Category Archives: Drawing

Sketching, lots of sketching.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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Dragster ideas.

With the print store now active, some space in the old brain is now free again to concentrate on filtering through influences and inspirations, sketching out ideas and hopefully generating some new images. Getting back into the swing of things as it were. It has also provided a moment to reflect on where things are going and how to try and incorporate various ongoing media experiments into the work flow.

 

The recent visit to the Dragstalgia meet at Santa Pod raceway has gone some way to rekindle interest in the whole dragster thing and this has started to filter through into the pages of the sketch book in preparation for launch into some more finished pieces. Like so many aspects of this motorcycling interest it serves up so much visual inspiration it seems often difficult to decide which bits to tackle first. There is a kind of blindness that descends upon you when venturing into an enormous retail store sometimes, there is so much stuff in front of you that you have no idea where to look first. It’s the same with some of these biking subjects, particularly if one finds oneself staring at the panorama of images downloaded from the camera into your photo library. The feeling can be that you are looking at everything and nothing at the same time. I find I can only get round this by switching it off and doing something else for a while. The subconscious is then somehow released to do what it does best and filter through the information before popping a mail into your mental in-box to let you know some form of direction has been chosen.

 

This is the time to sketch.

Dragster ideas 2.

 

Buy amazing motorcycle art here.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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Todays big announcement is that the Soulcraftcandy on line art store is now open for business. As mentioned previously, following some very positive feedback and more than a healthy dose of encouragement, I have taken the leap to open an online micro-enterprise to enable fans of my work to purchase high quality prints of some of the drawings. You can jump straight to the site from here, or follow the link at the bottom of the ‘Shop’ page.

 

The decision to start small is a very deliberate one, which I hope will mean that it remains unique, interesting and manageable. As nice as it might sound to take the world of motorcycle art by storm and turn it upside down, this is not the purpose of the exercise at this point in time.

 

The intention is to offer small collections of prints that will change each quarter. So this initial set of five images, shown above, will be replaced by another set after three months and so on. If by chance certain pictures prove very popular then they may very well have a slightly longer run, or reappear in subsequent sets. My hope is that this will keep things fresh and interesting, and encourage viewers to return regularly to see what’s on offer. Ultimately it would be great to be able to offer a compendium of the sets in book form, but that remains a long term goal for now. As a matter of course all changes and updates will be signaled through the blog unless I’m gripped by a sudden urge to spring a complete surprise, which might be fun to do every now and then.

 

The choice of printing technology was discussed in the last post and so all of the prints available will be Giclée prints. Two sizes will be available for each image, A3 and A2 primarily, though some of the images will be in custom sizes and priced accordingly. As I mentioned before these prints are made on archival quality acid free cotton rag paper at 310 gsm weight.

 

One detail which caused much pause for thought was whether to offer limited edition numbered prints or something else. The latter approach won the day once I’d worked out how to instill a bit of extra value in each print beyond a hand written number in the corner. Consequently each print will be signed, dated and a small unique thumbnail doodle added at the same time. Essentially this will mean that each print will be unlike any other, no two being the same. My hope is that this will also help in the rotation of images as the need to wait for a certain order number to be satisfied will be removed. There will be a time for limited editions in the future, I’m sure of that but for now, this approach will hopefully keep things interesting.

 

Again, you can reach the store from this link, and thank you for taking the time to have a look.

 

Lovely imperfect paper.

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The picture above is the latest of my attempts at finding some different and interesting compositions around the sidecar outfit theme. This is very much a sketch rather than a thinly veiled shot at a finished piece. The density of the line work has ended up covering a tangled nest of construction and guide lines and the wonder of modern technology has enabled me to virtually obliterate the swathes of Tippex correction fluid useed in the early stages. This more loose approach to a drawing is really working its way into my system to the point where they hold as much enjoyment as the more tight and precise drawings I have previously shown you. This one is again done on heavy weight lining paper, a habit that is proving hard to break for want of finding a good substitute.

 

Some time ago a friend pointed out, quite rightly, that this paper is not acid free. This has its upsides as well as its downsides. Not being acid free means, as far as I know, that the paper will age badly, yellowing and discolouring over time, and finally disintegrating into a pile of dust after a decade or three. Not good if you want your work to survive many years of ownership and admiration. If you’re worried about preserving the image rather than an original work, then I suppose it could be scanned and printed out using the Giclee process or similar, to provide with something that will last in perpetuity.

 

The upsides to using this paper, at least as far as I’m concerned right now, are twofold. Firstly, as I’ve said before, it possesses a surface unlike anything else. It has a course almost gritty nature to it which takes ink from the pen in a subtle way. One can employ a lightness of touch so that the pen is almost skating over the surface to leave very light, whispy lines, and then one can really build up the image by working the surface quite hard. It seems to be able to take no end of punishment from the tip of a ball point. A bonus feature is that you can apply light washes to loose sheets without suffering too much warp and distortion.

 

The second reason I like this paper is perhaps a bit more idiosyncratic and concerns the idea of patina. For as long as I can remember I have found the idea of objects gaining patina through their use a very appealing one. During years spent designing products the notion of how ones ownership effects the physical nature of a product over time always interested me. I found it fascinating, particularly from the point of view of someone living in what is essentially a disposable age. The way that a paint finish would rub off the corners, how once bright metals would dull through repeated handling, and how the accumulation of myriad tiny scratches and dents imbued a product with a kind of documented history. All lovely stuff. Yes, there is a mild sentimentality running through all this but, it does not purely account for my appreciation of a well used tool or favourite pair of old motorcycling gloves. So the idea that this paper will age disgracefully, take on unforeseen hues because of sunlight or pollutants in the air, and get visibly old is very appealing. Why can’t a picture show its age?

The image above shows the drawing at an early stage. Over time it kind of faded into view. I quite like the idea that it could fade out of view too.