The current work in progress, begun in November of 2019 and nearly completed by the current date, January 29, 2020. Again from Notes to Self, this drawing is built from the name of one of my daughters. The final in an unexpected triptych of emotional and important pieces for me to create, this drawing appeared in my head complete. The challenge then became to put it on paper as I had imagined it internally. In many ways I completely succeeded. In some, I failed. A lot like life.
The finished piece is 22×30 inches. I’ll show you soon.
Begun in early November of 2019, another quite personal piece, this drawing happened quickly and felt as if it flowed out of me almost automatically. Another new addition to the Notes to Self work, the finished drawing sprung from consideration of dualities both forced upon us and embarked upon of our own volition, and the strength – and often grace – required to maintain a complex existence.
A look at my current work in progress, a text-based drawing designed around the name “Delilah.” As I began this piece, I realized it fit into my Notes to Self body of work, which I thought I was done with back in 2017. It felt good to reopen that chapter, and I now see that there are few other pieces I need to add. This is one of a few different bodies I feel I am able to work on indefinitely. Which is both comforting and daunting.
As of April 14 of 2020, I am beginning to feel that these newest three text pieces do not, in fact, belong to the Notes to Self work. Or perhaps Notes to Self must evolve into something other.
A companion piece to my Cyntoia Brown portrait, this work in progress has been moving slowly. I took the text design (“how did I get here” from the Talking Heads song Once in a Lifetime) from the portrait and laid it inside a maze, which I have been slowly building, with some trial and error, and along the way I have found that I occasionally get lost in this maze myself. Paranoia and self doubt are qualities these soft walls have teased out of me at times, and part of the process of creating this piece is to find my way through those qualities.
The text was primarily drawn with ultra fine point red Sharpie, with highlights from brush tip markers, which also account for much of the maze structure. 22×30 inches. And the finished piece.
For nearly a hundred images of this piece as it evolved, check out GitHub.
This work in progress, an incomplete version 2 of my Emmett Till portrait (as of January 2018), has a significantly different text design than version 1. While the text itself is the same Talking Heads lyric – “same as it ever was” – it is my intention with version 2 to imply a tattered flag with the text. There will likely be a version 3 to follow once this piece is completed. Sharpie and brush tip marker on watercolor paper, 22×30 inches. And the finished piece.
These fragments are from a long overdue drawing, payment to a dear friend for a pair of exquisite handmade wooden spectacles. This portrait of Scott Urban, whose work I recommend you take a look at when you have a moment, will eventually be completed and my debt settled. Until then, Scott has been kind enough to only give me a moderate amount of shit about how slow I’ve been with this particular piece. He is one of a few true artists I count myself fortunate enough to know. It is, as you might have already assumed, marker on paper, 22 x 30 and references Caravaggio’s use of optics in his gorgeous painting The Incredulity of Saint Thomas.
D A M I E N J A M E S 