Marker studies

These are some marker sketches of late, playing with different ideas and imagery. I so rarely use color, it's like an exciting new adventure. And I must admit I sometimes love gaudy saturated colors, they're so fun.

This one is my own rendition of an Edvard Munch lithograph. I've been adopting some of his imagery lately, it really resonates with me. This the three stages of womanhood, a poison flower.
An ill fetus (with dandilion.)
Two different color schemes for a doodle that I've decided try my hand at painting. Experimenting with unusual color choices (expanding my mind, man...)
Another based on an Eduard Munch image of an insane woman (inspired by his sister). I added in the room. I'm finding something compelling in the combination of bright colors and cheerful decoration juxtiposed with melencholic subject matter.
Some more experiments with color, pattern, and imagery. The two central women were copied from an Edvard Munch painting.
Right now I'm concentrating on sacrificing some of the glossy, pretty, pre-planned slickness in drawing, in order to get images down urgently, directly, and without self-censorship.

Incredible Painters

I've been discovering many historical painters and artists, lately, that have left my mind reeling and throbbing with ideas and inspiration. There have been such brilliant people, such extrodinary work... Alice Neel, again, that brutally truthful painter of portraits; Edvard Munch, expressionist explorer into the depths of the instinct, emotions, and archtypes; Egon Schiele, intense and sexual and breathtaking lifedrawings; Kandinsky, a Russian painter of vibrancy and color; Arnold Bocklin... and so many more. I'm overwhelmed with a need to paint, aspire to create work with a fraction as much force and life and urgency as these people have. I'm terrified, as well; I don't feel up to the challange; when I sit to paint, so many ideas flood my brain and I can't order them, can't make sense.... the only solution is to simply sit down and start painting, and eventually the work will sort itself out.

Alice Neel

Edvard Munch

Egon Schiele

Wassily Kandinsky

Arnold Bocklin

"Hartley" by Alice Neel
The time has come, it seems, for me to step past the safety of cute and generalized ideas. I have to be honest in creating art, and that thought terrifies me, much as it always has, because when I allow the truth to come out in my work, there's negative consequenses- all the ugliness, the contradictions, and biases in me (that exist in everyone, but is covered in social nicities and acceptable personas) is there for everyone to see. I'm afraid of truth because:
-it is very subjective, not everyone agrees; but opinions that don't evolve and change will die.
-it's not always pretty
-people like pretty things, safe things, comfort... and many people I love very much will not like my art if I'm honest. It's happened before. And that terrifies me.


But events in my life recently, along with the inspiration of some fantastic artists, have led me to understand that I can't continue to meander along the edges of honesty, always holding back. It's time to stop caring what other people think, or what makes them uncomfortable, and do the things I have to do.

I dislike the self-importance of this sort of discussion, but it's a neccesary evil towards taking one's self seriously.

The paintings of Alice Neel are incredible, and dig straight to the bone. She was a very couragous woman.

Nancy and Olivia, by Alice Neel

Rag in Window, by Alice Neel

Marker ladies

Markers and I are continuing to negotiate our hostile relationship. The talks are making some progress.

I'm still a bit heavy handed with them and make lots of little mistakes (sloppy/unconfident lines, ugly color placements, etc.) But overall I'm feeling good about this direction. I'm getting more free and experimental with my color choices. And I'm getting better at drawing hair- I've always just ignored drawing the hair on people, leaving it very sketchy or abstract or just plain ugly... so yay, that's getting better too (with room for improvement, granted.) yay!

PS. the tan colored marker in the bg of the second pic grew angry during the negotiations and chose to dry out as I used it, in defiance. What a bastard. But I kinda like the rough look that resulted, so I WIN, MARKER!

PPS. I totally want to move to Portland. There's such a fantastic art community growing in that city, and it sounds like such a beautiful place to live. Too bad I'm not American (makes it a bit harder to go live and work in an american city.)

Congrats to the cool people!

First off, I'd like to issue a congratulations of a high order to:
- Guillaume Chartier, Cliff Mitchell, Matt Kalanowskis, and Evan Bonifachio for the nominations they all received for the Dreamworks scholarship. They all earned that nomination through HUGE effort, dedication, love for animation, and for being all around fantastic people. I LOVE YOU GUYS! :sob:
- His Honorable Highness Eliot Morrison, who not only is going to be my roommate next year, but also, has finished his charming epic animated film "The Grouch", much to the delight of animation students, children, young-at-heart adults, and the developmentally challenged throughout the world. Everybody and their pets should go see his labor of love at:
http://www.yiggs.com/grouch

And... that's all I have to say about that.
I'd also like to issue a general grievance with "headaches" and "nausea". Now what is the evolutionary value in just making me miserable, huh? What's up with THAT?

Sketches

These are a few of the things I've doodled out the last couple days:

These first ones I drew after copying a page from a little kid's coloring book, and I wanted to try out some of the line work idea's from it. Just some randomness, and of course lotsa nudies. Bodies are so much fun to draw. Note the use of COLOR in the sketchbook. This rarely happens, so I'm very proud of myself.

Yeah, so fetuses! I find that babies make for some interesting imagery (actual fetus' even more so; need to get some more reference of what those crazy little half formed alien things look like.)
A coyote. Sortof. I don't draw animals often, but I'm finding that some of them make really interesting archetypal images to put in a picture, so I've set out to learn to draw them better. Drawing the taxidermy animals at the Field Museum in Chicago helped. Oh Field Museum, I love you. I hope I can find something similar in Toronto.
The Indian goddess Kali-Ma. She's a dark goddess of death and carnage, but also life and rebirth. She wears earrings made of the corpses of children. That is brutally badass in a very 'but our culture is too sensitive, refined, and compassionate for such HORRORS!" kind of way. This sketch annoys me in style, as it harkens back to my more disney-esque days. That pose is pretty stiff, too. But check out that belt made of arms!! Isn't that frickin awesome?
Aaaaand one more little Kali for the road. wearing a skirt, and looking like a highschool student. hm.

The photos from my trip didn't turn out so well, much to my displeasure. So I will sift through them for the few worth scanning, asap.

Gouche paintings

I don't have anything new scanned right now, so I figured that I'd post these little paintings that I did a year ago. They're panels from a storyboard I came up with, about a pinup girl who runs a little boy over with her bike.

Returned!

Hellooo! I'm back (sortof.)
I'm at Eric's (Chicago-land) waiting for him to get back with a couple of friends I've only met once before**, and I'm brushing my teeth so that I'm not extremely gross. I'm already sortof gross, because today we were in Chicago (I went to the field museum and drew their AMAZING collection of taxidermied animals; the leopard was the best for its super intense creeping pose; they also had the Man Eaters of L... ? ... that place in Africa where "The Ghost in the Darkness" happened. They had those lions. They were neato.) Anyway, so the point I was getting to is that we were in Chicago and had to run a whole lot of blocks through downtown in order to not miss our train.... so as a result I'm already sortof gross and smelly. But brushing my teeth is all I'm going to do to impress Eric's friends, because I like this icky sweaty yet pretty shirt that I have on, and I ain't changing out of it.

**The first time I met them, I was in a wheelchair, pretending to be physically handicapped (IT WAS ERIC'S IDEA, HE'S THE HORRIBLE PERSON). Since that prank, I don't think they entirely know what to think of me.


So, I'm going back to Ontario tomorrow, and then I'll be able to get my photos developed (yeah, I had to use disposable cameras b/c I left my digital at home. doh.) and then I can post and pictures and explain about all the exciting adventures going down to New Orleans. We visited Elvis in Graceland, went to a lot of art galleries in Chicago and N.O., toured graveyards (and saw REAL OLD HUMAN BONES in a grave/tomb thing that was broken), saw the sobering wreckage from hurricane Katrina, played around in the French Quarter, went on a swamp tour (WHERE I GOT AN AWESOME NEW PET!!), saw crazy awesome doll museum with creepy old dolls, went camping, caught really fast lizards and a fat toad, got my face pressed between a stripper's really fake water-balloon boobs, had my tarot cards and palm read, saw a magic show, ate tons of delicious seafood and po-boys and gumbo and fried chicken, AND bought some really awesome souvenirs (I got the cheesy stuff for my friends. mwaha.) And... I might be forgetting some stuff.
On top of that I've become incredibly inspired to paint (in oils, and I want to buy some acrylics when I get home). Visiting art galleries and seeing all kinds of new things has reinvigorated me, and I'm so excited to get back to work on some serious artmaking.

So in the next few days, I'll be posting the most choice photos, telling the accompanying stories, as well as putting some of my new work. oh boy oh boy.

Man, I can't believe they're not here yet. My teeth are more than brushed.