wes carr

sometimes, you don’t realize it at the time of course, what your body needs it to spend your precious wee hours reconciling your book data from one service to another.

Phase one of a line drawing where pen is taking up 1/3 of the pencil work. Subject is a fall scene of an empty bistro table from looking out of a coffee shop.

Phase two of a line drawing where 2/3 thirds of the image is inked in pen. Subject is a fall scene of an empty bistro table from looking out of a coffee shop.

Phase three of a line drawing where pen is taking up 3/4 of the pencil work. Subject is a fall scene of an empty bistro table from looking out of a coffee shop.

shots after separate sit sessions. i’ve dropped off of the artober train, but im still moving along in the art dining car. pre #watercolor #pen lines from a cafe in hinesberg, vt

For Halloween, I am reading the graphic novel More Weight, published in September. It tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials, focusing on a couple, Giles and Martha Corey, who were both executed for witchcraft.

I visited Salem a few years ago, and this book really brings that history to life.

your lorem ipsum is showing

holy hell!

Watercolor, drawing sketch of a small bowl of flaky cereal with blueberries

day 21, flake

i used crayon masking, to get those white lines in the bowl

#artober #inktober #watercolor #art

Comic depicting 2 Haitians in suits now carrying a lazy american couple in bed. Reads: In 1910, the USA gave Haiti a loan to “help” cover the expenses of the French debt... ...which placed Haiti under US financial control.

Comic depicting black folks in suits carrying a frenchmen in his bed. Reads: In 1825, France charged Haiti "reparations" for war (with interest), equivalent to $27 billion in today's currency. It took 122 years for Haiti to pay this debt back to one of the richest countries in the world. Payment necessary to enable Haiti to participate in international trade.

then top it off with a memoir-driven one from the same artist as before.

thenib.com/haitis-long-...

historical comic panel 1: But revolutionary leaders, including Toussaint Louverture, believed Saint-Domingue still needed plantations, and that former slaves should become wage-laborers. historical comic panel 2: They argued the colony needed sugar and coffee to trade for other goods, including the weapons they needed to defend freedom

reading more of the events highlight the drawback of focusing on the individual. this rich 30-panel #comic widens the scope to include nuance that was missed focusing on our hero as well as expanding the timeframe to beyond his life.

thenib.com/haitian-revo...

cover of the graphic comic novel: Toussaint Louverture The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History by C.L.R. James, adapted by Nic Watts and Sakina Karimjee

two page spread graphic novel illustration of the sprawling city of Paris, text reads: THE TUILERIES, PARIS. NEARLY TWO YEARS LATER...

Graphic novel Illustration of a Parisian National Assembly, reading “SINCE 1789 THE ARISTOCRACY OF BIRTH AND THE ARISTOCRACY OF RELIGION HAVE BEEN DESTROYED; BUT THE ARISTOCRACY OF THE SKIN STILL REMAINS...” CAMBOULAS says “....THAT TOO IS NOW ABOUT TO COLLAPSE. A BLACK MAN, A YELLOW MAN, ARE ABOUT TO JOIN THIS CONVENTION IN THE NAME OF THE FREE CITIZENS OF SAN DOMINGO.”

found myself engaged and moved by this one, searching afterward to continue delving into Haiti’s history. it being an adaptation of a 1936 play helped make the dialog sharp and drama high. oh success can be so fragile.

couldn’t believe the numbers there today, driving through 👏🏻

Pen recreation of an R crumb panel, Where a man is whistling down a country road with a bindle and stick

Pen drawing of the five of cups from a Rider-Waite edition tarot card, Portraying a man in a cloak with a bow head with 2 cups behind him, three spilled ones in front of him, and a castle and river and bridge in the background

#artober #inktober #art

day 13: drinking
day 14: suitcase

only #pen for these. i just read the R Crumb Handbook as an intro to the dude. after being overwhelmed from his mind, it was nice to focus on the actual art as i recreated his persona: “weary wanderer, rugged, individualist free spirit.”

fwiw I first learned about the website-publishing-as-gardening / the digital garden metaphor from @maggieappleton.com, who's done some really lovely and comprehensive writing on the topic

maggieappleton.com/garden-history

Clear day for Washington A stunning walk up a popular peak

i've been cataloging photos from recent-ish big hikes and uploading them to the blog. it's refreshing to review these again. it pumps life into decaying digital. waters the digital garden. adds grafts to the digital tree stock.

wescarr.com/blog/trip-re...

Pen and inkwash recreation of an anti-ice protest scene with signs in the air in front of a state or federal building

#artober #inktober day 12 - rebellion. went topical ✊

#pen #inkwash #art

A gouache watercolor painting drawing of orange colored candy and an eraser

#artober #inktober day 11 - orange. had fun trying gouache for the first time.

#art #watercolor

The album cover of Pinegrove’s Cardinal

been a fan for some time, but only after singing / playing along with pinegrove did i realize the weird, not quite syncopated, timing the vocals have over the music. respect. it’s tough to replicate.

Watercolor of a five year-old in a yellow kayak blending into a still life of felt flowers in a cup

#artober #inktober days 8 and 9 - boat and flower

#art #watercolor

Watercolor of a witch's hat mushroom, Hygrocybe conica, a species of gilled mushroom

#artober #inktober day 7 - Mushroom

#art #watercolor

ink and watercolor drawing of a flying squirrel with dark mountains in the background

#artober #inktober day 5 - Squirrel

#art #watercolor

keen to hear back from inaturalist poo gurus to ID who got into the chicken feed last night. i’ll spare you the photos, but I’m thinking bear

wonder if the bystanders wanted to be more hands on: snip those zip ties, tug down those masks, tie those shoelaces

pen and watercolor of a vermont apple orchard with a barn in the foreground and blue sky behind

added sky to the orchard and it really brought out the mysterious dark window in the barn

#watercolor #art #urbansketching #vermont

the artist slack i’m in at work is following a Czech #inktober list. here’s the first few:
1. autumn
2. forest
3. wings

yep, i learned and witnessed it a few times in scouts

worked from the office (coffee shop) today and I appreciated taking a stroll for a break on neutral ground.

it was behind a strip mall and concrete-heavy, but it was free from the pull of projects and doing-ness i feel from walking around my own yard.

Source photo showing on my laptop next to an ink only version of a barn next to a road

Ink wash and watercolor drawing painting of a barn next to a road up to a orchard. the sky hasn’t been done yet

first one in a new pad. random barn from a cidery in east-central #vermont. pleased with how that subaru came out. gonna tackle the sky next.

#rural #urbansketching #watercolor #art

took the day off to do a hike with the doggo. they were active on the range today, so deep in the woods you could hear artillery, much like the blog post about AI I was writing in my head.

Pen and ink wash watercolor sketch of a wooden utility trailer in tall grass

painting parts of the yard

#urbansketching #watercolor #art

we don’t have to like what they make to support workers 🙌🏻

A watercolor painting of a tree in house in the background than a white fence, then a garden with a heron sculpture as a focus point

a bigger one of the heron garden piece. still need to add some details to the far background of the river

#watercolor #sketchbook #art