"GEORGE" - The Process

Because I do not have the ability to do one thing at a time, I was taking pics of my progress last night on this portrait of my friend George Berberian and texting them to him as I was working on the piece. 

Part of the conversation that ensued is contained below. It will give you a little insight into what the brain of a Virgo Artist is doing when he's walking along the street, or sitting on the subway, visiting a foreign land or hanging out with one of his favorite people. I have been blessed in so many ways with having the ability to relay what I see visually, but I've also been condemned with the ability to never take things for their surface appearances. In my minds eye, there isn't just a blue sky, a pretty orange flower, or a beautiful set of eyebrows.

TEXT


George: Far be it for me to criticise the artist...
              tho I do think my eyebrows are too thick...
George: You're doing it so quickly, and with paint... impressive
David: Lol. I told you I wasn't done fool!!!.
            Besides, what do you think a Virgo Artist sees first, second, third and fourth when he looks at          you?
George: Uhhh... different shades of color?
               Is that a rhetorical question...
David: And I had already adjusted the eyebrows before you texted.
            I'm challenging myself by using one size brush.
David: Not for me it isn't (in reply to george asking if my question was rhetorical)
            My job in life is to observe.
            And appreciate.

MY REFERENCE MATERIALS

THE INTREPID

"Having lived 16 years just a few blocks away from The Intrepid, it's easy to forget about it. Today was the perfect occasion to remind myself how fortunate I am to live so close to the Hudson River." - March 28, 2012

New "SKETCH" BUDDHA - RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART

Here's my latest acrylic "sketch" based on a photo I took of a Tibetan Buddhist sculpture at The Rubin Museum of Art in NYC. My sketch is approximately 4" X 4", acrylic paints on textured paper. Unfortunately, because I used metalic gold paints, reproduction of my painting isn't the best quality. The subtlties of color in my painting are not obvious in the photo.

CHANGE OF PACE

I've been in a bit of a linocut burn-out phase after cutting and printing many of my linocuts from my recent trip to Chiang Mai. I've also been craving doing some color work and some painting, so I broke out the acrylic paints and brushes and did this quick little "sketch". If you've been keeping track of my recent linocuts, you'll have seen a similar image printed of this same subject. What I've learned to do over the years is to always photograph the image I am drawing on to lino when i am traveling and doing an on-site lino drawing. The reason for this is to have a refer4ence shot of whatever it is I'm looking at just in case I decide to add color to the lino or I have trouble understanding what I drew. This is my friend Phra Kritsada Prueprong, a 20 year-old Buddhist Monk I met and became friends with in Chiang Mai.

"WRAPPED STUPA" - CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

The afternoon I arrived in Chiang Mai, absolutely exhausted from a 24-hour travel period, I had time to myself before meeting the rest of the Volunteer Positive group for our first dinner together. In a bit of a daze and reluctant to stray too far from the guest house/hotel for fear of being lost in the metropolis that is Chiang Mai, (ha, ha), I decided to take a little walk. I figured my best bet was sticking to the main roads and relying on my experience with using visual markers as my guide. The place I finally ended up at was Wat Intakhin, or Wat Sadue Muang depending on who you ask. This relatively unassuming Wat that stands just to the left of the “Three Kings” sculpture was the first Temple I saw while in Chiang Mai. I didn’t go in, just took a peak through the open front doors, looked in through a side window and eventually discovered the beautifully wrapped Stupa that eventually became this linocut.

In retrospect I realize how silly I was being. This particular Wat is comparable in distance from the hotel as a 4-block walk in NYC, yet at the time, on my first day, it felt like a 30 mile walk into the unknown of a foreign land.

It became a spot I would see or walk by almost daily during the rest of my 3.5 weeks in Chiang Mai, so it has a special spot in my heart. I started out on this journey rather hesitant and fearful of the unexpected and ended up eventually discovering so much more about Chiang Mai and my self. I ended up spending my entire last week hanging out in a number of the 80 Temples that dot the city like Starbucks dots NYC. I became adventurous in my exploration, I even learned the proper way to enter a temple and prostrate to Buddha. I walked around the city like I would walk around NYC and documented my journey through 100’s of photo’s as well as sketches on postcards and finally linoleum.

So, to Wat Intakhin and the gentleman who sat down next to me for a good 1/2 hour the afternoon I was drawing this particular linoleum, I say, “Thank you. You will always have a special place in my heart. Despite the fact that you and I could not communicate verbally, your kindness was obvious and indicative of Chiang Mai. I will always be grateful.“

2 MORE LINOCUTS FROM CHIANG MAI, THAILAND - ALLEY SCENE / 3 DRAGONS

Here are the next 2 prints from my Chiang Mai Series.

Th first print, an "Alley Scene" is described in the following excerpt from an interview i recently participated in.

"I’m currently working on the series of linocuts I created while I was in Chiang Mai in January. And the one piece I’m cutting out right now was drawn the afternoon after I had sliced 2 of my fingers open quite badly the night before. I had limited time to draw on my own during my service and was looking forward to spending as many days on my own as possible wandering through the city “recording”. I was pretty disappointed when I woke up the following morning as I could barely bend my figures, each time opening the wounds and having blood pour out. But, I bandaged the hell out of these 2 fingers, grabbed my art supplies, a bottle of water and my backpack and headed out anyway. I’ve worked under far worse circumstances. It was another beautifully clear and already warm early afternoon and I found myself wandering through the back streets of old Chiang Mai. I passed an open-air garage where a young man was creating what I assumed was religious iconography by hand-stamping various sizes of tools into a sheet of metal. I passed someone’s yard whose fence was covered in a somewhat unkempt fragrant flowered vine that smelled beautifully. And then I spotted something I wanted to draw. I found a great vantage point next to a fence and in the shade. Standing here, you could smell the scent of incense wafting around in the air, with so many temples in the old city, it’s not an uncommon smell. Every once in a while a motorbike would whiz by or a kid dressed in their school uniform would pass. Occasionally they would pass close enough to take a peak at what I was drawing.

Just remembering all of these little details brings a smile to my face."

This second print is from a drawing at one of the local temples in the old city. Unfortunately, I did not make note on the back of it as to which temple I was at. If I can find some online reference, I'll be sure to add it here.

FIRST 3 LINO'S FROM CHIANG MAI TRIP

These are the first 3 lino's I've cut and printed based on the sketches from my trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand as part of the group Volunteer Positive. (And one linocut from my friend Phra Kritsada Prueprong) The first 2.5 weeks was spent in service which afforded me very little time to actually draw on my own, most of the prints from the full series were sketched out on my last week in Chiang Mai. The only 1 of these 3 lino's that was sketched during my actual service is the Elephant sketches print. We spent an afternoon at the BAAN CHANG ELEPHANT PARK in Chiang Mai where after a educational introduction to the Asian Elephants in residence we had lunch and a few minutes to digest our food before the 2-hour trek we were about tro partake in. Having not had much opportunity to do any prior sketch work, I had the foresight to bring along a few pieces of pre-cut lino and stole away for 20 minutes after lunch and did these sketches. Let it be known, elephants do not stand still, ever. It was a challenge to get a complete sketch, which explains why there are so many partial elephants in this print.

The print of the Monk is in fact a dear friend I made while in Chiang Mai. He is a 20 year old Monk named Phra Kritsada Prueprong originally from a village outside of Chiang Mai in Loei province. We were paired up as part of something called "Monk Chat" which is an event that creates the opportunity for local monks to practice their conversational skills with English speaking foreigners. On this particular morning, Kritsada and I took a tour of a few of the local temples and I decided that since he would share with me, I would share with him by having us both work on a lino sketch. I offered to take his drawing back to NYC with me where i would cut it out and print it for him. I had no idea that he could actually draw and was quite talented. It turned out to be an incredible opportunity for the both of us.

The print of the banners was from Wat Phrasingh in Chiang Mai. I'm not sure of the exact purpose of the banners, but if you look carefully, you will see representation of 3 Birth Year Animals. As there were many more banners there, I assume that's what they were there to represent.

SKETCH OF ELEPHANTS ON LINO

PARTIALLY CARVED LINO

INKED LINO

FINAL PRINT

PORTRAIT OF "DAVID" - BY KRITSADA PRUEPRONG

PORTRAIT OF KRITSADA - BY DAVID BERUBE

WAT PHRASINGH - CUT LINO

WAT PHRASINGH - FINAL PRINT

Sketches From My Sketchbook - Chiang Mai, Thailand

Additional sketches from Chiang Mai, Thailand, from my travel sketchbook.

Linocut Sketches From My Service With V+ in Chiang Mai, Thailand

During the month of January, I spent 3 1/2 weeks in Chiang Mai, Thailand with Volunteer Positive. As part of my thanks to all of the amazing people who donated to the cost of my trip, I will be creating linocuts from these sketches, created during my last week there.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2011