Running Out of Ink

As much as I crave novelty in some things, in other ways, I'm extremely old-fashioned-- especially when it comes to pens. Nothing feels as right as a dip pen in my hand, & when I'm at home I write nearly everything (down to checks & shopping lists) with my trusty Hunt 108.

Back in the day, all my professional calligraphy was also done with ink on paper. But inevitably I've found the ability to move things around & change them on the computer to be a huge time-saver, & more & more of my lettering work ends up being pixel or vector based. There's a lot to like about doing professional work on the computer. But I will never love the physicality of it it the way I love the feeling of a nicely-inked pen on good paper!

This piece is a "curiollage" I did a few years back when I was feeling conflicted about the whole digital direction of my work. It's acrylic on Sculpey, found objects & paper sewn down on the back of a stretched 9x12" canvas. Most of the paper elements are from a great antique office supply catalog.

Acrocats

Every Easter since my twin sons were one, I've painted each of them a wooden egg to commemorate a special interest or event in their lives that year.

I painted these the year they first went to the circus. They were fascinated by the trapeze artists. They were also obsessed with Siamese cats at the time, hence the acrocats.

Acrylic on wooden eggs.
(Apologies for the blurry photo.)

Rootacles

As I was sketching out ideas for Goodly Creature, these rootacles just emerged, seemingly without any intention at all on my part. It's surprising how often this happens. That's why (for me at least) it only works to think on paper, whether with I'm dealing with words or images. For some reason the act of mark-making seems to bypass my conscious mind, & allows me to think much more openly. I rarely have more than a vague shadow of an idea before touching pen or pencil to paper. This may be a right-brain/left-brain thing, but for me it happens almost as much with language as with image. What do you think? Does mark-making have the same effect on you?

Please click the image for details. To see all the posts in this process, please click the "Goodly Creature" label below. You can also see Goodly in his final assembled state on my main blog, Curious Art.

Tendril Twists & Turns

I have a severe fixation on tendrils. I can't explain it-- I just love them. My passionflower vine, for instance, with insanely rambunctious tendrils reaching out every which way & fiercely latching onto anything handy-- clearly it has a diabolical plan to take over the universe, & it's pretty much accomplished Phase One: Leah's garden-- but I forgive all its thuggish characteristics when I see those outlandish curlicues doing their flourishy thing. (Despots always know how to play on our weaknesses!)

I have a tendency to overdose on tendrils in my artwork too-- it's a trait I keep meaning to rein in, but much like the passionflower, it's proven too vigorous for my powers of control.

But as I was sketching Goodly Creature, I thought I had the perfect excuse for a pair of tendrils: they could create a nice double helix, thus reinforcing the genetic theme! Yay!

Only when I was painting them I was very very tired (this piece has been something of a studio marathon) & I ended up getting the crisscrosses mixed up, & my carefully-planned, scientifically justifiable symbol turned into a random tendril-tangle. Much like my garden... & yes, perhaps my mind.

Oh, well. Goodly's a bit of a random fellow in general, so I guess it's not entirely inappropriate that his helices lost their way. But the Tendril Druthers still haunt me a little.

Please click the image for details. To see all the posts in this process, please click the "Goodly Creature" label below.

Trumpetvine

This is Goodly Creature's right hand... er, appendage. I'm honestly not sure how the trumpet got in there. I didn't consciously think "trumpet vine" until I was titling the image file, but my head often generates visual/verbal puns without asking me first.

Druthers:
The text for this one, a page from Genetics & Eugenics, was almost totally obliterated by paint, which sometimes happens in the pursuit of more dramatic lighting effects. One of the disadvantages of paint over Photoshop... you can't play with lighting & contrast forever & still hang onto transparency. If I were doing it over I'd have planned the lighting a bit better so as to preserve the text. Oh well.

Please click the image for details. To see all the posts in this process, please click the "Goodly Creature" label below. You can also see Goodly in his final assembled state on my main blog, Curious Art.

Nonodactyly

Polydactyly is the possession of additional fingers. Nonodactyly is the possession of nine. (Okay, I made that word up, but it makes linguistic sense.) You may note that Goodly didn't have any bonus digits in the sketch. They were inspired by the text I used for this segment, a treatise on genetics & eugenics that includes the words "increased number of fingers." I've always wondered if polydactyly would be beneficial. Fingers seem like very handy things, especially if you play a musical instrument. I suspect the genotechnology of the future could easily arrange for a few extras.


Please click the image for details. To see all the posts in this process, please click the "Goodly Creature" label below.

Goodly Shroombelly

This is the central portion of Goodly Creature. As you may already have suspected, he is a creature of multifarious parts. Some are decidedly shroomy.

I hasten to assure you that my fixation with mushrooms is botanical, gastronomical, folkloric, aesthetic, & nostalgic. My dad has always been an enthusiastic collector of edible wild mushrooms (he has just planted a truffle farm!), & when I was young I spent a Christmas in Denmark, where the magic mushroom (Amanita muscaria, a.k.a. fly agaric) was as emblematic of the season as holly is in the U.S. Isn't that curious? ;) Ever since then I've had a warm feeling for those cheerily spotted fungi.


Please click the image for details. To see all the posts in this process, please click the "Goodly Creature" label below.

Head Shot

This is a very-nearly-finished state of Goodly's head. All the colors have been built up as I described before (paint-blot-repeat) with glazes of Golden fluid acrylic, sometimes mixed with open medium, sometimes just with water, depending on the effect I was after. Each area of the painting has at least 4 or 5 layers of paint. Even the whites are laid on thin in multiple glazes. The finished surface is quite smooth.


Please click the image for details. To see all the posts in this process, please click the "Goodly Creature" label below.