Monte’s Different Pencil Styles

When examining Monte’s pencil illustrations over his career, two major observations are noted.  The first observation is that which is seen in almost any of the creations by an artist and that is the individual progression of an artists skills and talents over time.

The second observation is Monte’s move from one very distinctive pencil style to that of a entirely different style of pencils.

The more obvious difference of this change is how his earlier pieces reveal Monte’s reliance upon a more profound contrast between the darks and lights in his pieces. The content of his earlier pieces also has a different make up that is hard to explain, but visually apparent when viewed.

Below are two previously unpublished illustrations as examples of Monte’s earlier pencil style.

 

As mentioned previously, one of Monte’s desires was to try to create illustrations that reflected the way he perceived nature with the naked eye.  Below is a previously posted illustration to show how he tried to create an image of what it looked like to see waterfowl in flight.  This illustration also is an example of how he moved away from his earlier pencil style and which may have been done so because he felt his earlier style was not as accurate to what his mind observed in the natural world.

In the above illustration from 1974, Monte’s signature had changed from his much earlier pieces. The change in his signature is one way to determine which part of Monte’s life the piece was created.

Below are earlier posted images that are indicative of Monte’s earlier pencil style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monte’s Pencils

Through his artistic creations, Monte turned out many pencil drawings. Many of these pencil drawings have not been framed or largely seen by many people.  It is not known why he chose not to frame more of his pencil drawings.

A number of his pencil drawings, as mentioned before, depict solitary creatures in the natural world.

Often times, he would depict these creatures in their own battle with the natural world and harsh environment.