very fine 'metamorphosis', mark!

Mark I have alkways loved your Brush drawings. They are gorgeous soft and exiting. I am thrilled to see it in big size today. Look how the...cuff? is shining. It is an awesome drawing, not to mention yout PS work on it :-))) 3 Beautiful images.

Well good morning Mark, this is beautiful, I love the description of how you do your work. I should do the same well I aim the camera and shoot lol. Well maybe a little more to it then that, but its never quite taken me a week to take a photo, I love your commitment to your art. How are things in Chicago, I meet a couple from Chicago this weekend, we were making smores at an outdoor bbq at a cabin I was staying at this weekend, and we spent like two hours talking they were wonderful, telling us all about their different trips to Tennessee. Well my friend have a super day. Keep up the wonderful work you do.

Wonderful transformations. Great work!!

Your avatar brush has always reminded me of a candle and now your latest color versions just reinforce that...particularly the one on the right. Better get a big snuffer...the one on the right has blossomed into a regular conflagration! See the white heat around the flame:) Great job.

You must have had SUPERB quality paper!! The original bears testament to all that concentration, and is exquisite. I love the first of the PS ones, which looks as though the molecules of the brush are vibrating and rearranging themselves prior to transportation to another place in the last frame. Wonderful stuff!

Mark this is simply splendid and a wonderful way to start the day. Like Lynell I love the detailed description you give here and the explanation of your work. Knowing all that is behind your Avatar really gives it even more meaning and breathes new life into it. The other two images based upon it are amazing and almost like living flames of light and color

Very nice picture!

Excellent creation my friend.It seems the brush turns into a flame,a burning candle, representative of spirit. Somehow this makes me think of "The Inner Mounting Flame" by the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

It is really very beautiful and can see your love for art in every detail.

Mark:))) You put a real and great smile on my face with your"avatar". Beautiful draw all around and i´m happy to see it here and you know? i see another trip...and he goes on and on between colours and melding with light and in the end a like a contortionist dancing and singing and shining.I love your description ..it says so much about you and you inside! and LOL: So,pencils make love to the pappers..i´m jocking with you... but YES !!! I know what you mean:))))My fav straight!!

Oh lord, don't tell me ... this is the beginning of an orgy of avatar-changing abandon, isn't it? I know you want to. :)) (What's next ... seven versions of Groucho Mark?) :P I loved what Andrea said. She expressed it so perfectly! This is a transformation, a layering of the layers, a sensuous, sinuous, tingling explosion of energy and color. Glorious!!

The avatar--a new world where we get to change ourselves, our very identities as often as we like. I love the your story, and how you give us different versions. But that's you all the way--different looks of the same thing, always fluid, moving, deep, lush and more often than not, sensuous and vibrant. I have to say, though, when I saw the title, I was SO sure I'd see the same guy Tara mentioned, Groucho Mark!!! HE rocks!! And pencils make love to paper, Omg, I gotta get some of those!!

Wow, your explanation shows exactly why this has such a rich feeling; it's perfect, and it's gorgeous, and your colorplays only serve to enhance and accentuate. Lovely work, Mark!

I agree with Mandi. This brush has always turned into a candleflame ( of inspiration) for me. Lovely drawing and excellent morph!

...la tua trasformazione come in un Picasso di oggi.Idea splendida e bellissimi colori:)-Great work!!! * Grazie per il tuo bellissimo commento per il mio ded.a Mia, sembra quasi una musica che fa vivere un sogno.gea

I do love your description of our work of love and labor. You described it perfectly. When I was still willing to get my hands dirty and work with pencil, pastels and inks, I often spent many an hour doing these types of works. Thank goodness for digital. :o) Though I have to admit, the manual work physically saturates the soul much deeper with satisfaction than digital. With very few exceptions. I really like the first and the second image you worked. The last is lovely in its abstactness, but I love the brush so much I like seeing even the ghost of its being. Excellent creation all together. :o)

All that never ceasing rubbing...I'm amazed...I never realized you poured such passion and your entire soul into developing fabulous pencil-media art, as so eloquently expressed in your narrative, Mark. You have certainly gone beyond the pale in creating this magnificent avatar.

bmac62 and durleybeachbum said it best. I can't say it any better. I always thought of your brush as candle too .. so the transformation, the vibration of molecules as the brush moves from the first panel to the last .. as Andrea so beautiful says it, is perfect, it goes from the brush to the candle .. and bursts into creative flames!!

The pencil brush is full of fine detail, subtle colors, softness,interesting textures, and love. It is a perfect reflection of you, Mark, as an artist and as a person. And the vibrant variations show the joy and excitement you get from exploring new ideas. CC

I see these as three stages of your brush. The first stage (left) is the one that we can all see. The second stage (middle) is the emergence of the soulful essence of the art within the brush. And the third (right)stage is the blending of the brush's soulful essence with the energy of the artist. All in all, you and your artistic tools are soul mates so to speak. Combined you wield a mighty stroke of energy. Marvelous work my friend. Just marvelous.

A disintegration of form - from the ideal of the tool in the first drawing to the atomization or perhaps essence of it's substance - if this was 'wall art' I'd say to the left you should attach the brush itself to the wall. . . . Always a treat Mark.

A so wonderful design and colors!

Very nice images. Great colours and style! Excellent artwork!

These are fantastic images...I love the slow and subtle transformation, as if the brush is going from collapsed wave-function state to a kind of Schrodenger-nightmare of brilliant probability. Well...sort of. The slow transformation is stunning and rich. I love the shift and interplay of color and the way layers seem to slide and merge and peel, wonderfully apart. As for the process you described, I can understand that completely. Though I did most of my writing at the keyboard of my laptop in the Czech Republic, prior to that time, I wrote everything by hand, usually with a pencil with a nice and soft number 2 lead. There was something almost sacred about it, the way the lead felt as it rubbed paper just right. I can imagine that brushes, colored pencils, crayons, and even mechanical pens can give similar feelings. But then there's always been something extremely personal and sensual about creating art, especially visual, non-photographic, non-digital art. This is fantastic work, and it's most definitely a favorite!

wonderfull transformations but the first is still my favorite x

OLALA!! now i see, thank you for the brief introduction to your thoughts and feelings behind the 'brush', mark, this opens up an entire new understanding of your beloved hairy friend :)))) and of course i always enjoy this little glimpse of humor shining through in so much of your ideas, never miss to make me smile! i hope you do fine, of course, all the best wishes and until later anytime, lots of love and peace to you :))))

I'm delighted to see that Chipka also sees your art in terms of its quantum possibilities... I will never look at a paintbrush (or a pencil or eraser) in the same way again. Pure sensuality and feeling - that's what true art is all about.

The original is so soft and warm I really DO want to gently pick it up, roll it between my fingertips and smell it. (Yeah - sensory overload...whattya gona do) Best of all is the brush it against the palm of your hand or even your cheek. The transformations of the brush are a mix of divine light and a watery blend of richness, as if the brush gave up it's life for those colors. Wonderful!!

I always love coming to your gallery. I haven't had the time lately that I'd like, so this is a real treat. I hope you are well. I love your description of your methods. How wonderful! The richness and convex shapes give witness to your diligence and joy of creation. I love the rounded effect and the light fading into the dark. I like the tip of the paint brush, a bit of motion, a bit of magic, in it. There is great richness and depth to your Avatar, and to the story you tell of its creation. Beautiful postworked images. The first seems drenched in color. The brush drinking in all the color that it will use to create beauty. In the second it is exploding outward to put that beauty to paper or canvas. Superb work as always, Mark. A joy to see and to study.