"Summer" WIP

A new drawing titled "Summer" is underway. This is likely to be the very last drawing of this year. After going through a few compositional changes, I decided to go with a simple and the most impactful design. This one has many technical challenges: hair, translucent beads, fabric, and that keeps me engaged.

Random thoughts...

Beautiful Bizarre Magazine once described my work in their Instagram post as, "Hiroshi’s drawings capture a dreamy-sensual aura, a connection between surreal energy and human beauty. Magically unique and touching!" I think this was probably the best description of my work, even better than any descriptions I have ever attempted talking about my work. As I keep moving my art in a slightly different direction, this description is getting even more fitting.

I am thinking about naming this new direction "Betwixt and Between." I am trying to capture a state of being that is neither here nor there, a state of transition or suspension when everything freezes up.

An Echo

The 3rd and last piece I submitted to a group show in Tokyo. Graphite and colored pencils mixed media. i titled this drawing "An Echo." I was intrigued by the idea of depicting something invisible in a visible universe. An age-old question, "How can an artist engage his/her viewer intellectually as well as emotionally?" This is one of my answers.

"Azured Memory"

My second drawing for the group show in Tokyo. I had several different source images for this drawing. I tried many configurations of the placement of the model, her facial expression, paper plane, fabric and cropping. I ended up with this very cropped down version. I think this works. I might try a different version of this idea later on.

This was also my second attempt to mix regular and matt graphite pencils in a single piece (after "Spring"). The figure was rendered with matt pencils and the fabric with regular pencils. Since the fabric did not require heavy application of graphite, the whole background stayed not shiny at all, making the transition from the figure to the background more seamless. It worked extremely well.

 

New drawing "Spring" ("Vanitas 32")

I just finished a new drawing entitled "Spring". It is actually a part of my Vanitas series and "Spring" is a sort of its subtitle. I used Mitsubishi Hi-Uni pencils for the most part except for the bottom 1/3 where you see a poppy in the black background. That was all Faber-Castell Pitt matt graphite pencils. So this drawing has 2 different surface finishes: gloss and matte.

The concept is that the textured background symbolizes a state of decay, erosion and the white poppy symbolizes peaceful death. But this flower also brings up an idea of new life/rebirth in spring. My model is suspended in between those 2 opposite ends of the spectrum, living in both of those dimensions simultaneously. She is affected by the decay of life but her body language and gaze express a sense of longing for spiritual rebirth.

This is my very first round drawing and I had a special frame custom made. I think the drawing looks good in this frame. This is going to be shown at Arcadia Contemporary in New York this summer for their Five And Under show.