A Storm of Confusion Over a Field of Uncertainty, John Thrasher, pen and ink and hide glue on paper, 22″ x 30″

Rag paper requires size for pen and ink work. After the paper is sized with hide glue, patterns are drawn within the infrastructure of a landscape sketch. The drawings are all part of a series, consistently sized and formatted, that I began in 1998. The series builds on a range of stylistic approaches to drawing in order to address profound and absurd notions of aesthetic measure.

A Storm of Confusion Over a Field of Uncertainty (detail), John Thrasher, pen and ink and hide glue on paper, 22″ x 30″

Penmanship has always been one of my interests.  My dad taught me to use quill pens when I was a teen, so I’ve been attracted to the delicacy and contrast of scripted ink marks for many years.  With this drawing, I use the pen to “run amok” in a linear composition that unfolded rather haphazardly, hence the title.  I completed the drawing before a live audience for Eye Spy, a fundraising art jam put on by my friends at the Mansfield Art Center.  To my great pleasure, one of my prize students won the piece!

The King o’ Sumpn Sumpn, John Thrasher, digital print, gouache, color pencil and ink on paper, 22″ x 30″

For  The King o’ Sumpn-sumpn, an array of digitally printed marks provide a foundation for a figurative drawing completed with gouache, color pencil and ink. Some of the marks are nearly 30 years old, scanned from drawings collected over time. Physically rendered graphics are digitally re-purposed, layered and arranged, then addressed again with plastic media.

The King o’ Sumpn Sumpn (detail), John Thrasher, digital print, gouache, color pencil and ink on paper, 22″ x 30″