Time for some fine sandpaper a chamois.

Then the gesoo, then the sandpaper, and a brush. Dust away.

Then the gel, squeegee.

Paper and brayer.

Weights and wait.

Many missives in this little red Fabriano Sketchbook. Each drawing in this body of work is made with a fixed width fountain pen. Each drawing has a conversation with the drawing before and the drawing after.

The lack of opacity of the Fabriano sheet allows a reader to experience the show through drawing on the verso and the full drawing on the recto. This creates a rhythm and a linear experience a story line as one pages through.

There is no meaning to the marks until the reader views the drawings in context. The experience create a narrative of imagination.

Back in the studio in August and it's already been very productive. My last visit I completed another drawing in a new series.

These drawings consist of three repetitive marks drawn in columns. I'm learning about how the columns react based on speed, ink, and drawing impelments. This drawing was made using prefilled drawing pens. They create a consistant line and tone. I love the different experience from close and distant views. Still, they don't run out of ink for many. many marks. This is not consistant with my need to use measuring as a key element in making my recent work.

Finding a rhythm, 1, 2, 3.

After filling some pages with lines moving in various directions I defined a zone in which to draw a series of short lines. Each grouping of three is stacked on another three. These marks create an undulating column. 

I began drawing a series of these columns and investigated the resulting lines. This image is one small test drawing. Using different drawing tools changes the appearance of the three line groups and ultimately the motion of the columns. I'm currently making a series of drawings based on these marks.

The difficulty is in motivation. How to get started drawing when I was stuck? This almost never happens. Yesterday I was able to get started in the studio again. I had an art play date. Artgal Amy Ralston brought some supplies over and the two of us just experimented. Every once in a while we would chat, stop for a cup of coffee, or show eachother what we had made so far. I took to filling this page with lines — feeling the movement, playing with gaps and patterns. I was able to get something going.

It takes not being too serious and eliminating the expectations of outcome.

These are new drawings the first that I have made in the new year. I had to start somewhere and something said: Make a purple drawing, very purple.

It is always difficult to make new work in the aftermath of hanging a show. The adrenalin has fallen, the body wants to sleep and the head is full of new ideas. It's just the hands that are unwilling. But now three weeks later I'm ready to get back to drawing. My head is full of ideas not of drawings but of marks I want to make and the processes I look forward to experiencing. It will be more experimentation with ink and tools that may or may not be unexpected.

Sometimes it's really a good day to look at someone else's work and get inspired.