Newest Brushwork

a little about the process i use to create these pieces:

every stroke should create as much mood, animation, life as possible. layering of colors is possible to a degree, but i try to use this sparingly. there's a lot of steady hand control needed, as well as precise placement of paints and inks to avoid bleeding and other unintended effects. there are many different ways to hold and load a brush, and though i am primarily using techniques i have observed and studied in one form of Chinese classical brush drawing, I very much freely incorporate my own vision and techniques. planning, execution and completion all happen rapidly, but only on the pieces which end up completed. it's common for a more complicated piece to be completed in 45 minutes, but only after spending hours on what i deem to be failures.

there is often a high degree of chance and a chaotic element that can really make or break one of these paintings. this can be controlled to a degree, but i've found that worrying about control too much creates unacceptable stiffness in the work. pausing often to reevaluate is crucial, but hesitation can be fatal to the piece and your sanity. but then, splatter and strokes, drips, stains- almost anything- may not ruin, but actually enhance a piece.

i paint these standing looking straight down at a high, flat desk which reaches my low-mid stomach. as in sign painting, it's good to hold your arm steady while moving your entire body at times, and this is necessary often enough to warrant this position.

tearing the paper before i begin has the same feel as a water mark or a signature, and it adds an organic texture to the piece while breaking up the static rectangle or square.

on top of this, i believe the tear highlights the fragile quality of all of these.  they should not come into contact with any liquid, they are small and can easily be crumpled, burned, stained, etc...  that's something i love about the final products of this process.  i keep them in a very safe place.

The stamp is an ancient Chinese text, and is something I had made while traveling through Dun Huang city, Gansu Province in August of 2002.  It reads right to left, "Kou Bing".  Roughly translated, "Icy/cold Pirate".  This was my first official Chinese name which has since been changed.

hope this helps/was interesting.  feel free to message me with questions, and i'll do my best to accommodate.

frogs in the rain

10.25"x3"

water color and ink on torn paper

SOLD

dragon fly/ chick, fish and bee/ fish

water color and ink on torn paper

varies/3"

dragon fly: SOLD

frog and fly

10"x3"

water color and ink on torn paper

fish and bee
9.25"x7"
water color and ink on torn paper grocery bag

frog and fly

10.5"x3"

water color and ink on torn paper

gold fish and bee with rain triptych

~12" square
water color and ink on torn paper

frog and bee
~6"x3"
water color on paper

frog

~10.5"x3"
water color and ink on torn paper

SOLD

 toad and fly
~7"x3"
water color and ink on torn paper

toad in the rain

5.25"x3"
ink and water color on paper
UNAVAILABLE

toad and dragon fly
11"x3"
ink and water color on torn paper

green chicks

~9"x3"
water color and ink on torn paper

blood chick and ladybug (because it needed to be done)
~4.5"x3"
ink and water color on torn paper



more in the next blog, and after that...

1) EXCERPTS FROM THE FIRST 7 PAGES OF MY NEWEST COMIC WORK, WRITTEN BY THE HILARIOUS JASON LAMB, OF "THE CARL SHOW" FAME.

2) FINISHED PRODUCT: SANE SUIT VS. ELDRITCH ENTITY FROM BEYOND TIME, SPACE AND THE 3RD DIMENSION
03/04/2014 BLOG (here:   http://cldahlstrom.blogspot.com/2014/03/blog-post.html   )

more classical style brush work...

crab and rock

13.75"x6.75"

ink and water color on paper grocery bag

 chicks, worm and bee with bamboo

11.5"x13.5"

ink and water color on paper grocery bag

chick with gnat

6.5"x3"

water color and ink on paper

UNAVAILABLE

*this teal green ink i've used in the above pictures was a present from my instructor.  he told me it's no longer being made, and he gave me one of his last boxes.  i'm finally using it after 5 years and trying to do it right.

*explanation of the red stamp and for the style shift in the previous blog.*

fish with lotus, fish with bee

water color and ink on paper
11"x3"

8 bees and late cherry blossoms
6.5"x13.5"
water color and acrylic on paper grocery bag

dragon fly and lotus

13.5"x6.5"

water color and acrylic on paper grocery bag

dragon fly/chick, fish and bee/fish

water color and ink on torn paper
varies x3"
dragon fly: SOLD

this morning's studies: small, ink drawings using a classical chinese method

These were done using methods taught to me at the old campus of Xi Bei Da Xue (Northwest University) in Xi'an city, Shaan Xi province, China.  The images were done with ink on paper and with a brush pen.  The stamp is an ancient Chinese text, and is something I had made while traveling through Dun Huang city, Gansu Province in August of 2002.  It reads right to left, "Kou Bing".  Roughly translated, "Icy/cold Pirate".  This was my first official Chinese name which has since been changed.

chick and bamboo.
2.5"x1.5"

full version below
V
V

6.75"x1.75"

gold fish and lotus.
4.5"x3.5"

bees and lotus.
3.5"x4.25"

crabs and sea grass.
7"x11"
SOLD

shrimp, chick, peony.

2.75"x2", 2.2"x2", 3"x2.5"

chicks

2.5"x2"

Many Thanks, Wang shi fu.

the exploratory sketch that turned into an illustration

3/4/14

initial sketch for a superhero 

not sure what i'll have her pulling with her right arm yet.

3/13/14
(mock up for print- look for it around 3/20/14)

i had a great time doing this, but going from a rough, preliminary sketch directly to a finished piece is a bad, bad idea.  don't do it.  there's almost as much whiteout as ink on this thing.

that being said, i'm content with the way this turned out and happy about how much i learned from this project.

ink on bristol, 13"x16.5"

*NOTE*
this isn't a cleaned-up, ready-for-print representation above.  i am also behind on the schedule cleaning it up, but since it's my own project, i'm cool with that.  see the blog above this to see why i'm running late on this.

made some changes as i inked and then added flat colors.  a japanese ghost...

fun with sketches

I took a poorly-lit picture with my i-phone and did a little editing.  After that, a few simple layers of color thrown over the resulting texture (and setting some layers to multiply) can yield some cool results.  i like quick sketches for a number of reasons, but i really enjoy being able to tweak them relatively quickly to create a desired response.  that's the goal, anyway.

sketch and sketch + a little color.

MONKEY GONE TO HEAVEN- in limbo...

page one from Monkey Gone to Heaven

written by Brenden Clawson

illustrated by C.L. Dahlstrom

ink, acrylic on bristol

10"x15"