Nara Pilgrim Wood Framing Materials and Methods

Jack Irons

Dream of Luminous Blue

I have known Jack for many years. He, and his wife, Danae, are personal friends. You know how it is with your friends. You are related to them humanly. Their status in whatever arena is not much of a factor in how you are related to one another. You are just friends.

That made the creation of these six paintings particularly enjoyable for me. Of course, I listened to Jack’s music when I was contemplating what I would paint. But, more than that, I contemplated Jack, himself, the stories that he has told, the conversations we have had, and my “feeling” for Jack as a character, a person, a human being. It made the process of making the paintings intimate and personal. I like to collaborate with other artists. Collaborating with a friend is just that much better because you already enjoy a common vision.

  • The Moon, Watercolor Painting for Jack Irons' Dream of Luminous Blue

The Moon

  • Atmosphere, Watercolor Painting for Jack Irons' Dream of Luminous Blue

Atmosphere

  • Subtle Realms, Watercolor Painting for Jack Irons' Dream of Luminous Blue

Subtle Realms

  • Lie to the Animals, Watercolor Painting for Jack Irons' Dream of Luminous Blue

Lie to the Animals

  • Saturn, Watercolor Painting for Jack Irons' Dream of Luminous Blue

Saturn

  • Cosmic Planes, Watercolor Painting for Jack Irons' Dream of Luminous Blue

Cosmic Planes

The Moon

The vision - A bright full moon in a blue night sky, stylized clouds encircle the moon, and stars ornament the sky.

The process - I wanted the moon to be very bright, luminous! I made multiple layers of blue wash, and placed stars to accent the moon. I particularly enjoyed the cloud patterns, and creating shapes that would complement the round sphere of the moon.

Atmosphere

The vision-Imagine you are in a plane high up in the atmosphere, below you is a landscape of clouds illustrating the wind movement, and lit up by the sun. You are traveling through atmosphere, vaporous architectures surround you.

The process-This was a tricky painting, getting my vision onto paper. I used many colors, and my brush continually moved around the painting, adding bits of color and shading to this spot, then that spot. I knew when it was done, and stopped before I applied too much paint, wanting to keep it fresh and dreamlike.

Subtle Realms

The vision – This song title was like a riddle or koan for me. How do you illustrate a subtle realm? What does it look like? Is there form? As I ruminated about this I searched for photos of star nurseries taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. These images inspired me, they took my breath away, and they triggered my creativity. I was ready to design this painting.

The process - While painting this scene I was transported to this place. I painted in the basic shapes lightly, and then added more colors, layer upon layer. I added hundreds of stars in multiple colors to light up this realm. Although no defined shapes were planned I found hints of figures, whale tails, moons, and birds had emerged through the play of shapes and colors.

Lie to the Animals

The vision - I listened to this song many times, pondering how to illustrate it. An elephant trumpets in the song, punctuating the urgency of the times for the animals and the whole planet. I pictured a large African elephant facing the viewer directly with great strength and feeling, while holding a flower in a gesture of offering or peace.

The process - The elephant required a careful hand, with an ever deepening shading to portray the textures and shadows, while preserving the highlights of his form. I painted the eyes early on as they are the window to his being, and they had to be alive and looking towards you. I painted the night sky full of stars, with a deep red at the horizon, as the sun has just set. The silhouettes of the three trees added a grounded landscape for the elephant. This was the final painting in the series, and I spent a lot of time with this one.

Saturn

The vision - Saturn from an angle so that it looks like it is rising up to the top of the paper. An imaginative scene in blues, purples, and yellows, with multiple moons and many stars.

The process - After several half starts I figured out the design for this painting. Saturn was created with careful subtle applications of paint, with the movement of the planet in mind. I kept the background soft and multi-colored with multiple wash layers, then added spots of more intense color, then painted the stars.

Cosmic Planes

The vision - You are traveling through the universe, and passing through the outer rings of red and orange towards the blue. The blue field is vast, and lit up in multiple shades. In the center of the blue is a dark field with a five-pointed star in the middle of it. The star is distant and the light draws you towards it.

The process - I placed the rings off center and painted the outer red/orange/yellow rings to suggest fire as well as light.I painted the blue field with multiple colors of in lines moving inwards to suggest the iris of an eye. I used a lot of saturated color in the field surrounding the star to give the sense of vast depth. At the end I placed many stars floating around the outer rings.


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