"Defiant" Ben Dobbs

Defiant, 2025

Pen and ink stippling

9 x 12”

$1,200.00

Being somewhat colorblind, I’ve always favored working in monochromatic mediums such as pencil or pen and ink.  Within the pen and ink medium, stippling quickly became my favorite technique. Compared to other techniques, stippling can be very time consuming. With that though, I feel there’s a tremendous amount of control.  You can fine-tune the values as they come in. Dark areas can be very forgiving, while light areas require more precise placement. To get values smooth, I do a sort of soft focus where I’m not so much looking at the image itself, but the space between the dots. I’ll be so intently focused that I’ll forget to blink enough, and my eyes will burn and stream with tears. So much so that I’ll have to lean back so as not drip on the page. I feel like my body of work not only reflects on me, but in a way the medium as well; focusing on the light and the dark and what happens in between in a world full of shades of grey.

"Defiant" embodies strength at our most bare, equipped with only a fierce tenacity of will to challenge all.  Standing proud with the darkness behind us ready to face the void beyond. It is a striking image of both shadow and minimalism. "Defiant" is the Beast of the Imagination.