Sketchy

Bass (Continuous Line) © 2014 J Travis Duncan

Before I ever held a paintbrush in my hands, graphite and ink were the only mediums that I ever used. As a little kid around 7 or 8 years old, I remember seeing drawings that some of the older elementary school children had created. I was completely blown away by how detailed the pencil drawings were. It was something that piqued and interest in me. I know I've been drawing longer than I can remember, but I do remember making it a focus. Later as I progressed through school, everyone had to cover their books with brown paper bags and tape. Some of you are old enough to not only remember the book covers but when grocery stores carried paper bags instead of the thin plastic that breaks due to overloading. Sorry, a pet peeve slipped out. Memories of the amazing art on these homemade book covers are still fresh in my head. From logos of famous brands, bands, cartoon characters, and cable networks (think MTV logo), it was always exciting to me to see what each student had done with their canvas. All-in-all, almost everyone had become an artist of some sort.

As for myself, I had maintained a regimen of sketching for years. With in the past few years, I had let that constant disappear from my life. Now that my little boy is about to be 4 years old, he has had me drawing all kinds of amazing things. We started to create a little board game and he wanted cards to add to it like Sorry! or Monopoly have for certain places on the board. I drew a litany of fruits and vegetables, plant life, animal life, and items that little boys would love to play with. When coloring these items in with a crayon I longed for watercolors. With watercolors, one usually creates a sketch before adding washes. So, I started on watercolors.

From watercolors to acrylic paintings, I have tried to do various styles. But I had still forsaken my first artistic love: sketching. Armed with graphite pencils and ink pens of various sizes, I decided to start back on sketching. I try to do 1 or 2 pieces daily. It's a great habit that is relaxing and helps me to think about the layout of future artwork. I maintain a lot of my sketches on Instagram (@jtravisduncan for those who want to follow me). However, I want to post some to this page as well.

I might start a separate page on this blog in order to share them without bombarding this front page. I hope that each of you enjoy them. If you have any comments, share them with me. I'm pretty thick-skinned and I truly accept constructive criticism with open arms. One can only get better as they continue to practice and listen to sound advice. Now go find a paper bag, wrap a book, and grab a Sharpie and colored markers. Everyone's an artist!

The Art of J Travis Duncan

Subject(ive)

Red Day Lily © 2014 J. Travis Duncan

Briefly in Emotional Response, I discussed how art elicits a response, be it internal or external. In the discussion, I made no mention of the emotional catalyst: the subject. The importance of the subject can often be overlooked and, many times, the viewer might not realize that there was a process in the artist's mind and heart that beckoned he/she to choose that very subject.

Many of my paintings, be it watercolor or acrylic, have been of flowers. Why flowers? The quick answer is that they bring a smile to my face. The more detailed answer has to do with my family; preferably, my mother. The God-given gift bestowed upon my mother is a green thumb. I don't think I have ever seen anyone do the amazing things that she has with flowers, or plants in general. Her yard is full of so many different kinds of beautiful plants that blossom throughout the year. From vibrant amaryllis (pictures and nomenclature) and red day lilies, to various colors of iris and gladiolus, there is a litany of flowers I can paint. Yet, I don't paint them for the sake of just painting, but rather it brings me joy to see what she has done and I hope that I can reciprocate those same feelings when she sees me painting the very things that she joyfully toils over.

Recently, I have been overtaken by beautiful landscapes. I linked to van Gogh's "Starry Night Over The Rhone" in my last post because I find it to be one of my favorite van Gogh paintings. Impressionism is one of my favorite art movements and I can bask in one of Monet's many works for a long time. Everyone is familiar with "Water Lilies", but have you ever seen "Bathers At La Grenouillere"? As usual, I like to also share some modern works as well. Alvaro Castagnet is one of the world's prominent watercolor artists. He and Joseph Zbukvic are two of my favorites that work in watercolor. Their works are fabulous.

The subject(s) of an artist's painting is a thought-out process that starts in the heart. Even in commissioned paintings, there is value found in the subject. So before an emotion is drawn out of the viewer, know that one was brought about before the painting ever started. This can help you see what emotion or thought the artist was going through when he/she painted the piece you are examining.

The Art of J. Travis Duncan