This is an oil painting of an old sailing ship at sunset, which looks vaguely like a ghost ship. The big boat was painted in 1997 and the artwork is approximately 2′x3′. The background sky and sunset were painted first, followed by the glowing hills and buildings. Water and reflections were painted next, simply by mirroring the shapes and colors painted above. Deep greens and blues were added to the murky water, and there is some tension created by the bright sun disappearing into the surrounding darkness. Lastly the boat and foreground were painted with similarly brisk brush strokes. Details like rope, flags, netting, sails, and waves splashing around the ship were painted last.

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These two colorful portraits of a woman and a man were drawn with markers in 2002, and are approximately 8″ x 5″. Both portraits were drawn in a very loose and expressive style with unconventional color palettes to create tension. The expressions on their faces also provide insight about the uneasiness of the art. Colorful markers of varying thicknesses and shades of grey were used to layer the shapes and colors of each drawing in stages. In some places the markers started to run out of ink, so the same colors from fresh markers were applied over faded areas. This helps to create more depth in the shadows. Also, the vivid oranges and reds bring a heightened energy and intensity to the portraits and offsets the darker areas.

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This is a marker drawing of a woman wearing a hat. The portrait was drawn in 2002 with varying shades of grey and black markers. A thin black pen was used to sketch in eyes first, then other facial features and proportional marks for the hair and hat were drawn next. Light shades of gray marker were then layered in broad strokes. Drawing from light to dark, shapes and forms were built up to define the shadows and highlights of the woman’s portrait. Alternating values of dark and light areas, or chiaroscuro, help to create the illusion of surface structure in the drawing.

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This colorful abstract drawing of a woman’s profile was sketched with markers and white acrylic paint. Thin blue pen lines were initially used to sketch in her profile. Layers of blue and black marker where then used to fill in patterns and shapes in and around the woman’s face. Sometimes the shapes indicate shadows, or define contour, or they are just expressive mark making that affects the composition of the art. White acrylic paint was used to add hot spots and highlights. In some areas of the drawing, the black marker started to fade out while blocking in thick lines, which also adds to the rough unfinished feeling in the art. And the portrait drawing is honest in its mistakes and successes, from the boldness of the initial sketch to the transparency of the finished drawing.

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