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Ta-da!

 Hello all-

So it's been a little while since I updated about the drawing.  The first reason is that we were in NC for my step-sisters' (they're twins) graduation from high school.  Yeah Hannah and Katherine!

The second reason is as follows.  In almost every drawing and most of the prints there comes a point where they hit the "ugly phase".  Generally it's close to the end of the process and I print a color or do something to the drawing that I almost immediately regret.  Then comes the feeling that the project can not be salvaged and I'm going to have to give it up.  In this drawing it came when I took the main figure from this:

to this:

by doing a blue ink wash over the whole thing.  The spots are from areas of heavier conte application that acted as a resist for the ink.  I also used brown conte to completely dull the underlying colors of the city.  In short, I made the whole thing a muddy unattractive mess.   If I were braver, I would have then posted the "ugly phase" pictures without knowing if the drawing was going to turn out or not.  But I'm not that confident, so I didn't.

Instead, in one intense work session a couple day ago, it went from the muddy version to this:

I know is seems like a left out several big steps, but I promise that's not exactly true.  That's pretty much how the drawings always work out.  I almost give up, I walk away for a couple of days and when I start again they come together rather quickly.

Here's a overview of the whole thing.

There are some more detail shots here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/JHooverArtwork/DrawingCreationPhotos

Now the drawing is essentially finished.  The whole thing will be sprayed with a UV protective clear coat so the the dry conte colors won't rub off.  I won't stretch it for awhile because it's easier to store this way.  It will hang in my studio for a bit and I may do some small touch ups but that's about it.

Since i've gone this far, I'll post pictures of the stretching process when I get to it.  This is largest one I've ever tried to stretch so it should be interesting.  Wheeee....
 

Progress

I have been working on the drawing in short spurts over the past two days.  The first layers are slow going because I have to wait for sections to dry before moving on to another.  With smaller drawings I have two or three going at once but with large drawings there is only room for the one.

I put another layer on the sky.  It will get at least one more layer.  Some of the collage work has gone onto the mountains and I put the line work on the city.  The line work is put in with a water soluble calligraphy marker and bleeds as soon as it gets wet.

The first layer has gone onto the mountains and the city.  For the city buildings, the underlayer colors are almost never even close to the final colors.  The top layers usually play with the underlayer color in some way.  I tend to think of most of these areas as color exercises.  That has its own traps, sometimes I get so excited about a color combination that I lose sight of how the overall structure is supposed to work.  

The sky monster gets its first touches of conte.  Finding out that conte crayons are water soluble changed many things about my work.  The drawn elements blend in a much more natural way with the watery ink elements. Plus dipping a conte crayon in water and then drawing is like drawing with pure pigment.  Yummy....

More collage work and another ink layer on the mountains and I had to wrap it up for tonight.  Moving forward means that the mountains could bleed into the sky and the sky into the city.  I have to wait for everything to dry and then re-wet only the sections I intend to work on.

There are a few more pictures here:  http://picasaweb.google.com/JHooverArtwork/DrawingCreationPhotos

New drawing

I've started working on a new drawing and inspired by

 , I have decided to track the progress of this particular drawing.  I'm not sure if it will be of interest to anyone who reads this blog, but it might be a nice exercise for me to see how the drawing develops.  And so here is the drawing laid out on the paper:

I do work from a sketch but I didn't take a picture of that.  I may add it later.

When I work on the drawings, I work on the floor using a big piece of homosote as a drawing board.  I use Stonehenge paper because it holds up very well to repeated layers but doesn't soak up the ink as fast as some of the softer printmaking papers.  

In this stage the compositions always look a little weird but since I'm going to stretch the drawing afterward I will be losing inches from the edges.  For instance, this is going to be a large drawing probably 52" x 44"(stretched).  For drawings this size I use heavy duty stretcher bars and so I'll lose roughly 4 inches on all sides. 

After the drawing is laid out on the paper its time for the first layers of ink.  Using large hake brushes I wet the area of paper that I wanted to work on.  The ink will only bleed into the areas that are wet so I have a certain amount of control.   Last night, I but the first layers on the sky and then this morning I put the first layer on the city.  There will be a certain amount of collage work on this drawing but I hate to see white paper peeking through at the end so everything get at least some color. 

In the last photo you can still see the under-drawing of the sky creature.  I wanted her/it to blend into the sky until I go in with the final layers of ink and drawing.  Hopefully, I'll be able to bring it out enough....

If you want to see a couple more pics go to:  http://picasaweb.google.com/JHooverArtwork/DrawingCreationPhotos

Pin Projekt Photos and other news

The Pin Projekt Auction in NC was a lot of fun. There were many really beautiful pins and overall I think they sold really well.  I met some really nice people and got to see some old friends.  My Dad ended up winning the pin so it looks like I'll get to visit this one!

Since I forgot my camera, I have to rely on the kindness of others who post their photos and allow me to link to them.  So if you'd like to see pictures of the auction please go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ttocsland/tags/pinprojekt4/

 Thank you Scott!

Doing art stuff in NC always makes me a little homesick but it is nice to be back in Baltimore.  I finished up the spring semester and I'm taking a break from school for the first part of the summer.  The first thing I did was completely clean and re-organize the studio, so new work will be in process soon. 

Oh, my poster that will be auctioned for Sowebo fest in Baltimore is now online, along with all of the others.  To see them go here:

http://www.soweboarts.org/posters.html

Although this is not at all art related I thought I'd share pics of my most recent house project.  For those who have been to our house, you have seen the sunroom off the kitchen.  Ever since we moved in I have been sad that the space is just not usable.  There was a rather large built in bench on the non-window side that was covered in ugly brown carpet and another built in shelf/bench along one of the other walls. 

Then a couple of weeks ago, instead of working on a paper, I decided to rip the built in sections out.  It went relatively well, except for the accidental cutting of the phone line to the house.  Anyway, today Ikea provided me with roll down shades, which I hung with no trouble at all.  That may be a first for Ikea installations in my house.  Then for finishing touches, I bought pillows at Pier 1.  I would have bought pillows at Ikea but they seemed to have taken leave of their design sense when they introduced this year's outdoor pillows. There are a good many that involve a combination of puce and pink that I find repellent.

The last is a close up of a fairly recent art purchase.  I'm not sure if the artist had an actual title for it but Mickey and I have been calling it "The Empty-Eyed Deer".  I debated buying it because it is slightly creepy but I had a vision of it in the sunroom among plants.  It fits here so much better than in the living room. 

Bowling pins and on-line comics!

Hello all-

On Thursday night I went to an amazing talk at Baltimore County Public Library.  The talk featured four artists who are very talented and very, very busy.  Since I have been feeling a little unproductive this winter, they inspired me to take stock of what I have accomplished.  Since no one wants to hear about my boring school endeavors (although I am developing a love for databases and hierarchical inheritance) I'll focus on art stuff.

I am participating in the fourth Pin Projekt in support of the Troika Music Festival in Durham, North Carolina.  I love this project (projekt in this case!).  It's really fun creating monster sculptures.  This year's pin features wings with wire ribs that are ever so slightly pose-able and of course the whole thing is iridescent.  I can't wait to see the lights hit it at the auction! That's right, provided my end of semester doesn't go horribly awry I plan on being at the auction.  I hope to see you there!

The live auction will be held on May 16th at the Broad Street Cafe, 1116 Broad Street in Durham. 

For more information go to:  http://www.troikamusicfestival.org/
To see pics of my pin go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/JHooverArtwork   

I am also pleased to announce the long awaited unveiling of The Adventures of Slug Bunny vol. 2.  I am sorry to say, that although I love 'zines and mini-comics somehow I never get from the drawing stage to the photocopying and stapling stage.  Thankfully Paul Friedrich and Hellcar comics has provided me with an option. 
Please visit  http://www.monitorthis.com/index.cfm?page=hellcar  to view my very first totally online comic. (Hellcar may have some content that is not kid or work friendly) You'll also find an online version of Slug Bunny vol.1 but since it also exists in the more traditional stapled form I can't claim it as number one.  Stayed tuned for more slow moving Bunny adventures.

I will also be participating in this years Sowebo Arts Festival poster show.  Sowebo fest is a great Baltimore art and music festival and I'm excited to be able to participate in my small poster-y way.  For more information, please visit:  http://www.soweboarts.org/posters.html

And now to complete my email full of links, here are the links to the sites of the four delightful artists that spoke at BCPL.

http://www.andrewneyer.com/ - very beautiful prints, paintings and books

http://closedcaptioncomics.blogspot.com/   The blog of some very hard working 'zinesters at MICA (see above warning about Hellcar, this may have similar issues)

http://cottonmonster.com/  Jennifer Strunge, I LOVE her work

http://squidfire.com/index.cfm  Kevin Sherry, T-shirt designer and bookmaker extraordinaire

Happy spring to you all!

Tiny Paintings

Tiny paintings #202-#212 have made their way to Minas in Hampden. Here are pics of two of them. You can see all of them by clicking on the Picture Archive link on my links list. http://www.minasgalleryandboutique.com/

The BMA print fair was a smashing success for the MICA table and also for yours truly. I sold one of my books and have a lead on selling the last one in the edition. I may have even sold a few prints but I'm not quite sure of that. I stopped going to the BMA print fair some time ago, mainly because the dealers were less than friendly when I walked up to a table and tried to look at anything. This time around I was very excited, since I no longer look like a scruffy art student, I felt sure that I would at least warrant eye contact and maybe even a greeting of some sort. I was mistaken. Same cold shoulder as before.

By comparison, at the MICA booth almost everyone who walked up was greeted in some form. People were allowed to look around but as soon at it seemed like they had questions, someone was right there to answer them. One student was able to sell one of her largest prints simply because she took the time to explain her process and her work in general.

If you know me, you know that I am not normally any sort of MICA or art student cheerleader but this weekend I was very very impressed with how everyone handled themselves, especially in comparison to the other vendors. I am concerned that the MICA students will not be invited back because they did so well. There were rumors that others felt their sales were being siphoned off because the student prices were lower. For those people, I would highly recommend that they try some good old fashioned customer service. You never know who has money to spend or for that matter, who is there representing someone with a great deal of money to spend.

Anyway, I will refrain from launching into a rant on the elitist nature of the art world and remember that for every snobby art dealer I've encountered, I've met many more delightful artists and collectors who are a pleasure to deal with. They exist and they make the art world and the world in general a much happier place.

BMA Contemporary Print Fair- Update

I just spent all day helping to set up the MICA booth at the print fair. There were so many amazing prints and books that it was very, very easy to get distracted. I ended up buying this print/drawing by the talented Hillery Rebeca Sproatt. I already own one of her books and I can't wait to pick up this piece on Sunday!! http://www.hilleryrs.com/drawings.html#

Anyway, this is just to let everyone know that the MICA booth alone is well worth the admission price to the fair. Woo-hoo!

BMA Contemporary Print Fair

Hello all- I realize this is super late notice but it turns out that I will have work at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Contemporary Print Fair this weekend. MICA has a table for the first time ever and I was invited to show my work.

For those that have never been, the print fair is a great way to see work by printmakers from all over the country. There's usually a good range of prices, meaning that its a really good way to start or add to your art collection. I have seen (and purchased) work from the other MICA artists and I can't say enough about the quality of work that will be there!

Here's the link to more information about the fair.

http://www.artbma.org/calendar/special_events/2008-printfair.html

Valentines are mailed!

The Valentine mailing was slightly delayed due to an unforeseen battle with the current cold/plague that's going around. Colds used to be a minor annoyance involving a sore throat, runny nose and a slight cough. These colds might have resulted in missing a day of work and maybe another two days feeling not quite right but overall were no big deal. Current new plague colds involve the sudden onset of crushing chest pain, an amazingly painful sore throat and a horrific death rattle cough. Plague colds require at least two days of lying drugged to near insensibility on the couch and then another several days moving with old lady (or man) slowness around the house.

I'm in day four of the plague cold and managed to leave the house to vote and mail the Valentines. This activity made me dizzy and so I'm back to the couch. Oh precious beautiful couch.

In case you are wondering, I did not just mail my plague to everyone on my mailing list. The Valentines were assembled pre-plague, I just haven't been able to leave the house to mail them. By the way, I still have some left over so if you haven't sent me your new/current mailing address it's not to late!

Will You Be Mine? Valentine 2008!

Happy New Year to all! I have just finished printing this year's Valentine. For those who don't know, I am completely incapable of sending out any sort of December holiday greetings. There is always too much to do and not enough time to do it in. I try to make up for this lack by hand printing Valentines for everyone on my mailing list. This helps keep my list up-to-date and provides all of you with a free piece of art. If you received a postcard in the mail for my October show, then you are all set. If you have recently moved, are new to the list or did not get a postcard in the mail, please send me your updated information.

A picture of last year's Valentine will be attached to this email, this year's Valentine will remain a secret.

Thank you for your support this year!

Jodi Hoover

http://www.jodihoover.com/ http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5376389

Snow

I would be a little more excited about the snow if it hadn't taken me three and a half hours to get to class this morning. But the dogs love it so that's something. My last final of the semester is due next Wed. and then I'm blessedly free until January 28th. Wheeeeee!!! I have several screen printing projects wandering around in the back of my head, a big drawing I want to work on and hopefully I will see many of the friends I have been neglecting for the past few months.

Oh yes, the Play Station and I will become reacquainted. Ben, do you have any good game suggestions?

Some people have no class

The show at the Brewer's art had a rather sad ending, it seems that last weekend two of my drawings were stolen off the wall. The owners and staff at the Brewers are horrified. They think that the theft occurred during a wedding rehearsal dinner. It just goes to show that you can be classy enough to book your rehearsal dinner at the Brewer's Art yet not be classy enough to have friends (or family) that don't steal. While I can't imagine how you can enjoy stolen art in your home, I hope the drawings are safe rather than in a trash can somewhere. On a happier note, I just took 13 new tiny paintings to Minas. This set includes my very special 200th tiny painting. Crazy I know.

If you would like to view all of the tiny paintings please go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/hooptron@gmail.com

I'm going to loading more pictures from the "archives" as I get time. I'll also be getting my slides scanned, time and money permitting and so I'll put those up to.

The joy of nerdy comics

Some people are able to write blogs even while they are very busy and doing a million different things. I am not one of those people and so my blog has been even more neglected than usual. School has been keeping me even busier than I thought it would. There are the usual school complaints but overall the work is interesting and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm in the beginning stages of putting together an Etsy account to sell my prints. Etsy is sort of like eBay for crafts and art. I think it's worth trying out especially for the holiday season and I'll let everyone know when it's up and running. Until then I leave you with this comic done for a presentation I'm giving in my archives class. Enjoy!

Brewer's Art Show

Hello all- Please consider yourselves invited to my annual show at the Brewer's Art!

New Drawings, Prints and More by Jodi Hoover

October 15th - November 18th

OPENING: Monday, October 15th 6-9 pm

The Brewer's Art (http://www.belgianbeer.com/) 1106 N. Charles St. Baltimore MD

Upstairs back dining room.

There will be several new drawings, new screen prints (printed in my own shop!!!) and some print collages I put together just for this show. I was inspired by fellow artist and all around good human being, Jordan Tierney ( http://www.jordantierney.com) to pull some of my old prints out of their dusty drawers and re-work them into something I'm actually am proud of. Sometimes the best way to get over feeling precious about something is to hack it into bits and see what happens next.

Instead of sending along clean and tidy photos, I'm sending along an overview of the whole show. The show as it is now, all over my studio.

Those of you on my snail mail list,check your mailboxes, postcards went out yesterday so you should be receiving them soon. I hope to see many of you at the opening. To those who can't be there, I'll have an order of rosemary garlic fries just for you!

Until then,

Jodi Hoover

Accomplishments

Today's big accomplishment was getting my car towed. I can't even pretend that it was someone else's fault. I flat out failed to read the sign indicating that I really needed to be back to my car by 4pm. I could take comfort in the fact that I have never gotten my car towed before, but that doesn't bring back my 200 dollars. On the plus side, it looks like I will be interning at the Walter's Art Museum to work on their new archives project. I also did all the laundry from our trip and cleaned the studio. You know, none of that brings back my 200 dollars either. I guess I'm just going to be grumpy for awhile.

Winston-Salem, Ahoy!

ARTOMAT 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY (woo-hoo)http://www.artomat.org/10th.html

This is a link to the planned events on August 18th. Mickey and I will be rolling into town on Friday the 17th and plan to be at Secca on the 18th. I'm not sure what I'll be bringing to display/sell since we had planned on making this our annual motorcycle trip and even with two bikes space is limited. However, since the temperature next weekend is supposed to be in the mid to upper 90's we are thinking about bringing the car, so who knows what I'll have.

I will have some of my newly finished Artomat pieces (see below) to trade with the other Arto artists. These are screen prints of six different Baltimore city scenes with six different monsters printed separately. This allowed me to make 36 different city/monster combos. There are 120 total and I kept 20 to trade so look for the other 100 at an Artomat machine near you.

As usual, please pass this along to anyone else who have be interested!

Jodi

PS- For those who don't know about the Artomat project, please visit www.artomat.org It's one of my very favorite things and I hope someday soon we have a machine in Baltimore!

Show pics

I have been going through my art related pictures to organize, properly label and make back-up copies of them and I realized that I never take pictures of the shows after they are hung. So in the interest of turning over a new leaf here are a few from the Touchstone show.