"Blessed" (Final)

($150.00......10" x 8"....Mixed Media on 140 lb. HP......Mounted on a 2" Depth Clayboard)

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the set of mockers." (Psalm 1:1) This is only one of three verses from Psalm 1, but it is finally finished. It is a timeless message and one of my favorites from The Psalms.

My hope today is that you can see how straight lines of tiny script bring stability and calm to an otherwise overly energetic piece. From the beginning, it was all about values and contrast.

 Black serves as the "grounding neutral" in the piece with "grayed" complementary colors paired together.  Just to recap from yesterday that one of the reasons this combination works well together is because there is very little detail in the colored areas and all of the more textured areas appear in the black mono printed papers.

This gives another option for the myriad uses of mono printed papers. This is definitely not my one and only of this combination of elements. So think along with me as I share a thought or two about where this could go. You will undoubtedly come up with ideas of your own. My next foray into this approach is to go much larger and use 1.50"...2.00"...and 4.00" brayers to deliver the color to the paper.

This might be a good time to do a few thumbnails on how the stripes could be arranged. They could be all horizontal, all vertical, a combination of both, or a few diagonals thrown into the mix. It will also be exciting to play around with space intervals. In other words, they don't all need to be evenly spaced. In fact, they will almost make it look contrived. Syncopated spacing is always a better option to begin with. Many of you who have done mono printing at Buck Hill Studio will have many black papers to play around with. I hope you will give it a try.

Also, check out the erratic line work that other abstract artists use in their work. Carole Pickle is a great one to google. Also look at the work of Katherine Chiang Liu. And don't forget Sue Costa and her magic with her favorite charcoal pencil. All of these artists have different approaches to line work. One more favorite is Juanda Powell's piece in the "Fully Alive" exhibit at Open Doors Gallery at Hill Country Bible Church of Austin. The line work is phenomenal. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Contact me personally to inquire about this piece.