Guys caught in the Rain

These 2 Japanese guys were caught in the rain at Rooster Coffee House almost a year ago, they had great jackets for it though.

Here is the video of the drawing being made:

Sketches using Wacom Inkling

Here is a drawing I did about a month ago of Mimi sleeping. I used the Wacom Inkling, I am trying to use it more, I am still not used to drawing with a ball point pen. 

It is a hybrid of digital and analogue, I drew it in my sketchbook and it gives me a digital file that I can import into illustrator etc- I am still working on that part. 

Here is a little movie of the drawing process:

I will put some more up in the next few days.

Upcoming work/Ideas

I have been trying to get back into the studio and I have this very specific couple of ideas that I want to get to- One of them is an image of the Lovers card from the Tarot deck, specifically the Ryder set.

Like all of the cards, there is a great deal of stuff going on in the picture, I want to play with that a bit.  

Not that I know much about the Tarot deck. 

Back in the 90s though, I was back in school for my masters at the now defunct Bretton Hall University, my room mate, the good Stephanie (long story) was working on these large paintings of deck, creating her own interpretations of them. I don't have any images of her work but I do have some sketches I made during these epic late night drawing sessions ( she would routinely dye her hair with greens and reds from this brand Manic Panic -Live fast and Dye-your hair  It stuck with me. All fuelled by consuming large quantities of chocolate covered espresso beans, me with my long hair....It is right out of an episode of Portlandia) Here are some of those drawing/paintings-

We emailed recently, and neither of us has had a chocolate covered espresso bean since.

A Thousand Cuts

This is a painting from April of this year, I made a couple in this series as part of my RBC paintting entry.

They weave historical and personal elements together. The surface of Birch wood panel becomes part of the piece and I was thinking of the school tables I used to draw on in grade 5, scrawling LED ZEP, STONES and AC/DC in deep HB pencil, until I was caught and had to clean 40+ tables after school.

Here are some thoughts I had about it at the time: 

This plain white business shirt, is a memento of a personal violence against me, at times I re-interpret my memories, re investigate them as a victim, as a villian and as a participant, but what is truth, that has long seemed to shift away to emotional response.

I am fascinated by the subjective nature of truth, memory, how history itself is a collective memory constantly being updated and changed, restored and changed again by the participants and the interpreters.

This piece, A Thousand Cuts, has many different tensions and contradictions contained within it. The title itself can mean the ancient chinese torture, as evident by the destruction of this garment, or it could be something more mundane and bureaucratic.

The painting itself is static but the lines of the piece have a nervous care and detail style to them. , indicates a fullness, the lines seem been painted in intense style, the business shirt lies in tatters, it can suggest an end to a paternalistic system, echoed by the figure in the background or it can be more nuianced.

There is a tension in the piece, the business shirt, a symbol of something highly functioning is broken down. The symbol of something quintessintially masculine has a femenine shape to it. 

There is a tension between the figure in the background, perhaps one who would wear a shirt like this, the destroyed shirt and the confrontational way the figure gazes to the viewer.  

Monotypes

The prints were made in 2000, when I went back to my university for my graduation ceremony. I was not supposed to be using the facilities as I was all but graduated so it devolved into a cat and mouse game of me printing then hiding when the head of the program was looking for me. They would go around the studio centre, I'd grab my stuff from where I hid them, and make another print.

A tad bizarre process really. I'm trying to make prints about solace, loneliness and longing and I'm running around like a 5 year old, cutting shapes out and planning images in my head as I would hide in individual studios, washrooms etc.

Painting from 2011

Painting from this porcelain thing I loved when I was a kid, we got it on a trip to Andorra, classic European tchotchkes, for sure. Arm have all the pieces....somewhere.