Orpheus | Angel (aged version)

Here is a version of the recent Orpheus | Angel drawing digitally aged with a texture I found on the web. I know this is a bit hokey, but I was interested in seeing what the drawing might look like a few hundred years from now...

Creator (WIP)

Work-in-progress painting of a God figure for the Heaven and Hell series.

Creator, 2011, acrylic on board, 16" x 12".

Below is a slightly updated version, still in progress:

The Eyes of Rainer Maria Rilke

The poet Rilke has long been an influence of mine, especially the Duino Elegies, a series of 10 epic poems, that are partly the inspiration for my Heaven and Hell series. It was mostly for this reason that I decided to incorporate a portrait of Rilke himself in this series. Here are 2 versions of this piece, with the more recent one being more accurate and intense, I believe.

The Eyes of Rainer Maria Rilke (version 2), 2011, ink & china marker on paper, 16.5" x 14".

The Eyes of Rainer Maria Rilke (version 1), 2011, ink & china marker on paper, 16.5" x 14".

Some new life drawings

I was over at the Art Society of Kingston (NY) last night for the life drawing session, organized by a friend of mine, Jim Stevenson. I don't get to go very often due to scheduling problems, but I made it last night. Below are 3 of the more interesting drawings I produced.

2-minute life drawing, pencil on paper, 12" x 9".

30-minute life drawing, pencil on paper, 16.5" x 14".

30-minute life drawing, pencil on paper, 16.5" x 14".

Orpheus | Angel

This is another new drawing for the Heaven and Hell series. The title refers to Rainer Maria Rilke's two most important poetic works, The Duino Elegies (from whence I have borrowed a number of angels) and the Sonnets to Orpheus.

Orpheus | Angel, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 16.5" x 14".

The Soul of Blake

Here is a new brush & ink drawing from a photo of the death mask of the artist/poet, William Blake, for my Heaven and Hell series. Blake has long been an inspiration of mine, & it seems fitting that he be included in some way in this series.

The Soul of Blake, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 16.5" x 14".

Original photo was by Joanna Kane, from a book entitled "The Somnambulists", apparently. The photo comes up very frequently if you do a Google image search.

On High

Here, from the Heaven and Hell series, is a painting of a celestial being enthroned in Heaven.

On High, 2011, acrylic on board, 16" x 12".

On High (unfinished version), 2011, acrylic on board, 16" x 12".

Forsaken

This is my recent drawing for the weekly collaboration with LA-based artist NC Mallory. This week's theme was "Forsaken", chosen by him.

Forsaken, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 10" x 8".

You can see the 2 combined drawings here and the entire series (19 so far) here.

Ghost Highway

Sometimes I like to invert my drawings in Photoshop just to see if there is anything new in there. Here is one I did today, called "Excavated Highway" that I like very much in negative:

Ghost Highway (Excavated Highway inverted), 2011. The original is ink on paper, 16.5" x 14". You can see the original here.

Time Traveler

This is the latest in a series of drawing collaborations with artist NC Mallory. He's on the west coast of the US, I'm on the east.

Time Traveler, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 10" x 8".

You can see the combined works here, and the series of collaborations with NCM on Flickr here.

Bête Noire

Another new ink drawing for the Heaven and Hell series, a creature with 8 eyes. I was thinking that with this many eyes, the usual optical trick that I've seen used often, of putting 2 sets of eyes on a regular face, would not be so noticeable. However, I may have been wrong...

Bête Noire, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 16.5" x 14".

All Souls

This is a new smallish acrylic painting for the Heaven and Hell series. I think it came out quite well & may lead to other, similar works on this theme.

All Souls, 2011, acrylic on plywood, 12" x 12".

Here is an earlier, work-in-progress version:

The working title for this was "Where Life Begins and Ends", which I may re-use for another piece.

New Ink Drawings (Heaven & Hell, Journey to Somewhere, Other)

Here are some new ink drawings, medium-size. The first is part of a collaboration with Barry Farmer, which was previously entitled "Images of Egypt", but that proved to be too limiting, so we've renamed it "Journey to Somewhere", as we don't know where we're going with this, & probably won't until we get there.

The next 2 are from the Heaven and Hell series, which I'm hoping to finish relatively soon (it's been around 20 years), with a target of 100 artworks. I'm up to around 72 already. The final drawing is just an exercise of drawing an archetypal face, but it turned out quite well.

The Boulevard of History, 2011, ink on paper, 16.5" x 14". From Journey to Somewhere.

Swimmer in the Sky, 2011, ink on paper, 16.5" x 14". From Heaven and Hell.

Of Sunlight, 2011, ink on paper, 16.5" x 14". From Heaven and Hell.

Ink Drawing of a Head, 2011, ink on paper, 16.5" x 14".

Angel Peering Over a Wall

Here is a new acrylic painting for the Heaven and Hell series:

Angel Peering Over a Wall, 2011, acrylic on board, 14" x 11".

There are currently about 70 artworks in the Heaven and Hell series. You can see them here.

Madonna in a Rocky Landscape

Another new drawing from the Heaven and Hell series.

Madonna in a Rocky Landscape, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 14" x 11".

Arch Angel

The title may be a dubious visual pun on "Archangel", but I like the way this drawing forms a sort of vortex in the center. I've been looking at quite a bit of Blake recently, so that's probably where it came from. For the Heaven and Hell series.

Arch Angel, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 14" x 11".

2 new drawings from Heaven and Hell

These are 2 ink drawings I did yesterday for the series, which I assume will number around 100 artworks when finished:

Lucifer Dancing, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 12" x 9".

Angel at the Doorway, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 14" x 11".

Machines of the Ancients

This is a new drawing that I think I've overworked...however, I'll look at it and think about it some more.

The Machines of the Ancients, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 12" x 11".

The Birdman is Wounded

Here is an old drawing from 1993, never photographed before:

The Birdman is Wounded, 1993, brush & ink on paper, 16.5" x 11.75".

Life on Other Worlds

Is there intelligent life on other worlds? I would hope so, & that the human race isn't the best that the universe can do. Here's a little drawing I did today for no particular reason...though my kids were watching Avatar on DVD...

Life on Other Worlds, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 11" x 14".

Pencil sketch of a woman's head

Another pencil drawing I did the other day. I tend to prefer ink, because of its greater contrast & lack of smudginess, but pencil allows for mistakes, erasing, and softer lines. So, it's nice to be using pencil again...

Pencil sketch of a woman's head, 2010, pencil on paper, 14" x 11".

Happy New Year, by the way.