"The Wilderness"
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My current in-progress project is a series of large graphite still-life drawings: "The Surreal Still-Lifes."
The drawings each begin with the building of a tiny assemblage, using found objects in nature, personal objects, toys, and selfmade objects. The completed assemblages are tiny 'fantasy landscapes' that I can 'walk into' and observe first-hand. Then, I draw the pieces freehand from direct observation. For me, this is the purest form of drawing. They take about 300 to 500 hours to complete.
The images are visual metaphors, full of symbolism and hidden meaning. I hope that the observer might experience the drawings as two-dimensional 'theatre'. . . where a tiny play is being acted out.
As for my technique, the drawings begin with simple line and tone, and as they evolve, become "graphite paintings."
The graphite is built up in countless layers, as in traditional oil painting. In truth, these are not literally 'pencil' drawings, because I apply and work the graphite with many tools and methods. The final result creates a vast range of values, and tremendous depth.
Apart from the pictures' content, aesthetically the series is really about my love of just simply observing pure shadow and light, and the many mysterious moods it creates.
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