The Process

Each portrait begins with a walk to different parts of the city where I know that homeless people frequent. I will approach an individual and explain that I am an artist. After conversing for a while I ask if I can do their portrait. I tell them that I am doing portraits of people living on the streets. Some say no, some say yes. If they agree I take one or two photos. I don’t like to take more than that because I’m looking for the most direct and honest expression. I prefer working from a photo for these images because a ‘snap-shot’ is the closest thing to capturing an emotion (one moment, captured).

I can then begin sketching , usually several quick studies then a more detailed drawing (1). My goal in these drawings is to capture the likeness of the person and hopefully to touch a bit of the humanity of the person. I don’t want to glorify them nor give them any less dignity than they deserve. I use descriptive marks to describe the forms of the face. Trying to express how the light falls on a face and the pattern of the shadows.

Once I have the drawing I blow it up to size using a large blue-print printer. The copy is attached to a large piece of Plexiglas to begin the carving.

It is basically like a wood-block print, but instead of a piece of wood, I carve into a piece of Plexiglas (2). I use a rotary shaft drill to carve which is loud and tiring. The image not only must be carved in reverse but must be approached in a different way than traditional drawing where a black mark is drawn on a white piece of paper. Here essentially when the plate is inked each white mark will have been carved out of a dark field. Carving this way requires focus and stamina. The drill bit wants to freely skip around so a tremendous amount of controlled force must be used to carve out very subtle and specific marks. Each carving session last no more than an hour.

Once the carving is done the plate is rolled with ink (3), then a large sheet of paper is laid down over the plate (4).

Using a hand held barren I press repeatedly over the paper to transfer the ink to the paper (5). Having worked on this plate for many hours , it is not until I begin to peel the paper off the plate that I see the fruits of my labor (6).

Once the image is dry I begin the mounting process. I build a panel covered with stretched canvas. The print is soaked in a large tub of water (7). I spread roplex (liquid acrylic medium) over the canvas (8) and place the wet print onto it and using a roller, flatten it (9).

After the print is dry I trim the excess paper then hand paint a symbol at the bottom (10). Then using a carpenter pencil I write the name, age, location where I met the person and, the date at the top of the image (11). I also sign it at this point and finally pour a thick coat of roplex over the entire image. It goes on milky thick and as it dries it evaporate and becomes clear. This final coat gives a depth to the image and protects it. It does not need to be framed this way. Each print is different in subtle ways. Each is original having direct painting and drawing on it . Each is hand inked and hand printed giving them a unique pattern. Some images have subtle cracking of the top coat. The uniqueness of the ink texture and the unique cracking also gives these prints the look of their subjects: weathered and rough. For this reason I draw a number on each print to designate the order in which it was produced. I don’t have editions since each original is different in subtle ways.

For the larger portraits which are four times the size of the smaller ones (72in x 96in) I carve four seperate plates and print them seperately. Then they are mounted on one large canvas. It is four imes the size but many more times the work for these large pieces. (12)

At the bottom of each piece there is a painted symbol. First used by drifters in the great depression, these symbols were part of a graphic language that were left by drifters at a location to communicate some-thing to another individual who may pass by that place later. Sometimes it was a warning that could be a matter of life and death.

For each image I chose a symbol that related in some way to the person portrayed or the place where I met them first.