Don Mayer
I started drawing about eleven years ago, and I guess I did what a lot of untrained people do, who feel something inside to create : I went online and purchased pencils, pastels, watercolors, pens, nibs, inks of various colors and then began to experiment and figure what media suited me. As the years have spun by, I’ve settled on my dip pen, fine point Speedo nibs and watercolor. In the early stages I seemed to crank out a drawing a day; however, at this point, it’s more like a drawing every three or four days. Presently, I find myself observing and mulling over what I’m working on in an attempt to consider choices and settle on something that seems to “work". I particularly enjoy trying to integrate offbeat humor and irreverence into my drawings. Hence, you might find an animal with a pipe or cigar, a creature on cross country skis, or a Mountain Lion flying through the air in a squirrel suit. Finally, to some extent, the quirky images in my brain are catching up, albeit slowly, to my abilities with the pen and ink. I never get the least bit frustrated, since it’s so much fun. My oftentimes wacky sense of perspective, which I used to think needed “correction”, is now not a source of concern but something I openly embrace. When drawing buildings, they’re often off-center, twisted, slanted and who knows what. As for artists whose work I enjoy, I’d say my preferences veer in the direction of Stephen Huneck, Van Gogh and Ralph Steadman.
I started drawing about eleven years ago, and I guess I did what a lot of untrained people do, who feel something inside to create : I went online and purchased pencils, pastels, watercolors, pens, nibs, inks of various colors and then began to experiment and figure what media suited me. As the years have spun by, I’ve settled on my dip pen, fine point Speedo nibs and watercolor. In the early stages I seemed to crank out a drawing a day; however, at this point, it’s more like a drawing every three or four days. Presently, I find myself observing and mulling over what I’m working on in an attempt to consider choices and settle on something that seems to “work". I particularly enjoy trying to integrate offbeat humor and irreverence into my drawings. Hence, you might find an animal with a pipe or cigar, a creature on cross country skis, or a Mountain Lion flying through the air in a squirrel suit. Finally, to some extent, the quirky images in my brain are catching up, albeit slowly, to my abilities with the pen and ink. I never get the least bit frustrated, since it’s so much fun. My oftentimes wacky sense of perspective, which I used to think needed “correction”, is now not a source of concern but something I openly embrace. When drawing buildings, they’re often off-center, twisted, slanted and who knows what. As for artists whose work I enjoy, I’d say my preferences veer in the direction of Stephen Huneck, Van Gogh and Ralph Steadman.
