Photos of your work part 2

So mostly I take pictures of my work and mostly there's a lot of room for improvement. In working to get better photos I've been focusing on getting shots that I can crop well and accurately show my work and not too much of the background they're on. I've gotten a bit better at that but recently I've been reminded that there are other things that need to be kept in mind.

Lesser Lights

watercolor

9x9in

2012

Series: Genesis

These two pictures are a prime example, the first is well cropped but the second shows just how much the colors are off in the first photo.

Tools of the Trade

Charcoal pencils are this weeks tool. They work essentially like conte crayon but in pencil form.

Like drawing pencils, charcoal pencils also have different  grades of hardness or softness. Also they have white charcoal pencils.

Charcoal pencils are probably better for smaller areas or more detailed work and you could use charcoal sticks or conte crayon for the rest.

PS

watercolor

9x9in

2011

 On view at the Eccles Community Art Center July 2nd through September 1st.

Sacred Geometry: A Primer

Ever hear of the Vesica Piscis? It's well, I'll show you first and then talk about it. You start with a line.

 Then you draw a circle on the line.

Then at the same compass setting draw another circle on one of the points where the circle and the line intersect.

That  area where the circles overlap is a Vesica Piscis, which I believe means something along the lines of "fish guts" you may recognize it as the 'Jesus fish' also Venn diagrams look like that. To learn more about the Vesica Piscis I refer you to Scread Geometry: Philosphy and Practice by Robert Lawlor, pages 32 - 35.
With the Vesica Piscis it's possible to create a double square, or other rectangle. To start, make another Vesica Piscis by drawing a circle on one of the points where line and circle intersect.
Draw lines between the verticals in the Vescias.

Connect between the lines.

This rectangle is not actually a double square but it is possible to make one this way.
 Or you can just make a cool design.

Piece of the Week

This piece is from the Genesis series, the square and circles are the orthagon square, which includes all twelve of the orthagons, it was much more challenging to paint than I had anticipated.

Firmament Called Heaven
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Genesis

Tools of the Trade

This week's tool, my geometry compass. As I've mentioned and posted about before, I have multiple compasses, the geometry compass is one of my favorites though. The cause for my favoritism is it's extreme usefulness.

Unlike my other compasses, my geometry compass came with several extras or tools. The extender bar is wonderful, sadly there is a limit to the diameter of circles you can make with a compass, it's incredibly frustrating to find yourself just short of what you need, with the extender bar, rather than having to find and buy a bigger compass (not a easy feat), you can use the bar to extend your compasses reach.

Another useful item is the converter that lets you use a regular pencil or pen as the drawing point for your compass.

Lastly, it comes with a spare compass lead which is just nice, I do have a pack of compass leads but I don't know how readily available they are.

Sacred Geometry: A Primer

The double square is today's orthogon, as might be inferred by the name, is a rectangle made of two squares. There are multiple ways to construct it, this way starts off with the square, building to the diagon, and then to the sixton.

As with the other orthogons, take the arc up from the diagonal of the sixton. Repeat on the opposite side and cap off the double square.

The lines from other orthagons are ofcourse not required to be in the double square, they are however, useful in composition of a piece. More on that to come.

Piece of the Week

This week's piece is a fairly simple geometric piece but I really love how the colors and the pattern came together, a repeated theme(?) in my work is the use of symbolic colors and shape, squares and red go together and represent the earth, blue and circles go together and represent heaven, etc.

watercolor

9x9in

2011

"To send light into the darkness of men's hearts- such is the duty of the artist,"

-Schumann

I love that!

Tools of the Trade

This week's tool is a square, there's probably a more technical term but the point of the tool is to make square edges. This square is 90-45-45 (90 degrees being a square angle) but you can also get them in 90-60-30. I have plastic ones but I would recommend getting a metal one, that way if you want to use your square as a straight edge to cut as well the plastic won't get shaved off.

Sacred Geometry: A Primer

This week, the sixton. The sixton begins with the square, as all the orthogons do, from the square you make the diagon.

Spread your compass to the length of the diagonal of the diagon and draw and arc to the extended lines.

Note: If I haven't already mentioned this, accuracy is rather crucial in drawing these, small mistakes or errors are rather visible, sharp drawing points and a good compass make a big difference in how your orthogons etc. turn out.

Repeat the arc at the same compass setting going from the opposite side of  the diagon. Draw your line at the top of the two arcs.

The sixton with the diagon and square also marked.

Piece of the Week

At the workshop that I talked about in the last post, we did a little art project at the end and talked a little about sacred geometry and we were supposed to make something with some meaning. I decided to make a design with a six sided star or star of David, making up the star are two equilateral triangles going in opposite directions, overlapping to make the star. The symbolism with that is really powerful and also a bit flexible, I've used it to represent man and woman united, in the project I made each triangle a different shade of blue, this time I wanted it to represent man/myself and God. In the middle of the two triangles I added yellow/gold to represent light.
This piece of the week is not so much a star of David but it's a part of the Hex series and I just wanted to share some of the motivations behind the Hex series.

Untitled
Watercolor
9x9in
2012
Series: Hex

Why the Camel Smiles

Yesterday I got to go to a workshop on Islamic art and religion; Why the Camel Smiles: Exploring the Tradition of the 99 Most Beautiful Names of God from the Qur'an, presented by Andrew Kosorok. He is working on a fascinating and beautiful series about/based on 99 of the names of God in the Islamic tradition. I've been interested in the project since I heard about it a few years back and have watched eagerly to see more in the series.
Something that I took away from the workshop was in Islamic art, everything they create is a testimony and a testimony that God is beautiful. I love that idea, that your art should speak for your beliefs and your love of what you believe and should reflect that in its quality and craftsmanship. This or similar ideas have been presented to me before but I get distracted by other things and I forget. I want that to be part of my ultimate goal, I don't want to make art in order to become famous, or to make it into an art history text book, I want to create beautiful art that can influence people, be appreciated for its beauty both today and hundreds of years down the road. I want to create a lasting testimony of what I know about beauty and about the things I believe. They're lofty goals and ones that aren't exactly easy in this day and age, if they ever were but that is what I hope to achieve with my art and my life.

Tools of the Trade

Conté crayon, conte crayon is like charcoal but in compressed stick form, I kind of like it better than charcoal, however stick form is not the easiest to draw with until you get to more of a point...I don't know how people who use it all the time deal with it. Conte crayon also comes in more than just black, I have black and white but I think they also do brown?

Also I'll try and find more exciting tools of the trade, however I'm not sure how long this series will continue, there are only so many tools of the trade. Then again as yet I've said nothing about papers and supports so we shall see.

Sacred Geometry:...Diagon

I don't think I've mentioned orthogons before. So orthagons are 12 rectangles that are found through out nature and which are aesthetically pleasing. I think that the term orthagons was created by Wulfgang Von Wersin who wrote a book about the orthagons. Jay Hambridge called them (or something like them) dynamic rectangles.
Anyway the square is the first orthagon and all the rest are based on the square.
I think that the diagon is the second orthagon that I learned to draw.
The diagon starts with the square.

If you know that you'll be making more than just your original square it can be good to extend the lines up from your square.

Spread your compass to the diagonal of the square.

Draw an arc from from the top point of the square until you reach the opposite line.

The proportion between the square and the top of the arc is what makes the diagon, the ratio is 1:1.414.

 Then repeat on the opposite side.

Draw a line to mark the top of the diagon. Remember that it's best to draw the construction lines very faintly.

Piece of the Week

This piece is about all the work that goes into making honey. I don't think we generally think about how much effort it takes bees to make just a little bit of honey. I'm always in awe of honey bees and their organization and drive to work and keep their hive alive, the fly to flowers in a couple of mile range, and keep in mind how much further a mile is for a bee. They're remarkable.

The Price of Honey

micron pen and ink

11x11in

2011

Series: The Importance of Bees

$150

Information for the artist or would be artist.

I found some great articles and I want to put them where I can find them and also share them for any other artists out there.
 Ten Habits of Successful Artists
Ten Principles of Successful Artists
Career Self-Assessment and Making Goals
Making the Most of Professional Organizations
Portfolio Development
Setting Clear Goals
Ten Tips for Success in the Art World