The Art Barn summer 1972

I don't have much formal art training, but I did go to art school in a concentrated summer session in 1972. This was at the Boston University Art School's summer program which took place in Lenox, Massachusetts, in the scenic Berkshire hills near the famous concert hall in Tanglewood. I had an almost unbearably cultural summer there while struggling with my own religious path undergoing pressure to "accept Jesus into my heart" from Fundamentalist classmates. I also made a lot of student art in oil paint and watercolor. 

This piece was done in sepia pen work. In those days I had a pen called the Pelikan Graphos. This was a combination of a flexible point metal dip pen and an ink reservoir in the handle. You could use real sepia India ink. I did this picture and many others with the Graphos. But the pen had a lot of design flaws. The pen was constantly leaking as it didn't  have a sealed cartridge. And the handle reacted to the solvents in the ink and got corroded. You couldn't take your Graphos traveling because the movement of a car or even an art bag caused it to drop ink. Pelikan discontinued the Graphos and it is only available in relic form on eBay for too much money. But boy, when that Graphos was working, I could draw some cool stuff including this pen-line-fest of a drawing of our communal art studio. You can see the easels and the paint tubes and the wooden structure of the "art barn." I was always afraid that this rather shaky shed was going to either burn down from all the flammable art materials and a lightning strike, or else it would just collapse on its own. Boston University dropped its summer art school sessions some years after I was there, and the art barn disappeared along with the Pelikan Graphos. As for Jesus and my heart, that went a very different way and I don't want to talk about Jesus on this By-product blog.

"Art Barn" is sepia India ink, Pelikan Graphos pen on sketchbook page, 5 1/2" x 11", August 1972. Click on the image to see the mad pen line work. 

I'm off to DarkoverCon this weekend, so no By-Product till I return on Monday December 2.

Elf Rockers

OK, this is one of my stupider pictures, but it is in the collection so I might as well show it. Around the time this was painted, there was a fantasy fad of putting elves and other familiar genre figures into modern settings especially rock music and car racing. These tales were quite popular and illustrations and fan art followed. The rock music for elves was not the grunge or heavy metal of more realistic rock but the "hair" or "glam" rock where beautiful, androgynous blonde creatures would cast spells with stagey shows and glitter costumes. It all seems dated now but there are of course "tribute" bands where aging elves with a "muffin top" around their spandex waistbands trot out the songs of yesteryears.

"Elf Rockers" is ink and watercolor on illustration board, 7" x 10", May 2002.

My Medieval Age 1972

In 1972 I had the identity of a medieval scribe and illuminator in a scriptorium. I wrote in Carolingian minuscule (early medieval hand script), dressed as a monk in a long robe, read Latin manuscripts, and created art work like this one above. This illumination, done in a modern version of an eleventh-century Germanic style, features four saints. From upper left clockwise: St. Cecilia, patron saint of music, playing an organ. Saint Jerome patron of scholars, with his book, his pet lion, a cardinal's hat, and a skull. The Virgin Mary, opening a door to the heavenly world of Christianity, and Saint Luke, patron of artists, with a sketchbook and his symbol, the winged lion. The ornamentation is borrowed from medieval manuscripts as well.

In those days I was a common eccentric medieval-obsessed type. If I had been in the Society for Creative Anachronism, I would have done more of these artistic things but I was intent on my religious life at the time and the SCA was determinedly non-religious. This piece is the frontispiece for my 1972 journal.

Medieval Frontispiece is heavy watercolor on paper, about 8" x 10", early 1972. Click on the image for a larger view.

Winter Solstice at Trader Joe's

The seasons passeth at Trader Joe's, and Winter cometh to our land. This familiar landscape will advertise Holiday Season goodies, sweets and treats for our customers. Instead of the usual Holiday hokum I have reproduced the winter solstice sunrise over Virginia's Blue Ridge hills. The writing goes in the central empty panel. It is a version of my "winter wine" background for "The Earthly Paradise," my wine and landscape picture book. Remember folks, "Earthly Paradise" is coming soon! I can get eschatological about my commercial art if I want to.

"Art Studio" app on iPad, finished in Photoshop, 8" x 5". This is the first art I have done for Trader Joe's on the iPad.

Mundanities

Recently I've begun following the blog and podcast of Michael Nobbs, a British or Welsh artist who lives in Wales. It's called "Sustainably Creative" and it's about how to do art when you have very limited time, energy, or availability. Michael has an autoimmune disorder which severely limits his energy and ability to do daily tasks, let alone art. So he has put together a strategy for working around those limits. He does a daily podcast (voice blog) which is about five minutes long, and longer podcasts and videos occasionally. He also has blog posts, strategy "courses" you can take, and booklets of his art, too. In my case it's not sickness (not yet, that is…) it's the time and energy my day job takes away. One of his strategies is something I already do: draw something every day, no matter how small or ordinary or mundane. I do this and call it the DotD or "Drawing of the Day." I don't do one every day but most days. The one above was drawn at the Honda center where they were replacing a plastic panel on my car. The tires in the rack had an appealing pattern. 

And this one is a "still life" on the hairdresser's shelf which I drew as I was getting my hair done. You can see the tube spray can of hair spray as well as the tall jar full of disinfectant in which they keep combs and picks. And there's a cup of tea. Michael Nobbs, true to his Britishness, is always mentioning and drinking tea. I think that's a good idea, too, just a little pick-me-up to drink in a civilized way. "Sustainably Creative" is refreshingly far away from so many teeth-gritting, muscular, high pressure, rock-climbing "personal development" sites which expect you to be a superhero. I'd rather sketch and drink tea.

Darkover Castle

It's that time of year again…not only Thanksgiving, but DarkoverCon. This convention has run for 36 years, and I've been to 34 of them. The convention, which has taken place in Timonium north of Baltimore for almost half that time, has been run by the same person all those years. But she passed away earlier this year, and with her goes the convention that she was central to. This year's DarkoverCon will be the last one. Next year another convention with another name and other staffers will take its place. With DarkoverCon 36, we surviving members will pay tribute to the convention, its history, and its colorful personalities. I'll be showing a retrospective series of my best Darkover art in print form, including the castle scene here.

This is "Comyn Castle," home to the Darkovan ruling sector, known as the "Comyn." These warrior and magic-using aristocrats are distinguished by their psychic powers and their flame-red hair (remember: IFRR In Fantasy Redheads Rule). The light is the pinkish red of the Red Sun of Darkover. This photo enhances the effect of the red light on the castle, which is built of blue-ish crystalline stone.

So, goodbye DarkoverCon, it was a fabulous run. The World of the Red Sun will live as long as memory and media survive.

"Comyn Castle" is acrylic on illustration board, 10" x 7", November 1996.

Owl Character

Ornithologically this is not a real owl of any species. It is a fantasy owl character with a few dragon-ish features. I like owls because they're like me, up most of the night. Real owls show up in my building's back yard and make noise during the spring and the fall. This fellow may even be sentient, if he is in a fantasy story. The spiky feathers probably will smooth down once he gets a little calmer about being in a blog.

Ink and greyscale markers on sketchbook page, with some Photoshoppage, 4" x 4", November 22, 2013.