Sunday, July 1, 2012

still in progress

Just saw cruel intentions last night and now I want to let that inspire what happens next with this illustration. we'll see how this cleans up

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Grieving the spirit

"The imagination can create the future only if its products are brought over into the real. The bestowal of the work completes the act of imagination. Ginsberg could have said, 'O dear, now I'm hearing voices,' and taken a sedative. But when we refuse what has been offered to the empty heart, when possible futures are given and not acted upon, then the imagination recedes. And without the imagination we can do no more than spin the future out of the logic of the present: we will never be led into new life because we can work only from the known. But Ginsberg responded as an artist responds. The artist completes the act of imagination by accepting the give and laboring to give it to the real (at which point the distinction between 'imaginary' and 'real' dissolves)."

excerpt from Lewis Hyde's phenomenal book, The Gift

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

character sketches

My favorite way to create a new character is to twist 2 different people together, especially male and female. It seems that blending male and female pieces more often than not creates a more striking, convincing individual than one inspired by male or females paired together. Tackling the masculine in the woman and the feminine in the man is challenging, but it creates a fascinating person. Pretty and macho are boring because this is what we expect to see in a girl and a boy. The trick is to keep the boy's male essence while also teasing out a bit of the feminine, and vice versa. This is why we devour the sweet and salty snacks.

i didn't get that far in my experiment tonight but the wheels are turning.

Friday, June 22, 2012

character sketches

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread;
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.[1]

concept-- there was an old (aka from antiquity) woman who lived in a shoe 
(women love their pretty shoes)
She had so many children (failure to launch boy-men), she didn't know what to do 
(bc they were still living at home);
She gave them some broth without any bread (work and no play);
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed (innuendo)

this is the mother and her 4 sons. they worship her because
she makes them work after years of sloth and 
selfish boredom.
set at night on rugged and desolate topography.
then the wasteland home becomes a fantastic oasis.
the mother lives well and prospers, and each of the 4
sons moves out to create
other good dwellings.

doodles, some of them of people i've known