Reflection..........

Some times it is wise to pause and reflect over the work at hand, even while in the midst of it, because in the involvement of rendering, certain aspects can be overlooked regarding 'keeping on track' with the work - all too often the forest can be forgotten in the intensity of caring for the trees, and even worse, one can forget that not all trees belong in that forest...   even with the mindset of seeing themes everywhere, translating those themes to renderings and keeping them in context can be subverted by the possibilities in varieties and the need to trim the excess branches of some of the forest trees, if not indeed some of the trees themselves...

Sometimes it is cited as 'loss of motivation' - but that merely is a lacking of seeing within oneself as to why the rendering in the first place, and a momentary lapse of context in 'the joy of the doing' which is the primary reason for the doing...  such reflections need not take long, tho can vary immensely, and the work continues, and another soon is there to carry on when the one at hand is completed...  still, it is wise to remember that at times there is indeed a need for this, a form of refueling - else there is nothing but vapors to carry on, a prospect not desired, as the drop then would be horrendous, as also the consequences...

Sighting.......

The 'eagle' house is now set, overlooking all across its realm, as it were...

Now to grisaille the rest of the background, thereby gaining the overall viewing of the theming involved...

Setting the Overseer...

In viewing the addition, was tempted to go finish the house as well, but decided not to wait another day, as this has been several days since the last posting...   at first glance it does seem as if these sides are not in the same perspective - but if look on closer examination, one will see this is not so, and they both align, just that one has a greater height than the other [from the perspective of the viewer] as well as seeming closer...  there is also the matter of free-form on various objects which can give a false sense of being somewhat 'elsewhere'...   

When the last section, the one across the river, is laid in grisaille, then this will be  more readily seen - and the whole of the theming as well...

Keeping in Theme...

One of the more difficult ideas being shown in this series of WIP on a grand theme is that of keeping it together, keeping the sections in tune with the grand one yet having them as studies on their own...   how is this done?   to begin with, this means incorporating the lesser themes to the main by making then variations of the main, perhaps, as in this  rendering-in-progress, by use of examples delineating aspects of the larger theme - namely, what might 'my bigger back yard' mean in terms of visualizations ...     obviously, this would mean something not usually seen in back yards, and further, as seen in this one, the nature of what makes for 'my bigger back yard'...   most, for instance, think of it as the rear part of one's own property - whereas here it is seen as much more than that, as a place to joy in the viewing, as well as visit here and there from time to time...    further, each section itself comprises a version of that theming, but on a smaller scale, and at the same time be part of an expanding viewing when seeing the whole...

Consider, for instance, the first of the sections, that of the grove of trees along the left side, before the rocks are portrayed...   contrary to conventional approaches, theming is not an effervescence - what to many seem intuitive is, in the best artists, the consequence of long-term thinking, of making thematic decisions and seeing how various arrangements for or not fit into the proscribed perimeters...   in the case of landscapes, there is a needed direction from which to begin, and a flow to describe the path on which the viewing is to take in each work... sometimes there are several paths, but the best ones have them, if they be, in line with the major path, as auxiliaries to reinforce the theming...


As an aid, am reproducing an early essay, from June, to help refresh -

Theming as Seeing...

I am a themescapist - that is, the idea of theming is a conscious one for me, mainly because I never was satisfied at just doing scenes or studies or form composed still life, and always needed to know WHY I was doing what I was doing the way I was doing... but I am well aware that few others approach painting like this...

Most artists react from the visual - that is, they see in the world around them a scene or objects which in the manner of their setting or arrangement as first seen, intrigues... it is of interest, compositionally... perhaps it is something even so simple as a butterfly alighting on a flower... perhaps it is a series of bottles on a shelf... a themescapist sees that - AND MORE... by training to think in terms of metaphors, a themescapist is able to bring to consciousness a 'universalness' out of that incident or setting seen in the world... this means that a themescapist takes from the given and CONSCIOUSLY raises it to a visualization of some fundamentalness... this can be done by using it as part of a larger visualization, for instance... or it can be done by shifting the components for better emphasis, as a crystalization of some importance worth showing - which is given notice thru the theme/title... a themescapist is also, because of this training to think in terms of metaphors, able to draw from the memory banks [the mental 'picture file' so to speak] a visualization, at least in part, of something read or said - the abstraction theme/title itself being the catalyst... sometimes, tho, this does not come with any sense of immediacy - there are in my journal many, many listings of theme/titles for which i have yet to have a visualization of, or for which the ones I have are nebulous at best... but the theme/title itself intrigues me... in many ways, this is the fun and the challenge of being a themescapist - this questing for discovery, for a new insight into this wonderful world we live in... by the way, these theme/titles, either way they are approached, whether from the visual first to seeing the abstraction out of it, or from the abstraction to seeing a concrete visualization, do not necessarily have to be profound... there is plenty of room in the world for lightheartedness, even whimsical - SO LONG AS IT IS LIFE ENHANCING, an expression of enlightenment in the minutae is still an enrichment in the understanding of the fabric of complexity which is the universe... 
....................................

Now, many would exclaim that the life enhancing is 'pollyandish'...    not so - the crystallization of what to the artist is of importance requires selectivity, establishing, in effect, priorities...   to me, pleasure and life enhancement is more preferred and important to achieve than pain and despair...   it is not to say that those others not exist [of course they do] but to proclaim that they are like stones or boulders, to be removed along the course of life, in planing the field that is one's vision of one's self and that of others...   


But to get back to the grove of trees seen on the left edge just above the fore grasses - note how the light/dark is structured, not just as light coming from the left, but that the light folds and undulates like waves over the leaves, leaving a chorus of crashing and tumultuous foldings proceeding below one's viewing [implying as going down the slope]... the next set shows as if the greenery splashes up onto the rigid rock, and at the same time being somewhat constrained by the volume of the rock...   the next show more restraint - cultured restraint done by the hand of man to better enhance the purposefulness needed by the vegetation...  and so on - which the viewer can make for on his/her own...  this is just an example of how this rendering is being themed all across in each area, leading onward to the fullness of the yet-to-be-finished work...

Blushing the Wall...

Beginning with the right walls or rock projections, and using light green, emerald green, and sap green for the deep shading, the forest growths are layered in, and red earth and raw sienna is used for the bare rock parts...  there is still more use needed of emerald green for the lit areas on the second from end projection, but that will come when the basic layers of the section is finished...

The Other Side...

And with the final rock being finished, this grisaille section is done, and ready for coloring...  note that what now is seen is the 'competing' view, the one across the valley from the other, a view which carries further the human-ness of shaping the earth to suit the needs and wants of humans, yet enhances what was merely 'there' before...

"From The Terrace...

...I see upon the vastness of my domain...    and it is good"...   and, with just the one rock area to do, am almost done getting this grisaille section down...  again, note how one's perception of scale makes for interesting viewing of the landscape...          

Adding Lush...

One of the difficulties now encountering is being able to make distance determinate on intensity of color - but in this case, may go the other route and darken the leaves in contrast to the more fore area instead of the usual lessening... whether to do this via the grisaille or via the color layering remains to be decided - probably a combination...

The Binding Curve...

Still needs be molded with shading, but the foresting of the local hill is done...  now to finish the last garden, and get the 'eagle' house on the cliff set up... then it'll be coloring time for this section...

Coming Together Separately...

The basic gardens are now down, with the lush one beneath yet to do...   will begin the forest on the right next, then the rock 'crown' above the gardens, on which sits the 'eagle' house overlooking all...

More Gardens, More themes...

Gardens and Themes...

One of the great things about grasping the nature of Japanese gardens is that they are consciously themed, and that there are immensely different ways in which to go about theming these gardens - even if altered to incorporate some of the western notions of garden arrangement...  further, these  themings need not be of anything mystical - that is, they can as readily be governed by a love of reality unmitigated by any brashness of fantasy or even 'human hatredness', a notion rarely overtly expressed yet seen in abundance in guise of other manners...  

As noted here, the opening parley is of a treed rock in the midst of a pond [as indicated by the running off falls], with three bare boulders on a shore at the rear of the viewing...  the level down on this is of a pond with the fore arena having three thin trees overlooking both the water and the boundary into another garden, and the falls from this dropping thru a hole in the midst of a dry garden on the level below...   tho these other gardens at best are mere indicated, yet it is not too early to be asking - why the use of three's, and what themes might be seen in these gardens and how do they refer in integrated notions to the rest of the 'Bigger Back yard'...

Question of Scale...

One of the things to mention, now that this section is colored, is the question of scale...  if one looks at the buildings [and, eventually, other 'things'], there is struck a notion that these are there in the scale of the viewer - whomever the viewer, that there are several possibilities of just how large these 'things' are...   and this is deliberate, a way of instilling to the viewer how one ought to see yet how one actually does see the work, all according to one's own sense of life, and one's own grasping of the theming implicated in the title...

What in a theme...

One of the things being attempted in this series of exploring the development of 'my bigger back yard' is in the theming and seeing how that theming is visualized, for better or worse... there is a reason why this is being done in sections like this, each separate from the others, yet adding together to a comprehensive whole...    carefully paying attention to the various sections reveal sort of mini-themes, each a subset of the grand whole vista, yet each able to be on their own,  -  expansive with being added to the others...    this becomes more obvious with noting what the upcoming section portends - a series of gardens terraced along the slopes of the right side of the rendering, with  one of my 'eagle' houses perched high to overlook it all...

What, then, does the theme of 'my bigger back yard' mean - especially when visualized to the extent done so far, with the indications of the forthcoming gardens?  why, for instance, was the grass so uneven, almost like a wild field?   what of the indicated dropping off of the edge - just a slope down to an unseen level, or a dropping off as in a cliff?what difference would either make in the theming, of how one sees the rest of the vista - or would there be any difference, and why or why not?   what if there was a figure placed therein - nude, perhaps just over the edge, as if on a down slope, just the back and turned head of the woman seeking out her visitor, her butts hidden in the grasses? what if were added, partly hidden, a picnic basket to her right, one of those woven ones with a checkered cloth seen overflowing the edge, under the lids - any difference in the perception of the back yard, or in the sense of it being 'bigger'?

What of the first section of the mid-distance, the one now colored, with the vegetation flowing over what usually would be much more barrenness  - and the house overlooking the vista from that side, integrated organically to the landscape? or an intrusion? and if so yes to both, why? why not development considered as advancing the landscape?  and the second section, just posted as a grisaille - does the high-rise fit, or is it as well considered intruding, or is the human then recognized as an integral part of the environment and the bigger back yard an extension of PURPOSEFULLY altering the landscape instead of the supposed chance and caprice of the 'natural' order...   the theming - what is being said in the theming, and why...

and as much for the artist who is rendering this - what is the nature of the idea of purpose and productivity being appraised, not just in the visual but in the effort expended to the visual - proper for an artist? instructive to others? or vainglorious ?  and - what, then, would be an alternative, and would it impact as thusly ?

The Second Wall...

Continuing further into the vista that is my bigger back yard, one sees more of the issue of development, enhancing the kind of 'made for human' world desired...

And Crown...

Now to the next section...

Foundational Support...

Again, using burnt sienna for the shading and raw sienna for the rest...

Extension Further...

With the raw sienna added...

Extension...

Continuing on, this time using burnt sienna ink instead of the red earth used on the other...   the lit  areas remain  with raw sienna [at this point not yet layered]...

Brightening the Vista...

Using emerald blue and stippling, layer over the trees, adding light green where lit...  where the next round of vegetation was, stippled first the light green on the unshaded area, then layered the emerald green over the whole...  the rock was first layered with red earth on the shade areas, then raw sienna for the rest, then a layering of flame orange stripped here and there across the sunlit areas...

Note that there is a small bit of white left around most of the grass blades in front of the section rock greens - deliberately so to pull the grasses forward more by giving space between the foreground and that section...

The First Wall...

The grisaille of the first section of the left side is now done, and the layering of the colors can begin...  note that there are four strip sections to this, the house one being the furthest...

Self-Esteem in Action...

Pride is an actioning of self-esteem, and whatever feeling one gets is a by-product of a person abiding by that virtue... a proud person sets high standards for the self, and as such conscientiously strives to meet them - in this case, the other virtues, especially the prime one of rationality, of acting by principled thought, of being dedicated to not only doing the best, but of striving to make that best ever better, a continual spiral upward to greater flourishing as a human... a recognition that a person is that person's own highest value, that of any achievements open, the one that makes all others possible is the creation of one's own character - which in turn is the product of the premises held, the making in effect of 'the self-made soul'.... 

Knowing one's own value is a necessity in order to maintain one's own life... because a person is a being whose life consists of making choices of one's actions, it is an imperative that a fundamentally positive view of of the self is there to be accepted in order to be able to take the kinds of actions that would effectively advance the flourishing and well-being of that one's life... in other words, it is that a person is a being of 'self-made soul', that creates the need of making that soul WELL - not haphazardly or piecemeal, but integratively to that well-being... after all, every action that a person takes, beyond whatever effects it may or may not have in the external world, it adds to that person's self image - there is knowing the consequences to having possibly taken another choice, and whether or not the choosing was rational or not... there is also the learning over the course of time that that person's life depends on those actions taken, that there is a responsibility involved in those choices, with potentially enormous impact on successes and failures regarding achieving happiness or frustration... thus developing the sense that one can rely on oneself to make good choices is a necessity to advancing the flourishing - such knowledge is the base on which self-esteem arises... thus this knowing, this pride, is necessary to acquiring this extremely valuable value of self-esteem...

Self-Depreciation as a Negative...

On one of my other blog sites, The Spiritual Visualizer, there has been a series ongoing regarding the Objectivist virtues [as opposed to the Christian and Pagan ones] and how they apply to being an artist... the last, and by far the most controversial, is the one of Pride - and its contrasting with its opposite, Humility... unlike the previous sets of listed virtues, I added a run-down regarding the opposite, humility, showing how it is in fact, contrary to 'conventional wisdom', NOT a virtue but is inimical to the flourishing of being human... further, when discussing pride, pointed out that it has nothing to do with boasting - that indeed, boasting is not an affirmation of pride, but an expression of insecurity of oneself... in each case, it involves the sense of one's worthiness... it does not take much understanding to see how this is involved with, especially, pen and ink artists... far too often it is expressed in how one sees one's own works, or how in the viewing of others' works, the belittlement of being human is [sometimes not so evenly] subtly expressed... most of the time this is due to the artists not understanding the nature of what it is being express, so ingrained by lifelong indoctrination to the idea of humility as being a virtue and pride as the vice....

What does it really mean to practice humility?

To begin with, one must understand that it came out of a worldview which emphasized submission to authority [whether real or imagined], a worldview which supported human domestication [initially from being members of another or outside tribe, thus not considered 'really' human], better known as slavery... little wonder, then, humility has been touted as a virtue for millenia... Humility is defined as 'the quality of having a low estimate of one's importance, worthiness, or merits; marked by the absence of self-assertion or self-exaltation'... remember, 'submission to authority' means to accept someone else's mind as final over one's own - self-abnegation... humility considers this virtuous, even as the consequence of it despairs and inhibits the achievement of self-esteem and to, as consequence, a commitment to self-improvement [because self-improvement requires self-esteem] - it is the conviction that one is doomed to deficiency, which is disabling because it undermines a person's motivation to seek to act as should [ to, in effect, create a false break between a 'could' and an 'ought' to be]... the result would be, then, to 'why bother', since the end would seem to be an assured failure...

It would seem at first glance easy to see a parallel of this to how some artists see their own works and their ability to do better - and so true, as it is one of the most prevalent depreciation effects on rendering, especially among pen and ink artists, as they more than most others have such an adversed perception of their medium's worthiness... keep this in mind when thinking back over productiveness - how it is in the doing that counts, even as the market may not yet gain its appreciation remunerationally... keep in mind, too, this effect in perseverance, the struggle to see more clearly what one is striving to do and why - and yes, why bother...

What, then, of Pride?

And Now - on to the Vista...

Now that the fore ground has at last been done, the grisaille of the rest can commence... which will be done with a Copic blue multiliner 0.05...

Unintended Consequences...

Sometimes, in rendering, attempts at doing shortcuts do not work out very well... a case in point is trying to use the very last of the ink from the bottle, tilting the bottle so to do - and resulting in tipping the bottle over, with the consequence seen in the previous image, a solid spot of light green over the area... at first glance, it seemed no biggie, as was the base color - but getting it to mesh with the surrounding grasses proved a wee more labor intensive... however, as seen, I think the damage has been taken care of, and any further tweaking will be done after all the rendering is laid out, with the shadows cast from offstage...

Blooming Grass...

The first layering of light green is down for the left side grasses... next comes the sap green blade shading...

Viewing the Path...

With the stones essentially done [only the few on the left have yet to get the cyan], the path is cleared to get back to the grasses and finish the foreground...


The stone colors, for those interested, are - sepia, red earth, and cyan... there was some raw umber used for the flat rocks at the edge of the curve]...

A Moment's Pause - Further Along.....

With the right side grasses essentially done, am now on the stones - laying in the sepia shading and pits.....

On Showing Completeness...

"And GREAT art, to be great, requires awareness of the means of greatness - even if few works succeed at it or artists care to strive for it - if for no other reason than it gives satisfaction to the artist of being successful in showing, in communicating, what is thought by the artist as of great importance - and that all the elements involved in the composition is integrated to that end..."

It may seem grandiose, but this ongoing WIP is to be, hopefully, of a masterpiece - that is, of a rendering thought out and constructed to be integrated to its end, thematically... as mentioned in the quote above, I am seeking to see if I can deliberately have 'all the elements involved in the composition [being] integrated to that end...'.... all too often it is said that the sense of life in a work, the emotional responding to it, has to be done without thought - that is, without analyzing the component parts, without giving mindfulness to the work - else the emotions flee.... to me, this is nonsense.... nothing is more prone to being destroyed than to be driving down a road drunk and blindfolded - and without the using of mindfulness, without thought to what one is doing in a rendering, ESPECIALLY for pen and inkers, that is exactly what would be the case of an artist 'plowing ahead' without forethought - especially, too, if serious work is desired to be achieved... so - what I hope to show is how I go about this mental planning - why things are placed where they are, what purposes are served by some of the objects within - and in that way give a clue to others of how to look within their own works, regardless of size [for am well aware am even pushing my own envelope here well beyond anything I've done before]...

In a sense, tho, this is but another extension of what was mention in the Aeyrie posting, carrying that mostly barren canyon to one of its possible completenesses...

A Moment's Pause - to be Continued...

Thanks to Shari, some time ago, there was posted a WIP, one of a pintail duck - and a fine WIP

it is.... however, no more has come to be posted... so - tho this will be a very intermittently done one, I am going to post my ongoing 32"x40" full color rendering, "My Bigger Back Yard", in part as perhaps a tutorial of techniques being worked out as

I progress along... in part, also, as an ongoing explanation of my thinking processes, so others may find something of use in advancing their own explorations of their respective rendering ideas and

how maybe to expand on them...


What is first seen here is the fore ground, which will over look a vast canyon curved around a bend, and

all the various parts of some of the ideas I've had for what I'd like in the way of seeing in an expanded version of my back yard...

These close-ups constitute stages in my coloring of the grasses... initially, light green was laid on the blades... then sap green was added for the shade areas... afterwards, emerald green was added to cover for the deep shade areas between the blades, as well as to add some detailing of the blades themselves... lastly, so far, is the ongoing of adding lemon yellow to the lit parts of the blades... from there, I will then begin the coloring of the stones - and lastly, for the foreground, the rest of the grasses, those on the left side....

THEN will begin 'seeing' into the vastness of the distance...

Visualizing the Productive...

One of the more seemingly difficult ideas to get across is that of being able to visually show productiveness... not the best possible, but "Aeyrie" is an example - note a naturalistic setting, yet showing a distinctive advance in direction, that of an overlooking habitation indicative of future-oriented progression, that of taming the desolate and making fertile the barren... note, too, the metaphoric usage here which leads to other possibilities - a series perhaps on this, including, as it were, one in color, thus displaying a more comprehensive involvement of the transformation... sometimes the subtle in simplicity alludes to much more than at first seems to transpire...

[this, btw, is a 20"x16' rendering]

Purpose and Productivity...

While, as mentioned, productiveness does not require that one makes money from productive endeavors, work does, properly, need to be the central purpose... Indeed, considered properly, that work - the renderings by the artist - should be THE principle form that the 'pursuit of happiness' takes... this is especially important to an artist, no less then for others... it is not a case of simply being an element of the good life - IT NEEDS BE THE CENTRAL ELEMENT...

Why?

To begin with, a central purpose is the long-range goal that ought to be the basic or primary claim on a person's time, energy, and resources...properly, all the other goals are not only secondary but they should be integrated to the central purpose - pursued as compliment, not distractions... the issue is the necessity of being an integrated being - something which humans have to learn, and have to choose the specific anchor as it were on which to tie the rest as flying buttresses to help hold and enlarge the purposefulness... without a central purpose, a person would not be able to know how valuable anything is in relationship to that person...

This is something most artists intuit or sense, but unfortunately rarely consciously grasp and understand... there is recognised the 'compulsion' as it were to render, but all too often its placement as the center from which all else radiates is mitigated by a belief other factors need take greater presence... the consequences are often devastating - fewer works, less thought given to the works done or contemplated on, and more emphasis on visceral means to choosing subject material - and this is just the art itself... without a central purpose, actions are more susceptible to being determined by emotions - with the consequence of not seeing compelling reasons to stay with a particular rendering, for instance, when it becomes difficult, tedious, or even just mildly unpleasant... if an artist lacks a clear primary objective, there will seem to be no grounds for evaluating the benefits that might be derived from various other activities - greater insight to the rendering in progress perhaps, or derivative variations from the central themes of the work, and so forth...

However, if the artist grasps that the doing of art is the central purpose and has embraced that, then by contrast, there is a reason for doing various things and a basis for deciding which things are worth the doing... as such, that central purpose involving being the artist can provide motivation throughout the artist's life, anchoring the lesser purposes on a relative scale, thus enhancing the life being lived... this is so even when the monetary rewards are not such that remuneration is sufficient on its own to allow full-time concentration...

While this is a general statement regarding artists in general, it seems to be more important to those who deal with pen and ink, in part I suspect because of the amount of seeming time needed to do the works, small as most are, and the also 'non-expectations' of the renderings being considered as fine art by others... in other words, there is a stronger psychological pressure to bear - and in consequence, some simply cast aside their inner ambitions regarding pen and inks and either become just hobbyists or worse, discard to a more socially accepted medium... if, however, this grasping of purpose and the artist is made, and the organization of the artist's life is then wrapped around the greatest value - rendering, then there is better chance of 'survival' as it were, and flourishing as long term consequence...

Patience...or Lack of......

"it is the doing, the creating, the visualizing which is the productive and thus the important - and in that regard, the success of being..."

One of the things I get often regarding my renderings, and am sure is the same with others, is that in doing them, I must 'have the patience of Job' or some similar... this has always struck me as odd in that so far none of my renderings have gone beyond some 60 hours of labor... further, many of those doing oils and acrylics, to say nothing of egg tempera, have reported taking hundreds of hours to completion... what, then is it that spending some hours on a work to achieve the desired quality means having a 'lot of patience'? Sunday painters perhaps? short attention spans or ADHD run amuck? for sure, it does not seem like dedicated artists seeking to ply their visions as well as they can, and in a manner to gain further enhancing quality of craftmanship [and yes, craftmanship applies to artists as much as do to artisans]... perhaps I am unique in that it is the doing - as the quote above says - which is the productive and thus the important that matters... I don't think so, but it is something which would seem a given when being an artist, just as is the case in other endeavors - and yet this patience issue keeps popping up time and again... perhaps it is best, then, to say [to paraphrase from a very popular movie] - anyone can paint, but not everyone should.... the difference between dabblers and committed - and it is the committed ones who are certified, by their efforts, to really being artists - and being proud of their doing, time after time after time, over a lifetime of increasingly progressive improvements, continually 'raising the bar' to achieving Fine Art...

This certainly is no less so when referring to pen and ink artists...

Remuneration...

While many of these examples given of various artists and their works show those who have made a financial success of trading their works, not all have - indeed, a number of highly creative artists never acquire the means of achieving their material well-being thru just their creativity... does this mean anything in the way of failure? no, because while the basic reason person need be productive is to meet the needs for material values, and normally this is thru trade as means of payment for the work - this is not always the case... money is not the only type of material value, and not all work that creates material value is well compensated in the market... thus a person may need be making the money at a less productive, relatively undemanding job, in order to enable the more rewarding and challenging and productive work - in this case being that of the artist... this is often, perhaps especially so, when the artist as creator has blazed a new direction in creating, showing work which requires more conscious attention to being appreciated, or appeals to a more selective set of viewers... this does not detract from it being productive work, only that the burden of being able to achieve the creating may be harder than otherwise, a situation which, to the creator having the success of the creating, is, relatively speaking, small and unimportant... it is the doing, the creating, the visualizing which is the productive and thus the important - and in that regard, the success of being...

One could say this applies more to the pen and ink artists than to any other medium, if for no other reason than that it is a medium less given to the status of 'fine art' than other mediums, and thus more effort is needed to having the renderings appreciated for the same contemplative assessment as given to other mediums... of course, one of the reasons for the creation of this Society is just that - to help in formulating this upgrading of status and to inspire further renderings to this direction...

Landscapes and Leben II...

While the black/white ones run about 16"x24' in size, he has turned to doing large color ones of 60"x24" - a fascinating series of staircases, but worth the looking for ideas in how to plan large works and establish the desired sense of depth...

Landscapes and Leben...

One of the more interesting of contemporary pen and ink artists is John Leben, whose renderings are exampled here, clearly showing the extend one can do in the values pertaining to effective visualizations...

Note the effectiveness in utilizing the dark of the inner trees to push out the fore, both in the trunks and branches, and the buildings - and how the white of the sail pulls the boat away from the dark of the rear...

and how the strong light/dark contrasts on the palms bring then away from the surrounding vegetation and sand...

While I do not think much of his use of the sky, the setting sun is otherwise very effectively rendered, with the chairs silhouetted well and anchored to the sand...

And the water reflection is very illusional, with the sunlit fore leaves very effectively framing and giving depth to the scene...

So Still the Broader Vision...

Pen and ink artists, whether inspired by those of the 'dark side', or from a visioning of their own, do still put out landscapes here and there - be they cityscapes or the pleasantries of the countryside... and they are as much with the b/w as would be assumed with color - to great effect...

The Other Side Solidified...

Charles Ewing was the man who invented clayboard, which elevated scratchboard from an ink-coated cardboard to something with much greater support and thus to better achieving fine art status possibilities... among inkers, his renderings are inspirational, not just to scratchboardists themselves but to all pen and ink users, especially in raising the possibilities of detail and drama far beyond mere midnight lights, as most were doing with scratchboard... and further, showing possibilities of larger works with more grand theming - something most needed to pen and ink renders, who often got [and still do get] bogged into

small sizes for the time spent on doing the detail needed for the rendering desired..... this last, for instance, is a tri-panel totaling 36"x60" - a fantastic size for an ink rendering, especially one of such realism...

The Other Side of Pen and Ink...

In the pursuit of pen and ink as fine art, there is another aspect to look into - the 'dark side' of pen and ink - scratchboard... these are some of the renderings of Norman Gaddini, one of the masters of this way of using pen and ink - and the first one to color scratchboard, back in 1975... most of these were on boards of about 18"x24", so on the large size as per most ink artists, yet the detailing and clarity is easily as good as most any regular pen and inker....