Dala Art On The Go

November 18, 2016

Dala Art On The Go … A trip to New York City

I caught a train to New York City to catch up with a dear friend and fellow fountain pen fanatic, the fabulous photographer, Candyce Golis.

I’ve created many Dalas while traveling but I hadn’t attempted to create a Dala en route.  A train ride and a three mile trek through the city to meet up with Candyce provided the perfect opportunity to try out a looser style of line as well as test my carbon ink pen. 

I’ve sketched the interior of the NJ Transit rail cars sooooo many times.  The value of repeatedly drawing a subject is that at some point I feel burned out on it and I am forced to look at it through fresh eyes, to try something different.  The Dala format enables me to make a smooth transition into warping reality into something fresh.

I usually have to switch trains in Summit.  This time I switched trains at the  Newark Broad Street station.

I took advantage of the opportunity of waiting for my connection to add value to the drawing with thin, parallel lines, assuming the carbon ink would not bleed into the watercolor wash I would apply later.

The first Dala ink drawing was completed prior to arriving in New York Penn Station.  I began a second Dala.  This time I drew the initial thread in ink.  I’ve always drawn the thread in pencil so that I could choose how I would use the shapes created by the thread.  Drawing it in ink was terrifying.  I had a few minutes to add the passengers busy texting and sleeping.

When I arrived at the Flatiron building (originally the Fuller Building), I stopped and added it to the Dala.  

Though I’d arrived early, visual distractions ate up more time than I realized and I was running late to meet up with my friend.  No problem.  Candyce entertains herself as well as I do.

Back in the studio, I added watercolor.  The carbon ink passed with flying colors.

I was able to loosen up a bit with my line in this second Dala.

Granted, not very loose at all, but a tiny step forward.