Monday, August 27, 2018

ONE LOVELY DRAWING, PART 58

Tom Fluharty named his new kickstarter project after a pencil. 

Fluharty discovered the Prismacolor 901 indigo bleu pencil, and was so inspired by its qualities that he used it to draw a rich symphony of drawings.

There's plenty to love in this collection:

Note how the hands are fully as expressive as the face


Fluharty found that with the indigo bleu, he could create highlights by scratching his drawing with an Xacto blade.  There is no Photoshop or white paint touches in these drawings.

Detail
But today's "one lovely drawing" is not one of Fluhartys "finished" drawings, instead it's a quick sketch from his series:


I love the way Fluharty maps out the knuckles on this hand:


It's a cinch George Bridgman never taught anyone to draw hands that way.  They display Fluharty's trademark speed and strength.

This sketch also reveals the first tentative swirls and whorls that Fluharty later develops into shading in his fully embellished drawings.


These swirls aren't an accurate representation of the subject matter, they seem to be Fluharty's way of feeling out the designs in the terrain.  Fluharty says, "The paper is very unforgiving and allows for no erasing so everything is exactly like it comes out of my hand."  By beginning with a light hand and bearing down for emphasis as he progresses, he avoids erasures or miscalculations on finished works:

Detail
The end result is nice, but I have a special fondness for the beginnings of the process, where Fluharty's eye first begins to establish priorities.  That's why I've chosen his rapid sketch for today's "lovely drawing."

13 comments:

kev ferrara said...

Fluharty could paint with dirt applied by chewing gum and he would still knock people's socks off.

MORAN said...

These drawings are awesome. I'm going for that kickstarter.

chris bennett said...

Thanks for these David, they are all wonderful and lovely drawings.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad Fluharty is doing a kickstarter. Thanks for keeping us updated on him. I learned about him here.

JSL

Anonymous said...

Anyone know if he worked from Bridgeman - early on possibly ?

David Apatoff said...

Kev Ferrara-- Agreed. In fact, Fluharty is one of the very few artists I know who works well with the most traditional media (traditional Flemish oil painting techniques)and the latest computer software.

MORAN-- Good, I heartily recommend his kickstarter.

chris bennett-- Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy them.

JSL-- He has grown a lot since I began writing about his work years ago.

Mort said...

Exquisit.

Aleš said...

These are great. Very dynamic, enthusiastic and with a lot of character.

chris bennett said...

David,

As a more general observation about how an artist's mark-making can be so electric, a personal observation of mine may be of interest to you:

I find that when the 'brushwriting' (or ‘pencilwriting’) of a picture is going well it is because not only has it more immediate intimacy with the visual aspect of the subject it is gradually bringing to light, but is in some sense touching the very heart of it, so much so I feel as if I am becoming the subject as much as I am building it.

Fluharty appears to do this with every drawing he makes, like flipping a switch.

Unknown said...

all of the art is really amazing, two thumbs up! :)

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