Stipple me a chapel.
Working a technique like stippling is a challenge. I am one
of the non-purist types who choose to mix the pen and ink drawing forms. I mix
stippling, hatching, cross-hatching and a few other pen marking styles to
render or suggest the texture and material of the subject. I also vary my
technique to invoke a feel in my work. Rendering fur or feathers in a looser,
more energetic line, can imply movement or tension. Using the tight dot
patterns of stippling with limited linear definition can build solid form, such
as such as finely carved stone.
Creating even a small work in a stippling or dot pattern
can be a mental challenge since it can get tedious quickly and tax your ability
to hold the pen and press a point into the paper for hours on end. Some of my work can take 40-50 hours to
complete; the largest have taken over 200 hours. You need to plan ahead when
you start a major project to make sure you have the time and patience to get
the job done.
A few of my pieces over the last year or so are based on
photos that I shot while traveling. The image above is called “Basilica
de Santo Nino’, and is based on a group of photos I took while I was in Cebu
City, Philippines. I built this work with a loose dot pattern that migrated to
a tighter pattern to build a significant light and dark pattern. I wanted the
work to have an area of dark that still held interest and detail.
One of the goals of this work is to
develop a piece that gave a person the feel of the church without the typical
defining bell tower, entryway or depicting the complete building. I wanted the
work to have a more interesting feel than something that everyone has seen
before. This is always my goal.
Just for information: Stippling is ink drawing using dots to
create shapes, tone and value.
Pointillism is when multiple colors are laid down in the form of dots to create a visually mixed color pattern. This is done instead of mixing or blending colors together.
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