I use ink to draw, write and make prints. Here’s a selection of projects and themes.
1000 Hours
Begun in 2020, this is a 70 x 70cm drawing created using 0.03 size Unipin pens. It consists of an intricate network of objects, from memory or imagination, all selected to fit – there is no doodling, no ‘zentangles’, no simple space-filling. It embraces my love of intricacy (which may or may not be linked to my neurodiversity). The title refers to the amount of time the project takes – not only pen-on-paper, but thinking time, production of a digital version, social media promotion and so on – all the facets of being-an-artist. This equates to one hour per square inch. It is not an exercise in demonstrating I can draw, but a comment on whether artists are typically paid adequately for their work (spoiler: most aren’t most of the time). The piece has generated a supportive following during its production with enquiries about prints, requests for updates, questions about the process. It therefore has value and demand, it is interesting and desirable, however… to be fairly paid for producing it, I would have to charge at least the living wage which is currently £8.91/hour. This means the original will cost £8910 and I can’t charge less if I am to make a viable living as an artist. Can a not-famous artist secure such a price? I consider it unlikely, but who knows? I might be proved wrong.
Quantum mechaninks
This is the series of drawings that marked my shift from hobbyist to artist-with-intent when it was exhibited as part of the BAS8 Fringe in Southampton’s Art House. It takes lost, discarded and obsolete objects, and gives them value by rendering them as realistic life-sized freehand drawings. As such it relates to a key aspect of my practice, being a bricoleur who explores the Anthropocene and humanity’s relationship with natural resources.
Dave Hubble 