Loving Couple

I just had Thanksgiving dinner with these folks, so I will post this portrait I did of them many years ago. These two bearded gentlemen are a loving couple who have been together as man and husband for a long time. One of them (reclining) is a fine cook who prepared the Thanksgiving turkey, side dishes, and fruit tarts. I did this portrait of them in September of 1998 and am glad to see them again every year. They live in a state that does not recognize them as a married pair but maybe someday.

Ink on sketchbook page, September 1998.

DarkoverCon

I'm back from DarkoverCon where I sold 6 of the 10 pieces I had for sale. All of my art sales were to friends who already know and love my work. I can't complain. Thanks friends! Here is a photo of my art show at Darkovercon. Metatron dominates the wall but of course she/he is not for sale. I will have some prints of it for sale if you are interested. Note the string ties which were necessary to keep the picture from falling off the wall, as its frame didn't have any hanging hardware. My dragons were appreciated. Now that I know how to depict dragons fairly well I will move on to depicting buxom maidens and pin-up girls.

Crag Dragon colors

This is the color version of the first dragon in my recent series. The Crag Dragon is vivid green-gold and enjoys the sunlight. He climbs up rugged rocky crags until he gets to a place where he can leap off and fly about. Taking off from level ground would be quite difficult for this dragon, though not impossible. He'd have to get a running start, rather like an airplane. The triangular paddle at the end of his tail possibly gives him some stability in the air. 

"Crag Dragon" is watercolor and ink on Fabriano illustration board, about 6 1/2" x 9", November 2012.

Further notes on "Electron Blue." It occurred to me that all I'd have to do was change some of the text in the header and explain to my vast audience of readers that this was now a more general comment-and-essay blog, where I would write about anything that I wanted, including science and philosophy but not concentrating on it. And my "no politics" rule would still apply. This way I would not have to change the name or lose my myriad (I think about five people) readers.

Meanwhile there is another blog I want to start and that will happen after I get back from Darkovercon outside of Baltimore, Md., where for 34 years of the 36 it's been held, I will exhibit my art and hold my annual room party, "Salon Pyracantha."

Have a Cookie

I'm doing a lot of these signs for Trader Joe's these days. The store is now well-loaded with holiday treats and more are coming in every day. The "European" cookies are covered with chocolate as advertised and you get a lot of them in a square red metal box. Once the cookies have been consumed, the box is a great container to store your sewing things, your markers, your digital archives, or your stash of whatever.

Acrylic markers on black-painted Masonite, about 30" x 20", November 2012.

Note to my loyal handful of readers: I am planning to shut down and remove the companion blog to "Art By-Products," that is, "Electron Blue 2." My priorities have changed and I don't have the time any more to work with math and physics. I need to concentrate on digital fantasy and s.f. art and my graphic novel. This doesn't mean that I will stop blogging. I will be creating some new bloggish content on this same site, so stay tuned.

Digital Dragon: Twilight Call

You've seen my ink and watercolor images of dragons, and one hybrid marker/digital dragon, well here's an all digital dragon. This one is calling forth a fiery song to mark the twilight of another day. Dragon fire is pretty good for lighting your way through the night, too. Most of my digital pieces are experimental, I learn something new with each one. I hope to exhibit "Twilight Call" with the rest of the series at DarkoverCon.

Photoshop, 7" x 10", November 2012.

Cranky Dragon colors

Here's Cranky with colors added. I have been looking at big reptiles for dragon inspiration, and I finally found out the difference between a crocodile and an alligator. Crocodiles have long, pointed snouts and eyes that are at the side of the head. Alligators have blunt, rounded snouts and their eyes are on the top of their heads, so they can peer out from the surface of the water while remaining mostly submerged. Cranky is based on an alligator, though of course the dragon form dominates. The traditional dragon head is based on a crocodile, which the Old World artists would have seen, since there are no alligators in the "Old World." I don't think I've ever seen a live alligator, though I have eaten alligator meat at one memorable restaurant meal in Florida. Dragons are not known for their edibility.

Ink and watercolor on Fabriano illustration board, about 10" x 7", November 2012.

November Dragon colors

Here's the "November Dragon" all colored in. I'm reproducing the old ink and watercolor "storybook style" that I used to use back in the 1970s. I added a little marker work here and there to emphasize some lines. Back in the previous century I used Rapidograph pen as well as dip pen but I am not currently using the difficult and temperamental Rapidographs. With the advent of pigmented marker ink it is possible to use markers in a final piece without it fading away later on. I hope to show this piece at DarkoverCon next week.

Ink, watercolor, and acrylic border, about 10" x 7", November 2012.