Ghost Factory Magazine

A painting of mine is being featured as the cover art for Ghost Factory, a literary magazine edited by David Peak. For more information and to purchase a copy of this independently produced publication go to Ghost Factory magazine’s website.

This is my first cover, and the first time I have really made work as part of a collaborative process with a publisher. I want to thank David Peak for his support in giving me the opportunity to work with him.  

Sleeping Figures

I am exploring a new use of my materials with this group of figure studies.

About a year ago I began collecting scraps of paper and cardstock to use as painting surfaces. Instead of using them as I found them, I ended up stockpiling them and continuing to work on canvas until about four months ago.   At that point my library of found paper took up almost a quarter of my studio space, and as I went through it, I ended up discarding a lot of the cheaper cardboard pieces, and the flimsier papers.

The prize of the collection was a stack of wheat colored archival paper that had served as the dividers in a portfolio of Donald Judd drawings I was framing at work. The graphite/charcoal drawings I have posted here recently were done on this paper, but recently I have been looking for an approach that would create a greater range of values while still showcasing the color of the paper.

 I returned to this motif of a sleeping figure over several days as I introduced myself to these new materials. The technique of laying down a un-modulated white shape, before dropping in a layer of shadow, and finally the line work, lends itself to a study of gesture. In imagining the postures in the studio, I found it satisfying to re-experience the rhythms of oversleeping. 

Composite Drawings

These are two more in the series of composite drawings I have been working on in the last few months. I have been using a wheat colored paper with a slick surface that allows pencil lines to be erase easily. For these drawings I laid down a preliminary drawing in a soft pencil, then inked the contours with a waterproof pen, and finally toned the image with soft lead and white charcoal.