'Hold' part one - digital drawing....

Many people, at first glance, think my drawings are digital prints (especially the ballpoint pen on aluminium panels)and lots of people have also asked why I don't make prints of my drawings to make them more affordable. It has always been an idea I have rejected because the whole idea of the work is that it is of the hand by the hand (in simplistic terms) and to then print it makes it something else entirely. Thinking about not doing it led me to thinking about doing it (as it does). I decided I would do a digital drawing of exactly the same dimensions as my paper drawings and then the digital print would be the acceptable and inevitable result. (I've just realised it could also be projected?) It will still be hand-drawn but with a digital pen instead of a pencil and on a digital canvas instead of paper. The size of the digital drawing will be the size of the print (or projection) and at least initially, I am going to try to replicate the process/ experience of doing my 'real' pencil drawings. Researching maximum print sizes led me to the discovery that it could be printed on clear film which is ideal for a double (layered) drawing I have been thinking of doing for a while. So a couple of weeks ago I started a digital drawing (first of two that will ultimately be layered) with a digital canvas size of 1016 x 1372 mm at 300 dpi (slightly shorter at the moment as I've removed excess white space whilst drawing to keep file size down). I am drawing with a Wacom Intuos 3 graphics pen and A6 tablet using only the pencil tools and the eraser on a single layer. (In other words a digital equivalent to my real paper/ pencil) and I have set about it in exactly the same way as I would the 'real' drawings - inital quick sketch and then gradually building up tones with a 2B pencil. The file size is pretty big  although my computer seems to be handling it O.K. so far and the experience of drawing is very weird - especially scale issues (drawing on an A6 area)/ zooming out instead of standing back and I can't control the pressure or mark as well as with a pencil  -but that may improve with practice?. I'm pretty sure that my lack of knowledge of the software etc. means I am going about it all wrong - but I think that's part of the attraction for me- approaching digital drawing with a traditional mindset.( As I'm still doing my 'activity' piece and the carbon taped to the tablet keeps transferring to my hand it's even still as messy!!) I have 2 weeks until my trial software stops working - have a feeling it won't be long enough......

Dalton Ghetti - pencil carvings.

A friend shared this link about artist Dalton Ghetti's pencil carvings which I thought were really cool so I thought I'd pass it on!

Sketchbook Project book has arrived from America...

This morning my sketchbook arrived from America. It's a 5.5 x 8.5 inch moleskine with really rubbish paper (as expected) so I think the first thing I have to do is work out how to change that! You can do anything to it provided it is still 5.5 x 8.5 inches when closed, but it will need to be pretty durable as (hopefully) hundreds of people will look through it on it's tour of America and subsequent permanent home in Brooklyn Library.
On the back is the barcode (which enables tracking of who has looked at it and when), my name and the theme I chose: 'If you lived here..'

So now the difficult bit - what to put in it?? Has to be sent back by 15th January 2011 so have a while to think about it. Country, City, Street, House, Universe, Head???? Who knows....

Good News...



One of the blogs I've been following for a while is http://drawing-paper.tumblr.com. The blog is an online supplement to Drawing Paper a printed publication which contains drawings by around 20 artists. Drawing Paper was conceived and designed by Mike Carney and Jon Barraclough from Liverpool. My work is currently featured on the blog and will also be included in Issue 2 of Drawing Paper (which is under construction and will be published to coincide with the Liverpool Biennial in September). I am really looking forward to receiving a copy of Issue 1 in the post in the next few days...

Sketchbook project


As you can see by the link on the right hand side, I've just signed up for The Sketchbook Project. I've signed for the theme 'If you lived here...' and have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do - but thought it looked fun!!