"The Orb" by Eric Knight, Amer., (B. 1955)

Pen and India Ink Drawing, 2017, 11 x 8-1/2, signed, titled and dedicated "in loving memory of Richard G. Hayes Jr." in ink bottom margin below drawing, on white wove bristol board paper. Contemporary artist Eric Knight works in both pen and ink as well as collage, producing just a few works each year. His small, elaborate and intensely intricate ink drawings are drawn with crow quill pen and india ink on a heavy weight white wove bristol paper. He uses a magnifying glass and has evolved a slow, exacting, labor intensive  drawing technique using dots, dashes, hatch marks and shifts of value reversal to orchestrate a complex and very personal world of his own invention. Mastering his virtuoso technique over a lifetime study of old masters such as Durer, Blake, Palmer and Calvert, as well as 19th century masters of wood engraving, Knight has created a dark world both contemporary and medieval; dense with spreading trees and towering architecture, enveloped with tangled thickets and lush, creeping vines, all illuminated by a radiant, otherworldly light. This world is discreetly inhabited by humans, animals and supernatural beings, their interactions both harmonious and problematic, all reflecting Knight's synthesis of myriad historic and cultural touchstones of the past, and moral musings on our volatile present. Other works may be viewed by request.