New Painting: Vesica

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Jacobi, Vesica, 18" x 24", acrlylic, 2011

(click on images for larger view)

This painting uses as its inspiration the Vesica Piscis, which is comprised of the intersection of two circles with the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. (Wikipedia) The Vesica Piscis has mystical significance in a number of areas-- Christianity, Kabbalah, Freemasonry, "sacred geometry", and more.

This painting has deep meaning for me personally. What exactly that is, I can't really put into words. Much of how I relate to this painting takes place at the subconscious level; in my conscious mind, I'm not sure that I fully understand it. This is what drives me to paint images like this. It's like meditation, therapy, and a search for spiritual and metaphysical understanding all rolled into one. 

Below you will find the process I went through to arrive at the final image. The sketches were done in Photoshop with a Wacom Intuos 2 tablet.

 

If you like this painting, you might enjoy taking a look at my paintings Nava Yoni, and The Opener of the Way.

Student Figure Drawing from my HS class

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I posted some figure drawings from my high school students over on the student blog. Here is a sample, and a link to that blog (click here).

My back yard, Feb. 13, 2001, 7:18 p.m.

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(click on the picture to see it at a larger size)

My students srike Gold

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Three of my high school art students have received Gold Key awards from the Scholastic Art competition. Their full portfolios can be seen over on the AAW 2D Art blog:

Click here to see their portfolios.

Here are a few samples of their work.


Lindsey Burcar






Celia Eddy






Sydney Wright

Chuck Wilkinson: Illustrator, artist, spiritual mentor, friend.

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Note: please click on the pictures for a larger view!


Sacrificial Lamb

Obituary (partial)

Wilkinson, Charles W., age 78, December 4, 2010. Chuck was born in Detroit, Michigan, and studied art at Pratt Institute in New York. ...his illustrations have been widely used in both publications and advertising as well as limited edition prints and originals. His works have been on exhibit in New York and Detroit and have received numerous awards. His life style paintings, done in egg tempera, evoke an elegance of an earlier era and have become synonymous with American Nostalgia.

Chuck was one of my teachers at College for Creative Studies in Detroit, back in the late 1970s. I was in his Illustration class, of which I have many fond memories. I stayed in touch with Chuck off and on over the years. Withing the last ten years, we were in much closer contact, I'm happy to say.

Chuck enriched my life in so many ways-- as a teacher, an artist, a spiritual mentor, and as a dear friend. You couldn't find a kinder, gentler, more giving person.

Chuck was very successful as an illustrator. He worked out of Detroit, but was also represented by a major artist rep in New York, providing him with a lot of nationally-based work as well. Chuck did his share of advertising illustration over the years, but his work had more of an "editorial" look, and in fact, that is where much of his work appeared-- as illustrations for magazine articles, stories, book covers, etc.

Chuck was a committed Christian; he dedicated his life to Jesus. As the years went on, he did less and less commercial work, and focused on what he referred to as his "parable paintings". This is not your typical saccharine "Christian art". Chuck's allegorical paintings are rich with symbolism and metaphor, filled with deep meaning, and often with a bit of Chuck's subtle sense of humor as well.

Today, any serious working artist has a presence on the Internet-- usually a personal website, sometimes just a blog (ahem). Chuck's years as an illustrator of note were before the Internet came into play. As pretty much an "old school" type of guy, he didn't even have a computer (as far as I know). Thus, there has been little to no work of Chuck's to be found online. I've been meaning to rectify this situation for some time; there is no time like the present.

I shot these photographs of Chuck's works a few years ago. too bad it has taken his passing to get me motivated to post them. Better late than never, I suppose.


Guardian Angel




Son Ship






According to Chuck, the "angel" is actually Lucifer.
Chuck: "Look-- Jesus is wearing a Timex! Hahaha!"


World Prison Systems Inc.


Note the paintings by Impressionist masters on the wall-- Cezanne, Monet, Degas, etc.




Pentecost Junction
(Sorry about the reflections-- this one is under glass.)



God bless Chuck Wilkinson-- he has been a real blessing to many, many people over the years. Chuck's legacy lives not only in his art, but especially in the way he has touched so many of us. God willing, hopefully we can pass at least something of this on to the other people in our lives.

Note: I have done my best to give these paintings their correct titles-- I have probably made some errors.

Vesica Piscis

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This is a digital sketch for an upcoming painting. The painting will be acrylic, 18" x 24".

Click on the image below for a larger view.



The image is based on a geometric shape known as the Vesica Piscis. This shape is the basis of what is often referred to as "sacred geometry".

This piece was originally designed with the intention of showing the vesica piscis laid on top of the faces. At the present time, I am liking the art without the v.p.

Here it is with the vesica piscis overlay.



Sketch painted in Photoshop with a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet

More info on the vesica piscis:

It's nice when they "get it".

From one of my Advanced 3D Art students:

"When I entered this class I was pessimistic because my major is 2D Art and it is more what I am natural at. However, my lack of knowledge is what helped me though the class. I learned things about myself as a person and as an artist. Now I know to try new things because everything I did in this class was new to me. The experience was great."