Christmas Memories 4 TCA

"Christmas Memories 4 TCA"

TCA Series
(Traditional Coloration Added Series)
Original pencil drawings, frequently inked
with traditional, mixed media, hand-done coloration added, which may include:

colored pencil
pastel pencil
gold leaf paint
gold leaf marker
Copic markers
Copic marker with aircan airbrush attachment

© Merton Parrish
All rights reserved


SPECIFIC NOTES REGARDING THIS PIECE:

This work is a traditional, hand colorized version of pen and ink drawing number 4 in my Christmas Memories Series. Thus, it is a part of my Christmas Memories Series and my TCA series. To see the rest of my Christmas Memories series, see that folder in my gallery ( [link] ). To see the other works in the TCA series, go to that folder ( [link] ). For notes on the TCA series, see below.

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NOTES ON THIS SERIES:

I have been going through all sorts of old drawings from last year and several years ago. I thought that if they were not already inked, I might ink them and organize them into groups. Then, they would be ready to colorize in a traditional manner. Thus, I would have a ready-made, new series (or series of series… lol) which could be reasonably expediently finished and posted.

But as I went through the drawings, I realized that there really are an awful lot of them. I guess I have been pretty prolific! It just seems, as I look at it, like a rather daunting task to ink, colorize, organize, and post all those drawings.

Further, there seem to be some issues and questions which present themselves. Oh bother! What to do?

First of all, many of the drawings seem pretty intricate and well-drawn. Others appear to have much room for improvement in the drawing itself. So, should I pursue the project I describe above, there would be the issue of deciding which drawings were up to snuff.

Then, there is the issue of “to colorize or not to colorize?” (That is the question! Wink.) Some of the drawings seem like they ought stay pencil drawings. Some rather cry out for inking. Others seem to wish to be taken further and colorized, though the original is interesting, too. And so, I am left with a bit of a dilemma, since I do not want to ruin certain pencil or pen and ink drawings by colorizing, yet colorizing would be neat.

Finally, there is the issue of size. Some drawings are so large that I will have to photograph them, should I colorize them. For me photographing is more lengthy process, which though somewhat fun and artistic, still has a certain “Uggh… oh bother!” factor.

It is simpler to just scan a small drawing. Yet many of my drawings are large, or at least the originals are. I do already have prints photographed and scanned into my computer. But should I use these, that would involve colorizing a print. Hmmmm.

What to do? So many questions!

Well, I thought and thought, listened to my muse, went through a little process, and here is what I have come up with in regards to this bank of material, if and how to enhance it, and what to do with the result in terms of posting and series.

First of all, I decided that it really is too big a project to sort through all the drawings now, figure out which are up to snuff, decide which should stay pencil or ink drawings, and choose those (right now) which should be colorized. I think I would rather just have a big bank of old drawings that I know are there, ready to be colorized (rather like a big coloring book for this middle aged artist).

I’d like to just know they are there, that I can go to them, and pick a drawing when I want to. When I do, I want to keep the above concerns in mind. And, instead of organizing the pieces into a bunch of new, little series (with the drawing subject creating a grouping) I can just make one new, big series whose reason for being is the fact that each piece is formerly a simple pencil or ink drawing that has been newly colorized in a traditional manner.

And so, what I have ended up with is an ongoing series of newly-colorized drawings that I am calling TCA (Traditional Coloration Added). I can add to this TCA series as I feel inspired, over the years… What fun! Whenever I do add to it, here is what I’ve decided to do, in order to address some of the concerns I outlined above. I will first choose a worthy or interesting drawing. Then I will follow what I print below:

Sometimes, in this series, the coloration will be added to the original pencil or pen and ink drawing and that will be fine. In other instances, the coloration will be added to a print. When this occurs in the series, it will be for two possible reasons: Sometimes, it may be my wish to make the colorization possible on a smaller piece of paper, thus shortening the process involved with photographing and posting large works. In other instances, utilizing a print might preserve the original work as a pencil or pen and ink drawing, which I have determined to have a certain simplicity and beauty all it’s own. As well, utilizing a print does not require the time involved with a light box (and sometimes works are too big for a light box anyway).

If, in this series, a print of the original drawing has been colorized, occasionally the print (which often has been previously photographed or scanned) may have been slightly digitally-altered. The purpose of this slight altering has been to bump up color and contrast in order to make it a better, truer representation of what the original drawing looked like, to warm up appearance of the paper, to get rid of any washed out look, approximate better lighting of the photograph, etc. For the most part, this digital altering will be covered up by the traditional, hand-done colorization anyway.

And so, none of the pieces in this series will be categorized as digital work, since (no matter what) both the drawing and the colorization will be hand done. Thus, the work will keep its integrity as a traditional drawing and should be categorized as such.

Keeping in mind all that I have written above, the TCA Series (Traditional Coloration Added Series) is born. It certainly is (and will, I think, continue to be) interesting to see the progression of my work, how it has improved, the subjects chosen, etc. I tend to create in series now, and will, I think continue to dream up new series. But there are plenty of odd drawings, small groupings of drawings, or drawings waiting to become series, which, meanwhile, can be colorized and become part of this ongoing, big series.

It’s rather like making my own Island of Misfit Toys for drawings that are cool, yet need a bit of sprucing up and need a place to “belong to.” Wink.

I hope that my viewers and fellow artists will enjoy this new series as it unfolds. And, just as it is my hope that my audience will like seeing the drawings enhanced, with new life breathed into them via color, it will be fulfilling and worthwhile for me as an artist to take older works and utilize both old and new techniques.

I plan to use some of my old standby colorization techniques (such as colored pencil, and gold leaf pen or paint) as well as some newly-discovered ones (such as Copic markers and Copic markers with airbrush attachment). And who knows, maybe along the way even more new techniques may appear. An artist can always hope. It is wonderful and fun to discover new techniques and tools!

Peace, as always, to you my fellow artists and viewers…

Sincerely,
-Merton