Ever have a dream that you could only admire from a distance? That no matter how hard you tried or how hard you worked, always seemed out of reach? That lived outside of what seemed meant for you? The newest piece in my Lost series is about just that. Meant to evoke a sense of sadness and yet wonder and an ethereal dream like state this piece showcases beauty shrouded in darkness and captured as if behind a globe of glass. When I began to plan out this series this image was always meant to be a keystone, the image that helps to hold up the collection and set the foundation for what the series is about.
The series itself is about personal reflection and the unknown destinations and experiences that have been visited and occurred through this interesting time in my life. Like most of my work they are meant to be metaphors or allegories that help to express the emotion I have felt during this time.
At 12×8 inches this is the largest landscape drawing that I have completed to date and required the most time to produce. It is also what I consider a cumulative piece, one of the few pieces that I have created that called on nearly all of the techniques I discovered while working through my previous series such as Rise, Beauty and Destruction, and Highs, Lows, and Everything In-between. There are plenty of times when I have used previous methods (Afterall that is natural development) but few that call on so many different methods as this. For example in the clouds alone I worked heavily with layering both darks and lights which was picked up in early pieces like Standing Tall and Aftermath, while also working very cautiously with paper-white and the eraser to create a glow as I had done in Persistence Through Fear. I applied nearly 5 different texture techniques to the grass, and many more to the trees.
Below are few detail zooms:
This piece has already garnered a lot of sales inquiries. It is unfortunately not for sale. Due to the nature of what I do as an educator I am required to exhibit pieces as a part of my “creative research” to promotion and tenure (I have achieved tenure but will be seeking the rank of full professor shortly). With all that said, I do plan to have archival quality prints available for sale soon through Society6. Prints will be sold at 3 different sizes and be available framed and unframed.
My next piece is another landscape in a very similar vein, heavy in the darks, some optical effects. It will be larger, but no worries though very detailed with texture it will not be as technically difficult. Stay tuned for more posts coming soon with some design work and a return to Dallas TX to the National Student Show and Conference.
