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August 30, 2009

“marfa one”

6 Comments

[You­Tube video home­page here…]
[N.B. Yes, I’m plan­ning on selling this one even­tually. Please feel free to e-mail me if you’re inte­res­ted, Thanks!]
PHASE ONE OF THREE: THE UNDERCOAT. Sun­day, August 30th.

[“Marfa One”, which I star­ted this wee­kend.. Click on image to enlarge etc.]
A blank can­vas (see above) that I finished doing the white acry­lic under­coat for, ear­lier today. Four-foot-by-four foot. Tit­led “Marfa One”, it’s will be the first of The Marfa Series.
Now to get crac­king on the pencil…

[UPDATE: Mon­day, 31st August, 24 hours later:]
PHASE TWO OF THREE: THE PENCIL.

[Click on ima­ges to enlarge etc.]

[Close-up. Pen­cil lines etc.]

[Close-up. Taken from the side etc.]
Yes­ter­day (Sun­day) I cran­ked out the pen­cil. Took fore­ver, but it was worth it. Besi­des some very small touch-ups at the end, I did it all in one ses­sion. No mes­sing around.
I got myself in a mind-set that, although it’s large and on can­vas, it didn’t inti­mi­date me. I just trea­ted that four-by-four-foot, two-dimensional sur­face like any other dra­wing, like any other page in my sketch­book. I didn’t treat it like “ART!!!!”. I just did my thing and got on with it; not a lot of fuss.
I think that’s how I’ll approach all my big pie­ces from now on…
PHASE THREE OF THREE: THE INK.
[Update: 24 hours later, Tues­day, Sep­tem­ber 1st, 2009.]

[Click on image to enlarge etc.]
Made a good start yes­ter­day on the inking. Hope to finish it by tonight etc.
This is always the har­dest part of making a big dra­wing. The temp­ta­tion to “rush it” gets more and more overwhel­ming, the clo­ser you get to the finish line. But last-minute rushing can easily ruin it. Oh well, I’ve been here many times before, nothing I can’t handle etc.
[Update: 24 hours later, Wed­nes­day, Sep­tem­ber 2nd, 2009.]

[Click on ima­ges to enlarge etc.]


Got up this mor­ning at 4am and put the finishing touches on Marfa One.
It’s done…

[Backs­tory: About Hugh. Twit­ter. News­let­ter. Book. Inter­view One. Inter­view Two. EVIL PLANS. Limi­ted Edi­tion Prints. Pri­vate Com­mis­sions. Cube Gre­na­des.]

Tags: Hugh MacLeod, Marfa series, Pencil Drawings

6 Responses to ““marfa one””

1. Paul McConaughy says:

   August 30, 2009 at 3:11 PM

   I really like it so far!

   Reply
2. Robin Dickinson says:

   August 30, 2009 at 3:56 PM

   Ah, the “bare” can­vas. She sits patiently, stretched out and silent, wai­ting to tell her tale. Hungry for the brush. Parched for the paint. Ready for the dance — the dalliance with her libe­ra­tor — the one who sees her as she really is.
   Best, Robin

   Reply
3. Julie poplawski says:

   August 30, 2009 at 9:40 PM

   Tell us more about Marfa One…waiting with bated breath…

   Reply
4. Kaitlyn says:

   August 31, 2009 at 7:39 PM

   Inc­re­dibly intri­cate. I love it. Seems like the sort of image one could get lost in for hours.

   Reply
5. Chip says:

   September 3, 2009 at 3:42 PM

   Was in the midst of a Anthony Bour­dian “No Reser­va­tions” marathon the other day (repeats on Tra­vel Chan­nel) and one with my favo­rite wri­ter (Jim Harri­son) and one of my favo­rite artists (Rus­sell Chatham) … Chatham on pain­ting (some take a year) … “you see them from dif­fe­rent dis­tan­ces, from 30 ft, from 3 ft and from 3 inches … you see a dif­fe­rent pain­ting each time.“
   http://www.russellchatham.com/
   Keep up the good work(s)

   Reply
6. Lydia Sugarman says:

   September 4, 2009 at 11:57 AM

   I think I really most like the first ink phase with little islands of ink dra­wings scat­te­red over the can­vas. But, I also like the finished pro­duct with pen­cil lines sho­wing behind the final inking.

   Reply