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A network of lines that enlace
My creative output in the past three years has been woefully low, for reasons which boil down to 'chronic pain and depression suck'. However, at one point in 2013 when I wanted to play with color but didn't feel up to drawing something representational or meaningful, I started playing with my colored pencils and created a sort of dimensionally rendered knotwork. It has become my equivalent of the 'coloring books for grownups' craze that's sweeping the nation right now. It works on a nonverbal, hand-mind level that I find pleasing and soothing, and there's no expectations, so it's completely unpressured. I make the initial shapes in a very improv, unplanned way, because the whole point is not to be perfectionist about it.
It started with this page, where I was also testing out a new sketchbook, the Stillman & Birn Gamma series. They're pricey, but luckily I got a free one through work. Of all the MANY sketchbooks I've owned over the years, this has the most superb paper! It's cushy, strong, with just the right amount of texture to hold a lot of colored pencil layers but not break up the color, and handles my heavy-pressure burnishing technique like a dream. In the 'chinese amoeba' (lower right), I also tested out a new miniscule stick eraser by Tombow--truly the smallest eraser out there, and I love it! I used it to 'carve out' the outlines, then went over the lightened areas with a lighter blue.
That was fun, so I did another one with the erased-outline technique:
Later I did a bit of acanthus (lighter pressure)...
...And so on.
I just kept doing them when the occasional urge struck. The next batch is from 2014. This is one of my favorites for some reason... a more Renaissance feel.
This knot got a bit awkward... it seems like the strands are fighting rather than interlacing! I also experimented with a less uniform background, but as ever, I prefer a more evenly saturated look.
These are from 2015...
Left to my own devices, I gravitate to the same color schemes of fire colors (red/orange/yellow) or warm earth colors + intense blues, so here I tried to push myself in different directions...
...I loathe the color combo in this, and yet, in a kind of psychedelic way, it works!
Happily, this year has already been going a LOT better artistically (and in other ways), and I will post the more recent stuff as soon as I get some decent photos.
It started with this page, where I was also testing out a new sketchbook, the Stillman & Birn Gamma series. They're pricey, but luckily I got a free one through work. Of all the MANY sketchbooks I've owned over the years, this has the most superb paper! It's cushy, strong, with just the right amount of texture to hold a lot of colored pencil layers but not break up the color, and handles my heavy-pressure burnishing technique like a dream. In the 'chinese amoeba' (lower right), I also tested out a new miniscule stick eraser by Tombow--truly the smallest eraser out there, and I love it! I used it to 'carve out' the outlines, then went over the lightened areas with a lighter blue.
That was fun, so I did another one with the erased-outline technique:
Later I did a bit of acanthus (lighter pressure)...
...And so on.
I just kept doing them when the occasional urge struck. The next batch is from 2014. This is one of my favorites for some reason... a more Renaissance feel.
This knot got a bit awkward... it seems like the strands are fighting rather than interlacing! I also experimented with a less uniform background, but as ever, I prefer a more evenly saturated look.
These are from 2015...
Left to my own devices, I gravitate to the same color schemes of fire colors (red/orange/yellow) or warm earth colors + intense blues, so here I tried to push myself in different directions...
...I loathe the color combo in this, and yet, in a kind of psychedelic way, it works!
Happily, this year has already been going a LOT better artistically (and in other ways), and I will post the more recent stuff as soon as I get some decent photos.