PORTRAIT OF DANIEL

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" ink in Canson sketchbook.  He turns 94 years old today. "One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better" -- Daniel Berrigan

Daniel Berrigan, SJ (1921-)

Peace activist and writer Daniel Berrigan, SJ, was born in Virginia, Minnesota, in 1921. His father Thomas Berrigan was a second-generation Irish Catholic. His mother Frieda Fromhart, of German descent, would feed any hungry itinerant who would come to the door during the Great Depression. Although his father had left the Church, Daniel remained attracted to the Catholic faith. Directly out of high school in 1939, he became a member of the Society of Jesus and was ordained in 1952.

Daniel was deeply influenced by his younger brother Philip. Philip served in the army during World War II and after the war became a Josephite priest. Daniel marched with Philip in the civil rights movement at Selma in 1965. As Philip became more active in the antiwar movements against U.S. involvement in Vietnam in the late 1960s, Daniel joined him in the protests. Their most famous protest was in 1968. With seven other participants, Daniel and Philip burned 378 files of young men who were to be drafted for military service. This led to the Berrigans’ arrest with the other members of their group. For a time Philip and Daniel avoided their prison dates and were on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. Eventually Daniel served two years in prison and was released in 1972. Berrigan wrote of the incident and the trial in his play The Trial of the Catonsville Nine.

Other protests followed, leading to more arrests and prosecutions. From 1970 to 1995, Berrigan spent a total of nearly seven years in prison. He has continued his peace activism, protesting against the 1991 Gulf War, the Kosovo War, the U.S invasion of Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Berrigan’s political involvement has overshadowed his accomplishments as a writer and a poet. His reflections on war resistance, his time in prison, and peace appear in some 35 books of essays and poetry. Berrigan reflected on his life in his 1988 autobiography To Dwell in Peace.

Berrigan now lives and writes in New York at the 98th Street Jesuit Community.

YOU GET WHAT ANYONE GETS...YOU GET A LIFETIME

22" x 30" Mixed media on Arches paper

THE BARDO OF DEATH

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Fude brush, Yasutomo black Sumi ink, crowquill pen and acrylic in Canson sketchbook. "For an ordinary person, the trauma of death produces a state of unconsciousness, which lasts for an indefinite time: it may be very brief or quite long. Traditionally, this period of blackout is considered to last three and a half days. Afterwards, the consciousness of the individual begins to awaken again and experience things in a new way. The interval of unconsciousness into which the mind is plunged by the trauma of death, and which lasts till the awakening of consciousness again, is referred to in Tibetan as the 'chö nyi bardo', the interval of the ultimate nature of phenomena; here the mind is plunged into its own nature, though in a confused or ignorant way.
The next phase of the after-death experience is the reawakening of consciousness, which includes the many days that can be spent experiencing the fantastic projections of mind, the hallucinations produced and experienced by the mind in the after-death state. " - Kalu Rinpoche

FINISHED PORTRAIT

All of the shadow areas are done with the speedball ink.  After it dried I put about three more layers on.  Using the markers I would compare the values against two other values and then mark an area in and blend it with my thumb to get that rough surface that I like.  Don't panic when the paper starts to come apart in little balls.  And enjoy the fact that your fingertips are going to get really, really black.  Be careful what you touch...no folding white shirts on laundry day!  I was going to work more on the halftone transition areas but I kind of like the abrupt hard edges seen on the chin, cheek  and neck.  That's how I use the ink, brush and Faber Castell Pitt big brush marker pens in black and white.

DRAWING THE BIG AREAS OF DARK WORKING TO THE LIGHTS

I start working with the Speedball super black India ink using a #3 watercolor brush.  I used a little water with the ink in a little section where is see the shadow turning into the halftone just to see how it compares to the photograph.  Every area will be drawn with the various combinations of markers after this initial stage.  Remember not do draw a facial feature but the effect on the light on the forms. That is what I concentrate on and observe.

THE VALUES: LIGHT, HALFTONE AND SHADOW USING FABER-CASTELL PITT BIG BRUSH PENS

I take a piece of paper and make a chart using the brush pens that I'm going to use.  Black (which I'll use for smaller areas of shadow).  For the large mass of shadow I'll use Speedball super black India ink applied with a watercolor brush.  The top row left to right is Cool grey VI, IV, III and I.  The bottom row is Warm grey V, IV, III, I.  For white I may use the Faber Castell Pitt white or sometimes a China white marker.

I always keep a large piece of bristol paper underneath or to the side of my drawings to test out the markers or to combine markers to see what value is produced.

The six kinds of value are:

 Light - The areas that lie most nearly the right angle to the main light source.
Halftone - Area not squarely facing the main light source as it tilts
Shadow - When a plane turns completely away so that no mail light is on it.
Reflected light - Light that bounces back into the shadow
Cast shadow - A light intercepted by a form which then projects the effect onto another plane.
Highlight - A shiny or reflective surface reflecting back the original light source.

Value:  The position of the color on the above chart

DO THE DRAWING

I did the drawing next.  For this exercise I'm not caring much about getting the likeness.  I just try to loosely draw the contours.  If getting a likeness is that important I can make a graph using one inch boxes and place it over the photograph and make a corresponding graph on the paper to work from, or trace it on the page or even use a projector for a large work.  It's a lot more fun to eyeball it though.
This one will be a lot of fun because there is going to be a huge amount of dark area.  

BLACK AND WHITE VALUES

Several people have asked for a step by step explanation of how I go about drawing a portrait using the Faber Castell Pitt big brush pens and ink.  This is the photo of artist Roy Lichtenstein that I will be working from.  The  MOST IMPORTANT thing to remember in this exercise is that I will not be drawing eyes, ears, a nose or any other feature but rather drawing the effect of light spilling over these features.  Concentrate on that effect. Spend a lot of time just looking at  how the light spills over and observe the degree, intensity and direction of the light striking Roy before you begin.  Next I will draw an outline to work from.

TAXI ! WHERE TO?

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Pentel pocket brush pen and Faber Castell Pitt big brush pens in Canson sketchbook.

THE WOLFMAN

19" x 24" Acrylic, Speedball super black India ink, Winsor Newton Series 7 #3 brush and Faber Castell Pitt big brush pens on Bristol paper.  Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.  ( The Wolfman 11941)

THE JOB OF THE WRITER

19" x 24" Speedball super black India ink, Ph Martin red ink, Winsor Newton #8 Tolle 520 brush and Faber Castell Pitt big brushes on Bristol paper. "The job of the writer is to pull the judge down into the docket, get the person who is high down low, make him feel what it's like where it's low". - Nelson Algren

PORTRAIT OF FRANCESCO

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Pentel brush pen, Speedball Super Black India ink, Winsor Newton Series 7 #3 brush and Faber Castell Pitt big brush pens in Canson sketchbook. From photo by David Seidner. An exercise in values with light striking an object and travelling over it.

QUICK SKETCH EXERCISE

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Uniball pen in Canson sketchbook just trying to exercise the eyes and hands while looking at and copying from Jame Jean sketches.

CONDO PICASSO

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Pental brush pen and Faber Castell Pitt big brush pens in Canson sketchbook.  This is what happens after looking at work by George Condo and Pablo Picasso.  It's fun to draw cubist style work, great eye/hand exercise and kids love it.

OREGON COAST

16 1/2" x 11 1/2" Uniball pen, watercolor and Faber Castell Pitt big brush pens in Canson sketchbook. Another quick sketch on a lazy day.

PORTRAIT OF LUCIEN FREUD

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Fude brush and Faber Castell Pitt big brush pens in Moleskine A3 sketchbook. My nephew Dean Simpson and pal Andy Simpkin took me down to London in 2002 to see the Freud show at the National Gallery. It was one of the highlights of my art life. Lucien is being judged harshly now after his death because of the way he lived his life, but I am reluctant to judge him because of my hard won understanding of human fallibility, beginning with my own.

FATHER DAN ON THE WAY TO THE CAN

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Fude brush and Faber Castell Pitt big brush pens in Moleskine A3 sketchbook (from photo by Thomas Good). A good man who helped the poor and stood up for his belief in non-violence. When asked how many times he has been arrested for protesting against war and nuclear weapons, he said "Not enough". He will turn 94 years old on May 9th. "We spoke out, committed civil disobedience, and went to jail because the peace hangs senselessly and precariously upon weapons costing billions to build and billions to improve — weapons which become more useless as we add to their destructive force. With this money we could have fed the world's people. Half the children on earth go to bed hungry — millions more have retarding and stunting protein deficiencies. Instead of building the peace by attacking injustices like starvation, disease, illiteracy, political and economic servitude, we spend a trillion dollars on war since 1946, until hatred and conflict have become the international preoccupation."

QUICK STUDIES

QUICK STUDIES - 11 1'2" x 8 1'2" Uniball pen and Faber-Castell Pitt big brush pens in Canson sketchbook. For practice I've been looking at and drawing a lot from James jean sketches. The way he runs things together in his sketchbooks creates some great dreamlike images.

FAST AND LOOSE SKETCH FROM JAMES JEAN SKETCH

More fast and loose sketches with a Uniball pen while looking at James Jean sketches.  11 1/2" x 8 1/2" in Canson sketchbook

DAVID GRISMAN & DEL McCOURY

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" Pentel pocket brush pen and Faber-Castell Pitt big brush pens in Moleskine A3 sketchbook.  Love their brand of music and I really get into Grisman's facial expressions when his fingers fly on the mandolin.  One of the best things visually is the way the stage lights illuminate the musicians and instruments.  A treat for the eyes, ears and heart.