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Ken Wachtveitl has been drawing most of his life. At the age of 16 he began using a technique usually referred to as “stipple.” He started doing stipple after looking closely at a photograph in a newspaper realizing that the photo was made up of several thousands of dots and thought he would try drawing using only dots.
Ken has had several successful experiences using other mediums including colored pencil and airbrush. One of his most thrilling accomplishments was to present baseball legend Ted Williams with a drawing that would end up in the Hitters’ Hall of fame in Hernando, FL. Ken also has a drawing in the Bob Feller Museum in Ohio and has done several portraits for other professional athletes. Even after these successes Ken has returned to stipple. “Even though this technique is extremely time consuming it delivers an element of softness or subtleties that are difficult to achieve any other way.”
It wasn’t until Ken and his wife Trudy built their current home in Burlington, WA that Ken became intrigued with stone. While choosing stone tiles for their home Ken began to see a subtle or softness quality as well as the natural beauty stone can deliver. “Looking closely at stone you can sometimes begin to see images just as you can when you study the clouds as they move across the sky”. Ken thought “Why couldn’t a person add or force an image into the stone”.
Wanting to do this in a soft or subtle way it seemed only natural for Ken to return to stipple once again. The challenge is to add an image in a way so it looks like it belongs there, almost as though if you were to remove a thin layer of stone you would uncover this image. Each piece is extremely limited, one of a kind, impossible to duplicate. “I want the image to be both naturalistic as well as sculptural” using dimension and textures to express each image with a focus on beauty. This I believe is achieved with the use of slate. The image is applied with a fine tip permanent marker one dot at a time. There is easily at least 50 hours spent on each drawing.
While keeping with the natural beauty and an element of subtle softness stone can bring, Ken has decided on the natural beauty of figurative nudes as his subject matter. “While stone is completely natural it seem only fitting that the image should be completely natural as well. I find it very interesting that a matter as hard as stone can be so soft and pleasant to look at.” Using this unique medium it is my hope to add to the natural beauty of the stone and to inspire you with emotion while showing the powerfulness and sensuality of the human body and its connection with nature.
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