House portrait May 2012

Bluegill · #1 05-21-2012, 02:02 PM

I did most of the work on this one over the past weekend. This is walnut ink on Bristol paper, 11 x 15”. I welcome any criticism or comments.

cem · #2 05-21-2012, 09:06 PM

Another stellar work from you. Amazing detail.

**valchina612** · #3 05-22-2012, 04:27 AM

Oh my goodness, this is once again, totally awesome!! Your House Portraits are absolutely brilliant, and I can't find enough words to describe how talented you are with these.

Val.

cashin1 · #4 05-22-2012, 11:20 AM

This is just awesome, thanks for posting!

**birdhs** · #5 05-22-2012, 11:50 AM

every time you post I feel like I am getting shown a private preview at an exclusive gallery opening, only better.

Thanx so much for the close-up shots, they are teaching us all how become better.

I particularly noted the vertical strokes of the leaves in photo 5 against the horizontal and crosshatch of the building. Never would have thought of that. In the same closeup you also made the window darker in the deeper shade, but the precision of the lines is impressive. The attention to scale and consistency of your mark-making is , well, you know.

If you ever decide to do a YouTube video or even better, a real book, let us know. I'd buy it.

Thanx for posting, this pleaseth our eye, Greg

**birdhs** · #6 05-22-2012, 11:58 AM

When you decide to publish a book of your work, or a how-to / college textbook, let us know. You are an inspiration for all of us P&Ir's.

The close-ups are helpful, the longer I studied them, the more I comprehend how you achieve your effects. I am allergic to walnuts, so not going to be crushing any soon, but the softness you achieve is more pleasing to my eye than conventional black inks.

In the photo 5, I noted how you made the leaves vertical marks, and the building is cross-hatch and horizontals. The comfortable level of consistency in your mark-making sets your work apart.

Thanks again for letting us examine and enjoy your fine art up-close and personal.

Greg

Bluegill · #7 05-23-2012, 07:33 AM

Thanks! You all are making me blush!

crbuchan · #8 05-23-2012, 10:49 AM

More beautiful work. Don't blush - it takes much hard work to get there.

Follow on to comments by birdhs - did you use diluted ink to achieve variations in tone? If so, do you have to add anything to make it flow from the pen?

Bluegill · #9 05-23-2012, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crbuchan

More beautiful work. Don't blush - it takes much hard work to get there.

Follow on to comments by birdhs - did you use diluted ink to achieve variations in tone? If so, do you have to add anything to make it flow from the pen?

Well, with the batches of ink I’ve made so far, the quality control has been pretty lax. I have a number of jars sitting around from the two or three batches I’ve made. The first batch, I didn’t use any gum Arabic, and I don’t remember if I added any denatured alcohol as a preservative. With the second batch, I added both gum Arabic and alcohol, but I added them to each jar individually without measuring, so there are small differences between each jar. None of my jars are really labeled in any clear way.

All of this means that some jars of ink are a little better than others, and I don’t know why. One jar I just opened recently (for the first time since I made it in November) had turned strangely thick. It had a slightly viscous quality. It wouldn’t flow off the pen at all, but it was great for using with a brush. I don’t know why it turned like that—perhaps too much gum Arabic? I have a couple of other jars I haven’t opened, and I hope they aren’t like that, too. I’m currently using another jar from the same batch, and it flows better than any other jar of ink I’ve made.

Anyway, to answer your questions more specifically, I do thin the ink with water for the lighter areas. Some of the walnut ink I have doesn’t flow as well when I do that, but I think those are the jars that don’t have gum Arabic. The one I’m mostly using now, which does have gum Arabic, seems to flow pretty well even when heavily thinned.

Even the ink that doesn’t have gum Arabic will flow off a pen nib, but it’s trickier, and I have to quickly moisten the tip of the nib in the ink a lot more often in order to avoid skipping. It’s frustrating.

**birdhs** · #10 05-23-2012, 11:57 AM

The seal on some jars may 'melt' from the denatured alcohol and will no longer be airtight. This may be the cause of the thickening. If you are using recycled jars from the jelly sandwich snack and dill pickles you may not be getting optimum sealage. and some food products (pickles, vinegars, strong spices ) may impart an odor to the inks.

Ball Jars are great and the seals can be replaced. Plus they are consistent in size and easily labeled.

Hope this helps (sorry about posting twice earlier...computer is getting slow)

life is good

greg

Bluegill · #11 05-23-2012, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by birdhs

The seal on some jars may 'melt' from the denatured alcohol and will no longer be airtight. This may be the cause of the thickening. If you are using recycled jars from the jelly sandwich snack and dill pickles you may not be getting optimum sealage. and some food products (pickles, vinegars, strong spices ) may impart an odor to the inks.

Ball Jars are great and the seals can be replaced. Plus they are consistent in size and easily labeled.

Hope this helps (sorry about posting twice earlier...computer is getting slow)

life is good

greg

Thanks, Greg. I might have to look for some ball jars.

Bluegill · #12 05-26-2012, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by printingray

Quite stunning drawing. Everything is nice about it and such an interesting tone you achieved. I really like the shades and tonal values and your detailed point of view. One thing you let me know that do you make your black walnut ink and what kind of pen do you use?

Thanks! Regarding my pens, I’m having to clean dried ink and rust off my nibs to see what lettering is on them. My favorite one, that I use the most for really fine lines and varied strokes, I think says Hunt Artist Round Pointed 100. I also recently started getting a lot of use out of my Hunt 107 and Hunt Imperial 101.

FromtheDeep · #13 06-02-2012, 11:15 AM

Wow! I've run out of things to say about your work! It's just so awesome! I keep wanting to say the same things so I'm sorry if I sound redundant! It looks like a picture! I love your style! Your work with the washes...omg! I wish I could do that!!!

Please post more!

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