Times are A' Changing

Bits from my sketchbook. Leonard Foujita and his dog.

I've been a little negligent and really should try harder to work and practice this way (sketchbook), away from larger pressure laden projects. But I really dislike sketching people out in the real world. They notice, and then they posture themselves and suddenly my hands don't work properly and I hurry and do an awful job and my back hurts, and my fingers get cold. Something about being in the public sphere as an artist feels very unsafe. Have been thinking of just taking a camera around at all times to steal moments quickly without anyone noticing and then reopening them at home for me to spend time with.

I've noticed though that there's a lot of negative feelings toward artists working primarily from photography or memory. It's probably just a matter of pride and identity, like a woman refusing to take drugs to dim the sharp pangs of childbirth. Obsession with being as strong as previous generations I guess.

So Question to you guys out there: What are your opinions/ thoughts on the growing relationship between photography and traditional art techniques such as painting, printmaking and mixed media?

Also, as you may have noticed the blog is no longer named Tragically Unpopular but instead Not Quite Science. This may change back, but somehow the old title seemed too pessimistic and self deprecating. Maybe a change of title will help cultivate my ego ;)

Gross Ink (warning: Not Work Safe?)

Just some random ink drawings done while watching televison.

And then there was one

Materials: Graphite, Gouache, watercolor, photoshop, collage

Finally, something I'm truthfully proud to show you guys! This piece was my first attempt to reconcile my love of drawing and my lack of skill in real life medium. I have a lot of prejudice against computer art (giant art snob actually), and yet I keep being drawn back to it. Thus it's been decided that I should shrug my shoulders and give in to the fact that I'm a participant of a specific time in history and that it should be embraced.

This doesn't mean that I'm giving up on traditional art work, just that I should view digital methods as more than just a shameful crutch. In this image for example I started with a graphite drawing, keeping most of it simple except for the bird which I wanted to completely render so I could try out a different version of layering where I can concentrate on value and then introduce color ontop of it, a basic oil painting technique that I have yet to learn. For a moment it seemed I had ruined everything by haphazardly applying pigment but then found that sometimes in breaking down a mistake you find something new hidden underneath. Once a wall was hit, the image was scanned in and slowly refined in photoshop. Mostly playing with the color levels and contrast to bring out texture.

It's by no means perfect, but so much was learned in the process that it feels like a success.

(p.s Don't want to go too much into the concept, but the Santa Muerte has been on my mind a lot lately.)

It's true

"It's shamefully romantic to think we exist to see what is unconciously created."

Now Now

Cold Blush

Initially meant to be part of the Fashion theme but then it evolved into something different that caters to my obsession of staring women, red cheeked faces and now depictions of women in communist china? No headshots for awhile PROMISE.

The figure was supposed to be sort of model-esque and default elegant but once I started searching for reference I stumbled upon a thread discussing how some Chinese women were having their faces surgically altered to narrow them so that they more closely resembled women from another region... which happens to be the original facial features I wanted to depict...

Unfortunately I can't find the original thread for the life of me. Anyway, it made me sad that the particular woman featured was so pretty before and now nobody will ever see that face ever again. So I used the woman's before face as the model. I wonder how she would feel that she had taken such drastic measures and a complete stranger like me had no interest in her new more "beautiful" face? Tricky Tricky. After reading her story it felt dirty to go with the original plan as if it somehow would be used to make more women feel bad about their faces!

This all really isn't meant to be linked with the illustration at all, it's just fun to share part of the journey.

Question for the day: Do you think artists have a social responsibility when creating?

Love affair in the gauche.