Hands and Solids
30 x 30 inches, pen and ink on hot pressed board, 2020.
Download high resolution image here: https://bit.ly/handssolids
My latest old Masters drawing using dip pen and ink. A hands and solids adventure into the mind. Using my own old Masters technique of drawing with subtle brown and red inks.
The third dimension or the dimensions are spilling on the one side of the drawing.
Peeling the hands is like peeling an orange towards an unknown destination
A Hands and Solids garden, when I draw a feel more like a Sherlock Holmes rather than Michelangelo, I'm an investigator.
It's not really as much about the drawing but about the disegno or the design and the line. I have to admit I'm not much of a colorist.
Why I Draw
Most people who work today,
most artists,
especially people who draw with pen and ink,
draw stuff.
Either representational or some doodles
or some comic book stuff, or manga, which is more close to illustration. So most of painting today is either doodles, or illustrations. or of course, tutorials, everybody does tutorials. The difference between myself and those people is that I draw ideas of the mind.
I make maps of my synapses.
These ideas draw on a body of work which has been coming for a long time, for many years, and will go on for many years. So, it is a stream of ideas. A stream of developing visuals.
So, the difference, again between myself and everybody else that draws is that I draw ideas, and I use my imagination to create worlds. And not just illustrate, or doodle. So there's a lot of intellectual work behind the work. A lot of intellectual labor goes into my visions, into the work.
Additionally, I use very special inks. I use very subtle inks. I don't use Higgins, actually I use Higgins but rarely because this ink is very assertive, very strong, and thick ink.
I don't like thick ink.
Also the paper I use is very special. I don't use any kind of paper to draw on, I use only very special paper that is very responsive to the painting, and is absolutely an ideal match. So, the technique. The ideas. And the materials are a perfect match.
