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Art For Sale Pen and Ink

Seeing Eyes

Seeing Eyes. Pilot Precise Rolling Ball pen (extra fine) on Strathmore 400 Series Parchment Paper. 9" x 9"
Seeing Eyes. Pilot Precise Rolling Ball pen (extra fine) on Strathmore 400 Series Parchment Paper. 11″ x 11″ framed. $440

This piece was an experiment in materials, and (as it turns out) in time. When I started several months ago, I wanted to try some new pens, then I decided it’d be interesting to try some new paper as well. Both worked out reasonably well, and I expect I’ll be doing more with the Pilot (the parchment is a little too flexible, and doesn’t work well with my constant rotation of the work as it’s in progress.)

As to time, my work on this one was interrupted in January of this year, when I started knitting Pussyhats for the Pussyhat Project. After several months of fiber in my hands, I was ready to get back to my pens, and I decided to start with finishing this one off. I’m happy with the overall effect; the rhythm of it (for lack of a better word) is pleasing to my eyes, even though there’s no significant amount of realism in the contents.

Categories
Art For Sale Pen and Ink

Aleppo

Aleppo. Micron 01 pen on Strathmore 300 Series Bristol paper. 14
Aleppo. Micron 01 pen on Strathmore 300 Series Bristol paper. 15″ x 15″ framed. $650

Update 6/21/2018: I’m delighted to report that this piece was accepted into the 2D Fine Art (Amateur) contest at the 2018 Ohio State Fair! Of the ~2,000 entries, 122 were selected for participation, and I’m deeply honored to be one of them. You can see it July 25-August 5 2018 at the Cox Fine Arts Center, on the south side of the fairgrounds in Columbus, Ohio. (The closest entrance is Gate 9 on 11th Avenue.)

I began this piece shortly before Aleppo was surrounded by government forces in the Syrian civil war, and it quickly became obvious that raising awareness of the brutality of the conflict’s impact on non-combatants would be a worthwhile subject. I used a still from a video to draw one of the many children who’ve been covered in dirt and blood by the barrel bombs and relentless pounding by Russian jets. Their ashen, blank expressions are truly heartbreaking.

From a purely artistic perspective, I’m very happy with the overwhelming majority of this one. The child and the cockpit came out extremely well, and the abstract sections are almost uniformly gratifying to me in their precision and depth. There are a couple of weak spots I’d do over if I could, notably the salamander and the forest giant, but overall I’d say this is one of my best works so far. I feel like I’m making progress improving my attention to detail, and it’s starting to pay off in the clarity and ‘pop’ of the final product.

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Art NFS Pen and Ink

Pods

Pods. Micron Pigma and Staedtler Pigment Liner pens on Strathmore Artist Tiles. 4" x 4"
Pods. Micron Pigma and Staedtler Pigment Liner pens on Strathmore Artist Tiles. 4″ x 4″ unframed. NFS

This is another in a series of small pieces I’ve created in my thinking time at work. I took a bit more time than usual going back through and addressing the details, which made it look very sharp and well-defined. I like the fact that it’s entirely abstract, which is a departure from my usual, and I’m especially happy with the density of the coverage. If I had my druthers, I’d rework some of the shading in spots, but I’m pleased with the overall effect.