In a previous post i mentioned 'Castles of Cork'. Three words which in one sense may sound self-contradictory, (an oxymoron) castles being heavy and cork being light. While the cork referred to here is County Cork, Ireland.
The castles are the subject of a book i was commissioned to illustrate some years ago and titled The Castles and Fortified Houses of West Cork, authored by Michael J. Carroll and published in 2001, with eighteen illustrations.
So i intend to share a few of them here, not only because they were hardly acknowledged, considering the meticulous attention that they took to produce. Twenty-five hours on each drawing with the flimsiest reference material, no architectural knowledge, and all done with a sable brush not a pen. While seated on a narrow wooden arm of an armchair for want of an actual chair to sit on, in a substandard house with no daylight.
But also now as something to post on the blog, as i'm in that long-familiar void-like space of not just not knowing what to paint, but also what can be conceived of as having self-validating significance within the limitations of the medium itself. Always a seemingly insoluble challenge which may be so, since all imaginable visual conceptions have been and are being explored collectively.
Which might be enough to stop anybody in their tracks and opt for improvising on an already existing mode, which is what tends to happen anyway whatever you do, and seeming ironically paradoxical. Or alternatively to improvise on no preconceived mode at all, which also has been and is being continuously explored globally and comes to the same thing with both predictable as well as sometimes brilliant authenticity.
But architectural illustrations ! Not exactly a mode of choice, have to be a certain way of accurate depiction which has to be drawn in true perspective before dipping a brush into ink. Very demanding, doesn't come easy, don't know how i did it and don't expect or intend to do it again. Such meticulous detail, redeemed only by infusing a poetic consistency into every single mark of the brush. Worth enlarging to see clearly.
At some stage of the project i had a dream recall which which tends to happen only rarely. In the dream i was floating high above the now barely discernible foundation rubble of all that remains of a specific castle on a wild island. Then in the dream, descending to view it as it was when originally intact, and from a sideways view.
The very next day the author unexpectedly requested and with little or no reference material but for a description, and no mention from me of the dream, that he particularly wanted a sideways view, naturally enough. While i tend not to claim to having had an out of body experience, perhaps i did, who knows.
That drawing is the one with the title 'Oilean Beag' (small island) below it in Celtic script. My apologies for any drawings without titles as i don't have the original artwork, only photocopies from before all titles were added.
But just look at all that stonework detail and every dot in place. Twenty-five hours of it including preliminary tracing layout of composition transferred to paper, meaning i drew each castle three times.
Meanwhile i have a blank canvas still sitting here for a month and no idea what to do with it. Need some colour, don't we all? Especially this time of year. Despite Christmas which i don't celebrate, may the human situation and the whole earth brighten up in all possible and presently inconceivable ways. *
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Martin Rainbowmaker.
P.S. It would be nice to receive an appreciative comment as i've only had three or four in the past five years of continuous monthly posting. Like working in an 'ivory tower' !
It's simple, just click any white title heading, or the word 'comments' in the list on the right.
Thanks in advance. ~
