Life still just happening here, same as always…
A new piece finished, (I think), over the past few weeks. This is a largish charcoal drawing, largish for me, I know there are people who like to work big, BIG, but for someone whose work is mostly small scale and in sketch books, this is largish. It measures about 14x18, on smooth bristol board, a surface that I am finding I don’t really like for charcoal. I have a ton of it around because I found it great for the pencil drawings I used to do a lot of. But lately the charcoal has been interesting for me. I think it is the more manipulative quality and the ability to get darks dark faster.
I had done a bunch of studies and value sketches before starting this. I think I do those more in the interest of pretending I am an “artist” than anything. The idea is that I an artist designs the drawing rather than just copying the reference picture. But in the end, I just decided to make the piece. The preliminary sketches do help me to get to know the subject through iterations but, being never sure of the goal, I don't know if it is taking me down the path I am trying to be on.
But here I am.
Again, this may or may not be finished but in the interest of posting a completed piece every month, I am going with it for now.

My “day job” continues to be interesting. These projects are similar in that they require me to connect simple structural elements in the hope of building something meaningful. Here is a snapshot of something I am working on. This great room is based on a home I designed a couple of decades ago. This is in the very early stages of the concept and may not turn out anything like this in the end, but this is as it sits in one of the iterations:

And sometimes, I like to sketch these ideas in ink—mostly for fun. Perspective drawing has its own challenges; straight lines can be harder than loose, organic ones.

So that’s where my time has been going—figuring things out, making marks, and seeing where it all leads.
Thanks for following along.