THE PERFECT INK

I'm obsessed with finding the perfect ink in a pen. One that is rich, dark, flat and not shiny when it dries, has great coverage and flows out of the pen and onto the paper well. Lately, i've been experimenting with lots of pens, pencils, inks and washes to get that perfect ink, but haven't found it yet. As you can see from the photo of just a few of my supplies above, I'm still searching for it. I'm most comfortable with a ballpoint pen for my detail lines and an ink wash for the larger background areas. I know the perfect ink is out there, and I know i will find it. Just a few more thousand pens to try and drawing to do.

Here's a detail of one of my drawings. i used a Mitsubishi Uni Power Tank 0.7 for the line work and Winsor & Newton ink block for the background. The Power Tank is a great pen. It works well when drawing extremely thin lines all the way to filling in larger areas. And I like that they make it in 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0 thicknesses.

I'm almost done with the design and production of my dad's book of short stories. Here's the wrap jacket almost complete. One of my color pieces of art will appear on the cover. The only thing we are waiting for before it goes to the printer are two reviews for the back cover, one which is my dad's close friend and college roommate at Georgetown University William Peter Blatty's (yes, author of the Exorcist Bill Blatty, as dad calls him). Just a few months ago when dad met with Bill he was kind enough to get a signed first edition of the Exorcist for me. Thanks dad!

Its been far too long for this project to come to fruition, and I'm very excited to have been able to be a part of having one of dad's dreams come true. The book will consist of 13 short stories that dad has written over the years. 256 pages long. Stories he has written with wit, humor, life experiences and a good old twist of my dad's love of story telling. I'll post the final book when it gets back from the printer. Thanks for all you have done for me, dad. I'm so happy I could do something to return all of your love. Love you Dad!

After way too many years I've finally managed to start a blog of my artwork. I've drawn, painted, and sketched for over 20 years, but most of my work was never photographed  before it was given to someone, or was tucked away in a sketchbook or portfolio. So from now on it has a home. I love to create art. I get lost in every drawing and enjoy every stage of its creation. And once it's finished I forget all about it for the excitement of the next one.

For those of you who don't know me I'm an illustrator who studied at Parsons School of Design and have spent the last 25 years of my life working in New York City as a Creative Director in publishing. Designing websites, books, logos, and all kinds of printed  and electronic material. I've recently been creating more artwork and have been selling it and taking on commissions. I hope to have prints available soon of my ink drawings. And please let me know if there is anything I could draw for you.