Emergence

[JayS]

What is it? Media Charcoal. Paper Strathmore 500 series Professional Drawing Paper, plate. Size 16X20"

[JayS]

What? No Guesses?
I'll make it a little easier.

[JayS]

The Bison is out of the bag. This big boy was wallowing in the dust. As he finished, he rolled to get his feet under him. He first stood up with his front legs and then hoisted his rear in the air. I caught him coming off the ground as if he was emerging out of it. hence the title Emergence. I'm looking forward to drawing the sagebrush in the fore ground. Behind the bison I see clouds of dust that he stirred up while rolling around.

[kwheller]

I am really looking forward to watching this develop! Bison are so massive and I have come a little too close to them hiking (and not on purpose). I can just see him emerging from the ground! What a great picture to capture!

[JayS]

Ha Mike! Progress. I'm now into the foreground sage.

[JayS]

The vegetation provides the environment that this bull is emerging from. While drawing today I have been asking myself the following questions> 1) How can I build variety into the brush? 2) Sagebrush in September in Northern Wyoming is fluffy, making detail difficult? 3) Circles are a powerful visual draw, but will the overwhelming number of them take that draw out? 4) Since this bull was wallowing in the dust there is another atmospheric element that will be introduced later, how will I show the dust rising from the coat of the bison? There is so much more variety in the vegetation that adds to this story, so the question becomes how to build the variety in the layers.

[rideum51]

I most wonderfully followed your spoken an drawing story and really look forward to your progress.
Question, the bisons body doesn't look right to me. It looks more like a shell rather than a coat of fur. Was this intentional, or am I off base?

[JayS]

I see your concern. The thick shoulder coat of the bison is almost golden in color. Where the bison has shed his winter coat he his almost black. Where these different coats of the bison meet, and in particular the darker shaded triangle, along with the edge shadow makes it look like that front part of the coat is almost lifting off the body. Unintentional. Oops. By taking the shadow out of the triangle I can make it look flatter and more connected. Good Catch! Will update tomorrow.

[kwheller]

I am enjoying seeing your unique representational style of drawing, whether looking at Snowy Fawn, Black Tailed Deer, Emergence or others you have posted. Your drawings make me stop and take it all in and I just find them very interesting. On Emergence, I can really see the bison coming up from its wallow and I have seen them in the process of shedding their winter coats. I agree with taking out the shadow of the triangle so its not lifting so much from the body. Also, I would consider examining the direction of the sun, so that you can consider putting in more shadow/shading. Very nice work and am looking forward to seeing it continue to develop.

[JayS]

Kwheller, I appreciate your dialogue on this piece. You help me see a different point of view of my own work. When I was doing a lot of art festivals, I developed an approach to creating art that in retrospect, was a little unique. I would watch the reactions of people walking by the tent. Most people would glance over and keep walking engaged in conversations with their friends. Then I noticed that sometimes that split second glance would cause the person to grab their friends and drag them over to the tent where they would both engage with the art. As a result, I developed an attitude in my drawing that I called "show stoppers". This was a conscious drive to create art that pulled people into my tent where they would spend time looking at each piece of art. In my beginning years I really had little idea of what I was doing. But taking a class from Mike raised the level of my art significantly. He has given me the gift of his knowledge and significantly improved my drawing. He has helped me create quite a few "Show stoppers" where I can have perhaps 30 pieces that make people think about what they are seeing. All of this is searching for that thing in my head that is what I see, not what is only in the reference. For me this is a combination of emotion, logic, and the synthesis that reflects my "inner" sight. I don't always know what this is. Robert Bateman once told me that he has images that don't work at all, and if he knew how to fix it he would but he has to sometimes just start over. I think this is what Mike calls 'understanding' what you are doing. When images are static that is one level. When you add action it adds layers of complexity. This is where the fun is for me. I appreciate that you've told me that you've seen bison come out of their wallow many times. This bridges the gap between your experience and mine. That's great! I wonder what it will be like when many of the animals I draw and search for in the wilds are gone? Will those who don't have this experience be able to recognize what they see? That too is a goal. Terribly long winded, I am. Yoda.