Tag: pointilism

  • Lumbering Bier

    Lumbering Bier

    In this second installment of the series, our ambiguous land deity is no longer a distant silhouette on a ridge line. Here, the entity is a massive, lumbering presence actively moving across a raw, windswept field. I wanted to shift the atmosphere to something highly kinetic, capturing the restless friction of an old god traversing its domain while the grass churns around it.

    Technically, expanding this world required a dense mixed-media approach on cold press paper to handle the sheer volume of texture. I built the environment using a layered blend of Faber-Castell Pitt pens, Staedtler pigment pens, acrylic brushes, and Sakura gel pens.

    The process itself was highly rhythmic. I used the fine precision of the Staedtler and Pitt pens to map out the intricate, flowing lines of the prairie grass, mimicking the paths of the wind cutting across the earth. For the figure itself, I wanted a stark architectural contrast; its blocky, horned head is built with textured gray tones, while its heavy cloak is a dense thatch of deep crimson lines interwoven with pale, root-like fibers. The sky is composed entirely of meticulous stipplingโ€”thousands of individual dots of ink and acrylic that create a vibrating, static-like atmosphere above the field. The tooth of the cold press paper catches these distinct mediums differently, keeping the individual marks crisp while allowing the colors to optically blend into a restless, living landscape.

    There is a solemn, ritualistic quality to this giant form moving through the elements, acting as an ancient shepherd of the wild, untamed acres.


  • Frenetic Canopy

    Frenetic Canopy

    I wanted to move away from the quiet, still qualities of a traditional landscape and focus entirely on energy. Nature is rarely static. It is constantly growing, decaying, and shifting. This piece was a deliberate experiment in capturing that hidden, frenetic activityโ€”making a forest look as though it is writhing and moving right in front of you.

    Technically, this required a dense orchestration of different tools and medium behaviors on smooth hot press paper. I built the surface using a heavy blend of Faber-Castell Pitt pens, Staedtler pigment pens, acrylic pens, and Sakura gel pens.

    The process was rhythmic and intense. I used the fine precision of the Staedtler pens to create an intricate web of overlapping, high-contrast lines for the undergrowth and the tree trunks. The fine, colorful lines slashing through the foliage were accomplished with Sakura gel pens, giving those bright accents a sharp, clean edge. Instead of blending colors smoothly, I relied on rapid dashes and tight clusters of stippling with the acrylic and Pitt pens. By placing contrasting tones directly side-by-sideโ€”the electric greens against the deep purples and warm ochresโ€”the canopy begins to optically vibrate.

    It is a chaotic way to build a landscape, but letting the marks layer over one another without correcting the friction gives the piece its pulse. It records the grit and the constant motion of the woods rather than a sanitized portrait of them.


  • Sells Mill: Late Winter Light

    Sells Mill: Late Winter Light

    here is a brief window at the end of winter where the landscape feels entirely transitional. The trees are still bare, but the light changes, catching the water and the earth differently. This study of Sells Mill was an attempt to record that specific, shifting energy.

    Technically, Iโ€™ve continued to explore the boundaries of my mixed-media approach on cold press paper. I used a combination of Faber-Castell Pitt pens, acrylic pens, and Sakura pens to build the scene layer by layer.

    The process is a deliberate balance between structured architecture and organic chaos. I used the fine precision of the Sakura and Pitt pens to draft the rigid lines of the historic mill and the dense, tangled thicket of branches in the foreground. For the sky, the water, and the stone faรงade, I leaned heavily into a pointillist technique. By applying thousands of individual dots of ink and acrylic, the surface begins to vibrateโ€”allowing the cool blues of the late winter sky and the rushing stream to catch a sense of movement.

    The paperโ€™s tooth works as a quiet partner here, holding the pigments exactly where they land but allowing the sheer volume of marks to optically blend. Itโ€™s a slow, rhythmic way to work that captures the texture of a place without forcing it into a sterile, perfect drawing.


  • A Fragment of Departure

    A Fragment of Departure

    I wanted this piece to feel like a fragment of a larger, untold story. It is composed from the exact vantage point of an unknown observer looking through the brush, watching two figures stand at a crossroads on a path. You are witnessing a fleeting, high-stakes moment, but the context is deliberately stripped away. Is one figure looking back because they finally spotted you? Are they standing forlornly as someone else prepares to disappear into the heavy tree line? Or are they simply frozen in a moment of sharp indecision? Leaving those questions unanswered is the entire point; it forces the viewer to fill in the blanks.

    To build this sense of atmospheric suspense, I used a complex multi-medium approach on hot press paper. I started with an India ink wash to establish the deep, heavy values and the overall mood of the environment. From there, I used a mix of Pigma pens and Pitt pens to layer the finer, sharper architectural lines of the massive tree trunks and the dense foliage. I relied heavily on stippling in the canopy, using rapid dots of vibrant purple and green to make the air itself feel like it is vibrating. Finally, I used a white gel pen to pull out the stark, sharp highlightsโ€”catching the light on the foreground rocks, cattails, and the edges of the figures to create a punchy contrast against the dark background wash. By blending the fluid ink with the rigid precision of the pens, the process itself becomes a balance of control and chaos, keeping the image grounded in texture while letting the narrative remain completely elusive.


  • The Yellow Hat

    The Yellow Hat

    Today I am sharing a new multi-media piece that continues to push the boundaries of my recent experiments with pointillism, but with a distinct narrative twist.

    This piece, based on an older photograph of a dense tree line and brush, relies on a highly textured mix of India ink, acrylic pens, and Pigma fine liners. To capture the thick, almost claustrophobic atmosphere of the undergrowth, I combined sharp, vertical scratches for the tall grass with heavy, vibrating dots of color. The optical mixing of the bright yellows and oranges in the foreground against the deep, heavy purples and blacks of the background gives the entire scene a buzzing, nocturnal energy.

    But this isn’t just a landscape study. If you look closely at the middle-right side of the composition, tucked away in the tall grass, there is a cloaked figure wearing a wide-brimmed yellow hat.

    I rendered this figure using the exact same pointillist and linework techniques as the surrounding environment, perfectly camouflaging them into the brush. Much of my work centers around the idea of being a “quiet observer” in rural, forgotten spaces. With this piece, I wanted to flip that dynamic. It introduces a subtle, eerie, Southern Gothic narrativeโ€”a reminder that when you are out observing the quiet edges of the world, sometimes you are also being observed.


  • Eveningโ€™s Quiet Unrest

    Eveningโ€™s Quiet Unrest

    Today I am sharing a new mixed media piece that explores a specific memoryโ€”twilight in a silent meadow. This composition, based on a low-light photograph taken a few years ago, was an exercise in capturing a delicate visual tension. The scene possesses a profound tranquility, yet beneath that stillness lies something subtly unsettlingโ€”a feeling I wanted to preserve and amplify.

    While the original photo provided the structure and the quiet posture of the figure, the translation to paper was driven entirely by a need to dictate emotional weight through medium. I build the density and movement in the foreground undergrowth through networks of energetic, scratching lines using Sakura fineliners and Faber-Castell Pitt pens, contrasting against the still, flat fields of color in the sky.

    By utilizing a Post-Impressionist or Synthetist paletteโ€”swapping natural colors for a heavy, low-light atmosphere of muted purple, cool blue, and an unnerving yellow-greenโ€”I aimed to create a psychological filter. This piece combines the raw texture of graphite and ink from my earlier studies with the bold, non-naturalistic color blocking I’ve been exploring recently. It is a portrait of solitude, suspended in a vibrating, eerie twilight.

    Technical Details:

    • 9×12 140lb cold press
    • Faber-Castell Pitt pens
    • Shuttle Art paint pens
    • Staedtler Pigment Liner
    • Sakura Pigma