Winter of discontent.......

(C) 2018 Dale DiMauro

This winter with the early extreme cold weather and the dwindling snow accumulations has left me less inspired to paint snow scenes. Not to mention all the ice underfoot. 

As I walk into town I relish the fresh snow accumulations draped over the old homes and landscape in my neighborhood. The patterns of snow and late winter light really light a bulb in my imagination.

With this kind of winter I have chosen to improve my portrait studies and attain a greater knowledge of the proportions of the human figure. Many people have responded to my portrait studies which suggests they recognize the figure at hand. This drawing in my sketchbook, my wife recognized as a self-portrait even though only half the face is depicted. As a result, I am encouraged and inspired to make great progress in capturing the human body by spring.

However, I am looking forward to painting more landscapes. As a matter of fact I have ideas for some bigger paintings. When the weather becomes more agreeable I will be eager to paint outside again with some new gear I got at Christmas.

Pen & Ink

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

There is something so basic that a pen provides. Pen and paper can go a long way. I do not need a pencil sharpener, and I seldom carry an eraser. Pen does not smear either. In fact, I have been at church services when the sermon gets really boring; as others nod off, I simply pull out my pen and start doodling. Before you know it ideas and images start pouring out. I can't keep up with the rapidly emerging thoughts that are evolving from my mind to my pen.

This is a drawing from one of my sketchbooks, back in 1993. Through the years I have done many drawings in pen and ink. For some doodles I have used such a basic writing instrument as a Bic pen. For other more elaborate drawings such as the one above, I have used technical and even fountain pens. Here, I used colored inks from a bottle where the pigment is really concentrated, with a brush to depict individual plants. This is a detail of an imaginary landscape. With a background in landscape architecture and hands-on experience, I have learned much about all kinds of plants and their growing habits.

Through the years I have evolved to using watercolor with black ink, which conveys an illustrative appearance. The pen provides the structure or perspective while the watercolor gives it atmosphere and temperature. In a future post or posts I will provide more examples, but for today I just wanted to talk about using a pen. So get busy -- because we all basically carry a pen with us most days. You will forever look at the world differently.