes. I went to grab it and waved but they were gone. It was a digital camera with no ID. So I jumped into my car and raced after them. It took me awhile to catch up and almost 30 miles later they pulled over to figure out where they were headed. It was one of the ladies camera I talked to and she screamed, called me an angel and gave me a couple of hugs. All the bikers were shaking my hand and saying what a nice guy I was to chase them for 30 miles. She tried to give me some cash but I took the good karma from my good deed and headed home. That night I bet there were about 14 bikers toasting me over drinks as the nice little artists who returned that woman's camera. That and the drawing came out pretty well...

Route 302

August 4, 2007

Pencil on Paper

5.5"x7.25"

This drawing is a little weak compared to the other two I made this weekend but it was fun to make just the same. We stopped at a pull off and I made a rare drawing with a stretch of highway in it. If I add some more sky and shift the height of the mountains it may work out as a monotype.

Saco River

August 3, 2007

5"x6"

Pencil on Paper

It was my son Calvin's Birthday last week and we took both of the boys to Story Land in NH as a weekend treat. We stayed in a wonderful hotel and I made this sketch out behind the complex which was right on the Saco River. It was a beautiful weekend and was just what I needed after my last full residency in the MFAIA program at Goddard. The boys had a great time at the park and have been talking about it for the last two days, it was a lot of fun.