GILL ALEXANDER
SCAN #3 (Cross Hatching and Line) Marker and Ink on Paper, 19 x 25"

DATE COMPLETED: JUNE 30, 2014
TOTAL HOURS WORKED: 41.5 (+25 FROM SCAM #1 DRAFT)
DRAFT

This was the final version of Scan done from that very same original color draft. The skills needed to do the marker version had included an ability to make brush tips do what one wants as well as knowing what precise marker will produce what precise level of dark or lightness. It was a relatively easy new skill set to take on. Line and cross hatching were another matter. I have worked in the stippling technique for so long that I hardly realize that I have internalized the knowledge of very precise working formulas: dot size A + placing those dots in an arrangement density B = value C. I am almost like a machine when dispening certain densities. It is just something I can do after all these years. But with the cross hatching I had to concentrate fully on every bit of line thickness A and density of placement B to get value C. Again I tested all the various brands of line markers, made flash cards and constructed grid patterns to arrive at would become my final formula. I think the values came out very well. (the photographer who produced this image wondered if it might have been created with a photoshop filter from the previous two versions, for instance) But I was disappointed in some of the transitions between values. This is a skill one does not pick up in an afternoon.

Some of the ground work for figuring out what became the value system



The center band is the actual value chart I used. The letters stand for Prismacolor, Micron and Copic. The numbers are the size of the nibs.

I had just finished the series when this group photo was taken in 2014. These drawings have never been exhibited together as a set; but as one can see from the photo this is very much the way I regarded them. At the time I was referring to the color print of the draft as Scan #4. I really did not know yet that I was going to make such a commitment to marker drawings in general. That really came out of the Helen project. Here I was thinking much more about how the multiple systems of representation might fit together. One day I whimsically drew the diagram below for Marsha to show how one day it might be interesting to "slice" up the visual information in each drawing and then reassemble the pieces with multiple representation systems in one print. Later on I even cut out some laser printed copies with an exacto to get an idea about what a sun burst formation might look like.



DETAILS
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DRAWING PROGRESS


























