New 'Basket' Drawings

I have a client looking for two 'basket' drawings and I have none on hand. I of course over-produced and made ten, you need to in work of this type. There is an element of serendipity to their creation and the process cannot be fully controlled, hence better to make multiples and make choices from there.

Seven drawings on my living room wall. Arcylic paint on Arches Watercolor Paper. 12 x 16 inches each.

Michael McGuire - 10 'Basket' Drawings - Acrylic Paint on Arches Watercolor Paper - 12 x 16 inches each

16 x 12 It Is

At least for this week the 16 by 12 inch watercolor paper seems to be the best option for working at home. I have four Arches cold-press watercolor blocks at that size. Each block contains 20 sheets of paper so I have plenty of material for the next few weeks. Yesterday I moved over to washes with acrylic paint. I have had this idea on my mind for awhile now so I'm happy to get around to it finally. These three are just a start, I began with the gray and the color is a bit of a stretch for me, we will see where they go (if anywhere), but engaging for now.

Michael McGuire - 3 Untitled Drawings - Acrylic Paint on Arches Watercolor Paper - 16 x 12 inches each

Saturday, April 18, 2020
New drawings from the last couple of days. These pieces are rarely finished in one day as there are two or more layers on each one and one layer needs to dry completely before adding the next. I do work on multiples simultaneously making the progression a little inexact to track. As I have done in the past when I initially begin a color exploration I start with orange and blue, opposites on the color wheel, and generally making a neutral tone (gray) when mixed.

That is a lot of color and I backed off from the intense chroma. I am using some acrylic paint that I have on hand because I want the color to be permanent once it dries so I can lay on the next layer without disturbing the wash below. In my acrylic paints is a wonderful 'Indigo' color and once I ran across that (drawing above left) I had to make more using that color. I am still figuring out how dense the washes could be, things look more intense as the go on wet and mute a bit when dry. I am also thing about changing the arrangement of the rectangles on the page.

Working From Home

I had trouble knowing exactly where to begin working at home during this temporary relocation of my studio. I have a large commission which I work on diligently but I cannot solely focus on that, I don't have the stamina or the concentration. So I have been making smaller black and white grid drawings related to earlier work of mine from a few years ago that I made on panels at the time. My media is Steward Semple Black 2.0 and a white Molotow acrylic paint pen. I up scaled one piece to 22 x 30 inch paper size but am unsure if I like them any larger than 16 x 12 inches.

Michael McGuire - Three Drawings - Acrylic Paint and Molotow Paint Pen on Arches Watercolor Paper - 16x12 inches each

Michael McGuire - Three Drawings - Acrylic Paint and Molotow Paint Pen on Arches Watercolor Paper - 16x12 inches each

Michael McGuire - Untitled  - Acrylic Paint and Molotow Paint Pen on Arches Watercolor Paper - 22x30 inches

Lastly I'm posting a photo of the large commission drawing I am currently at work on. You can see my improvised drawing table at home. This month I am so grateful for my fantastic view of Chicago out my window.  I draw much inspiration from the city and its' forms.

These were a few 3D pieces I was working on just before I moved my studio home. Made out of simple craft sticks/coffee stirrers and painted black. They cast fun shadows. The middle piece is based on a Sol Lewitt drawing from his series 'Isometric Drawings'. I plan to make more from that series. 

Here are a few other 'Stir-stick' pieces that I had in production at the studio last month. I hope to finish the large one eventually. There is a connection to some of my recent black and white drawings only these are 3D instead of acrylic paint on paper.