Blog

BLACK and WHITE FINE ART
Pen and ink drawing is one of the most visually varied art practices in history. Over the centuries, ink drawing has been used in many different types of art, from calligraphy to tattooing to art sketches and formal drawings. In modern times, ink drawings are used largely for illustration, whether for advertisements, editorial cartoons, or comics. The practice of drawing with ink unites artists through the use of many of the same ink drawing techniques including hatching, crosshatching, wash, and various forms of line.

Not surprisingly, when looked at with a magnifying glass, the scratchy lines and dots look messy, dirty and child-like.

However, when seen from a few feet away the art comes into focus by fooling the eye into thinking it’s one blended tone.

Drawing complex images using little dots of Ink, thin lines and solids is challenging but In the end, very rewarding.

Our new “Customer of the Month” feature, inaugurating with
this 45th issue of Jack’s FAA Newsletter, could be treading on
dangerous grounds.

“How come you didn’t pick us?” could be on the minds of a
lot of our other great customers. “What’s your criteria, JACK?”
others may demand. “How do I become your best customer?”
………………………You know, I struggled with this potential
dilemma but came to the conclusion that ALL of our customers
qualify but, we can only talk about one at a time. Besides, it’s
my newsletter, so there :)

Julie & Cliff Peterson of Pleasant Prairie, WI were on the internet
a few weeks ago searching for a special jack (lifting device, not
a bachelorette party dancer) for one of their classic Corvettes,
when they came across “JACKSART” on the same page. Curious
about this, Julie clicked on the blue line and was directed to
my galleries page on www.jack-pumphrey.artistwebsite.com

After exploring the various galleries she made a decision to
contact me about a commission to “do” not only her Corvettes
but, “could you paint them in parked in front of Mel’s Diner?”
and, “could you make the car-hop look like me” And, “could
you add the moon and stars, too?” AND, “could you ship it
to us as a print on canvas?”…..a BIG STRETCHED CANVAS
PRINT?.......“of course”, I said!

The finished results are shown to the right. Click on any of the
images to see them enlarged.

That was phase one of their order. Er, orders. Now I’m working
on a composition of Julie & Cliff’s Cadillac Escalades (one an EXT
and the other an Escalade) poised on their lawn with Cliff’s
R C controlled P-38 fighter between them. I’ll be posting this
cool painting when it’s finished, tune in to our web site around
the 6th or 7th of March.

Congratulations to Julie & Cliff Peterson, our “Customer of the
Month”…………..Julie & Cliff will receive an order of Jack’s Cruz’n
Cards featuring their red Corvettes as our gift of appreciation.

What is it about our love affair with cars? Not just here in the US, but world-wide. Hells fire, we even follow the tracks of little red rover on Mars. Is that out of this world or, what?
Not that I've been in like & love with cars ever since I saw my reflection in the bumper of that 1941 Caddy back in Seymoure, Indiana. Guess that tells you how long I've been slobbering over these smelly, loud monsters (my mother's words, not mine) We go in debt over them and sadly, forgo clothes & food to buy the set of chrome wheels, just to fit in with those others nutty, must have at all costs, car aficionados? Ah, but that’s car love, for some.
We gladly slosh through the mud and stink of wrecking yards just to find a pristine piece of chrome to replace the one YOU let turn to rust. And, we'll pay extra for someone to park it and then we'll pay to have it washed, shampooed, dried and patted down so "It will last longer" yeah, right; so you'll look cooler tooling down the road, mister, so don't shit me on the longer life theory.
We join clubs, pay dues, mingle and rub shoulders with other waxy rag holding buddies and stick fire extinguishers behind the rear wheels to keep our little (big) lovie-dovies from rolling off into the sun set.
But, hey, it's valentines day and where else can you Indulge such one-sided affection without being scolded for buying the wrong candy or flowers?

Happy New Year!

Automotive posters are a cool way to share your
passions with your friends. Passions for rolling works
of art can be a little hard to explain but,
we car people know.

The car posters I’m doing incorporate my watercolor
art of cars coupled with a basic black “goes with
anything” background and description.

The automobile posters are available in everything
from a 5 x 7 note card to “sofa-sized” wall art.

Order prints on museum quality rag, framed in your
choice of metal or wood, printed with fade resistance
inks on metal and acrylic in sizes up to 72 inches.

We will be adding more art as time permits. The
process entails time consuming knocking out the
background so the image floats on the basic black
background.

Custom orders of your classic car? Absolutely!

Jack & Sue Pumphrey
575-525-8298
inkyarts@comcast.net
follow us on Twitter & Facebook
Jackpumphrey@Jackscarart

As most of you already know, the art & photography I post to
our Fine Arts America site comes from my background in the printing
and graphics arts industry.
Over the years I have had the benefit of hands on experience
of learning the ins & outs of how images are printed, not only
on paper but also the fine a d delicate science of screen printing
on fabric, metal, acrylic and vinyl wrap products.

My company has maintained an excellent relationship with a
local screen printing company that has always kept several steps
ahead of the area’s competition by constantly upgrading its
equipment to meet the demanding needs of their customers.

We have formed an alliance that allows me to have my art
printed onto wearables like Tee-shirts, sweats and jackets. The
level of quality is as high as the quality expected from offset
printing or, the exceptional quality one always gets from
digital imaging here at Fine Arts America.

Additionally, we are able to offer exceptional results in
Embroidery in dazzling color spectrums utilizing my “FAT-LINE”
Broad tipped pen & ink work.

So, if you like my art and would like to use it as a basis for
an event Tee shirt or embroidered Polo let me know the event
dates and other important information and we’ll provide an
exact quote based on your quantities, sizes, garment colors
and the image locations.

This announcement about our screen printing and embroidery
capabilities does not involve Fine Arts America and must be
facilitated through JACK PUMPHREY ARTS.

The images shown here are examples of the quality expected
when utilizing our screen printing and embroidery services.

Contact Jack direct at 575-525-8298 and inkyarts@comcaqst.net
For an exact quote.

First Look Las Cruces and 1931 Cord L 29

After a long weekend in Tucson one of the vistas we look forward to seeing is the wide expansive view of Las Cruces, the city of crosses from the west Mesa overlooking the Mesilla Valley. It’s a visual treat day or night and always breathtaking.

Seeing those magnificent Organ Mountains 25 miles to the east is proof that was almost home.

This panoramic shot was taken from the rest stop just west of ‘Cruces which overlooks Las Cruces and La Mesilla. I took it with my ten year old Canon Rebel EOS 300D and a long telephoto lens. I had to do a little bracketing but through the miracle of Photoshop & Photomerge made it happen.

This shot along with other views of the New Mexico Southwest are available in large format prints up to 8 feet wide on metal, acrylic, stretched canvas of fine arts paper. There are hundreds of framing options too, all with a 30 day money back guarantee!

I’ve also posted some new art and one I’m especially proud of is the front view of a 1931 Cord L-29 Cabriolet. I like it because of the symmetrically mirror image; makes for an interesting graphic for all connoisseurs of classic automobiles.

Thanks for looking,

Jack

GREETING CARDS

It is getting to the time of year when we start to send out greeting, seasonal and holiday cards.
It’s almost a lost form of social communicating. It used to be one of the supreme forms’ of a compliment;
Mailing a hand written note card with a pretty picture that acts as a reminder of something pleasant, our hobby or a favorite place for sharing.

I’ve placed images on this page that have been voted the most popular by other visitors and through recent sales.

There are hundreds more which can be found by going to the gallery representing a subject of interest.
Scenic photographs, automotive themed images, pets and birds, classic automobile art and a few cartoons, to name a few.

All note cards are 5” x 7” when folded and can have a message printed on the inside panels. They come with matching envelopes, too.

One of the special buys this week is a stretched canvas print of “Organ Mountain Sunrise” This would be a terrific addition over a fireplace, at the end of a hallway or anywhere you have a large space that needs color and scenic drama.

If you have a special request you can call me in Las Cruces at 575-525-8298

Thanks for looking at my art,

Jack

NEW ART ~ OLD ADVERTISING
Here’s something that may interest those of you who like or collect
older, classis cars.

I have hundreds of classic cars in my inventory of car paintings
& illustrations.

Many of them match the same old car illustrations found in
magazine advertisements from the 1920s, 30’s, 40’s and newer.

The examples shown here to the right are available in framed prints,
posters & note cards. Click on any of them to see the ads in detail.

Consider this; I could do a painting of your classic from your photos,
locate the matching magazine advertisement by year and combine
them in an interesting, period work of original art.

I keep my prices low because usually, I retain the copyrights.
This is always an optional choice for my customers and they
have the first right of keeping them for their own use.

If this is of interest to you please contact me through the web
site shown below or call 575-525-8298

Thanks for checking out this idea and please forward to your friends.

Jack Pumphrey

Posters are art, too
Do you know the difference between an open edition fine art print and an art poster?

An open edition fine art print is not identified on the print; anywhere.

An open edition fine art print that’s identified with a title is a poster.

OK, what’s an “Open Edition” ?
………….art reproductions that don’t have a pre-determined number of prints in any given print run.

What about limited editions?
…………….That’s when an artist orders an exact amount of prints, usually under his/her supervision and
when that number is reached he/she orders the press stopped and discards any prints that do not meet
the expectations of the artist. Those that don’t are tossed and “overs” are held back as “Artists Proofs”

Are print runs like this called “Signed & Numbered”
………………Not until the artist inspects every print and then when satisfied with the quality, signs it in
pencil with a slash mark between the print number and the number of prints ordered…….55/250

The desirability/value level of artist prints in their order of importance is:
1. Signed/numbered/limited edition re-marquee
2. Artist Embellished
3. Signed/numbered/limited edition Artist proof
4. Signed/numbered/limited edition
5. Open edition’
6. Giclee artist print
7. Print on demand

It doesn’t stop here; there is the multitude of methods of printing, such as:
1. Litho stone/wet-stone
2. Hand-pulled wet press
3. Etched copper, hand set type
4. Wet ink screen printing
5. Hand etched copper, pressure pulled
6. Lithography, single color
7. Lithography, multi-colored
8. Laser etched on wood, metal, crystal, acrylic & granite
9. Digital, print on demand
10. Art prints from Fine Arts America, a terrific value based on quality and inspection control.

If you would like a detailed accounting of all of the types of artist prints available please contact me
and I’ll dazzle you with my expertise…………..er, I’ll mail you a sheet that’s up to date or, Goggle
printing methods.

It was a dark, rainy, slick and stormy night on my way to the SF international Airport to pick up my red headed girlfriend, Paula, a TWA Stew. I was in a hurry; we hadn’t seen each other in about a week.
So, I was really getting it on, doing about 84 in my little 1956 blue Porsche 356 B. I had just cleaned and waxed the shiny coupe; wanted to impress you know who.
It was October, 1964 and her 707 International was early coming in from Johannesburg S A; I was running late, we were both looking forward to seeing each other;
At 26-28 years old it was a lot more than just “seeing” each other
I noticed a red glow from the dash and instantly came an awful stench with smoke from behind me then a screechy sound of grinding metal. Pistons trying to swap sleeves, valves screaming for some cool air. Crank shaft self-destructing.
Seems those little, flat 4 cylinder rear engined air cooled motors needed lots & lots of air, not old wipe rags full of cleaning wax stuffed in the air intake box.
Ka-blooy! There were bits & shards of hot metal everywhere, Cars heading south behind me on the old Nimitz Blood & Guts freeway (101) were sliding all over. I managed to steer off onto the right shoulder near the Cow Palace and flag a cab to the TWA hangers.
After the long and silent tow back to Pacific Heights, we dropped the sick little car off at my German mechanics’ shop on O’Farrell. Somehow, our late date turned out to be memorable experience, a real classic. Must have been the left over aroma of danger adding spice to the Irish Coffees?
Back to the Porsche. It took a whopping $ 375.00 repair and a vow to get something a little bigger (A seafoam green ‘65 Buick Riviera GS) was in order to keep up my relationship with Paula who clearly enjoyed a more comfy ride.
I sold the Porsche a few days after it was fixed for the staggering sum of $ 3,500.00.
About 1,000.00 less than the new green Buick.
Now, almost 50 years later I hear they're going for upwards of $ 200.000.00
Oh, well, there’s hardly anything left over after 50 years that I still own, let alone a collectable like the 356 B except the painting I did of her a few years ago.
Paula? Last I heard she was hopping aboard a brand new 747-400 to Singapore with a guy named Howard.

Seriously, man, WHO KNEW?