John Otter news – Page 9

VOCABUALRIES: mixed media drawings by John Otter

March 22, 2017March 22, 2017 John OtterLeave a comment

SPACE Gallery is pleased to present

“VOCABULARIES: mixed media drawings by John Otter.”
Show Opening: Saturday, April 1st 6-9PM
Artist Reception: Friday, April 7th 6-10pm

John Otter was born and raised in San Diego, California, where he began his art career as a printmaker. He received his BFA from the School of Art Institute of Chicago, and studied at the New York Studio Program.

Otter fell in love with drawing at an early age, filling sketchbooks with pen and ink drawings that hint at the abstract style he would return to later in life. Repetitive patterns, concentric circles, stippling and cross-hatching have remained an integral part of his drawings.

His recent work on paper strives to harmonize disparate concepts, merging notions of the synthetic and the organic, cities and nature, circuitry and water.

Using a variety of techniques and devices, Otter is interested in simplifying complex feelings, ideas and states of mind into visual playgrounds with space for the eye and mind to wander through and explore.

SPACE Gallery Claremont
254 West Bonita Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711

spacegallery254@gmail.com
(818) 404-4100

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drawing progress

March 18, 2017March 18, 2017 John OtterLeave a comment

Another night spent working on this large drawing. The dimensions are around 26×18″ – which is the largest drawing I’ve done in years. It began with washes of watercolor. I’ve been dancing around it with pencil, gouache and ink for hours at a time over the past week or two. It’s Saturday night, the drawing and I are scheduled to have a long conversation tonight. I’ve been hesitant to dive too fully into the central area, the edges seem easier to approach. Little by little the ink and gouache are encroaching on the center – so I have the option to continue working inward, or change direction and make some bold moves in the middle. I’ll let the drawing decide.

This drawing will make it’s debut with a slew of recent (smaller) drawings at SPACE Gallery – Claremont this April.

new paper

March 12, 2017March 12, 2017 John OtterLeave a comment

I ordered some large paper from Blick recently, which showed up a couple days ago. I’ve been waiting to open it until I had some time to size the paper and get to work on it. I haven’t drawn on such large paper in a long time (22×30″) – it’s 140lb Fabriano watercolor paper. I felt like a kid at Christmas opening up the flat box. After soaking, stretching and drying the paper I laid down some initial watercolor washes. Now I’m just waiting for the surface to dry more thoroughly.

If I remember I’ll try to post some progress images as I work on them.

art cards & business

February 8, 2017February 8, 2017 John OtterLeave a comment

I read somewhere that an artist should invest approximately 10% of their income (if not more) on their art: supplies, marketing, etc. In the past couple months I’ve been adhering to this idea.

I recently purchased new art business cards through MOO cards. Semi-gloss, quality paper, I really like them and they didn’t cost as much as I thought they would. You can add up to 50 different designs, I opted for four. If you’re interested in purchasing cards use this referral link and get $15 off your first order: MOO cards

I also bought another Copic Multiliner set of pens (.03, .01, .003, .005) – they’re pigment based, waterproof, archival and acid free. They’ve become my go to pens for stippling and seem to last a long time. I believe it’s been over a year since I last ordered a set.

Lately I’ve been using a cheap mechanical pencil (plastic body, unknown lead type) that I found somewhere. It’s yellow and green, rather ugly – but I really like the line values and the lack of sharpening all the time. My next purchase (hopefully Saturday) will be a quality metal-bodied mechanical pencil, I can’t wait. (Little things bring me joy)

Work on display & for sale:
I now have about 13 pieces displayed at Community Brains in Pomona, CA.; work ranging from small mixed media on paper to larger paintings on canvas. All of them are for sale at very reasonable prices. It was nice to get some of the older paintings back out into the world and forced me to re-evaluate my art storage area, which everyone should do once in awhile.

And to wrap things up, here’s a recent small drawing. Watercolor, graphite, ink and colored pencil on watercolor paper. You can find more of my recent work on my Instagram account instagram.com/johnotterart/

Imperfection is beauty

January 24, 2017October 24, 2017 John Otter1 Comment

Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.

~ Marilyn Monroe

I’ve been thinking about controlled chaos lately, or some form of struggle to control and embrace imperfection. Repeating patterns with slight variations. In my art I strive for perfection, knowing it’s unattainable. I must have certain tolerances, ranges of acceptability – if I go outside those I’m free to change course.

The other day at the start of a new drawing I thought I was a bit heavy handed with some watercolor, to lighten it up and bring it back I gessoed over it. I don’t think I have ever done that before. I’ve gessoed over paint on canvas but never over watercolor. It was quite liberating and I like the new surface.

In art school I was taught to embrace “happy accidents,” but accidents still frustrate me, even if barely perceptible. When I place a dot and it’s out of line I cringe ever so slightly on the inside. If it’s too far out of line I might consider changing directions, but usually I’ll let it slide. Stepping back, maybe blurring the eyes a bit, a tiny dot that’s slightly out of line doesn’t seem too bad.