No. 3: The Old Masters

"The Old Masters" by Tom Wills, 2010/2017

I occasionally have an opportunity to revisit my earlier works. This one, which I am now calling "The Old Masters," dates from some time in 2010 and is officially No. 3 on the books, although for a while my record-keeping was a little sloppy. (Paper records, I mean.  My vinyl is always immaculate!)

This drawing was in a homemade barn wood frame that I never really liked. Recently I was gifted with a heavy, dark and square frame that I knew right off The Old Masters would fit. While I was at it, I corrected a few things that bugged me about the drawing.

Original, unremastered version.

First, it wasn't dark enough, in its dark spaces.  So I took care of that with some extra-black lead. Second, lettering is not my strong suit so I fixed some of the words, and eliminated a few others that were a distraction.

I had worked over No. 3 so hard back in 2010 that the paper was turning into flannel, it was so rough and thin. I had to be careful with the pencil tip and the eraser.

My estimation of frame size was a little off. The drawing barely fit, having about one-eighth of an inch to spare under the mat! But I stretched it, taped it and sealed it and there are no waves. Looks much better.

There is a lot of tinkering going on these days in the music industry, what with remastering and repackaging.  Some of this really offends the purists, myself included.  But sometimes these artists who revisit their old masters actually clean them up and make them sharper. It's all groovy.

If you look in the corners of the two front album covers, you will see a label -- RWL -- for Recorded Works Limited. It's not a real record company, but a little side business that I have going here for wheeling and dealing in audio tapes, used vinyl and vintage equipment. Your Volume Dealer was just having a little fun.