Sketch for The Ship of Fools

Since I haven't been able to get out to my studio & work much recently, due to family visits, sick kids, wallowing in nostalgia (see posts below) & so forth, I felt compelled to grab a piece of the nice "fine granite" printer paper & a pencil or two & sketch out an idea that's been gestating inside my head (as they tend to do) for a while now for a large (maybe epic) piece. The subject matter might have been a little more appropriate a few months ago (the ship of state sinking, lunatics at the helm) if you get my drift (sic, ha ha), but it's a universal motif & you can bet that somewhere right now there are a bunch of fools in a ship (as it were) heading for the brink of disaster...or something like that. Anyway, here you go:


Clicking the pic will give you a bigger view. You'll have to use the back arrow on your browser to get back here, however. But, you probably know that already. I'm just saying.

Sketch for The Ship of Fools, 2009, pencil on paper, 11" x 8.5". I did increase the contrast in Photoshop for visibility, btw. Done on the kitchen counter, like the real pros do (note the surprising lack of coffee stains). I may develop the figures into more "human" forms, also they are rather static. I've done this subject before, but in some ways, this version is more literal, tho still allegorical...

I should perhaps mention that Bosch did my favorite version of The Ship of Fools.