Some things trigger memories. Memories of places that echo time spent there. I was pacing the bison herd on the eastern fringes of the Tetons National Park last summer. This bull was seemingly having a bad day. He was snorting and pawing the ground, just kicking up the dust. The little bison calf just didn’t care. He walked within a few feet of the bull nonchalantly pausing to scratch his ear.
The bull's hooves clattered against the rocks as he made the river crossing. Just before he crossed the river he stopped to take a drink. As soon as he took a couple of big gulps of water his attitude improved. Nothing like a cool drink to improve a disposition.
It is easier to draw big. It is harder to draw small. I just completed a series of mini drawings, each just 6 x 6” total drawing surface. That means the hawk in the drawing is about 1/24th life size.
When you draw small, pencils have to be sharper. The lines must be more refined. The values require more definition. The clay surface is smoother than my usual fine art drawing paper and more demanding.
The challenge with small is that everything has to be better. I’m hoping that this level of attention to detail translates to more effective drawing on a larger area. The smaller I draw, the more I must leave out. There just isn’t room for every line. Eyes are so important and so very tiny in these mini pieces.
Many people think that the smaller you draw, the less time it takes. That's not entirely true. What really happens is that a square of 1 inch becomes a square of 1/10th of an inch and the artist has to solve the problem of filling the space with meaning regardless of size.
How do you get the texture that fills an inch to meaningfully fill a space one tenth as big? Proportionately, the tip of the pencil increases in size as the surface shrinks. As the drawing surface gets smaller, the drawing tools cover more area with each stroke.
Proportion is a bigger challenge when you drop in size as well. Even the smallest mistakes barely the width of a hair, are sometimes enough to throw relative size and position off.
Size matters. Words like exquisite, elegant, and simply wonderful describe small works. Powerful, attention getting, dominating can describe the best of the biggest. Can that same power translate to the tiny?
Four of my miniature drawings are the May Art Special. Check them out on my website at Monthly Special.
In researching giclee printing, I stumbled across an interesting point of view. The authors of the giclee society web site maintain that digitally created art can be shared only in the media in which it was created or, in case oftwo2 dimensional art, by printing on a giclee printer. Further, once digitally created art is printed, the print is considered an original. This means that every print of a digitally created work is the original, an infinite number of them.
For the fine art collector this concept is stunning. One of the conceptual underpinnings of owning original art is the idea that you have purchased one of a kind. The original drawing or painting is uniquely one, not many. There is nothing like the original. Nothing looks like the original. Nothing lasts like the original. Nothing hangs on your wall like an original.
Creators of digital art include those who paint or draw with an electronic stylus and those who click the shutter of their digital camera. These artists further maintain that digitally scanned work is a cheap imitation of the original. They say that the giclees print, no matter how perfect, of art produced by hand outside the manipulation of digital mediation is a copy and not worthy of consideration as an original work. But their work is nothing but original.
For the non-digital creative artist there is truth to the claim. In oils and acrylic painting the method, while considered two dimensional, has elements of three dimensional work. Paint builds up on canvas and this build cannot be replicated by the printer. Graphite smudges. Giclee prints don’t smudge. Graphite reflects light and giclees prints don’t.
What it comes down to is a question of value. Should something, photograph or digital painting, that can be produced an infinite number of times carry the same value as a hand crafted fine art original?
I invite your comments and insights about this topic. What do you think?
Last summer I was standing by the Yampa River in Steamboat Springs Colorado. It was a beautiful warm day and the river was moving with an almost hypnotic flow of currents curving around rocks. I sat down to enjoy the view. Within a few moments this little weasel joined me. He was clearly interested in me, his bright eyes shining. He would scan the surrounding area with a quick intensity and then turn his gaze to me. In a flash he would be gone, disappearing into the cool darkness behind the boulders lining the river. Just as suddenly he would reappear to scan me.
I would pretend not to see him and this seemed to embolden him. With quick feet he would race to a vantage point that was a little closer but still carefully chosen for its escape routes. We, the weasel and I, spent a couple of companionable hours in each other’s company.
After he was gone I was left with reflections. First, the weasel is an intense animal. My father once called a weasel we watched a “high protein” animal. I thought this one was intelligent, quick, and curious. "Cute" my wife says. Healthy, sleek, and well groomed also come to mind.
The weasel is a flesh eater. It is savage. When it kills, it is ferocious with a no nonsense business attitude. Does the weasel deserve the negative applets of "sneak," "back-stabbing," and "dishonest"? No. With the weasel, you pretty much get what you see - a small, dynamic, package of pure killer. I’m glad it comes in small packages weighed in ounces and not pounds.
I wonder what it thought of me?
Interested in purchasing this art? Just click here to send an inquiry: contact me
A storm is blowing into the Colorado Rockies. Cold and snow are piling up on the door step but I’m walking on a beach in my memory. The Outer Banks near the Currituck Lighthouse is beautiful in June. It's the perfect place for long walks on the beach. My wife and I are kept company by Sandpipers who race their reflections to delectable little morsels of food. On the beach, sushi is for the birds.
My art triggers many memories. I look at a drawing and think, “I was there once.” I remember great times with family. Many sand sculptures were carved. Dragon sculptures were a favorite whose fierceness melted in the inevitable rise of high tide. Watching my sons and their cousins play in the surf always brought a smile. Beach times were great times.
There is simplicity in this drawing. It’s not complicated, just a bird and a fuzzy reflection. But as I look at it, the drawing begins to reveal subtle things. Questions take shape, “Where is that bird going?” As it skitters from one place to another, is there a split second where it flies, neither claw touching the ground?” “How can such slender legs move so quickly?” Most of all, “Why do Sandpipers like to keep me company?”
This drawing will keep my memories warm in winter. Warm places and good memories, the combination could not be better.
Limited edition giclee prints of the Currituck Sandpiper can be purchased from my web site or contact me directly to place an order.
When rushing from one art fair to another, it always seems that time is short and the must do list is long. Hurry up is a constant companion to giddy up. So, it was peddle to the metal on my way to Jackson, Wyoming, a travel day of 600 long miles.
But every now and then you just have to stop and look. I was just a few miles outside Boulder, Wyoming, when I spotted an osprey nest. One osprey was resting in the nest and the other was perched on a fence post a hundred yards to the north.
The nest was located down by a stream and the road rose to a height just across from the nest. Fortunately, a nearby turnout made for an easy, instant decision. I pulled the jeep off the road, grabbed my camera, and walked back to that place on the road right across from the nest. Maybe, just maybe, I could shoot down into the nest and get a picture of an adult osprey and her chicks.
As I approached the osprey in the nest, it let out a short, sharp whistle. The closer I came, the more rapidly it called to its mate. The other osprey on the fence post casually glanced over its shoulder and then, with a beat of its wings, took off flying away from the nest.
I watched as it went behind a line of trees and made a sharp turn to the west. I thought that it was going to fly around the bluff on my left and come in from behind where I was standing. What a great opportunity for some action shots, I thought. In anticipation I set my camera for six frames a second. With my 500 mm lens I should be able to get 20 or 30 good shots.
Unknowingly, I was just about to get a first hand lesson in dynamic soaring.
With my finger on the shutter and my camera rock solid on my monopod, I waited. The osprey rocketed out from behind the edge of the bluff. It must have been traveling well over a hundred miles an hour. With claws extended it zeroed on my position. In reflex my finger held down the shutter. I took three frames, one half a second worth of shooting, before biting the dust. That long lens must make things look bigger than they really are.
Just a few days later I was watching an osprey hunt over the big bend of the Snake River in the Tetons. It would skim the river at high speed several times. When it spotted what it wanted it gained elevation and then dived into the water flying out of the depths with a fish in its claws. I found out that the osprey can dive up to 12 feet under water to catch its prey.
How absolutely awesome.
I couldn't wait to get back to my studio and draw an osprey from this trip. You can purchase limited edition giclee prints of "Osprey In Flight" by visiting Art Works - Bird Collection at my website at http://jsullivanart.com.
Have you ever seen an eagle drawing? I have. I’ve seen eagles scribing lazy circles hundreds of feet in the air. I’ve seen them drawing high speed lines over grassy fields. I’ve seen them drawing a bead on unsuspecting rabbits and ground squirrels. I’ve seen eagles drawing. And, I’ve seen a drawing of an eagle; several in fact.
"Empty Nest" was my drawing about a bald eagle leaving his nest in a flurry of adolescent feathers kicked out to fend for himself. A bald eagle falling into the sky from a post six feet high turned into my drawing, "Eagle On A Post." The drawing, "Eagle Hearts" honors a wedding and featured a bird and her reflection mated for life. The two birds are alike, but different. Just like a happily married couple.
Graceful lines, sharp beaks, powerful claws capture my attention and in doing so draw on my imagination. Perhaps it is my imagination that makes the eagle’s story come to life for me. Perhaps it is many years experience hiking and working outdoors. Perhaps it is a combination of watching and waiting.
Whatever the story, freedom is found in eagles. Freedom from demands of cell phones and e mails, and artificial urgency. It is the freedom found in the struggle for survival where there is time just to be an eagle.
"To Be An Eagle" is the first of three eagle drawings I'm currently working on. "I Am Eagle" is also finished that you can see at Art Works, New Work Collection
During March 2010, "To Be An Eagle" is my monthly special purchase. Check it out at Monthly Special.
I have especially enjoyed drawing performing artists. And, I greatly enjoy listening to music of many kinds. The very most fun for me is listening to the work of the musician I am drawing. What a symbiotic experience! They play, I draw. I honor the following musicians with a combination of my drawing and a short bio of their expertise.
Barbara Haffner
Barbara Haffner is a professional cellist whom I met in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where she was playing in one of the local summer concert series. While creating photo references for Barbara's commission, she lovingly played her cello and I took about a 150 photos.
We talked about her early days as an musician, starting when she was only five years old. In the drawing, I included a depiction of her as a child learning to play foreshadowing her current, very professional countenance. It was truly a joy to meet, photograph, talk with, and draw this lovely woman whose music is equally lovely.
Darren Skanson
I first heard Darren playing at an art festival. His soothing music adds to the ambiance at many Colorado summer art shows for visitors and artists alike. Darren's light classical guitar music has a timeless classical sound with familiar melodies and fresh new compositions.
With 25 years of study and performance, Darren Curtis Skanson is a force that is rising. People of all ages love the timeless classic sound of his guitar. As well, he is an all around wonderful person, dad, and survivor in the challenging world of performing arts. I enjoy listening to Darren play over and over. Check him out at www.skanson.com
Gregg Hansen
Gregg always seems to have a smile on his face which reflects his smooth, mellow, musical guitar style. A lifelong professional musician, Gregg has engaged in many international styles of guitar and percussion as a performer across the country.
He often plays with a celtic group called Peace and Love and Jigs and Reels. If you like Irish music, you'll be smiling and clapping when you hear this group. Plus, he is a great drummer who taught me about the concept of entrainment. Look for him wearing the same cap as in the drawing I made of Gregg, a great guy and a very talented musician. Here's one link to his work www.pljr.com.
Zach Nichols
One of the wonderful things about Zach is just how much his family loves him and supports his musical talent. I was floored when I found out this young guy has already played at Red Rocks here in the Denver foothills. WOW! That's usually a venue for the older and nationally established performers. So, that's my way of saying, this guy's music is already on a big time roll.
His music has been described as having a mellow acoustical feel to it including an incredible voice. He's such a handsome guy, too. I don't get to draw the young and talented very often! Give Zack a listen at http://zacknichols.com.
Coming next "Dog Commissions - Part 4 or 4" You don't have to be a musician to request your own commission! Please visit Commissions by J B Sullivan to see other examples and download a brochure about how to order a commission. Or, just contact me directly with any questions.
In Antelope Flats to the east of the Grand Tetons, it was early morning. The day was just beginning to heat up. My wife, Kaye, and I were doing a slow crawl in our jeep through the bison herd. With no fence between us and the protective cows or the randy bulls, we wanted to be alert to potential danger.
In any sizeable bison herd there are always hot spots of activity. Sure there is a lot of just standing around and the congregations of cows and calves focused only on the business of eating and grooming. What attracts our attention this morning is a bull about a hundred yards to the north who seems to have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. He is snorting and pawing the ground like a badger with a migraine.
I’ve been looking for action scenes of wildlife. I want to do more drawings with energy and excitement in them and fewer with the Grand Monarch just chewing his cud. So, I’m in favor of getting a little closer to the bull. Kaye isn’t so sure.
As we start to edge away from the cows and a calf, I hear this scratching sound and moans of pure pleasure. I look over my shoulder and not twenty feet away there is this calf scratching his chin on an old fence post. The bull with the mad on is just going to have to wait. He can’t compete with pure cute.
It is easier to draw big. It is harder to draw small. I just completed a series of mini drawings, each just 6 x 6” total drawing surface. That means the hawk in the drawing is about 1/24th life size. 
The challenge with small is that everything has to be better. I’m hoping that this level of attention to detail translates to more effective drawing on a larger area. The smaller I draw, the more I must leave out. There just isn’t room for every line. Eyes are so important and so very tiny in these mini pieces.
Size matters. Words like exquisite, elegant, and simply wonderful describe small works. Powerful, attention getting, dominating can describe the best of the biggest. Can that same power translate to the tiny?
Last summer I was standing by the Yampa River in Steamboat Springs Colorado. It was a beautiful warm day and the river was moving with an almost hypnotic flow of currents curving around rocks. I sat down to enjoy the view. Within a few moments this little weasel joined me. He was clearly interested in me, his bright eyes shining. He would scan the surrounding area with a quick intensity and then turn his gaze to me. In a flash he would be gone, disappearing into the cool darkness behind the boulders lining the river. Just as suddenly he would reappear to scan me. 
