Look, See (2003-07)

Untitled

Untitled, 2007, Watercolor and pencil on drafting vellum, 20 x 16 inches

Untitled

Untitled, 2007, Watercolor and pencil on drafting vellum, 20 x 16 inches

Untitled

Untitled, 2007, Watercolor and pencil on drafting vellum, 20 x 16 inches

Untitled

Untitled, 2007, Watercolor on drafting vellum, 20 x 16 inches

Untitled

Untitled, 2007, Watercolor on drafting paper, 20 x 16 inches

Untitled

Untitled, 2007, Watercolor and pencil on drafting paper, 20 x 16 inches

Colina Doblada

Colina Doblada, 2007, oil on clear acrylic on linen, 16 x 13 inches

STMW (Study for Window)

STMW (Study for Window), 2007, Pencil, watercolor, and ink on drafting paper, 16 x 20 inches

STMW (Study for Window)

STMW (Study for Window), 2007, Pencil, watercolor, and ink on vellum, 16 x 20 inches

Untitled (Silver, Green, Orange)

Untitled (Silver, Green, Orange), 2007, oil and aluminum Rust-oleum on clear acrylic on linen, 19 x 15 inches

Glasberg

Glasberg, 2007, oil and aluminum Rust-oleum on clear acrylic on linen, 18 x 15 inches

Schattenberg

Schattenberg, 2007, oil and aluminum Rust-oleum on clear acrylic on linen, 17 x 14 inches

Regenberg

Regenberg, 2007, oil and aluminum Rust-oleum on clear acrylic on linen, 17 x 14 inches

Sash

Sash, 2007, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches

Polychrome

Polychrome, 2007, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches

Dusk

Dusk, 2007, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches

Corner

Corner, 2007, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches

Case

Case, 2007, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches

Hang

Hang, 2007, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches

Fifteen Watercolors

Fifteen Watercolors, September 2007, Watercolor and Pencil on Crane's 100% Fine Cotton 24 LB. Premium Weight Acid Free White Thesis Paper, 11 x 8.5 inches each (scanned; click each for large view)

Cinematic Dataculture

Cinematic Dataculture, 2007, inkjet print, 11 x 8.5 inches

Lassen

Lassen, 2007, inkjet print, 11 x 8.5 inches

Percolating

Percolating, 2007, inkjet print, 11 x 8.5 inches

Tuolumne

Tuolumne, 2007, inkjet print, 11 x 8.5 inches

Zen Arcade

Zen Arcade, 2007, inkjet print, 11 x 8.5 inches

AltGeo install

Twelve and Thirteen, 2006, oil on linen, installation view, AltGeo, Green Line Art Projects, Philadelphia, February-March 2007

Tethered and Untethered Stars

Douglas Witmer & Chris Ashley: Tethered and Untethered Stars, 2007. Ink, acrylic, and magic marker on found paper

Installed in Across the Borderline at Rike Art Center, University of Dayton, Ohio, January 11- February 10, 2007

For Ann (Happy Birthday)

Untitled 1-4

Untitled 1-4, 2006, ballpoint pen on Canford Snow White Imperial, 20.5 x 15.5 in.

Wave

Untitled 1-18

Untitled1-18, November-December 2006, graphite on Strathmore 80lb. medium drawing paper, 8 x 6 inches each

Stars 1-20

Stars 1-20, October 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Mauai Sketchbook

Mauai Sketchbook (Honokawai), October 8-10, 2006, ink on paper, Size A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches)

Bojagi

Bojagi, 2006, oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

Bojagi

Bojagi, 2006, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches

Bojagi

Bojagi, 2006, oil on canvas, 18 x 14 inches

Bojagi

L-R: Bojagi 3, 2, & 1, 2006

Travelling Northward (After Tu Fu)

Travelling Northward (After Tu Fu), 2006, oil on canvas, two panels, 20 x 16 inches each (20 x 33.75 inches installed)

Tres Sendas

Tres Sendas, 2006, oil on canvas, four panels, 12 x 9 inches each (12 x 40.5 inches installed)

Strummer

Strummer, 2006, oil on canvas, four panels, 12 x 9 inches each (12 x 40.5 inches installed)

Berkeley Paintings Statement

Berkeley Paintings 1-6 installed, 2195 Hearst, UC Berkeley (see photo of each painting)

Six Paintings for a Room in Berkeley

These six paintings were made with Room 200C in 2195 Hearst at UC Berkeley in mind. In this room there are seven windows in-between which are six short walls, each approximately three feet wide. Looking out through the windows one sees an intersection, buildings, cars and pedestrians, trees and hills. From the beginning it was my intention to make six paintings to hang between the windows using a blue and green palette. In making these paintings I determined that these paintings would refer to the Berkeley landscape.

Qinglü 青 绿 (also called qinglübai or qinglü shanshui) is a style of Chinese blue and green landscape painting made principally during the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties. A rich and powerful color effect was achieved using two mineral colors— azurite blue and malachite green. In Fantastic Mountains: Chinese Landscape Painting from The Shanghai Museum, Liu Yang writes that this style “developed during the Six Dynasties period (222-479) to become the prime mode for landscape painting,” and “enjoyed its heyday during the Tang dynasty but remained vital thereafter.”

These paintings use a variety of ways to directly and simply make a painted image. The paint is applied in dots, gestures, drips, strokes, line, and filled-in shape. The black outlines are calligraphic and have different qualities: smooth; thin; barbed; abrupt; flowing. The blue and green don’t blend or mix, so the colors remain distinct and clean. The linen ground is not hidden, providing a warm background in which the fabric is plainly visible. The aluminum paint seems to both give off and flatten light; its contrast with the linen points to both the natural and the artificial, which is what paintings are.

Berkeley Paintings Installation

Berkeley Paintings 1-6 installed, 2195 Hearst, UC Berkeley

Ocean View (Berkeley Painting #6)

Ocean View (Berkeley Painting #6), 2006, oil and aluminum Rust-oleum on clear acrylic on linen, 23 x 15 in

Strawberry (Berkeley Painting #5)

Strawberry (Berkeley Painting #5), 2006, oil and aluminum Rust-oleum on clear acrylic on linen, 23 x 16 in

La Loma (Berkeley Painting #4)

La Loma (Berkeley Painting #4), 2006, oil and aluminum Rust-oleum on clear acrylic on linen, 23 x 17 in

Tao-chi: a leaf from an An Album for Taoist Yü. See my essay About a leaf from Tao-chi's Album for Taoist Yü, December 2004.

Panoramic (Berkeley Painting #3)

Panoramic (Berkeley Painting #3), 2006, oil and aluminum Rust-oleum on clear acrylic on linen, 23 x 17 in

Cragmont (Berkeley Painting #2)

Cragmont (Berkeley Painting #2), 2006, oil and aluminum Rust-oleum on clear acrylic on linen, 23 x 18 in

Tilden (Berkeley Painting #1)

Tilden (Berkeley Painting #1), 2006, oil and aluminum Rust-oleum on clear acrylic on linen, 23 x 19 in

Strummer

Strummer, 2006, oil on canvas, four panels, 12 x 9 inches each (12 x 40.5 inches installed)

Towards

Towards, 2005, oil on canvas, four panels, 20 x 16 inches each, 20 x 70 inches installed

Untitled

Untitled, 2005, oil on canvas, four panels, 18 x 14 inches each, 18 x 62 inches installed

Limantour 1-5

Limantour 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on Rives BFK paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Limantour 1-5

Limantour 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on Rives BFK paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Sausal Creek 1-5

Sausal Creek 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on Rives BFK paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Occidental 1-5 (Version One)

Occidental 1-5 (Version One) , 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on Rives BFK paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Occidental 1-5 (Version Two)

Occidental 1-5 (Version Two), 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on Rives BFK paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Untitled (Reds) 1-5

Untitled (Reds) 1-5, 2005 (September), pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Untitled (Blue, Green & Orange) 1-5

Untitled (Blue, Green & Orange) 1-5, 2005 (September), watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Towards Crossmaglen 1-5

Towards Crossmaglen 1-5, 2005 (September), pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Four for W.A.A.

Four for W.A.A., 2005 (September), Pencil, watercolor & ink on Rives BFP cream paper, 4 panels, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Qinglü (Album Two, 1-10)

Qinglü (Album Two, 1-10), 2005 (September), Pencil, watercolor & ink on Rives BFP cream paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Untitled 1-5

Untitled 1-5, 2005 (September), Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Chimney Rock 1-5

Chimney Rock 1-5, 2005 (August), Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Making straight edges

Just wondering lately if I want to incorporate straight edges into the paintings like I've been doing with the drawings. I've been telling myself no, as I'm not a taper, but I'm wondering about how the images in the drawing might be incorporated into the paintings.

This is a little experiment- oil on a 12 x 9 inch canvas. The straight edges are made using a common house painter's tool, the name of which I can't recall: it's a kind of guide, made with thin, flat metal with a slight arch along its length like a section of Venetian blind, used to protect adjacent areas from an area being painted, for example, separated a floor moulding from the wall when painting trim.

This is not a finished painting.

Jersey

On May 21st, 2005, as I took the train from Penn Station to Newark Airport...

I decided that this four panel work, hanging in the studio back at home 3,000 miles away, was probably finished...

Which I confirmed the next day after getting home.

Jersey, 2005, oil on canvas, four panels, 20 x 16 inches each, 20 x 60 inches installed

Jersey

Updated photo of Jersey, 2005:

Limantour

San Felipe drawing @ Gmunden, AT

Thanks to Siegfriend Hozbauer I was in a group show in May in Gmunden, Austria. The work shown was originally drawn in HTML and posted at the old weblog in August 2003. I should say that I did not choose the drawing and had nothing to do with printing or framing it; it was Siegfried's choice and I'm fine with that.

San Felipe, Baja is a drawing from my Magnum Opus(ha!) Places I Have Slept (ca. 700kb), about 120 drawings made daily between August 3 and November 10, 2003. It was made from, literally, a list I made of every place I could remember having slept during my life.

What follows are: the HTML drawing; a photo of the printed, framed version which was shown; the announcement; and the catalog.

San Felipe, Baja, 2003, inkjet print (composed in HTML), 8 3/8 x 8 3/8 inches (21.5 x 21.5cm)

2005 paintings

2005 paintings gathered in one place:

Returning, 2004-05, oil on canvas, four panels, 16 x 12 inches each

Domestic, 2005, oil on canvas, four panels, 18 x 14 inches each

Jersey, 2005, oil on canvas, four panels, 20 x 16 inches each

Untitled, 2005, oil on canvas, four panels, 18 x 14 inches each

Sliabh Gorm, 2004-05, oil on canvas, four panels, 16 x 12 inches each

July Set 5

July Set 5, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

July Set 4

July Set 4, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Green Mountain | Sliabh Gorm

July Set 1, 1-5

July Set 1, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

July Set 2, 1-5

July Set 2, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

July Set 3, 1-5

July Set 3, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

July Trio

July Trio, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Jersey 1-4

In progress

In progress, oil on canvas, 18 x 14" each

One Over One 1-9

French Trail, Albums 5 & 6

French Trail Album 5, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned), Private Collection

French Trail Album 6, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned), Private Collection

Two more albums in the French Trail series. Each album has five drawings. Three albums were posted on 20050317, and another 20050325. In these two albums each drawing uses a different motif, contrasts between free and ruled lines, and free and ruled brushed watercolor, and all have the ruled black finishing line. Albums 5 and 6 are gifts, and will go into a folder made from the same paper on which all of these drawings are made- Rives BFK lightweight cream, a thin, sensitive rag printmaking paper that handles water media well, doesn't stand up to lots of erasure, has a beautiful cream color, and is not expensive. I've used this paper off and on since about 1978.

Recent Drawings

French Trail Album 4, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Qinglü (Blue & Green), 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

Untitled, 1-5, Pencil, 2005, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

See recent French Trail drawings, Sets 1-3.

French Trail, Albums 1-3

French Trail Album 1, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

French Trail Album 2, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

French Trail Album 3, 1-5, 2005, Pencil, watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 8.75 x 6.75" each (scanned)

The French Trail is a narrow, steep trail in the Oakland Hills near where I live. We often walk a 3.5 mile loop with our dog that begins at the Skyline Gate Staging Area The FT is probably much less than one quarter of the distance in the total loop, branching off from a fire road in a meandering, tree-covered downhill descent, much of what looks like a Cezanne forest painting until one reaches a long stretch of creek that is lined with more recent generations of redwoods crowning the remaining cut or burnt out stumps of old growth redwood. At this time there are lots of flowers, but I'm lousy at flower names, so I can only name irises.

These are an attempt to get a direct image out that is light and that floats. I didn't want to work them too much. In each set there is contrasting use of lined and scribbled line. Lines are underneath washes, go over washes, or stop and start on either side of a wash. There is framing and unframing, deep and shallow spaces. Set 1 is the most place-specific. Set 2 is about openness. Set 3 is about looking up close.

All three sets came out of some thinking I've been carrying around for months about a small watercolor (below) I posted on 20040630 where I wrote, "I like the clear character of each stroke, the supporting straight line, the modesty of means and lack of presumption, the sense of air and breath, the pace of the eye through the five figures, and how the structure is not far from the grid I've been using so much for three years now but not overbearingly present. This is not a finished work, but I think there is an idea in here that I can use."

Untitled Blue & Green Album 1-4

Untitled Blue & Green Album 1-4, 2005, Watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 9 x 6.75", 22.7 x 17 cm

Untitled Blue & Green Album 1-5

Untitled Blue & Green Album 1-5, 2005, Watercolor & ink on paper, approx. 9 x 6.75", 22.7 x 17 cm

Documentation

Sliabh Ruadh, 2005, oil on canvas, 16 x 12"

In progress, 2005, oil on canvas, 18 x 14"

Untitled (Red & Gray), 2005, oil on canvas, 16 x 12"

Untitled Pair

Untitled Pair, in progress, oil on canvas, 18 x 14" each

Album 2 (Blue & Green)

Album 2 (Blue & Green), 2005, watercolor & ink on paper, 5 leaves, approx. 10 x 8.75" each

Album (Red & Blue)

Album (Red & Blue), 2005, watercolor & pencil on paper, 5 leaves, approx. 10 x 8.75" each

Album 1 (Blue & Green)

Album 1 (Blue & Green), 2005, watercolor & ink on paper, 5 leaves, approx. 10 x 8.75" each

Carpenter's Blues

Three of four canvases, in progress, tentatively titled "Carpenter's Blues," oil on canvas, 18 x 14" each.

Returning 1-4, 2004-05

Returning, 2004-05, oil on four canvases, 16 x 12" each (large view)

These four canvases were part of a group of six. I painted them in mid-December and I've been looking at them for the last month. I've decided that they're finished and that they belong together. The other two have been sanded down and are being repainted as a pair.

The title "Returning" is literal, but not in the most obvious way: it has to do with my being away from "home," and these paintings as a homecoming, arrival, but I haven't literally been away from home, and the home I'm talking about is another place. It also has to do with Shitao's "Returning Home."

Studio view

Eight small paintings, acrylic on wood, in progress.

Small Red Stack

A stack of small paintings: acrylic on wood, in progress, with a red ground color.

Boxing Day (Blue & Green)

Boxing Day (Blue & Green), 2004, oil on canvas, 10 x 10 inches

Four oil studies

Four studies (in progress), 2004, oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches each

Six oil studies

Six studies (in progress), December 2004, oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches each

Blue/Green 1-6

Blue/Green 1-6, 2004, acrylic on wood, dimensions varied (approximately 12 x 8 inches), click each for larger view

The landscapes painting which executed in mineral green and azurite colors was called as Blue and Green Landscape.It divided by Big Blue and Green and Small Blue and Green.On the base of ochre color,Small Blue and Green executed mineral green and azurite colors;on the base of outline,Big Blue and Green executed arranging colors with decorative atmosphere. (Evidence)

Blue & Green 7-9

Blue & Green 7-9, 2004, pastel and water on paper, 12 x 9" each (scanned)
1-3 in this series posted 20041121
4-6 in this series posted 20041121

Blue & Green 4-6

Blue & Green 4-6, 2004, pastel and water on paper, 12 x 9" each (scanned)

1-3 in this series posted 20041121.

Blue & Green 1-3

Blue & Green 1-3, 2004, pastel and water on paper, 12 x 9" each (scanned)

Returning to the blue and green palette, working through some ideas from HTML drawings, getting ready for painting a small series of panels, thinking about how, in paint, I might handle overlay, tranparency, and the figure/object vs. the field.

Scraps 1-4

Scrap 1, 2004, ink and watercolor on paper, 8.5 x 16 cm (scanned)

Scrap 2, 2004, ink and watercolor on paper, 9 x 17.2 cm (scanned)

Scrap 3, 2004, ink and watercolor on paper, 8.8 x 20.5 cm (scanned)

Scrap 2, 2004, ink and watercolor on paper, 11 x 21.5 cm (scanned)

Wang Xizhi Watching Geese, about 1295 (sections 1, 2) Qian Xuan (ca. 1235?before 1307) Handscroll; ink and color on paper; 9 1/8 x 36 1/2 in. (23.2 x 92.7 cm) Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973 (1973.120.6)

Four Drawings

How to describe these? A Van Gogh pen and ink drawing under the influence of Chinese painting with Albrecht Altdorfer's Alexander's Victory (The Battle at the Issus) (1529) somewhere in the back of the mind.

Untitled 1-4, September 2004, ink on paper, 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" (scanned)

Occidental (Blue & Green) 1-12

Untitled (Blue & Green) 1-6

Untitled (Blue & Green) 1-6, September 2004, watercolor & ink on Crane's acid free archival thesis paper, 11 x 8 1/2" (scanned)

Occidental Blue & Green (2's, 3's, 4's) 1-9

Occidental Blue & Green (2's, 3's, 4's) 1-9, September 2004, watercolor, pencil & ink on Crane's acid free archival thesis paper, 11 x 8 1/2" (scanned)

1,000 Li (Blue & Green) 1-9, Set II

1,000 Li (Blue & Green) 1-9, Set II, August 2004, watercolor, pencil & ink on Crane's acid free archival thesis paper, 11 x 8 1/2" (scanned)

The making of these drawings is the same as described for Set I.

1,000 Li (Blue & Green) 1, 2, 3

Untitled (Blue & Green) 1, 2, 3, August 2004, ink on Strathmore 80 lb drawing paper, 10 x 8" each (scanned)

1,000 Li (Blue & Green) 1-6

1,000 Li (Blue & Green) 1-6, Set I, August 2004, watercolor, pencil, & ink on Crane's acid free archival thesis paper, 11 x 8 1/2" (scanned)

I started these six drawings in Occidental as part of an original group of fifteen. They continue the use of the late Song blue and green colors, specifically from the painting "A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains (detail); the yellow is in response to the aged paper or silk supports of the paintings of this era. Each drawing began with a centered ruled vertical pencil line spanning one half to two thirds of the sheet, and each has several passes to build up small fields and gestures of liquid color, while allowing for drying between layers.

These drawings were a search for something. They were difficult to do. Size, color, a pencil line, and the idea of a series were givens, but otherwise I didn't know where these were going. At several points I reached dead ends, not knowing where to go next. After several layers of color and added pencil I suddenly decided to try laying a black structure over parts of the colored areas. These six drawings use the black lines as a kind of framing. The other nine drawings, which I'm treating as a separate set, aren't "framed" by the black, but instead have a quirkier drawing that enlivens the structure intimated by the colored areas. I'll post those tomorrow.

The use of blue and green in the Chinese paintings can almost border on kitsch: too rich, too beautiful, too much a device. These six drawings still retain the landscape feel, while turning almost into stained glass, reminding me of pieces I've seen from early 20th Century California (image, page).

Untitled drawings, Occidental, August 2004

These drawings are made using twigs and small branches picked up off the ground around the property of the house in Occidental where I stayed last week. Each is whittled to a flat edge or point with an Exacto blade and dipped in bottles of Higgins colored ink. These are mostly drawn using a straight edge (a piece of leftover oak flooring, about one quarter inch thick, one and a half inches wide, ten inches long), but there is also free-hand drawing here. The smaller paper is from a sprial bound Strathmore pad, the larger from a sprial bound Jack Richeson pad. I enjoy describing specifically what was used to make something. I'm still trying to find a way from the grid of the HTML drawings to drawings on paper. I'm not sure this is the way I want to go. Maybe I just need to get it out of my system. I made a number of drawings in black ink with sticks in 1979 that use the grid, a straight edge, building up an image. I wanted to try it again. And I'd like to go bigger and faster. I'm thinking of acrylic on gessoed paper. The top row of larger drawings are in response to the recent series, A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, in their use of yellow, blue, and green, but tempered by being on a ridge above the Pacific, next to some huge oaks, under alternating foggy and sunny skies, and down the road from a grove of old growth redwoods. The drawings in the bottom row are about being on the property; the use of brown and red in two of the drawings is in response to a small leafy tree already turning into fall colors. The middle drawing is more about finding a structure related to the grid HTML drawings. Click each for larger view.
Untitled 1-3, August 2004 (Occidental, Sonoma, California), ink on paper, 12 x 9" (scanned)
Untitled 4-6, August 2004 (Occidental, Sonoma, California), ink on paper, 10 x 8" (scanned)

20040627 drawing

Untitled, 2004, watercolor & pencil on paper, 7 1/2 X 6", scanned

This past weekend I did a bunch of ink and watercolor things on 11 X 8 1/2" and 7 1/2 X 6" paper, all with a sumi-e brush. Most of the watercolor things were red and green, and all of the ink work was black. The problem was I simply didn't know what I wanted to do, and never really felt like I got anywhere. They're all trash, except this one that, when I looked through the stack of paper yesterday, jumped out at me as maybe the beginning of something, and somewhat related to how in my mind I jump from HTML drawings to drawings on paper, something more in spirit than literally a visual interpretation, and which I haven't yet figured out how to do physically.

This is five slow strokes with a very dry brush that's about 1/2" in diameter with hairs about 1 1/2" long. Almost as soon as each stroke was brushed it was already dry. The darker red at the bottom of each stroke is a second pass with a still dry brush rubbed in almost dry watercolor from a well in the palette. The pencil was ruled after, with a yellow #2 pencil, corresponding to the stroke. The paper is from a stack of card stock I have sitting around, the same used last year for a series title "Energy" produced for Rudolf's Diner.

I like the clear character of each stroke, the supporting straight line, the modesty of means and lack of presumption, the sense of air and breath, the pace of the eye through the five figures, and how the structure is not far from the grid I've been using so much for three years now but not overbearingly present. This is not a finished work, but I think there is an idea in here that I can use.

Birds and Flags 1-9, June 2004

Nine drawings: pencil, colored pencil, watercolor, and ink on 100% cotton fiber acid free archival thesis paper, 11 X 8 1/2" each, scanned (see notes below; click each for a larger view)

Nothing conclusive here; an exercise in line, color, brushwork, gesture, movement with variations on a triangle motif. Did the top three on Saturday, June 5, the middle three on Sunday morning, and the bottom three Sunday afternoon. No do-overs. Usually to get nine drawings like this I'd easily do 20-25 drawings. This time I settled for what came out, awkwardness and all; I want to look at that, think about what makes something right or wrong.

Each drawing started with a simple freehand drawing in pencil over which are laid three roughly-ruled colored pencil lines. The watercolor is laid in with a small flat brush in short strokes, forming an area that surrounds the triangles but doesn't make a real background, trying to find an incomplete completeness. The final act is the free-hand ink outline that anchors but doesn't encompass the central painted field.

Each drawing has three colors, plus black and graphite. After doing the first three I re-used the same color combinations for the next two sets of three. I rotated the sequence of the color combinations in each row without a lot of thought.

This is smooth paper, easy to draw on, and comes in boxes of 100 sheets for around $12.00; I bought it at the UC Berkeley student store. The watercolor goes nicely on this paper, allowing long enough to move the paint a bit before it kind of sucks up the water, which helps retain the look of the brush strokes.

There are a lot of birds flying across and in and out of our backyard. A branch hanging over our fence holds a nest in which we can watch parent robins land with big juicy worms to feed two shaky, wide-open, triangle-shaped baby mouths. Neighbors down the street have Tibetan prayer flags and another string of peace flags hanging above their long porch. Leaves are fluttering from branches, loads of apples and plums are growing and hanging. Telephone wires are diagrams across the sky, drawings from pole to pole zigzagging down the street. Large and small planes fly over to and from Oakland Airport.

These drawings were originally going to have a different format; behind each drawing would be another piece of paper turned horizontally, centered and aligned with the top sheet at the bottom edge. For an idea of what I mean see the recent HTML drawings "Three Edges." Once I did the drawings though I realized as I made them that I'd completely ignored this idea, and so each drawing just didn't sit well. I'm doing another set with that format fully integral to the entire process.