New Rubber Stamp Pieces

Between my Holiday cards and a large commission I have had the rubber stamping materials out this past week. As long as I have the process going I thought I might explore a couple ideas I never finished up the last time. Mixing these colors from a fairly basic set of water-based printing inks is always a good exercise. The results below in chronological order. 

Michael McGuire - Untitled - Block Printing Ink on Arches Paper - 40 x 26 inches

Michael McGuire - Untitled - Block Printing Ink on Arches Paper - 40 x 26 inches

Michael McGuire - Untitled - Block Printing Ink on Arches Paper - 40 x 26 inches

Michael McGuire - Untitled - Block Printing Ink on Arches Paper - 40 x 26 inches

October 2019 Work

A few new pieces

Finished this drawing up recently, it had sat in the drawer half finished for six months. Color study using very optical colors. Technically orange and blue sit across from each other on the color wheel. The blue triangles are a collage element, Arches watercolor paper painted a bright blue.

These three have been in the drawer for a few months but I have shown them to no one. Very Franz Kline derived but conceptually different. I am using the very mat black acrylic paint I have been drawing with for the last year. It changes them as any brush marks completely disappear and the image become purely graphic.

I had the yen to make a few botanical drawings too. I think it was fall moving in that made me want to capture the lush summer that had passed. I worked back into three of them with white.

This is my newest drawing, made just this week. I plan some variations on this theme.

Have I shown you this? Made earlier this summer. I made the drawn part of the piece bleed off the top and bottom.

More 12 x 12 Panels

I continue to make drawings on the 12 x 12 inch panels. They reflect the way my mind is working this month. Small ideas that may coalesce into something meaningful. I am enjoying it.

Michael McGuire - Four Untitled Drawings - Acrylic Paint on Panel - 12 x 12 x .75 inches each

Michael McGuire - Untitled Panel - Acrylic Paint on Panel - 12 x 12 x .75 inches

Michael McGuire - 34 Panels

Detail

More of the Same, But on Panels

The last three weeks I have been working on 12x12x.75 inch panels. revisiting many of the motifs I had explored much of this last spring: baskets, grids, optical black and white....

The panels are an intriguing presentation, and I do enjoy with the modular aspect of them. Create your own composition, make it a game, perhaps it is a language... The possibilities are almost endless. I have had fun with a couple of clients putting together compositions. Below is a photo of one such group. We mixed in some color with the striped panel, and that panel is actually .25 inches thicker than the surrounding panels, so we get a change of elevation on the piece too.

Michael McGuire - Various Painted Panels - 12x12 inches each

It is drawing of the baskets that I return to again and again. Their graphic and optical qualities engage concepts that I like to ponder. The black paint I am now using removes most evidence of the brush, and your eyes do jump somewhat at these graphic black and white pieces.

Michael McGuire - 9 'Basket' Drawings - Acrylic Paint on Panel - 12x12x.75 inches each

Detail

The other thing I am exploring in these panels is the tight, hand-drawn grid. Once again the optical qualities of the small white squares intrigue, and most people are unsure how these are made. I change up the configuration within the square format of the panels for a little variety.

Michael McGuire - 7 Untitled Panels - Acylic Paint on Panel - 12x12x.75 each

Detail

Michael McGuire - Skewed Grid 7 - Acrylic Paint on Panel - 12 x 12 x .75 inches

A new configuring.

Michael McGuire - Untitled - Acrylic Paint on Nine Panels - 12 x 12 x .75 each

New Drawings and an Invitation

This spring has been all about black and white drawings. I have a new black acrylic paint that is so dark and dense that it almost becomes optical when applied to white paper. Thus I have been revisiting some old genres of my drawings to reevaluate my intent. The majority of the drawings have been made on 12 x 16 inch Arches Cold Press Watercolor Paper.

I will be showing many of these new drawings at Sojourn in Sawyer Michigan over Memorial Day Weekend. See the invite below. Stop by if you are able.

A selection of some of the new drawings.

Polar Vortex Work

I was comfortably trapped inside during the polar vortex that flew through Chicago last week. Planning ahead made it easier. I had a refrigerator full of groceries and an art project to work on at home. Below are the results. Smaller pieces that required hours of cross-hatching. They are a continuation of a series I created two years ago. Optical images on school lined paper. As if one was trapped in Junior High study hall and was a very skillful doodler. This body of work began with figuration but moved on to optical abstraction eventually. I am working on a new 'Bette Davis' to keep and old, framed 'Rock Hudson' company. What was on my mind during study hall? All are sized at approximately 10 x 8 inches when trimmed. The materials are technical pen on Bristol paper. The school lined paper was printed on an inkjet printer.

Michael McGuire - Untitled - Technical Pen on Bristol Paper - 10x8 inches each

'Bette Davis' - In Progress

'Rock Hudson' - In Frame

Detail

New Work

Michael McGuire - Untitled Drawings - Printing Ink on Arches Watercolor Paper - 16x12 inches and 8x5.5 inches

Michael McGuire - Untitled - Printing Ink on Arches Watercolor Paper - 72x37 inches

Michael McGuire - Untitled Drawing - Printing Ink on Arches Watercolor Paper - 16x12 inches

Detail

Mulit-Baskets

I recently had a conversation with a client, an admirer of my 'Basket' drawings, and they proposed the idea of a still life made up of multiple, overlapping baskets. I was unsure if that was something that I thought might work, but this week I made some studies to investigate and flesh out the idea. I will present the drawings below, roughly in the order in which they were created. There were a couple missteps that ended in the trash out of frustration, but I eventually got my groove on, found the right brush, got the acrylic paint to the right consistency...  I very much am engaged by the last few drawings. I plan to make more.

Detail

Detail

Michael McGuire - Loose Grid Study 1 - Acrylic Paint on Arches Watercolor Paper - 16x12 inches

Michael McGuire - Loose Grid Study 2 - Acrylic Paint on Arches Watercolor Paper - 16x12 inches

Michael McGuire - Loose Grid Study 4 - Acrylic Paint on Arches Watercolor Paper - 16x12 inches