I promise, I checked the white balance when I photographed this. And it's still yellow! 
Yes, yes, yes. This exposure is horribly yellow. I'm lazy. It is in focus - a problem that I am slowly working out. It feels so good to get into the studio to work on something I know won't make it into the grad school portfolio. I feel so free (and happy). I had the thought to stitch some of the paper I have laying around. And while I was dragging it out, I happened upon some past failed drawings. I began ripping them with the idea of attaching them to fresh pieces of paper and beginning again. By ripping off either the left or right edge, I was left with the basic composition above, and I liked it so much I began working back into it. I think my older drawings are too light mostly because I felt I couldn't reverse the ink marks I was laying down on the white paper. But I am going for it...if I want to lighten up the darker areas I am creating I think I will collage some fresh paper into the piece. Ahhh, freedom..jpg)
Here is the left side of the Botanical V diptych. These are proceeding very slowly this time round. I am carefully deliberating my choices before working on the paper.
Here finally is a photo of the latest large ink drawing I am making. It's only one panel of the piece. The other is equally large and would be displayed to the left of this one. The picture isn't fabulous. I am working on these pieces on the wall, which presents its own set of problems; but I think I realized I am not getting enough light on the drawing when I photographed it. This is the first ink drawing that experienced the influence of the smaller Drawing Project series. There it is - the damnable doilie. Perhaps I should broaden my horizons.
This panel is very new and the idea is still in its first stages. I can say that working directly on the panel with charcoal is very satisfying. Look how rich and satiny that black is.
We are still pushing along on the botanical. It's sort of only a fleeting thought, but I have sought to build these compositions by keeping one side light and working the other to a darker value. That inkling has solidified more with this piece. I seem to be working the left side with little or no water while darkening the right with layers of washes and heavy lines.
I really felt that this piece was dead in the water compositionally. I introduced the medium tone grey to begin building structure and visual hierarchy. It reads really well now online. Perhaps it is really truly finished.
I got some more face time with my drawing today. I think there are some exciting things happening with ink washes in the top part of the composition. Otherwise I have been flirting with the idea of beginning more panels. But I would like them to be rather small - 6" x 18"; and that introduces a little problem on the carpentry side. I need to find someone or somewhere with a table saw. Hmmm...The last panels I had cut at Home Depot, but there are some size restrictions involved with their equipment. And 6" x 18" is just a bit too small. Although perhaps the best thing would be to get over there and talk to them about it. 
Gosh darn tungsten lights. I'll get a better picture of this soon, but here is a new ink drawing I started today before leaving this morning for my internship. I had so much source material for the last drawing most of which I didn't get to properly explore. So I decided to begin another. I love these drawings. And this one at least feels like it's off to a good start.
Here they are...
I don't want to say too much about them, but I couldn't resist offering small comments.
This is third in the Botanical series. It is smaller than the other two drawings at 18" x 22". I think these pieces are about first impressions, and a kind of dumbed down or simplistic drawing. They are also very much about exploring ink and mark making.
This was the easiest of the three panels to execute. And it seems to have maintained a light, airy, openess. The jury is still out as to whether or not it is finished. 
I feel I finally had a breakthrough with this piece and am expanding it beyond a simple stencil and fill of the maple leaves. I am beginning to find ways to introduce visual language into this panel. Exciting!
This piece I have simply gone crazy on. Perhaps because it was the most desperate out of the three. It wasn't working out and that gave me permission to take big risks here. I have carved into the panel, applied gold leaf, scratched and sanded the paint surface. We're talking serious abuse.
I couldn't resist the urge to work back into this piece with watercolors in select areas. I'm not so sure that was the best thing. Right now I am going to take some time away from this drawing and see what I think after a few days. 
I put some more work in on this today. I am discovering new ways to articulate the various textures and shapes. I especially like the grass I am starting to build on the right side of the piece.
It was time to get to work in the studio today, and I didn't feel as if I knew where to go with the Rose Garden painting. So I grabbed my polaroid camera and took a quick walk round the block and finished out the film snapping flowers in people's gardens. I began sketching one of the photos on a gessoed canvas then it dawned on me that what interested me about the photo was the multitude of overlapping textures. So I put away the canvas and pulled out a piece of watercolor paper and my india ink. The resulting drawing is still in it's early stages. I am hoping to work up some very dense darks and textures. Unlike recently past drawing projects I think I will see this through to its resolution.
