Libra, unfinished, with annotations showing how the piece will develop.

The sketch of Libra shows how many of my early black-and-white pieces were developed using Koh-i-noor technical pens. These Rapidiograph pens produce lines in a range of line widths, as shown in the chart that accompanies this entry.

When used in my art, the nib numbers were approached as if they were musical notes, based on my initially intuitive understanding that the variations of the widths register differently perceptually. This resulted in something like a visual music. As with a musical composition there is a rhythm, but it is a perceptual rhythm that manifests from how the the textures and lines add perceptual depth, vibrancy, and musicality to a piece when one looks at it.

Unfortunately, this type of detail does not come through in reproductions because the images reduce the size and flattens the correspondences.

Libra is a lost piece of the astrology series. The series was developed between 1981 and 1985. All of the pieces began with the symbol of a sign. Sometimes the symbol of the ruling planet were used to create a counterpoint for the design. In this case the symbol of the planet Venus is evident in the sketch.

Libra was one of the last overly dense compositions with ink, although by no means the final one. It is very easy to overwork this type of design.