Project Statement


train: wheels traveling on parallel tracks enabled by intersecting linear elements

Create 10 drawings exhibiting a unified voice by exploring the Golden Ratio as found within a locomotive drivetrain. The graphite on paper works will be executed in the coming months based on photographs of a decapod steam engine taken by the artist in 2009 at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Salisbury.

The compositions will use rotation within the confines of strict frontal views, and employ only shadow and detailed material rendering to develop a sense of depth. The conversation between subject and composition will draw on the “idea” of train and the inverse notion of what might be seen if the train moved around the wheel.

All 10 pieces will be the same size, each containing some part of a wheel in order to ground the viewer within the abstraction, much the same as the role the wheels play as they ride the rails.

Progress Bar

Progress Bar
Progress Bar: Five drawings completed

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Drawing 1: Completed!!

Okay... There's too much of the little kid in me to keep this under wrap.

I finished the first drawing last evening and I gotta say I'm happy with it - thrilled in fact!! As the first drawing in the series it's really the proof in the pudding, and the drawing came together completely as planned, which is always a welcome outcome.

Going by the number of progress pics and a couple extra times I didn't document, I sat down at the drawing board around 20 times as I rendered the piece. I didn't "clock" this one and thus don't have the "logged" hours, but really... this isn't about the clock, so I'll leave those hands on the wall to tell their story in another space.

In a wink to my day job that has me in front of a computer a lot, I've made the photo bar at the top of the blog a "progress bar". As I finish each composition I'll replace the colour picture with my drawing. For those technical folks reading this don't worry - there's no reboot at the end!

So here are the remaining progress pictures for Drawing 1, with the finished work at the bottom. If you get a kick out of clicking through these in succession let me know. It's like one of those old fashioned flip cartoons and I have to pull myself away from going through the loop over and over.

Hope you enjoy these as much as I did pushing the pencils over the page.

Thanks again for dropping by!









... Now it's back to the drawing board. :-)
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1 comment:

  1. Emily BakerMarch 15, 2012 at 4:39 PM

    I was puttering around on the laptop this evening and realized it had been a while since I'd checked out the blog... This is beautiful! (I did the flippy thing too, multiple times.) Can't wait to see it in person!
    ~Emily :)

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