Experimental Flowers (Drawing)

I made this little drawing of flowers today.  Like my other drawings of flowers drawn with Sharpie markers, I began with no preconceived plan.  But really the title is "Experimental Flowers" because this is my first time using Sharpies new 'Creative Markers."  I bought a set several months ago when I first heard about them, but this was my first opportunity to try them out.  I really had a good time.  The pens behave a lot like markers but coverage is easier and there is less bleeding.  As a bonus, there is a white pen that makes it easier to cover stray marks and mistakes (something that I have to do digitally with traditional markers). There are only 12 pens, so the colors are limited but no doubt I can combine these with traditional Sharpies. (I have a whole box full). The ads for these pens say that they work on surfaces beyond paper, but I haven't tried that yet.  

The Whirlpool (Moby Dick project), Acrylic Painting

This is my painting ("The Whirlpool") as it looked on July 13, 2024.  At this point, I had sealed the edges, attached the wire, and signed it.  I had turned the painting round and round, making a lot of small, possibly invisible, changes -- which I now recognize as a sign that the painting is finished.  I painted this for a special "Moby Dick" show at Porter Mill Studios, and dropped it off over the weekend. At this point, the show is on display in the lobby. This is a representation of the whirlpool at the end of the novel that swallows up the Pequod and brings the narrative to a close -- apart from the epilogue.  Spoiler alert: only Ishmael survives,  The text is the final sentence of the last chapter: "And now concentric circles seized the lone boat itself and all its crew and each floating oar and every lancepole and spinning, animate and inanimate, all round and round in one vortex, carried the smallest chip of the Pequod out of sight."

The Whirlpool (Moby Dick project) as of July 10, 2024

Here is my painting as it looked on July 10, 2024.  This project is  for the "Moby Dick" show at Porter Mill, now on view in the lobby.  I decided to paint the whirlpool from the end of the novel, superimposed with the final sentence of the last chapter: "And now concentric circles seized the lone boat itself and all its crew and each floating oar and every lancepole and spinning, animate and inanimate, all round and round in one vortex carried the smallest chip of the Pequod out of sight." Over several days, I had continued to work on this paint, turning it round and round as I continued to revise the lettering, the colors, and the shapes.  And finally I added brush strokes to the corners to suggest the circular movement of the water surrounding the whirlpool.  This photo shows the painting in progress, but over the weekend, I delivered the final version to Porter Mill for the show.

The Whirlpool (Moby Dick project) as of July 7, 2024

I continued to work on my "Whirlpool" painting and this is how it looked on July 7, 2024. This is my contribution to a special show based on Moby Dick, being held at Porter Mill Studios. I decided to paint a representation of the whirlpool that swallows the ship at the end of the novel.  The text that is superimposed on the whirlpool is the last sentence of the final chapter: *"And now concentric circles seized the lone boat itself and all its crew and each floating oar and every lancepole and spinning, animate and inanimate, all round and round in one vortex carried the smallest chip of the Pequod out of sight."  On July 7th, I made the lettering darker, I softened the shapes in the water, and began to work on the background (the four corners of the painting).  At this point, my painting was still a work in progress, but over the weekend, I dropped the finished painting off at Porter Mill.  To be continued.. .

The Whirlpool (Moby DIck project) as of July 6, 2024

This is my "Whirlpool" painting as it looked at the end of the day on July 6, 2024.  This painting this for a special show based on Moby Dick, being held at Porter Mill Studios. This is a representation of the whirlpool that destroys the Pequod and ends the narrative. The superimposed text is the last sentence of the final chapter: *"And now concentric circles seized the lone boat itself and all its crew and each floating oar and every lancepole and spinning, animate and inanimate, all round and round in one vortex carried the smallest chip of the Pequod out of sight."  On July 6th, I focussed mainly on the lettering, trying to make sure it was legible.  I had the idea of using silver for the lettering, but it was too light.  Then I went over the lettering twice with translucent purple, and that seemed to do the trick.  It is darker but still shines when the light hits it.  To be continued.

The Whirlpool (Moby Dick project) as of July 5, 2024

I continued working on this project, a painting for Porter Mill's special exhibit about Moby Dick.  This is a representation of the whirlpool that destroys the Pequod at end of the novel.  The text seen in the painting is the last sentence of the final chapter: "And now concentric circles seized the lone boat itself and all its crew and each floating oar and every lancepole and spinning, animate and inanimate, all round and round in one vortex carried the smallest chip of the Pequod out of sight."  At this point, I was a bit more confident about where this was going, but I was still figuring things out as I went along. I added more color: dark blue for depth, white to suggest sea foam, and a softer blue in the middle. The tricky part was making sure I would have sufficient contrast with the lettering. To be continued.  

The Whirlpool (Moby Dick project) as of July 4, 2024

This is my "Whirlpool" painting as it looked at the end of the day on July 4, 2024.  I am painting this for a special show based on Moby Dick, being held at Porter Mill Studios. This is a representation of the whirlpool that swallows the Pequod, bringing an end to the narrative. Although I am not attempting a realistic painting, I continued to look at videos and photos.  I had made a beginning with some dark blue shadows around the circles.  I added some lighter blue and some white to suggest the movement of the water. I decided to try using breaks in the water coincide with spaces between the words. The superimposed text is the last sentence of the final chapter:

  *"And now concentric circles seized the lone boat itself and all its crew and each floating oar and every lancepole and spinning, animate and inanimate, all round and round in one vortex carried the smallest chip of the Pequod out of sight."