Artists finish their work ~ An audience completes it
Welcome!
Art is a celebration of God's gifts!
art, music and words awaken the senses
composing reflections from life's reasoned fences
encoded skill and mind is the foundry
beyond the grip of night's emotional boundary
Hint: Underline text is a Hyperlink
Casting Art to the Net
Ed's Art Net Started
September 28, 2007
My Favorites
Workings Log Cabin Church
Writings Foundation
Diversionings Call of the Wind
Meanderings Why on Earth
Meetings You!
Latest Additions
June 22, 2022 Word Net
June 19, 2022 Commonologist
May 28, 2022 Hope
May 19, 2022 Unique
May 15, 2022 Foundation
May 13, 2022 Mickey Mouse
Latest Updates
June 25, 2022 Layout design
change
June 24, 2022 Contact
June 23, 2022 Susan
June 22, 2022 Hope
June 20, 2022 Foundation
June 18, 2022 News
June 12, 2022 Hello
June 10, 2022 Revelations
June 10, 2022 Jesus
June 10, 2022 Heaven
June 10, 2022 Conjecture
June 07, 2022 Bipolar Stable
June 06, 2022 Three
June 03, 2022 Keep Moving Forward
Ed's Art Net is a public sociocultural self portrait with the intent and purpose of answering my daughter's request for a little "dad" history.
I also hope it helps you in some good way.
My message is simple.
We cannot be perfect, but we can all improve and we can all love.
I'm not selling anything. I'm just being an artist that wants to share what he has learned and what he loves, with everyone.
Ed (Bear)
Page contents:
1. Workings
2. Writings
3. Meanderings
5. Meetings
Art is a celebration of God's gifts
art awakens the senses
composing reflections from life's reasoned fences
encoded skill and mind is the foundry
beyond the grip of night's emotional boundary
1975 - Acrylic and ink on acetate
This was my first work in this medium (animation cel)... I found it when cleaning out my files while sheltering in place.
I had mistakenly painted George's pants yellow before painting the Yellow Submarine so I opted to paint the submarine tail red instead of starting over... illustrative proof that two wrongs don't make a right!
1981 - Printers Ink on White Corrugated Board
The bottom Mickey image in the above photo and the Santa Mickey in the right photo are cutout from a POP display (point of purchase) for Christmas candy that I designed the graphics for during my art career. The display was made of cardboard and the candy was Lifesavers in a Mickey Mouse cartoon themed package. Drawing Mickey was the most fun I had as a professional artist and is the only commercial art from my career that I'm featuring on Ed's Art Net.
The Mickey Mouse POP cutouts hang on my wall along with the two Disney signs that my wife gave me to help decorate my studio, office,
cave.
1979 - Acrylic and ink on acetate
"And I'm hovering like a fly, waiting for the windshield on the freeway..." lyric quote from the band Genesis, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, released 1974
The highlights I painted on the windshields reminds me of the inevitable bug collisions. I reckon it's a good argument for a full face helmet...
Motorcycles are great fun but not without risk. They can be very maneuverable but are no match for any automobile that swerves or pulls out in front of you.
1982 - 11x14 Lithograph
A fun project! I printed several of these with the intent to sell them but didn't. I completed the entire graphics production including sketch, pen and ink, rubylith color overlay, grayscale screens, camera ready mechanical, graphic arts camera work and printing on a 1250 Multilith offset printing press.
1971 - Pen and ink on paper
Too scary for toddlers, this is my first pen and ink of this dragon. I found it when cleaning out my files while
sheltering in place.
1980 - Metal Etching/Carving
I made two of these (left and right) for my 1979 Kawasaki LTD 1000 motorcycle (below). The two holes align with a gas tank mounting bracket. It started as a pen and ink drawing that was etched in magnesium (thanks to my friend Dub) then I carved it out of the etch panel and painted it gold to match the LTD's blue and gold pinstriping.
Circa 1980, me and my American built Japanese cruiser.
1976 - Watercolor on watercolor pad
This painting of "my Dragon" is the third of a set of three storyboard watercolors that were inspired by Gandalf's fireworks at Bilbo's Magnificent Party from The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.
1977 - Acrylic and ink on acetate
This painting may be the closest I've come to perfection.
This animation cel is my most mysterious work. It started as a drawer handle sketch to get my mind off of suicide and evolved.
I felt more and more spiritually inspired as this piece developed. It's called Balance due to its symmetry and the healing I experienced crafting it.
If you look closely at the center of the image (see detail) you will notice two separate heads merging together to form a third... two looking toward the center and one looking at you, three perspectives from one source... a symbolic model of the Christian Holy Trinity.
The overall image gives the impression of an evil but beautiful dragon.
Satan plays a key role in our spiritual development.
1978 - Pencil Drawing
This was my study for the painting below. Touch or click on the image for more detail.
1981 - Acrylic watercolor on illustration board
This Log Cabin Church painting is my personal favorite work. My adopted mom always said this was my masterpiece. I discovered this beautiful church in 1973. I saw the buildings as reflecting the two testaments of the Christian Bible.
"Old Testament" (log cabin) - the Tabernacle was built of cloth and wood, see Exodus 26
"New Testament" (stone building) - "And I tell you that you are Peter, and
on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.", Matthew 16:18 NIV.
The ghostly shadow in the painting that's approaching the front of the stone church is symbolic of the evil that constantly challenges us all, see Romans 12:21. I took artistic license there and replaced the road that runs directly in front, (see pencil drawing).
In 1981 the stone church front doors were green but have since been painted red.
1974 - Pen and Ink on paper
Grasp as in "Get a Grip"... This drawing symbolizes Satan's spiritual posturing. Satan is perched with a grip on the earth as he's reaching out to take hold of our spirit. We frequently deal with his influence as we grow through life.
Satan is God's creation to help us develop as we grow. God knows we're not perfect and the devil provides us with spiritual challenges such that we have to make choices in our behavior. We can develop into honest and good Jesus followers or become dishonest and evil Satan followers. The devil seeks us and Jesus wants us to do the seeking. It's part of God’s good and perfect plan.
"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you." Luke 11:33-36 NIV
climbing the tree
what to see
dare we aspire
a journey higher
to find key
beyond the lee
stars of fire
twigs of pyre
every soul be
on bended knee
light we acquire
evil will expire
1971 - Original pencil sketch
2008 - Wacom Intuos3 Drawing Tablet, MS Paint
We celebrate Jesus Christ's Birth on December 25. Such a humble beginning for the Savior of mankind. And what a strong mother Mary must have been to travel over one hundred miles in those days from Nazareth to Bethlehem at nine months pregnant! see Luke 2:1-21
Portal is a study for a family Christmas card. The three stars are symbolic of the Trinity. Santa is symbolic of us humans. Overall, Portal is symbolizing the transition from this life to the afterlife. see Isaiah 65:17
With Santa, the evil that we dealt with in this life is blowing away into flames of the second death. The flames trailing off Santa's eyebrows and hat brim represent the internal self-destructive thoughts many of us fight. The dragon's head in the beard is dissipating into flames symbolic of the external evils that we dealt with in this life's world leaving our memory. Evil is always closer to us in this life than we like. see Revelation 12:9 Thankfully, Heaven is free from evil.
Notice the fish symbol in Santa's hat. The early Christians used a fish symbol to represent themselves as followers of Jesus. The red coloring covering Santa's head and body is pouring into the fish's mouth. Jesus's blood is our armor against evil. see Ephesians 6:11 Jesus Christ was put on Earth to save us. see Matthew 1:21
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 NIV
Christ's legacy lives throughout time. The prophets of the Old Testament told us about Jesus Christ. i.e., see Micah 5:2 Even Job, probably the oldest book of the Bible, refers to Jesus. see Job 19:25
God teaches us that He is complex beyond our human ability to fully understand. In simple human terms, His commandment is to love. The Bible teaches us how to demonstrate that love by following God's will.
The Space [and Hope] hyperlink at the bottom of Writings in Heaven brings you back here:
"My God, it’s full of stars!"
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." Psalms 19:1-(3.5) NIV
Thanks to folks such as the good people at APOD we have at our Internet fingertips an impressively large quantity of very high quality artistic and scientific images from the seeable universe. Their Astronomy Picture of the Day featured images are wonders to behold and many would argue enough for our astronomical appetite. But for
others the thought of exploring space from the comfort of a faster than light starship is a bit more palate pleasing.
Unfortunately, travel to even our closest stellar neighbor is well beyond a reasonable human journey today. However, these distant space traveling dreams so many of us have likely indicate possibility. I believe we look and outreach with hope to the heavens because it's part of our nature.
How the star trekking dream is fulfilled, who can say.
Maybe Heaven holds the answer!
life’s flame burns like fusion
propagating emotion like starlit nebulae
who can hide from its beckoning
to the stars
onward outward
ever reaching...
for love's reward
1978 - Acrylic and ink on acetate with background photographic print
This is my rendition of Ed White's historic 1965 spacewalk. The above space traveler was drawn with black ink on one side and painted on the opposite side with acrylic in the fashion of early animation cel production.
September 1992 - Computer Animation
Commodore Amiga 3000, Imagine 3D 2.0 software - This work won honorable mention in a national Computer Animation competition for the Amiga computer. Unfortunately, this digitized video is made from a VHS tape recording. I no longer have the Amiga computer this was built on that would provide a sharper image.
The overall theme for HummerHead is that much of our inspiration and inventiveness comes to us by studying nature.
When we do finally realize how to build a starship, it will be with God's help.
January 3, 2020 - Retirement is an emotional emancipation. All of a sudden, deadlines and commitments vanish like nighttime sparks from a roaring fire.
January 2020 - Internet Circuit Board (partial view)
The above colorful picture is a raster graphics image of my career final PCB design. It's a pseudo partial "X-ray" rough representation of a small portion of a cable modem Internet circuit board. The actual production graphics data is rendered in a CAD tool then manufactured from multiple individual layers of copyrighted proprietary vector graphics artwork (not shown here). You might have a "real" one of these in your home.
March 2020 - Watercolor on watercolor pad
I originally started drawing this dragon in 1971 (see Dragon One). He's always been full of mischief, but I hadn't thought about naming him until deadly COVID-19 hit.
April 2020 - Acrylic and ink on acetate
This animation cel character painting cartoon of Covid was another post-retirement refresher project for me. One thing that you might find interesting about painting on transparent acetate is that the cartoon is viewed from the opposite side from where the paint is applied so that the brush strokes aren't visible. That means the highlights are painted first then background last. For example, the flames' red highlights were painted first, orange second and yellow background last. So that in viewing from the opposite side through the clear acetate, the red highlights appear to be on top. In contrast, on canvas and illustration board, two common examples, paint is normally applied background first and highlights last.
August 2020 - Ink on acetate
This is the second step in producing an animation cel. In this case, I traced a print of Glen Keane's rendering. Usually my first step is a pencil drawing on paper then trace my drawing using a rapidigraph pen or ink brush on the acetate as shown above. The $1.00 cotton garden glove with thumb and two fingers removed is the same one I've used since my Beatles painting. The glove protects the acetate from my skin and the fingers are cut out to help with drawing and painting control.
In the early days there was usually an assembly line team of artists employed to produce each individual cel for a commercial production animated film. First an animator would sketch broad step character positions on paper. Next cel artists would trace the sketches with ink on acetate. The cel artist would bridge the motion sequences by drawing the character positions between the broad step animator's sketches. The cels were then painted with acrylic by cel painting artists.
September 2020 - Acrylic and ink on acetate
This is the third and final step in producing a cel. This painting is a present for my favorite oldest daughter's toddler. ❤️ The "apple of my eye" granddaughter. She loves this Disney character and calls her "Ariel Mermaid".
This work actually combines my Princess Ariel cel with my Sebastian and Flounder cel to make a single picture frame from two cels. Since acetate is transparent, multiple production cel artists were able to work on separate characters at the same time then overlap them for one camera film frame.
Typically there are 24 individual camera frames per second of animated film. Disney's first feature length animated film, Snow White (released 1937), contains hundreds of thousands of drawings done by a team of 750 artists. This traditional by hand labor intensive method of animation has since been outdated by computers.
Princess Ariel was created by Glen Keane.
Sebastian and Flounder were created by Ron Clements and John Musker.
Princess Ariel, Sebastian and Flounder are copyrighted by Disney.
work, sing and play
like the songbird greets the sun
with thanks for a new day
and grace from an old one
Most definitely a loving God's Art moment!
Above is my very patient, youngest daughter Katie's photograph of the sunrise beach scene I hope to paint at some point.
Both my daughters love the beach. They get that trait from their mom!
The beach gives us an unobstructed view of the sun rising above the gulf's surface. It's amazing to watch how fast the sun climbs in the beautifully colored sky. Close to 902 mph at this
particular latitude.
The clouds make a clever natural Artist's frame for the magnificent Florida sun.
August 2021 - After eighteen months of retirement, I received a phone call from my good friend Billy W. at work. They needed some CAD
support and Billy wanted to know if I knew anyone who would be interested.
I volunteered to come back out of retirement with the caveat that I am old and might be temporary... When you get old, you realize just how short
life really is and you're not afraid to tell others that you're old!
In fact, there's knowledge in being old. You've already done the stupid things that youngsters have yet to experience. So you're kind of a "stupid"
guru by the time you reach "oldenhood". And BECAUSE you're old, you can make up words without shame or remorse.
Besides, since you're not dead, you're not done with doing stupid things!
Guess this old horse wasn't quite ready for the pasture!
Music is a celebration of God's gifts
music awakens the senses
composing reflections from life's reasoned fences
encoded skill and mind is the foundry
beyond the grip of night's emotional boundary
Sounds eminating from the basement
"Snoopy, Bullwinkle, Marvin, Buzz, Optimus, Woody and Rocky" - My "Freedom's Elation" retirement rig! There's nothing practical about this unless you weigh an old man's childhood dream.
"Marvin" - This is my electric guitar pedal board. For those of you who don't know, these are electronic sound modulation and distortion foot controlled devices guitarists use to establish certain tones and effects in their playing. You could call it a foot stomping music machine.
"Woody" - 2016 Gibson Standard LP accompanied with "Buzz" - Sweetwater Sound PreSonus/sE/Shure/Focusrite recording gear zeroed in on one of "Bullwinkle's" eight Celestion G12 Vintage 1960 Marshall speakers.
"Snoopy" - 2016 Fender American Standard Strat with accompaniment.
"Optimus" - 2017 Furman power conditioner and "Rocky" - 2021 Marshall MG15GR practice amp.
"Bullwinkle" - 2017 Marshall JVM410H with 1960 Vintage full stack.
October 14, 2021 - Time keeps ticking.
While I hope to add recordings here at some point, currently when I play, my fingertips feel like uncoordinated
marshmallows with nerve endings.
You see, my guitars have been mostly sitting idly by for a long time. Thusly, my fingertips are out of shape. Where they used to have calluses when I was a teenager, they now have marshmallows... with nerve endings.
The only remedy for uncoordinated marshmallows is to develop calluses which takes time.
And while I'm whining, I might as well throw in my knees... unlike John Prine's, they're not fit for the needy, especially the
left one. You see, I accidentally whacked it with my three pound hammer a few decades ago installing some landscape timbers.
Getting old ain't for sissies!
January 24, 2022 - When I was young, creating art and music was all consuming. I painted on my bedroom walls, ceiling and anything else that was handy. I played my second hand black Harmony 1950s model semi hollow body electric guitar every available moment. Music and art flowed from me like rain off the Appalachian Mountains.
art, music and words awaken the senses
composing reflections from life's reasoned fences
encoded skill and mind is the foundry
beyond the grip of night's emotional boundary
Below I explain my artist's poem for the benefit of anyone who would like an explanation.
art, music and words awaken the senses
(Art, music and words can inspire us emotionally and can make us feel good or bad)
composing reflections from life's reasoned fences
(Each of us has a unique life and emotional perspective so our reactions can be different to a given work of art)
encoded skill and mind is the foundry
(Artists each have unique and special talents to share)
beyond the grip of night's emotional boundary
(Some artists, maybe many, battle with the numbing effects of anxiety and depression like I do)
Moving forward
This website developed a new AllSpark all its own. I started it in Fall 2007 but it didn't begin to take coherent shape until after I first retired in early 2020. I now have a similar feeling from Ed's Art Net that I felt in my youth with my bedroom ceiling and neighbor annoying Sears amp.
Before retirement, I managed to acquire a surplus professional grade art table and my "teen dream" guitar rig.
When Ed's Art Net developed an "AllSpark", it kindled hope that I would begin to paint and play productively again. I had all I needed to start again.
Since my initial retirement in January 2020, I have done a few simple paintings and I have gotten reacquainted a bit with the guitar... Just to prove to myself that I can still paint and play. But that old creative AllSpark simply hasn't been there.
Last August I went back to work... Reckon I wasn't quite ready for retirement after all.
But I haven't given up on my post retirement dream!
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