Drawings in Felt Pen and Pastel - Allen Schill - Still Life Photography

Vincent's Eye, 1972. Felt pen on graph paper, 8 1/4" x 11". (id#7)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available. The image is based on the eye in a self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh, with suggestions of a trilobite.
Crucifix of the Earth and Sky, 1973. Felt pen on graph paper, 11" x 8 1/4". (id#12)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available. A crucifix whose lower part is embedded in the ground, its upper part extending into the air. Inspired by medieval mysticism, but with a lysergic twist.
Up the River (To the Source), 1973. Felt pen on graph paper, 8 1/4" x 11". (id#9)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available. Inspired in part by certain landscapes in some very old animated cartoons, such as those by the Max Fleischer Studio, which turned repetition into a thrilling lysergic vision.
Demon, 1973. Felt pen on paper, 9" x 12". (id#11)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available.
Above the Crystal Planet, 1973. Felt pen on graph paper, 8 1/4" x 11". (id#8)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available.
Blossom, 1973.
Watercolor dye on waxed rice paper, 10" x 8". (id#5)

Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available. A sort of mandala, but somewhat more biomorphic. One of a series of experiments in applied art, using the materials for fabric design.
Paramecia Kartoffelensis, 1973. Watercolor dye on waxed rice paper, 6 1/2" x 8". (id#6)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available. A repeating biomorphic pattern, with a mock-Latin title. (Kartoffel is German for potato.) One of a series of experiments in applied art, using the materials for fabric design.
Pastel Mandala I (Suns in Circle), 1978. Pastel on rice paper, 12" x 10". (id#44)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available. A mandala somewhat closer to traditional mandalas in form and coloring.
Pastel Mandala II (Circles and Arcs), 1978. Pastel on rice paper, 10" x 9 1/2". (id#45)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available. A mandala somewhat closer to traditional mandalas in form and coloring.
Small Pastel Mandala I, 1978. Pastel on rice paper, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2". (id#46)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available. A mandala somewhat closer to traditional mandalas in form and coloring.
Small Pastel Mandala II, 1978. Pastel on rice paper, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2". (id#47)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available. A mandala somewhat closer to traditional mandalas in form and coloring.
Small Pastel Mandala III, 1978. Pastel on rice paper, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" (id#48)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available. A mandala somewhat closer to traditional mandalas in form and coloring.
Flame-Leaf, 1977. Oil crayon on paper 12" x 8 3/4". (id#21)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available.
Inner Glow, 1977. Pastel on paper, 12" x 8 3/4". (id#22)
Unique drawing. Reproductions may be available.
Passage/Emergence (Birth), 1972. Hand-painted intaglio print, 12" x 9". (id#51)
Intaglio print from zinc plate, hand-colored artist's proof. Reproductions may be available. Crudely drawn, but spirited. Mostly influenced by work such as that of Friedrich Hundertwasser, mentally disturbed artists generally, and premodern cultures.
Purple Pattern, 1973. Watercolor dye on waxed rice paper, ca. 3" x 4".
Unique drawing. One of a series of experiments in applied art, using the materials for fabric design.
Purple Pattern 4x, 1973. Watercolor dye on waxed rice paper, ca. 6" x 8".
Unique drawing, here repeated four times using Photoshop, joining the bottom-right corner. The design repeats as well at the other corners and along the sides. One of a series of experiments in applied art, using the materials for fabric design.
Drawings: in Felt Pen, Pastel, and Other Media
This work is from the 1970s, when I was beginning to develop a style of my own as a visual artist, something not merely derivative (such as Paul Klee-style abstractions). The first several images here are from a series of drawings made with the blunt instrument of the felt-tipped pen (usually on cheap, high-cellulose graph paper), which were quite unrestrained in their coloring. (I used the pens as they were, right out of the box). Two were done with watercolor dye on waxed rice paper, which I made while considering jobs in fabric design (fortunately not for long). There's one example of this sort of design, the single drawing and the result when repeated. A few years later came the more muted pastel drawings on colored rice paper, and here and there something else, such as a drawing done with oil crayon and a hand-colored etching.
Prior to the felt pen drawings seen here, I did a few others (not shown) of repeating geometrical motifs, following the grid of the graph paper, in which I tried to suggest the fantastically detailed patterns of what I called "eyelid movies". What I really wanted to do was to make movies of such imagery, which is as rapidly changing as it is intricate. This was technically far beyond my means at the time, though by now it is child's play with the computer.
For additional commentary, see the essays and artist's statements that regard this work: "Mandalas by Allen Schill - a brief statement and a long essay", and "Artist's Statement for the Nicholas Roerich Museum Exhibition".

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