Finished or not?

This is the drawing that I began on Monday morning and posted in its incomplete state. This evening, in different light and in a different mood, I worked on it to the point where I knew I had to stop, finished or not. I lose my objectivity sometimes, especially on the rare occasions when I do a drawing in more than one sitting. Like this. I'm thinking that the olive green is clumsily handled. Maybe I should have quit earlier. But then, as I just said, I now am without objectivity. Maybe I should shut the hell up and just post the drawing.

Update on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 8:55AM by Scott A. Stultz

A friend looked at both the in-progress and "finished" version of this, and felt that it was more effective when the chair was merely suggested by its contours, without tone and shadow, allowing the eye to be pulled towards the lamp and pipe on the table. The scan accentuated the olive green much more than is visible in the actual drawing, where it is extremely subtle, but that notwithstanding, I have to agree.

Monday drawings with pipes

The sharp eyed observer will note the Rad Davis 1/8 bent sandblasted black walnut stained apple with cumberland stem resting in the cut glass ashtray . . . 

a somewhat more careful study, to be completed later

Ending the day with a pinch of Hearth and Home "Magnum Opus" English style tobacco in a Jack Howell 283 shape smooth finish briar, one of 50 made at the behest of Neill Archer Roan, the extraordinary worldwide success of whose brilliant five year old  pipe enthusiast blog they were made to commemorate, in smooth and sandblasted finishes, as the 2011 "A Passion For Pipes" Pipe of the Year.

self portrait, 9 x 12, 9B graphite pencil

Father and son

smoking in front of the stained glass window in the studio, 11 9/16 x 8 1/4, Derwent Inktense water soluble pencils

  Gabe playing guitar in his room on Saturday night

Chair Man

Drawn last night, sitting cross legged on the rug in the living room. Lots to say but no energy this Friday late afternoon to say it. I'm quitting work early today, since I started twelve hours ago, am planning to work through the weekend, and have spent little quality time with my family. I suppose I should wait and post later when I am in more of a writing mood, but then I'll have that nagging feeling that I'm avoiding something that I need to do, which I'll fret about while I'm trying to spend time with Tina and Gabe, then I'll be grumpy and unpleasant and they'll wish I just stayed upstairs in the studio. So enough drivel: here's the latest chair drawing.

Update on Friday, February 3, 2012 at 7:13PM by Scott A. Stultz

While throw-together-clean-out-the-refrigerator sauce for pasta was cooking, I hung out with Gabe in his room while he picked up, folded, and put away all the clothes he'd thrown on his bedroom floor all week. They were piled so deep that the dog was even afraid to come in. So Gabe was not holding still at all while I sat in the chair in the corner, trying to include him in the drawing. Didn't know that I was drawing him. I'm starting to feel like I'm slowly overcoming my decades old aversion to portraiture. Maybe it could be fun if I got good at it.

New month, fresh ideas

Examples from two sides of my work, from the last day of January. I've been working on some fresh thinking about approaches to designing rooms, primarily kitchens, with more than one style of cabinetry. My manufacturing partner, Premier Custom-Built Cabinetry, Inc., and I are excited about the prospect of bringing these ideas to the design community and the market. I don't always end a work day feeling a sense of accomplishment, but I felt pretty good when I hit the "render" button in AutoCAD to let the computer produce this six hour rendering of one of my concept kitchens. I was able to really relax and enjoy doing my sketchbook entry when I went downstairs for the night. Although I am often racked with self doubt, the combination of doing art and design, both as serious pursuits, is sometimes immensely rewarding to me.

Glasgow multilingual concept kitchen, copyright 2012 Premier Custom-Built Cabinetry, Inc.

chair with Rad Davis and vintage ashtray, Karisma Graphite Aquarelle and watercolor pencils