Pop Goes the Artist!

This is the watercolor self-portrait I’ve been working on for several weeks, done from a photograph of me on graduation day. I’m reasonably happy with the way it turned out, although I’m tempted to go back and rework the trees in the backgroud. I had a devil of a time with that foliage, and it still looks pretty flat. Also, it doesn’t really look much like me. However, I’m pleased with it. I used watercolor pencils for the face and skin, which may have been the smartest technical decision I’ve ever made, since it allowed me to add subtler tones than I’m able to achieve with watercolor. Also, the scan makes it a bit darker than it is in real life. (11×15″, watercolor and watercolor pencil)

I’ve been experimenting more with calligraphy in the past few days, so I thought I’d share. An illuminated capital A, a bit larger than actual size, which is probably around 2.5×2.5 inches. This was very fun to do and I’m planning on making a small accordian-style book with all the letters of the alphabet. (watercolor and black and gold ink)

My name in Lombardic capitals. (watercolor)

I’m warming up for a full project, doing a calligrapy version of a meditation I found in Ireland called “What is dying?” It’s not as morbid as it sounds, I promise:

“A ship sails and I stand watching
Till she fades on the horizon
And someone beside me says, ‘She is gone.’
Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all;
She is just as large as when I saw her.
The diminished size and total loss of sight
Is in me, not in her, and just at the moment
When someone at my side says, ‘She is gone,’
There are others who are watching her coming,
And other voices take up a glad shout:
‘There she comes!’
…And that is dying.” (Bishop Brent)

I’m planning on using an A similar to the one at the top to start it off with. More on that when I actually start.