Sean C. Jackson's Blog, page 5

Ballpoint Practice

Here’s a little maze I did in ballpoint pen. Unusually, I didn’t lay it out first, just started in the uppper left and worked across the page. Real iRobot plotter style.  

The squiggles at the top are cleaning my pen. I still get globbies though. I’m not sure how the pros avoid it.  

I’ve been playing around with ballpoint for a few weeks now, practicing patience and control. I’ve posted a some on my Instagram, but most I will hide until I get better. I have a ways to go!  There are several artists I follow who do ballpoint work, like Nicholas Sanchez and Guno Park. 

Threadless Shop

Check out my Threadless shop! Many colors and styles for men, women, and kids!

seancjackson.threadless.com

 

More designs coming soon! 

100% More Dinosaurs!

Not finished, but more watercolor play.  

This Brutal Maze

It's been a while since I've posted a maze. Here I'm playing with Brutalist Architecture- which has been quite the internet trend for a bit now. I am happy with how the maze turned out. It is simple, a little tricky, and has very clear paths.  

If you want more cool buildings every day, follow @BrutalHouse on Twitter!

Watercolor and Ink

Still playing with ink and watercolor.

I'm really into the artists Cinta Vidal and Sadi Tekin right now. Vidal paints beautiful multi-perspective buildings and interiors. Like my cube mazes, but intimate and fully realistic. Tekin is a very clever illustrator with great line work and often gentle colors.

So here, the maze is simple, but I wanted the paths to be on every visible side with the steps connecting them (Vidal). I also tried to use the least amount of pigment to emphasize the lines and space. (Tekin)

I quickly added the labels digitally for posting with one of my favorite photo apps, Halftone.

Ink and Paint

Full non-digital maze! Very fun to make. Using watercolor in such an uptight way seems to run against the medium, but too bad. Possibly I'll make some prints available. Email me if you're interested!

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Goldenrod Maze, 2017. 11"x9" ink and watercolor.

Single Fare Follow Up

 I wound up submitting 4 cards to the Single Fare show. I'm not yet sure if any sold, but none had within the first hours. There was a lot of competition! Hundreds of artists and over 2000 cards. Most of the work was figurative and many of the artists alumni of New York Academy of Art. Certainly some of the artists were familiar with painting at such a tiny scale. There were artists from all career levels represented and a raffle for works by some of the most notable artists.
 I mentioned earlier how fun it was breaking out pens and paints to focus on some non-digital maze drawing. I've continued the process and will post more of that effort soon.
  While researching Singlefare, I discovered other artists who submitted work. I was able to pick some of the pieces out at the show and see new beautiful stuff. You should follow these artists too. I've linked to their Instagram pages.

Singlefare is open

One of several walls of work. Each section had about 200 cards. The volunteer helped with purchasing the work

Mazes at Singlefare

My tiny mazes at Singlefare4

Check out the art!

In this shot: Alyssa Monks, James Adelman, and Diana Corvelle among others.

More Art!

Matt Stanton's NYC toys here. Most sold within hours.

All business

Me, looking like some disgruntled ghost of Singlefare Future. Next time will I wear New York approved black and gray. I really had fun... but you'd never know from this creepy security camera shot!

Raffle time!

Raffles were posted as videos on IG late Sunday night. Very clever.

Non-Digital

Opening the ink and paint for the metrocard project has made me excited to continue the non-digital stuff for a bit. Before trying to paint an entire piece, I made some tiny watercolor studies. These are a little shaky, as I'm still adjusting to the different pen widths. Also, watercolor is WAY out of my comfort zone.

It is very fun though!

SingleFare4

  These are tiny mazes I made for SingleFare4, a fundraiser for the New York Academy of Art. Artists from all over contribute tiny paintings on NYC metro cards. I will also be attending the opening, to show my support and pick up some great work.

  It has been a while since I've worked with real brushes and ink, and it is a joy! Also, the work is SMALL! I'm still adjusting to the scale. Some of the tiny oil paintings submitted are quite amazing. Some color ballpoint work is just insane. It is open to all, but the deadline is August 23. 

  You can see more on Instagram -@singlefare and #singlefare4

Acrylic with Micron pen. I gessoed the cards first.  

Guidelines Follow Up

Details from the massive garden maze. I was worried that being more disciplined with the perspective would feel uptight, but I think it pays off.