Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Carving and more carving of woodblocks.

Been working on two new woodblock prints this week.

Very addicting for some reason.

I love the old war ships from before WWI and I think I may do more of them also.

USS Olympia 24 x 14 inches. Oldest iron war ship in the world and can be found dockside in Philly PA


Also been working on another plane at the same-time. WWI Folker Tri-Plane.

Friday, February 15, 2013

More new proofs in the Gambin Ink

Titantic - Woodblock first oil proof - 21 x 6 inches

John Cudahy - Woodblock - 9 x 20 inches

"The Flying Scotsman - Woodblock - " 15" x 10" inches.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

My order of Gamblin Relief Inks are here!

Well the Postman came by yesterday and dropped off my Gamblin Relief Inks in a big box. Strange that they pack them in glass jars instead of metal tins.... must be because they are using vegetable oil rather than the other nasty stuff.

Any way I printed up two old blocks and one new one to see how the ink works. I used less than the water based Speedball inks and the coverage was fantastic. No fill-in on the fine lines and a very nice black.

Here are the AP sample proofs.
Polikarpov I-16 - Woodblock print - 18 x 10 inches

Sopwith Camel - Woodblock print - 18 x 10 inches

"The John Wilkes" - Woodblock - 22 x 9.5 inches

Monday, February 11, 2013

More Planes.

Started this Russian I-16 yesterday afternoon and got the first proof done at 2 PM. My new oil based inks are coming in today via FedEx so this is going on one of my t-shirts!

 "I-16" - woodblock first proof - 11 x 17 inches

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Why do you create all this stuff?


I believe that “Art” arose as a way to communicate between people.  The Neanderthals created fantastic works of “Art” as a way of communicating stories to each other  and we the H. sapiens managed to continue to use their communication tools.

We as humans all the way back to the Neanderthals have created ways and tools to communicate with each other.  I do believe that “Art” is one of the earliest forms of communication along with pointing and grunting. What real difference is there between using a stick to scratch a map/figure/animal form in the dirt to using a paint brush or Wacom tablet stylus and color?

It’s all just an attempt to communicate with each other.  “Art” as a communication tool sometimes does not work as good as the written word. So we tend to clutter up our first viewing of “Art” with all types of personal experiences that the creator of the “Art” may or may not have had. This is not a bad thing since it causes certain “Art” to speak to us in ways that we never expected. Beethoven's 9th, Sergeants’ Madame X and other works struck cords in my soul that still reverberate 40 years later. 

Can I tell you why these works of “Art” and others had such a profound effect on me? Not really. Sometimes I know that the "Art" work just touches our soul and grabs us by the throat , we can write and talk ourselves to death over it (as I did in college) but there will just never be an true understanding of the power of the “Art” on our physic.

This is why I create “Art”, to exorcise myself of my most powerful feelings (anger, want, nightmares, lust, etc.) and get them out there for others to see and interact with.  The basic human need to connect and communicate with others is something that we are all born with. Some of us are truly gifted with the talent of making music, using words, painting, and drawing to exorcise our self’s of personal truths/feelings and use it to communicate with others.

Working with others to communicate about my "Art" creations is most fascinating. Everyone sees something different based on their life experiences. The real understanding that both the "Art" creator and the viewer is that sometimes our “Art” of communication has more than one truth. The creator and the viewer each have their own personal experiences that they are both trying to use to understand the “Art” object and resolve into a personal truth that has importance to both of them. The best of us creators manage to use their talent to communicate with more force than others. Ernest Hemingway, Frank Lloyd Wright and others had this talent. 

Me? I'm just trying to get better at my communications with practice and yet more practice. There will never be an end point, since its almost impossible to communicate perfectly. 

“Art” is just a cry in the darkness for a truly meaningful communication with both the self and the audience.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

A James Cameron kinda day.


Well been a busy day so far. Just doing a James Cameron kinda day.
Worked on this on all day and now I just need to get a proof done to see if its any good.
Titantic - Woodblock - 21 x 6 inches
Did the first proof, looks like all I have to do is more work on the ocean and then we are done!

Titantic - Woodblock first proof - 21 x 6 inches

Well while I had the ink out and the roller all ready I inked up the"The John Wilkes" block and did a second proof. Needs some minor touches but .... almost done. (Don't mind the tape mark, I will use right sized paper for the production run. 

Might make a good tee shirt also?

"The John Wilkes" - Woodblock - 22 x 9.5 inches

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Trains! Love the old Art Deco streamliners.

Sorry so quiet on the art front but I have been working. Here is the first state of the woodblock plate of the Lehigh Valley 462 "The John Wilkes" steam streamliner.

"The John Wilkes" - Woodblock - 22 x 9.5 inches

Just got word that my order of Gamblin Relief Inks has shiped. I have been using the water based Speedball inks and to be truthful they really suck. Depending on the temp and humidity the ink is either too watery or too stiff. Its nice to clean up with water but.... I can't wait for oil based ink.

Here is an AP that I pulled of the "The John Wilkes" steam streamliner and a lot of the fine lines have been filled in and do not show. Grrrr.

"The John Wilkes" - First Proof  -Woodblock - 22 x 9.5 inches
Just an update on the Comet. I had to stop working on this one and give it up. I just could not resolve it to where I liked it. So.... I flipped it over and used the back side to do the "The John Wilkes" train instead. RIP "Comet".

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Update on Lewis Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - 2010


I heard from my friend in the UK that I painted the "Lewis Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes" below that he managed to find Lewis Hamilton and got him to sign my painting! Most cool.

Now if I could just get him to send me a pic of the painting with autograph .... Come on KEN!

(BTW If you click any of my pictures it goes to full size on your computer)
Lewis Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - 2010- 30 x 48 inches - Acrylic on linen  

Last time I saw the painting was when I hung it over my fireplace took the picture below. It was then taken off the stretchers rolled up in a mailing tube and sent off to the UK.
Lewis Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - 2010