TBT: "Horsepower" Charcoal Master Study (Original Artwork)

I have a love-hate relationship with charcoal. I absolutely love the rich, dark values it creates, but I absolutely despise the mess. Nevertheless, for 4 semesters straight, I was enrolled in drawing courses that focused on the use of charcoal. So, for this week’s throwback Thursday, I am presenting my charcoal drawing from 2013 titled “Horsepower.”

This was a project for Drawing III that was basically a Master Study with a twist. We were assigned to pick an established painter from a list and find a work to replicate in charcoal. The twist was that we had to incorporate something from the modern era into the work. I’ll be honest, I can’t remember for the life of me who the artist was that I picked or the name of the painting. That being said, it was simply an oil painting of a white horse standing in front of a brick wall.

I like clever things and have always enjoyed the organic-hybrid machinery of H.R. Giger’s artwork. Because of this influence, I devised a plan to meld the horse structure with mechanical components found in modern day transportation. The horse received headlights for eyes, a motorcycle engine for organs, an old-school gas cap, and tubing throughout.

This piece kind of marked the beginning of the end for my time in fine art. I was mentoring a bit with an older gentleman who had worked in the design industry and was returning to school for the joy of it. We became close friends over the course of 2 years, but in October of 2013, he lost his battle with lung cancer and passed away. It was really difficult for me to return to drawing afterward. While I did eventually recover and work on other charcoal pieces, a lot of the passion had faded and I never finished another charcoal piece of this magnitude (the paper it was drawn on measured 40” x 30”).

That being said, when I was introduced to ink as a medium a few months later, the creative fire returned and I found a new, modified voice for my artwork. While I don’t think my time with fine art is through, I know that my period working with charcoal has certainly passed. This period of time in my creative life really helped me develop an appreciation of drawing and, to this day, I love seeing the work other charcoal artists produce.

Until next time!

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