The Modern Matryoshka

Solzhenitsyn: front


Solzhenitsyn: side


Solzhenitsyn: back


Tolstoy: front


Tolstoy: side


Tolstoy: back


Dostoevsky: front


Dostoevsky: side


Dostoevsky: back


Inside

Finished!

After many intense hours, these dolls are all finished and ready to be shown this weekend. For Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky I also designed an official 'stamp' for the bottom of each one and included their names in English and Russian. When creating these, I decided to size each one according to his age, with the oldest (Dostoevsky) being the smallest. It was in no way to show partiality to Solzhenitsyn, but rather, as they are stacked inside each other, to show how each inspires the next.

The Modern Matryoshka opening reception is April 9th at 7pm
Click here for more details.

Adding Detail... after detail... after detail

Well I have now definitely spent a lot more time working on these dolls than I originally intended. I just kept dreaming bigger. For starters, I added special touches to the inside of each doll. I pasted in old Russian newspaper, and included images I found from these papers on the inside bottom of each 'cup'. Then to add a bit of much needed color, I painted the insides red.  On the outside, I decided to finish each doll off with a textured looking fabric sketch. You can see me working on Solzhenitsyn's herringbone jacket above. I had to put on two coats of lines in order to achieve the darkness I wanted, but I think it turned great. I will be adding textured 'fabrics' to the other two dolls as well and the next posting should be the finalized product.

Character Begins to Show

I got the faces all inked in using a micro pigment pen and each doll is beginning to show some life! Using the curves of the wooden doll to accentuate each face by placing the eyes, mouth, and especially the nose on the right part of the curve required a little extra thought, but so far so good...

Drawing Out the Matryoshka

Here are the first, and very rough sketches of each doll. After a long debate with myself I decided on doing three of the most influential Russian authors: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitsyn. I didnt want to make them too cartoony and goofy looking though. Hopefully I can accomplish that.... At this point they are mere sketches, and I havent even started working on the body of each one, because well, Im not sure what to do to them at this point. I have been debating doing different, more traditional patterns and colors, drawing clothing, scenes from their literature, or keeping it really simple and just staining them with a light pattern. It should be figured out by next post...

Portrait of Aleksandr

This is the finished portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and I have to say, the photo does not do it justice. This thing is really big, like four feet tall big! If you have a chance, go check it out, as this is the last weekend it will be hanging in the gallery, or if your around during the week you can call and make an appointment (Rothick.com).

I created a page for all the steps in making this portrait of Aleksandr. The steps are in descending order so you can easily scroll through the entire process. Click the link below to see this process and read more about the meaning behind this portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Creating the Portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is ink, oil, and paper (pages from Cancer Ward) on wood panel. 32" x 48". Sold

The March to Tashkent

Here is another piece from my show at the Rothick Arthaus. Entitled The March to Tashkent, it is based on a time when Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, while still serving time in the labor camps (gulags), had to go to a hospital in Tashkent because of a tumor. His tumor was removed, but the cancer was not diagnosed for a few more years, almost killing him (I know what that feels like). This hospital in Tashkent was the inspiration for his novel Cancer Ward, a story where he used tumors as a metaphor for  the problems in Russia. The novel is also the basis for most of my artwork in this show.

The March to Tashkent is ink, acrylic, and newspaper on wood panel. 24" x 32"

Portraits

Vadim (lives!)

Pavel Nikolayevich Rusanov

Friedrich Federau

Aleksei Filippovich Shulubin

Oleg Filimonovich Kostoglotov

These are all small 8" x 10" portraits of some of the characters in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's book Cancer Ward (the same book I used for the background of Aleksandr's portrait). I was originally going to make eleven portraits to coincide with the eleven patients in Cancer Ward, (which also happens to be the number of years Aleksandr spent in labor camps and the number of flowers I made for exactly that reason) but I ran short on time after having quite a few complications... so there may be more of these to come.

Each portrait is ink, oil, and newspaper on wood panel. 8" x 10"

Beneath the Broken Bottles Recap

Awesome night on Saturday for the opening of Beneath the Broken Bottles and Cigarette Butts. I included a few pictures, but didnt have a whole lot of time to take much more than that. I met quite a few artists, chatted with tons of interesting people, and sold quite a few pieces - including the portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn!

I will be profiling these new pieces a little closer the next few weeks and explain a little more about them. Make sure you check back for that! This show will be on display through Sept. 4th so get down there as this will be the last time they are all up together. Plus the artwork of Ryan Clemens and Cody Lusby (aka Mustachio) are amazing mixed media works and must be seen up close to really capture all their details. Thanks for everyone that came out and to those who now own a piece of my work!

The Agony of Drying Paint

Well this is it! Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's portrait is finished...well mostly. I still have to let the oil paint dry, which can take up to a week! I put it and the flowers under a heat lamp to hopefully speed up the process; hoping that it will be dry enough to take to the gallery tomorrow. After they all dry, the flowers have to be pasted to boards and everything needs to get a nice protective clear coat put over them so they will last.

Unfortunately, I wont be putting up a picture of the finished portrait until after the show. It just looks so much better in real life, and I dont want to take away that element by showing you now. It would be like telling you how an intense movie ends... So instead Ill give you a little spy shot and a few other steps of things I worked on yesterday.

Only eight more days until the show!

This is what I CAN show you of the portrait



Here is the first step in redoing the flower in the portrait. I had to wipe off the oil paint first so I didnt smear it when I pasted the page over it.



Covered up the old flower



Now I start inking in the new, bigger flower



Add a little paint



And let them all dry

Off for Framing... and Flowers!

I got the portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to a good stopping point and gave it to my neighbor to build a frame for it. We have been trading work back and forth, I design print and website stuff for his carpentry business, and he builds me beautiful frames. It has been working out great. So while the portrait is across the street, I have been keeping myself busy with these flowers. I am making ten of these, plus the one in the portrait makes eleven. Eleven flowers for eleven years Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spent in the labor camps.

The process for making these is quite simple. I tried to use mainly photos I took of the roses in my backyard. Once I ran out of those I turned to the internet. I didnt spend a lot of time on the actual details and getting everything perfect. I wanted to keep them a little sloppy. I painted each flower on the beginning of each chapter, 1-10, from Solzhenitsyn's book Cancer Ward (the same book I used for his portrait). I will be selling these flowers at the art show for pretty cheap. Like $20 a piece, cheap. So make sure you come get one before they are all gone!

Almost Finished...

After finishing up all the outlining, it was time to start filling in the body with black ink. I actually went back through and filled in all the smallest areas using that same fine point brush. I also used it to round out any detailed areas in preparation for a bigger brush. With artwork, I was always taught to use the biggest brush you can, and thats exactly what I did here. I used three different brush sizes to ink in all the areas. Below is as far as I got yesterday, that shoulder is responsible for most of my time...

My close friend and fellow world traveller has posted up Aleksander Solzhenitsyn's biography for this weeks Wikipedia Wednesday! Check it out here, and look at his site often. There is fresh and very entertaining posts daily and his music reviews are always right on. Thanks Brad!

And make sure you mark your calendars, call your friends, cancel your appointments, because Beneath the Broken Bottles and Cigarette Butts begins in 10 days!

Up close with the fine point brush.



Got the details in and even finished the flower. You can also see the pages I had to paste over for my late night shading mistakes. It all works out in the end... Now the body is ready for the big brush!

Inking in the Outline

My next step, once I got everything in its proper place, is to ink in the outline. I am doing the whole portrait in ink because 1. its not thick like black paint 2. it blends really smoothly 3. it dries flat and doesnt show brush strokes. So basically Im going over all the lines I already drew, but with a bottle of ink and a very fine tipped brush. This actually took me most of the day to finish because this picture is huge and there is a lot of detail to it. Eleven days until opening night at the Rothick Arthaus!

On this day in 2008, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn passed away. I hope this portrait will both honor his accomplishments and inform more people about who he was and the relentless stand he took against the Soviet Union.

Tools of the trade.



You can see there is an area I still have to do on his chest. Im adding a flower in there and I just haven't figured out how I want to do it...



Detail shot of the sleeve after inking in the outlines. Can you find a penguin, a polar bear, a whale, and a map?

Beginning the Portrait

It is two weeks before the art show at the Rothick, and Im creating things like mad! I have a lot of things I want to do for this show and of course they are all big, detailed, and take a lot of time. So the first one I am starting with is a portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. He is a Russian author and Nobel prize winner. He had a pretty crazy life living in Soviet Russia, and writing all of his books in secret. Read his biography on the Nobel prize website.

I started researching Aleksandr a few weeks ago. I stumbled upon his biography while reading up on Russian history. I ordered a few of his books including "Cancer Ward" (which I am currently reading) and "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich". I also ordered an extra copy of "Cancer Ward" to use as the background of this piece. Below you can see what Ive done so far, and I will keep posting up my progress daily.

So far I have cooked up some wheatpaste... its super easy, cheap, works really good, and you can eat it (it doesnt taste very good but its just flour and water).
To make your own follow this simple recipe:
for every 3 tablespoons of flour, use 1 cup of water.
heat up water on stove without bringing to boil.
in separate container mix flour with a little water to make it pastey.
then pour into hot pot of water. mix for a few minutes.
I like to strain mine afterwards as I pour into a container, just to make it extra smooth.



Then I cut out pages of the book "Cancer Ward" and began pasting them to this a board. I use an old gift card to press them on there and flatten out any wrinkles.



There you have it.... more coming Monday!