Black and White in Landscapes.....

One of the more interesting things about using pen and ink for landscapes is the influence on gaining drama from the elements, especially the winter of snows against the trees and buildings, or highly reflective waters and sky against the varied textures of the land...

This is so well done by the amazing Chinese artist Yu-Tang Yang, who's examples are shown here - where, using a dip pen, he has done wonders in rendering the scenes of the rural areas he is familiar with...

His works are skillfully  worked with the elements of contrast all thru the renderings, making them akin to photographs in how they display the details of nature and man...

...and show the poetic structuring of composition even with all the complexity of what nature endows upon the land...  each work displays an emotion attuned to its viewing, as is so often seen where ancient heritage so influences how one approaches the visualizations...









Make no mistake - these examples are well worth studying in themselves, as means to future ends of landscape bettering for others, to say nothing of providing inspiration to all of the possibilities pen and ink can reach to...

Art as it is...

''Se ao artista é autorizado ignorar os rudimentos de sua atividade, na outra ponta, dos compradores de Arte Contemporânea também já não se espera que entendam de arte, apenas que a consumam.''

''If to the artist is allowed to ignore the basic principles of its activity at the other hand, the buyers of contemporary art has also not expected to understand art, just eat it.''

A Grande Feira - Luciano Trigo

Clarity, Variations, and Themes.....

• One of the things I am most aware of this time, after doing "Clear In The Air", is the question which arises naturally - why this, the way it is - why not another way - and if the 'another' way is viable, why [or is] the variation the same yet different?   even more so, why this particular landscape seen is what is seen and not another?   in other words, what is needed here is analysis of the means to the end, and can I do it - why? because in so doing it, others can better understand, especially those who have a hard time grasping the theme idea in the first place, how this methodology works...   at the moment, it is almost an automatic for me, and as much consciously 'after the fact' as any logical process can be...   does this mean there is no way to grasp it, that I am as such floundering in a dark as much as most others may be - no...   does it mean this methodology has always been with me? no again - I had to learn it, the same way as poets do, by going thru cliches, even if they were done with my own personal vantage point...   

So - to begin, think like the fictional Sherlock Holmes, or Spock, because it is indeed all logical - pick the theme, visualize concretes for it, and crystallize the theme in the title...   do it in reverse even - see the visual image, grasp the theme behind the visualization, and crystallize  the theme in the title...   if variations evolve, then use theme variations to match [or crystallize aspects of those variations]...   in this case, begin with the faucet set in the outdoors, away from the habitat [the house or other building], away even from more civilized mannerisms [hand pump instead of motorized], and high enough from the ground not to hug it too intimately...   given this, what kinds of landscapes would best fit for such a device?   why?   what theme, then be derived from this as consequence?  then think 'context, context, context'...   

Context - the pipe and pump is man-made, placed in an otherwise wilderness-looking place, the hand pump indicating further this 'extension into the wilderness' ....   


Context - the water is clear, not murky, despite the weathered look of the pipe/faucet surface, so that when the drop leaves the pipe it is as 'pure water'...   this is indicated by the inverted image - a murky water drop would had been like a metal ball, reflective on the surface, whereas a clear ball is reflective from inside the ball and thus an inverted image...

Context - the canyon is usually more an arid area, tho not the extreme of a desert, so piped in water can be pure from deep in the ground... it is also an indication of potentiality, that more can be directed and utilized than seen at present - a pro-human context as it were, a recognition that humans are not mere animals at the mercy of their environments but beings of necessity able to shape their environments to better themselves, a natural and inevitable progression of evolution...

"Clear In the Air"

Despite the smallness of the landscape, and the implication that this is really a still life, or a cross breed, am quite pleased with this, as it does express the theme well, and is my first miniature landscape work [other than, of course, the studies]...   and, as so often takes place with me, can see a series of this, tho not at this time...












This inversion shows the landscape within the water drop...

Possibilities [and the Differences It Doesn't Make]...

Initially, there was to be a few more of the landscape-in-water-drop studies before deciding which will be used in the Clear In The Air rendering...   but on reflection, this is not necessary - why? because  in the context of things, some of those would not really seem appropriate for the faucet...   consequently, one has been chosen and it will be revealed when the rendering is posted...  the question here is the issue of the differences - why in this case they do not make a difference in the choosing...   does this, for instance, mean the others are no good for faucet use? no, not at all - but in terms of the particular theming, as embedded in the theme/title, I found the other ideas, including the projected cityscape ones, to be better worked for other water drop renderings [yes, this means yet another series evolving]...   is this much of a big deal? no again, because in how I 'see' my world, many of the contexts fall into place almost without thought [tho it certainly is there, just subconsciously] from long practicing of the 'seeing' in terms of abstraction to concrete viewings...   and further, variations on a theme are almost always popping up in the act of creation [for me at any rate], which adds to the possibilities of what to choose in specific terms for the parts of the viewing-to-be...   at the moment, I'll not go further with this, as it would then involve a long essay - but rest assured I will try to sometime give a detailing of what makes one better in specific instances over another - that it is not a mindless whim - and in so doing, hopefully will illustrate a means of others interested in 'seeing' more clearly choice choosing in their theming, something sorely lacking in almost any instruction on the subject...  [there is a caveat on this, tho - what I may choose per one over the other is based on my own personal viewing of the world,  and another's viewing,  being their own and as such different experiences, would as such be different YET AS VALID,   just a different set of perimeters being worked]

Possibilities [on a Small Scale]...

Am doing studies [ a rarity for me ] of possibles in what landscapes to be in the water drop hanging from the faucet in "Clear In The Air"...   at the top is how it/they might look on the faucet, and below is showing how the landscapes look if seen as the landscapes...   the photo, as seen, is about the size in real life, or just a tad smaller - so that gives an idea of the size am playing with here...  all done with FW acrylic inks using a crow quill nib...

Trainstation

Finished Paint!!
Hugs
M.Ramos

Urban Jungle is finished !

It is finally completed and is based on a photograph I took of Mia. Mia is our Tabby cat we brought home from the local shelter. She makes a great model.

Urban Jungle is painted/drawn using Ink, copic 0.03 and Sakura .05 and watercolor pencil wash on my favorite

Fabriano Artistico Bright White Watercolor paper.

My paintings take a long time to complete because of the level of detail and painted in my studio on my NW Oregon Farm.

All but the View........

With the rest of the piping sections finished, the rendering is complete save for the landscape in the water drop - yet to be done...

Piping It In...

Going section by section - with four more yet to get to - am getting the piping  that comes from the ground...   once done, then all that is left, essentially, is the landscape in the water drop...

Finishing the Fittings...

The plunger rod, brace, and handle  were next to be done...   mostly used the Micron on this, tho the hand part of the handle had mostly the Staedtler used...

Fitting parts together.....

The pump section now is done, using an old Micron 005 in a stippling fashion for the light side, and using the Staedtler 0.05 in a stroking fashion, going up/down in a continuous motion for the shade part...  in so doing this, there is little pressure of the pens onto the canvas, just letting the tip lay and the ink to flow, going over and over until the desired grading of shading is deemed satisfactory...  and, for the light  stippling, there the tip is just touching the canvas so as to leave as little of the ink as can...

Fine Points...

Turning now to the Staedtler 0.05, begin covering the light side of the metal...  once that is done, then the mid section will be furthered - and, after the top is done, the shadows set correctly... and, along  with that, the stain variations of corrosion will be added...

Beginnings.........

This is being done with a Micron 005, on a 24"x18" primed Fredric canvas sheet...   and is being stippled...  eventually I'll apply a Staedtler 0.05 pigment liner...