I've been switching off days lately of drawing and painting, and I've also started using micron pen for my drawings rather than pencil. It's been a good change for me a stretch if you will, When I draw I rely on shading but with the pen and ink it's always the same shade and so I have to figure out different ways to accomplish the same goal. It's a good challenge for me, gets me out of my comfort zone. I've been liking the results so far.

Drawing

I've been working on drawings lately. I don't know if I've brought this up before but I just don't love drawing like I love painting. It's harder for one thing. There's a lack of color for another thing. The results may not be as satisfying. There is a tedium in shading, and a frustration in trying to shade evenly. I had a classmate who could draw amazing photo realistic pieces, and I'm just not sure that I could do that, even if I gave drawing my very all. I can't crank out drawings the way I can some paintings, I can't really work on several drawings at once with out it taking the same amount of time as working on one at a time. I also was taught to draw on Arches 88, it's a paper meant for silk screening, it's very delicate, you can literally breath wrong on the stuff. But I'm drawing and I've got a deadline rapidly approaching for these drawings so here's hoping they can be worth the effort and materials.

Eight Fold Show

My eight fold series (a series of geometric/Islamic designs all stemming from one base pattern) will be on view at the Sprague Library May through July 2014! I'm very excited.
Here's the artist statement for the series:
I love drawing with a compass and straight edge. I was introduced to the art of compass and straight edge construction in college; it was amazing to discover all the different shapes, patterns and designs that I could create with two simple tools. My delight and discovery continued and I eventually found the beautiful world of Islamic geometric designs and a whole new type of designs and patterns that could be created with my compass. I have been studying and drawing these beautiful and complex designs ever since. Recently I was introduced to a pattern base used in many Islamic designs from which unlimited patterns could be produced; I’ve undertaken to create as many different designs and patterns as possible from this base. I’ve thought I’d run out of possibilities a time or two before but it’s been interesting to see how new ideas have come to me while I’ve painted other pieces.

The only problem now will be deciding which pieces to put in the show, there can only be 15 pieces and there's almost double that right now. 

Exciting Developments

There are some exciting things happening for me and my art, I can't wait to share more about them. Also on a not so exciting note, I have no idea when I'll actually get around to making that website.

Framing

Last night, later than I was planning, I framed two pieces that I'm entering in a juried show. Some day I hope that I can out source framing because I hate it, if nothing else I hope to have a mat cutter. I dislike framing because it's stressful for me, everything has to be perfect, as good as possible and if there's a mistake, you can't really go back from that, once you cut a mat it's cut, if you mess up then you have to go through the whole process again.
I did have a break through though, I used my compass to make the cut out and to make it square.
Still haven't gotten to the website yet. Someday.

So I'm working on getting an actual grown up website and a new blog to go along with that, but I'm not there yet.
Also a drawing tip, da Vinci recommended studying and trying to recreate the work of the masters. Lately I've been attempting to recreate some of da Vinci's drawn studies. The things I've drawn leave a lot to be desired from the originals but I have found a real appreciation for his use of line and shading, he used so little to create such beauty. I'm working to follow suit.
Update: here's my website  http://jmfineart.weebly.com/

Apology. Posting has not happened of late. There's been a snag in things and I'm considering moving to a new blogging format. But I haven't been very focused in my consideration. Hopefully I'll get things figured out soon, in the mean time, sorry!