The Karpinski Effect: Colour

Above: Eagle Verithin carmine red and true blue pencils; original image approximately 15 x 15 cm; dated 1.iii.08, about one and a half hours.

I am a great fan of Sara Karpinski's work (see her blog for some examples). One thing I noticed in several of her drawings was very strong vertical strokes, and the use of red, blue, and yellow, denoting the midrange, shadows, and highlights respectively. Here are some examples of my emulation and appropriation of "The Karpinski Effect".

Here I think the collar is particularly successful and the hair also; the nose to me looks a bit askew; there I've lost the basic verticality (although of course in the collar and the hair it's lost as well). The roving eyes are a result of working with a mirror and not being very accomplished at it. I used Eagle Verithin pencils, which are generally used for marking examinations and student essays.

Plants

My friend and drawing mentor Jeff Geib says that plants are often as difficult, or more difficult, to draw than humans. Certainly they provide drawing challenges of several sorts. One of these, illustrated at the top, is reductive self-similarity, which is mathematically and biologically fascinating, and a bit of a nightmare for the artist who strives for photographic accuracy.


Above: An image of part of a large sketchbook page; the plant depicted is Eupatorium perfoliatum: Thoroughwort Joe-Pye-Weed; 4B graphite pencil.

Another problem in dealing with plants is the sometimes very very tiny little parts, in this case the flowers of English lavender. They had me so wigged out, I misspelled Lavender on the sketchbook page. Jeff uses magnifying goggles. I just strain my eyes.


Above: Image of flowers of Lavandula o. As usual, graphite; original drawing about 8 x 8 cm.

The main challenge in dealing with plants Jeff and I have discussed at some length is the movements of living plants, as for example, in responding to light or heat (or both), and especially once blooming begins. Tremendous movement, sometimes of centimeters, can occur over the course of an hour or so. Happily for me, I was able to sketch the tulip below quickly, before it burst out of bud or swivelled out of frame.


Above: Tulip; original page size approximately 13.5 x 8 cm; Graphite pencil.

Family Portraits

Above: An image of myself, approximate image size, 20 x 12 cm. HB weight graphite and white pastel pencil.
Above: An image of my mother in hospital: the only way to get a picture of her still. About 20 x 12 cm. HB graphite pencil and white pastel. Sketched in about 5 minutes. Even shortly after a surgery, she moves around a lot.
Above: An image of my father at 72 years of age, watching television. He moves far less, and more sluggishly, than my mother. Still, this image was produced in about fifteen minutes. The original is again about 20 x 12 cm, and was made with graphite pencils on heavy paper.