120 Colors

This color pencil piece, “120 Colors” requires a lot more explanation than most of my works. I’ve divided this post up into parts to help keep my thoughts together:

colored pencil on paper, 21" x 26.5"

Combination

Seven years ago an instructor at a workshop suggested to me that I combine some of processes into one piece. Some folks have given me grief about working in all these styles. Unfortunately for me I go through reactionary phases. I swing from one direction to another one. My fellow artists have told me in recent years they recognize what a I do no matter what I do. Yesterday was a deadline for delivering artwork for a weekend art show. Well, I didn’t want to do dots this time. The new paintings appear on my blog art at random.

So what exactly did I combine in this piece? Well, since I’m posting this artwork here, you know there are dots in it. In this instance the use of dots was inspired by the answer bubble sheets used in LEAP testing (the tests Louisiana students have to pass to graduate). It happened that I started this piece in the March of 2005 during “testing week” at a high school where I was teaching art. When this particular week rolls around homeroom teachers administer the tests. I was a substitute for an absent homeroom teacher. Well, I am no fan of this duty – even if it is primarily reading a script.

To begin this piece I created a grid. Then I drew outlines for my dots – like the bubbled in dots I mentioned. The last elements were some squiggly expressionist lines drawn through the grid. But that was only the set-up of parts.

A Whole Set of Color Pencils

Again and again I have listened to artists talk about their limited palette of colors used creating artwork. Well, at that time I was using my fourth 120- color pencil set. Too often there are colors that hardly or ever get used. Anyway, I was bound and determined to use each and every color for once. I was kind of inspired by a “kitsch” art show I saw in Boston at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park.

Random Color Choice

In my last two posts I spoke about my interest in working randomly. Well, unlike my other works that include dots, I chose my combination of colors blindly. Specifically I picked out six pencils at a time without looking. Then I filled in each square, containing dots, on my grid. When finished I placed the six in another container before choosing six more. As I completed a round of choosing every color, then I’d start the rotation back to the original container. It took a long time to render the whole piece.

The Reaction

Needless to say both artists and non-artists have been fascinated by this work. Recently someone told me I should do a close-up study of this piece. At this time I have no specific plans for continuing this tangent of my artwork. Here are some close-up shots.

Color Grid

After drawing patterns inside the triangles of several grids, I experimented with
color inside a grid, using color pencils. I drew the sketch below in a small sketchbook
I had. Although I primarily used it as a scrapbook, I sometimes used it for playing with
art media.

 Beginning in 2002, I took a liking to the color orange. A film poster and an art ed convention logo both used oranges in pairs in their designs: one like glasses over eyes and the other as bicycle wheels. The coincidence appealed to me at the time. Also, Uniball came out with a pen set including an orange pen. Now and then I have color obsessions. That's how this sketch began. I played with other colors while deciding what I might want to do for a finished piece.

color pencil on paper, 5.5" x 8.5"

Stop/Go

"Stop/Go" was inspired by the movie "The Mexican" from 2001. Brad Pitt's character is
at a stop light which becomes a pivotal moment for him. It captured my indecision
at the time.

In this piece I wanted to play with variations of the complementary colors "red" and "green". This piece reflects my fascination with Victor Vasareley artwork. However, in rendering the drawing I wanted to keep it more expressive and soft edged.

colored pencil on paper, 15.25" x 24"

Three Years Later

It would be three more years before I'd come back to dots in my artwork. And even then, I failed to get a picture of the piece before it sold. It was a long narrow horizontal color pencil drawing. The background was a transition of color behind scattered dots. I barely had a chance to exhibit the piece before it suddenly sold at a show.

Change Random Color

Here is a random color color pencil version of "Change."


graphite on paper, 8.5" x 11"

120 Colors

This color pencil piece, “120 Colors” requires a lot more explanation than most of my works. I’ve divided this post up into parts to help keep my thoughts together:


colored pencil on paper, 21" x 26.5"

Combination
Seven years ago an instructor at a workshop suggested to me that I combine some of processes into one piece. Some folks have given me grief about working in all these styles. Unfortunately for me I go through reactionary phases. I swing from one direction to another one. My fellow artists have told me in recent years they recognize what a I do no matter what I do. Yesterday was a deadline for delivering artwork for a weekend art show. Well, I didn’t want to do dots this time. The new paintings appear on my blog art at random.

So what exactly did I combine in this piece? Well, since I’m posting this artwork here, you know there are dots in it. In this instance the use of dots was inspired by the answer bubble sheets used in LEAP testing (the tests Louisiana students have to pass to graduate). It happened that I started this piece in the March of 2005 during “testing week” at a high school where I was teaching art. When this particular week rolls around homeroom teachers administer the tests. I was a substitute for an absent homeroom teacher. Well, I am no fan of this duty – even if it is primarily reading a script.

To begin this piece I created a grid. Then I drew outlines for my dots – like the bubbled in dots I mentioned. The last elements were some squiggly expressionist lines drawn through the grid. But that was only the set-up of parts.

A Whole Set of Color Pencils
Again and again I have listened to artists talk about their limited palette of colors used creating artwork. Well, at that time I was using my fourth 120- color pencil set. Too often there are colors that hardly or ever get used. Anyway, I was bound and determined to use each and every color for once. I was kind of inspired by a “kitsch” art show I saw in Boston at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park.

Random Color Choice
In my last two posts I spoke about my interest in working randomly. Well, unlike my other works that include dots, I chose my combination of colors blindly. Specifically I picked out six pencils at a time without looking. Then I filled in each square, containing dots, on my grid. When finished I placed the six in another container before choosing six more. As I completed a round of choosing every color, then I’d start the rotation back to the original container. It took a long time to render the whole piece.

The Reaction
Needless to say both artists and non-artists have been fascinated by this work. Recently someone told me I should do a close-up study of this piece. At this time I have no specific plans for continuing this tangent of my artwork. Here are some close-up shots.

How My Current Art Began

In the fall of 2001 I was a talent visual art teacher responsible for a caseload of elementary talent art students at four schools. I was filling in for a talent art teacher who was on sabbatical. When I tried to explain the art term “value” to my students all I saw were blank confused looks.

So I came up with a grid of triangles. I handed each of them a grid to draw patterns in each triangle – lines and dots. Before having them start, I held up a sample grid I had drawn. When they finished drawing patterns, I held up each page so they could view the results from a distance.

And what does this have to do with my dot art? Well, this is where my current art began. I created this patterned grid. After that I played with color in a similar grid. These were rough ideas leading up to my dot paintings. Below are the first three stages of this process.

Except for a few spots on the ink page, there are no dots on the other pages. Well, the dots were not involved yet. I was having difficulty completing four acrylic grid paintings. The dots came about later. Along the way I had changed my mind several times.


ink on paper, 8.5" x 11"


colored pencil on paper, 5.5" x 8.5"


ink on paper, 8.5" x 11"

Stop/Go

"Stop/Go" was inspired by the movie "The Mexican" from 2001. Brad Pitt's character is at a stop light which becomes a pivotal moment for him. It captured my indecision at the time.

In this piece I wanted to play with variations of the complementary colors "red" and "green". This piece reflects my fascination with Victor Vasareley artwork. However, in rendering the drawing I wanted to keep it more expressive and soft edged.


colored pencil on paper, 15.25" x 24"

My Other Art

The dot artwork didn’t really come together until 2002. So, what did I do before that? Well, twenty years ago I graduated from Mississippi State with a BFA in Graphic Design. I had other emphases in painting and photography. The art professors who instructed me pushed traditional academy art; however, many of them shared their experimental methods with us as well. Prior to going to college I had become jaded about my art.

In high school, a drama instructor told me I painted like Henri Magritte and gave me a book on him, as a gift. I painted several murals for stage sets. In college, I worked more abstractly. The art professors weren’t always sure how to guide me. Their own experimentations were usually for backgrounds. So, since I graduated, I’ve worked somewhere between totally non-objective and surreal. My college experiences made me more excited about making art than I had been since middle school.

Remember when you see impressive fireworks and exclaim “ooh” and “ahh?” Well, that’s how I felt about my art when I graduated from college. Suddenly I had numerous ideas and techniques I needed to try. At any rate I’m still trying methods and media.

workshop adventures


Here are the blogs that cover my other art:

mind places

slingin paint

graphite only

dance energy


Then there are these works that have come about in the course of developing my “dot art.” Teaching art had an effect on my process and my experimentation. Prior to Hurricane Katrina I got into a more random mindset. The anal teaching environment helped push me there.

got grid

c’est collage

art at random

random wood

My dot art has been my focus since Hurricane Katrina and the flood. It is selling more consistently than my other work. But I do hope to take some detours again. Often the galleries have picked on me for pursuing so many artistic directions. Well, I suffer from visual boredom very easily. Surfing the Internet has only multiplied the number of ideas buzzing around in my head. OK, I need to finish some art. Stay tuned . . .

Stop/Go

"Stop/Go" was inspired by the movie "The Mexican" from 2001. Brad Pitt's character is at a stop light which becomes a pivotal moment for him. It captured my indecision at the time.


colored pencil on paper, 15.25" x 24"