Curious Collection No. 8

India ink on paper

6.5" x 6.5"

Can you spot the arrowhead?

This piece is available to purchase for $150 + shipping. Email me if interested: jon@jonmacnair.com

Curious Collection No. 7

India ink on paper

6.5" x 6.5"

Can you spot the chalice?

available to purchase for $150 + shipping. Email me if interested: jon@jonmacnair.com

Darling Zine "Sex Issue"

I'm really excited to post these photos of this zine I am part of. It was put together by Anef in Berlin. Beautiful job with the silkscreening!

you can check out Anef's blog here: http://anef-prints.blogspot.com/

might want to check this out too: http://cargocollective.com/anef

Curious Collection No. 6

India ink on paper

6.5" x 6.5"

Can you spot the mallet?

Available to purchase for $150 + shipping. Email me if you are interested: jon@jonmacnair.com

Curious Collection No. 5

India ink on colored paper

7.5" x 7.5"

can you spot the tooth?

Available to purchase for $165 + shipping. Email me if you're interested :)

jon@jonmacnair.com

My work in Beautiful Decay

I have a drawing in Book 6 of Beautiful Decay. The theme was of the issue is "Future Perfect." There are lots of great artists represented in this volume, so check it out! By the way, I have an extra copy if anyone out there is interested. It retails for $20, which is what I will sell it for (shipping already included). If you live in the U.S. and are interested, email me (jon@jonmacnair.com).

Curious Collection No. 4

India ink on colored paper

6.5" x 6.5"

can you spot the hook?

This is available to purchase for $150 + shipping.

email me if you're interested: jon@jonmacnair.com

Curious Collection No. 3

Continuing in the line of my "Curious Collection" series, here's No. 3! It's a bit smaller than the ones I have done before (which were 12" x 12"). I have a bunch more I will be posting this week, so stay tuned.

India ink on colored paper

6.5" x 6.5"

can you spot the funnel?

This is available to purchase for $150 + shipping.

email me if you're interested: jon@jonmacnair.com

Final Voyage of the Elders

Alright folks, this is the last of the 3 drawings for the "Ritual" show. I thought it was about time I did another water scene, so here it is. In terms of corresponding the image to the music in the "Rite of Spring" if I had to choose I'd say this goes with the Introduction music to part 2 of the ballet.

My sketch

India ink on paper - 18" x 24"

detail shots

Procession of the Hunters and Scavengers

This is piece 2 of 3 for the "Ritual" show at Causey Contemporary. The whole idea was sort of based on the idea of an annual harvest/hunt. A lot of medieval art depicts scenes of hunts, and this is paying a bit of homage to those images. This piece was challenging because of the large number of objects, animals and figures in the work. Also, quite a few of these things are overlapping, so that took a bit more planning in the sketching stage. I also thought it would be fun to have the girl as the only figure looking directly at the viewer. As I spoke about yesterday, my drawings for the show were also inspired by the ballet music "The Rite of Spring". If I had to choose what part of the music corresponds with my image, it would probably be the scene titled "Ritual Action of the Ancestors." Pretty fitting!

my sketch

India ink on paper - 18" x 24"

detail shots below:

Back from hiatus update

Hello all,

I recently got back from a two week vacation in beautiful Vermont, hence the lack of posts lately. The weather was great, although abnormally hot for the state. I took tons of pictures and spent a lot of time outside the second week when I was staying on lake Champlain. I even worked on some new drawings during the two weeks. A nice trip overall.

Anyway, now that I'm back, I thought I would post a new piece that is currently in the "Ritual" show in New York (at Causey Contemporary). This is one of three pieces on display there. I'll post the other two in the next few days.

The show opened while I was in Vermont, but I got some pictures from Trystan (of the Honeycomb Collective) of the opening and setup of the show. I will post those this week sometime.

As the show title states, "Ritual" was the theme. This piece is called "Reawakening of the Long-Departed", which is pretty self-explanatory. I was inspired by the music of the ballet "The Rite of Spring" by Stravinksy for all three of my works. Pretty fitting since the music is about a ritualistic human sacrifice. Not only the music itself, but the titles of the scenes were an inspirational source. I didn't create the works based on specific parts of the music, but after I completed the pieces I went back and listened the music again and tried to pick out what scenes fit my imagery. That was kind of fun, if not a little difficult. I decided this drawing was best suited to the scene called "Mystic Circles of the Young Girls". Have a listen to that part of the recording (if you have one) and hear for yourself.

my sketch for the piece

India ink on paper - 18" x 24"

detail shots

more about the "Rite of Spring": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring

more about Causey Contemporary who is hosting the exhibition: http://www.causeycontemporary.com/

The show is up until August 28th, so check it out if you are in the Brooklyn area!

George (R.I.P.)

This is a picture I did for my aunt (the same one I did the house drawings for) of her dog George. He was put down a few summers ago at a very old age. I took the picture for which this drawing is based on the last time I saw him. He was a golden retriever, and at the time of the photo, his muzzle was quite white, being so old. I've gotten pretty good at drawing dogs and cats in charcoal. I used several different kinds of it: compressed (my teachers would be scolding me), vine, and charcoal pencil. The compressed is great for those really dark areas, like the mouth and places with hard shadows. The vine charcoal is good to lay down as a base when you are first starting the drawing. It can be erased easily and provides nice light values. And the charcoal pencil is good for bringing out details in the fur and around the eyes and mouth. The best thing for highlights is your eraser. I used a kneaded eraser and a white rubber eraser. You can just lift off the charcoal to help give the illusion of shine on the fur. For this kind of drawing, your eraser is your best friend. I sole reason I enjoy doing these types of drawings is because of the reaction and appreciation you get from pet owners. They love seeing their animals immortalized on paper.

"Ritual" show opens TONIGHT!

Hey all!

I'm pretty excited for this show tonight! It's been a long time in planning and now it's about to open. Come check out some of my new works and the work of a slew of awesome artists in the Honeycomb Arts Collective!

Opening Reception tonight:
6-9pm
Causey Contemporary Gallery
92 Wythe Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Architectural Surprise - part 3

So here is the final of the 3 drawings of the house. Again, lots of straight lines and little details that are vital, if you are familiar with the space. The fishing net hanging on the wall, the dangling coil of rope, the boat oars stored up in the ceiling, the big ball underneath the desk, and the boat cushion behind the lawn chair. All these things are unique to the place, and without them it would look rather sterile. I stressed out about drawing the net because obviously a bunched up net is a little tricky to draw. So I had to simplify it enough so I could draw it, but not make it look unrealistic. I did my best. After drawing all those straight lines, I had a more relaxed time with all the foliage outside the house, but I had to make sure the values were not so similar to the interior, that they blend in. I was also rather pleased with how the pattern on the chair came out. It was a vine-like/floral pattern, and again I had to do a bit of an impressionistic spin on it, but I think it worked out.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my more traditional side. I don't bring it out very often, but it can be an interesting change once in a while.

Architectural Surprise - part 2

Here we have drawing number 2 of the 3 I recently completed. This is one of the interior views of the porch. The most challenging thing about this one was all the furniture, particularly the chairs of different sizes and styles. I was however pleased with how the lamp turned out, as well as the door. Lots of little details to notice in this one. Tomorrow I will post the last of the 3 drawings (the other interior view). Stay tuned....

Architectural Surprise - part 1

Here's something you might not expect from me. It's a drawing of a house, realistically executed in pen and ink wash. The house itself has been in our family for many decades, and is located in North Hero, Vermont on Lake Champlain. My father and his siblings spent summers here growing up, and I spent many there myself. After my grandparents passed away, the house passed on to their children, and my aunt is the one who now maintains the house. It has been recently renovated, and this back porch is no longer there, having been converted into more of a living area. My aunt commissioned me to do three drawings of the house. One of the rear exterior and two of the interior of the porch. So this is the exterior view. It was done using reference photos I took two summers ago. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I enjoy certain things about it, like the chimney and little triangle of roof visible to the right, and also the bush to the lower right. The bike was a challenge and all the straight lines nearly drove me crazy. I did not use a ruler while drawing with the ink because I was using a dip pen with a nib. But I think the slightly uneven quality of the "straight" lines adds to the hand-drawn look. My technique with the ink wash is pretty much how I always do it with all my fine art and illustration work.

Below are some process pictures.

I will be posting the other two drawings in the next 2 days, so stay tuned.

"Force Fields" show pics

The "Force Fields" show is over, but they managed to raise $1500 for Against Malaria in 3 hours, which means 300 mosquito nets for Africa. You can see my piece in the above photo, and the rest of the photos HERE.

photo courtesy of Amanda Mourenza

Recently sold this older drawing:

This one is still available however through Articulated Gallery in San Francisco. So if you are into hairy mountains with faces or flying things, or black suns, you might want to check it out :)

It can be purchased here at a reduced price of $200: Click here to BUY!