In a previous Blog article, I mentioned how each name in my full name represents a segment of my life. My art shifted in the same manner. I started out being obsessed with drawing an image exactly like a photo or magazine image, from the facial expression to each strand of hair. I lost the original magazine page or I would have credit the photographer for the images in Phase I of the video.
My art shifted completely from exact reference to surreal and unreal images, shown in Phase II of the video. Some artists compared my work to Escher and Dali. At the time (this was a long time ago and yes, I am ancient) I didn’t know who the 2 famous artists were and had to look them up. I was stunned by their work but, in the same instance, I was crippled by their work. Anything I created after that felt like a copy of their style. I was devastated. At the same time, some different circumstances in life effected me and I stopped drawing for 15 years.
A job offer in Germany changed my life. While in Germany, I discovered and attended the Strokes Art Fair, in Munich. For those who do not know what this event is, it is a place where urban artists get together to showcase their work. A lot of artists are graffiti artist. The artistic side of my brain awaken and the urge to create began to flare. Phase III of the video show images of these artists.
I was afraid that I would not be able to draw again, but maybe starting again at the beginning would help. I again clipped magazine images and started drawing faces. I really enjoy drawing faces, especially the eyes and mouths. Phase IV of the video show some of these drawings, none of which are for sale, but mostly drawn as studies.
I wanted to draw more than just faces. I wanted to create something surreal, maybe even unreal, in the fantastical realm. My art shifted yet again, as in Phase V of the video, with images of faeries and butterfly metamorphosis.
I find that I really just love laying marks on paper, or board. With anything: pen, pencil, ink pen, paint. It occur to me that I like the idea of laying down a mark and letting that mark show me where the next mark should/must go. The marks essentially guide the image. That’s how the ink wash and ink pen stipplings in Phase VI of the video are created. The initial marks are done with India ink and then many tiny dots are added with ink pen. It’s mostly this process that I used to create the Inktobers in 2020, just following the marks from the ink wash and see where it gets me.
I’m not sure if I’m ready to be totally abstract. I still like a figure or a recognizable shape in my images. My pencil work is the same, with each pencil mark guiding the next mark, with minimal planning and sketching.
When it comes to creating art, I kept hearing the words, “Be yourself”, “Be authentic”. What if being authentic means it’s all about the process, rather than the image. I kept trying to sketch an image, but in the end, the marks always guide me to a different image, maybe one I hadn’t thought about.
Links to artists (in order of appearance) in Phase III
Instagram: @strokesartfair
Irish Urban artist Fin DAC, instagram: @findac
Isreali Urban street artist Jack TML
French street artist Romi One
