Gotham Black

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Drawing with compressed charcoal sticks always interested me for their very black quality. The problem with char-coal was fixing the finished drawing. It cannot be made completely permanent using spray fixatives. This can create a curatorial handling problem. Un-fixed residual carbon dust will smudge glass, if framed. Luckily, it came to my attention that rolled acetate sheeting accepted acrylic paint (unlike paper), and that .003 mil sheets of acetate accepted white acrylic paint as ground for drawing with compressed charcoal sticks, and finally, given a clear acrylic varnish. It was a lucky discovery, because acetate is not a typical fine art material. It tends to be used in graphic design, which may conceivably categorize these images. The clear acrylic varnish coating seals the compressed charcoal drawing completely. The sheet is perfectly smudgeless. The gritty, artistic effect then led to this series of homeless, and other, street people. Related, a quote from Dickens: 

"Such a black, shrill city, combining the qualities of a smoky house and a scolding wife; such a gritty city; such a hopeless city, with no rent in the leaden canopy of its sky..." 

After many years of searching for meaning in abstract art I returned to subjects. With subject matter, it is like I have come home.

The graphic art of Brian Higgins can be viewed at: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/8-brian-higgins

One-of-a-kind works of art can be viewed at: https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/1840403


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