Location: United States
I have been actively learning the art of drawing on a serious and joyous daily basis since I was 14. This visual learning continues to enrich every aspect of who I am. I am truly humbled to learn from those pioneer artists of yesteryear and my contemporaries who have sacrificed so very much to master their craft and continually leap beyond the so called limits of what was thought to be impossible barriers to overcome.
Being a product of my life style predicaments I chose to earn an adequate wage to raise a small family. Thus have devoted my younger years' energies to nurture the discovery of the creative talents and or appreciation for the visual arts in others. This was as a public school art instructor for age levels 6 through 20. I also taught a Methods of Teaching Art on the Elementary School Levels at our nearby Metropolitan State College.
I now am able to pursue my own personal growth as an artist. Although i have exhibited rather extensive when time permitted; my main objective has been to first find my "voice" as a visual artist as I did in 1987. During that year I struggled within my search for creative meaning to find who I was being during the act of visual image making. It was during this intense search that I found and heard such inspiring piano compositions by Peter Kater! Very soon thereafter I ecstatically challenged myself to visually reproduce his energetic melodies and awe inspiring rhythms! This was the beginning of a wondrous journey still going strong which I call "energy drawings"!
Many of my full color drawings that have also been based on the concepts explored in 1987 have been digitally manipulated using PhotoShop to produce dazzling color changes and inspiring imagery compositions. All these are versions of or related in some way to the variety of explorational discoveries initiated in 1987 and continuing to flourish today.
These are all based on the original full color drawings of my originals that have been digitally manipulated using PhotoShop to change their colors. This dramatically enhances the visual qualities of the original color scheme and compositional impact! In many instances the most striking color variations occur when through the use of PhotoShop the original color scheme is inverted, i.e., the very striking complimentary colors digitally appear. E.g., all my drawings on white background paper become solid black or a striking contrasting blend similar to a night scene with almost neon iridescent, glowing colors "dancing" or popping right at you! There is also an infinite array of other color scheme possibilities a digitally manipulated PhotoShop version is capable ofn producing! The expertise reveals itself if a PhotoShop operator can reproduce every possible viable version and save the files that best brings forth the visual elements most suited for that particular composition.
The original drawing titled "Starburst" was drawn on white paper using primarily yellow pastels with highlights of a slightly darker yellow to suggest depth or a three dimensional illusion following the gentle curvy outlines. Created in 2004, measuring 17.5" x 23.5".
This is a digitally manipulated version based on the original drawing using PhotoShop to very dramatically invert primarily the yellow curvy forms into almost iridescent blue sweeping curves on what may look like a dark floating in deep space background. A very dramatic bright-glowing star-like glow emanates from the center-like eye of the center axis of the starburst affect. This was produced using PhotoShop in 2013.
This is using a blue value that harmonizes with the original color image of my original drawing using PhotoShop to switch my original colors into various values of blue. Original drawn using mix media, 23" x 35", 1987. This digitally manipulated version was PhotoShopped in 2013.
The original drawing is part of my Energy Series: Focal Point Drawings. This is a digitally manipulated version of my original drawing using pastels on white paper, 18" x 24" drawn in 2002 titled, "Space Twister". This was produced using PhotoShop in 2013.
This is a digitally manipulated version of my original "Rush Hour Speeders" drawn using mix media on white medium weight paper 18" x 23.5" in 1987. These colors were produced using PhotoShop in 2013.
This is a digitally manipulated version of my original "Incomparable" drawn using watercolor brush point markers in 1987, 8-5/8" x 11-3/4". These colors were produced using PhotoShop in 2010.
This is a digitally manipulated version of my drawing "Buds" drawn using water color brush point markers on white paper 23" x 35" in 1987. These colors were produced using PhotoShop in 2010.
This Realism Series is primarily my black and white drawings based on realistic themes. The one titled "Cabin-Landscape" is actually my inner concept of my version of a nature theme while in contrast the other two titled "Version of Crazy Horse" and "Boxer" are drawn while looking at a photograph of the subject being portrayed. The only drawing that was enhanced slightly by using PhotoShop to brighten and or strengthen all the colors is the one titled "Cabin-Landscape".
This is part of the Energy Drawings Series: Images Using Vertical Lines. All drawings in this series were drawn spontaneously using only vertical lines going from the far left edge of the white background paper and not stopping ntil reaching the farthest edge of the far right side of the paper. Many wrier drawn to while listening to Peter Kater's piano compositions. By this time I was drawing to my own rhythm which also meant I had found my own energy source! this drawing measures 11.5" x 17.5" drawn in 1987. This digital version using PhotoShop to just slightly brighten and strengthen the value of the colors was done 2010.
The original drawing was drawn with India black ink on Strathmore board 11" x 14", which approximates 75% of a 100%, life-size portrait. The digital capture you see here is a cropped reduced scale duplicate measuring 4" x 5". The original was drawn in 1988 while this digital capture was produced in 2013. Of course I have a digital capture stored by my printer that cam be enlarged to at least 11" x 14" or larger if requested.
This is a pencil or graphite drawing based on a magazine photograph of actor Robert DeNiro starring as Jake Lamatta in the movie "Raging Bull". Drawn in 1987, 11" x 11".
This series has what I call the essence of presence or different conceptual glimpses that either strongly suggest figures or at the other extreme may only have a subliminal possibility of a human thought process having symbolic meaning. Possibly I am trying to tap into that elusive thread of conscious awareness sometimes ranging from emphatic expressions to the simplest baby step-birthing where a single whispering voice dies a natural death or mutates into pure innocent passion!
Original was drawn using pastels on white paper in 2000, 19.5" x 25.5". This usually does not happen yet it took many "first" drafts of a composition that did not have either a focal point of interest or some hint of a dominant theme. Suddenly near the center I saw a suggestion of a almost square soft yellow rectangle that could be a towel hanging from a figure's shoulder. Soon thereafter a head, assumed neck and dominant shoulders started a strong movement to which a major blue background sweeping shape that may be interpreted as an angel wing or cape got other harmonious shapes and colors working as one major movement. The available Giclee print colors were strengthened using PhotoShop in 2010.
This is a digitally manipulated version of my original titled "Sitting Figure", drawn using watercolor brush point markers on medium weight white paper 19.5" x 25.5". This version along with another were produced using PhotoShop in 2010.
This is a digitally manipulated version of my original titled "Idea Beginning" using pastels on white paper 19.5" x 25.5" in 2002. This version was produced using PhotoShop in 2013.
“Starburst #2”
“Paradise Lost #2”
“Space Twister #2”
“"Night Speeders"”
“"Incomparable #3"”
“"Night Buds"”
“"Cabin-Landscape"”
“"Version of Crazy Horse"”
“"Boxer"”
“Moving Figure”
“"Sitting Figure #3"”
“"Idea Beginning #2"”
