A Young Girl

At the Art Institute of Chicago there is a small drawing that one could easily miss on a wall that is unusually crowded in the modern art section of the Institute. It is a pencil drawing of a young face, by Salvador Dali. Around the periphery, the face has an indistinct blurred cast, which gives the face the appearance that it is emerging out of fog. However, one eye is amazingly distinct and sketched with such clarity, that I am immediately riveted by it every time I see it. That sketch is one of the pieces at the Art Institute that I return to see as often as I can - and yet it is not one that appears in the "Essential Guide."

I mention that sketch by Salvador Dali because this drawing by Haley McCalister has some of that same quality of both softness and clarity that I admire so much in a well-rendered pencil drawing. Unfortunately, the scan of the sketch "hardened" the drawing. The original is even more appealing and demonstrates a fine balance of tone, line and contrast.

Introducing Mr Zzyzx

At one time I had aspirations of being a comic book hero but I am too short and chubby. Plus, I can't fly very fast and have to hold onto my derby, whilst flying. Later, I thought I might host my own newspaper comic, but the deadlines were too stressful.

So, I decided to host an online virtual art gallery with a variety of portfolios from unknown and unpublished artists, instead. This blog has been conceived simply for the joy of seeing high caliber artists and artwork come together in one location where we can all appreciate it together. This is not done with the intent of being a broker for artists - or capitalizing on others' artwork in any way shape or form. Those who are posted, will be posted for free. Those who have more than one piece of artwork posted, will be categorized by the artist's name into a portfolio.

If you wish to have your artwork considered for posting, send the image/s as an attached jpg file to misterzzyzx@yahoo.com Images should be clean and high quality but not large. Each image will be reduced down to about 200dpi. Please do not send pornographic or violent images; they won't be posted. While I am appealing to amateur artists, I will only post artwork with recognizable quality and interest. Yes, that's a matter of opinion - but that's the beauty of blogs: on this blog site I have the freedom to make that decision.

Sincerely yours,

Mr. Zzyzx