Cautious Man sketch

This is a fairly quick & simple sketch of a head I did with the new brush pen. I'm still getting used to it...one thing I did notice is that I go through the cartridges of ink quite fast...after 2 or 3 drawings I had to install the second one (it comes with two).

Cautious Man, 2011, brush pen on paper, 10" x 8".

Head Inspired by Leonardo's Leda

This is another drawing with the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen...I haven't had much time to use it since yesterday, but here is a drawing inspired by a famous one by Leonardo...I didn't look at his version when I drew this, relying upon only memory to produce this homage...

Head Inspired by Leonardo's Leda, 2011, pen brush on paper, 16.5" x 14".

Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome

Today I bought my first Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, with a little trepidation. I've tried using various kinds of synthetic or high-tech(ish) drawing implements before with mixed results. However, with the brush pen, I think I've found something useful at last. While not quite as versatile as an old-school pen or brush, it combines the two well, and seems to produce an interesting range of marks & strokes. Its one big advantage over a regular brush is that I don't have to constantly stop drawing to dip the tip of the brush into the ink pot. This speeds things up considerably...more to follow...

Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, 2011, brush pen on paper, 16.5" x 14".

Sentient

This one seems to have a life of its own, in an odd way.

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

Beauty

It's always risky to give a drawing a title like "Beauty"...

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

This is my half of this week's collaboration with NC Mallory, where we both draw an image based on a specified theme ("beauty" this week). You can see the combined images here.

Lonely Man and Mountains

My latest melancholy head:

Lonely Man and Mountains, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

Woman in a Storm

The latest in a series of somewhat iconic heads done in ink (mostly) on tinted paper. The paper is actually Canson pastel paper, so it has a surface texture not intended for ink drawing (ink drawing paper tends to be smooth), but I find that I like/need a surface texture to work against.

Woman in a Storm, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

Cathedral of Ice

This is another ink drawing on tinted paper that I did for the "Journey to Somewhere" collaboration with artist Barry Farmer.

Cathedral of Ice, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

Wrapped in a Nest of Folds

Drawing of a head encased in drapery.

Wrapped in a Nest of Folds, 2011, brush & ink over china marker, 12" x 9".

Below is an earlier version.

The Creature Who Tried to Escape the Picture Plane

I'm not sure about this drawing, or the title, so I'm putting it here for a while so I can think about it...

The Creature Who Tried to Escape the Picture Plane, 2011, china marker & ink on textured paper, 12" x 9".

The underlying idea would be that these creatures of my imagination that I depict become self-aware & try to have a life outside of the drawing itself.

The Golem's Dream

I've drawn the Golem before, but this time the reddish, earthy tint of the paper helped give a sense of the clay composing the creature...

The Golem's Dream, 2011, china marker & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

The Angel of Time (Tempus Fugit)

This is my part of this week's collaboration with NC Mallory on a chosen theme...this week he chose "Tempus Fugit" (Time Flies).

The Angel of Time (Tempus Fugit), 2011, brush & ink on paper, 10" x 8".

You can see the combined images here.

The Girl with the Faraway Eyes

Another otherworldly head on tinted paper.

The Girl with the Faraway Eyes, 2011, china marker with ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

Thanks to The Rolling Stones for providing me with a title for this drawing.

Sleeping in the Wilderness

Another drawing on tinted paper (I bought a new pad of Canson pastel paper), this time featuring the "fetal figure" that tends to appear from time to time...

Sleeping in the Wilderness, 2011, china marker & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

Baptist

Drawing of a head done in china marker and ink. The china marker (a kind of waxy crayon pencil) gives the drswing a kind of "gritty" texture that I like.

Baptist, 2011, ink & china marker on paper, 11" x 8.5".

Keeper of the Spheres

Final tinted paper drawing (until I get some more Canson pastel paper...)

Keeper of the Spheres, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

The Light & The Valley

2 new medium-sized ink drawings:

The Light, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 16.5" x 14".

The Valley, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 16.5" x 14".

The Fisher King

The drawing below is my half of this week's collaboration with NC Mallory -- he is on the West Coast of the USA & I'm on the East. Each week (approximately) we each do an ink drawing on a chosen subject (we take turns to choose) & by the end of the week we combine the drawings & upload them to Flickr. The Fisher King is a part of the Arthurian Holy Grail legend, and you can read more about him here.

The Fisher King, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 10" x 8".

Panic

A head on tinted paper again:

Panic, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

The Honest Man

I find that working on the tinted paper is giving my drawings a bit of a new dimension, letting me go a little further into them, adding a little sensitivity, perhaps. We'll see where this leads...

The Honest Man, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

Boy

Head of a boy drawn on tinted paper...the tone of the gray gives the drawing more depth, I think.

Boy, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

A Glimpse of the Ineffable

Another ink drawing on the tinted paper:

A Glimpse of the Ineffable, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

You only get a glimpse, it seems. Any more might kill you...

Achilles' Last Stand

Another iconic figure drawing on tinted paper, this one referencing the recent "Puppet Oresteia" project with NZ poet, Jack Ross...

Achilles' Last Stand, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

The Man Who Found the Sea

Another new ink drawing of a figure on tinted paper...it has a monumental simplicity that I like...

The Man Who Found the Sea, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

Merlin 2

This is an attempt to get a better version of the Merlin drawing (see a few posts below). The earlier version, a digital photo, didn't pick up the tone of the paper very well. This one is better, though it was slightly too big for the scanner, so it's cropped a little (the signature, for example).

Merlin, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9". I think the color of the paper adds to the depth of the image.

Stumbler

Another ink drawing on tinted pastel paper (I like the texture & the color) of a figure -- this one is twisted & stumbling...could be a metaphor for a lot of things...

Stumbler, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

Parsifal

This is my half of the latest collaborative piece with artist NC Mallory (who is in LA), on the theme of Parsifal and his search for the Holy Grail:

Parsifal, 2011, brush & ink on paper, 10" x 8". You can see the combined works here, and the set of images (32 at this point) so far here.

Benediction

Another iconic drawing on tinted paper...

Benediction, 2011, brush & ink on tinted paper, 12" x 9".

Merlin

I called this one "Merlin", as that is what it made me think of...

Merlin, 2011, brush & ink on tinted pastel paper, 12" x 9".