PIT AND THE PENDULUM

In a search to exploit the notan style of drawing to more contemporary surroundings I found a great catalyst in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Being a fellow Baltimorean like the great American writer of short stories and poems I thought the idea encompassed not only a tribute to the master, but a nice homage in general.

I have begun the works with the intention of contemporizing cubism by giving my works a look of brushed stainless steel.
















































Initially it was my intention to do a major set of illustrations, a portfolio of all Poe's works but because this is not a commissioned work and I prefer not to put a great deal of time into something unsolicited, I will do only one more story; The Cask of Amontillado, and finish the set there.

Where this series will lead in the next step up I've no idea but I'd like to think it will have something to do with the Divine Comedy.

TRYING SOMETHING NEW

Although I've been doing this notion of painting for the poor with little success, it was evident that I expand that idea as it is a good one. With the help of my good friend Andrea my website has been updated with a new page "PORTRAITS". The site is still being revised but it can still be visited so take a look and see if it isn't the perfect site to have that long awaited portrait of yourself or a loved one finally done. The new address for my website is:

http://rolandjohnford.homestead.com/

While we're on the subject of portraits I have a new one I just finished yesterday to share with everyone.

It's funny how a lot of folks wanting their portraits done from a photo will offer the artist a snapshot where one can barely make out the features of the intended model. One time I was asked to do a portrait from a snapshot of a young lady on horseback and I could barely see the face. There were no visible nuances to bring out the girl's personality. But I did the best I could with it, doing a wonderful portrait of the horse. When I presented the painting to the fellow he complained that it didn't look anything like his daughter but I pointed out that it did look a lot like the individual on the snapshot. I always refer to this incident when I ask any prospective clients to send me a good photo without the squinty eyes facing the sun, wearing sunglasses, an image with the face no larger than the head of a pin and other foibles like this. The client may know what the apple of their eye looks like but this artist hasn't a clue and to be expected to do a nice portrait from a non-professional photo is almost impossible.

IT'S ALIVE!!

Thought I'd try something a little different so here I am working in the upstairs studio. Note the lovely view outside my window. This is what inspires me to stay in the studio most of the time.

A GREAT OPPORTUNITY

A friend of mine from church has asked me to do the illustrations for his book. I've always wanted to illustrate a book that was original. How many artists would've loved to been the first to illustrate "A Christmas Carol" or "Alice in Wonderland"? There will be many to illustrate these classics but the originals are the ones that are remembered. And so I've begun work on this new classic who's name will be revealed when it's published. Here are a couple of things I've completed already:























































I've had a great time working on these illustrations and hope the work from both myself and the author pays off in the long run. Either way, I will have some added works to my portfolio.

A NICE LITTLE PORTRAIT

I've been developing and experimenting with the notan style of drawing and have been quite successful with the outcome. This is my latest portrait done for a friend of the family of their little girl, Nicki. What I enjoyed most about this work was the preparation for it. Originally the photo was an indoor shot with a rug as a background. So with the magic of Photoshop 6.0 I placed the little girl in an English garden along with the white rabbit.

As always the proceeds from my paintings/drawings will go to the Holy Cross Orthodox Church where the money will go to much better use than I could ever find for it. It is, after all, the only way I can give back a little for the wonderful gift of art that was given to me.

INCREASING MY KNOWLEDGE

Having had a few days between commissions I decided to continue fine tuning my new found love, notan drawing. I haven't done a self portrait in years and thought maybe now is as good a time as any to put my skills to the test. So I set up the tripod and aimed my Panasonic DMC-FZ5 digital camera at some imaginary spot in space and stepped in front of the lens. And here it is, three hours later immortalized on paper.



















I'm about to start another drawing for my friend Senta who by any standards is one of the most beautiful gals that's ever graced the big and little screen. We're still in the early stages of the composition and need to iron out the few bugs remaining but I'm anxious to get started on it.

Speaking of Senta, I sent a couple of photos to my best friend Luke and she now has another admirer. Let's see if I can't find some more for her.


















Here she is in one of her publicity stills with all that curly hair and big lovely eyes. She's amazingly young looking for her age which most of us would kill for. And then on her tv show "Greek" the sorority gals did a make-over on Senta's character and came up with this new look for her.

















To quote Luke, "she's gorgeous!" Who am I to argue? After all, she is my muse - my Beatrice - and also my buddy.

NOTAN MAN ON THE SCENE

I discovered the technical name for negative spacing. It's called notan which is so much easier to type out. Anyway, having found the name of my current love I did the above drawing for my friend Senta taking it a step further in making the drawing look metalic. Or as my artist buddy Andrea calls it: CHROME. I rather like that... chrome!

I was about to take the technique to not only another level but in another direction as well but found a photo of Grand Central Station in New York City that made me think twice about abandoning the chrome idea. That, and Andrea said that I should work on the chrome idea some more first. In situations like this I personally find it better to follow the advice of another artist who is not so close to my easel. They can be so much more objective about the entire thing. And so my next drawing will be inspired by this photo:













This appears to be a definite challenge for the technique let alone for myself. I love the space of the photo and the reflective quality. And as I love architecture with a certain amount of passion, it would be like the poet writing about his greatest love.