"Greed" ~ Panel No.3

Done! ...so far. I had one of my kids talking to me while I worked on this. "He who must not to be named," played the new Pokemon and put his two cents worth in. I enjoyed that more than working on the piece itself. "Life is about the journey, and not the destination." Someone cooler than me already said that, but it's true.

I need to print these up, and mount them, and turn them in. The sooner I do that, the soon I can start on the Brian Bateman CD cover. He's in Disneyland tonight. I almost said "I wish I were too," but that would be a lie.

Me and "He who must not to be named," did alright right here.

"Pride" ~ Panel No. 2 and Boise Weekly

Pride ~ When asked "Which came first: the chicken or the egg?" This little guy said "ME"!
In his mind, he is the creator of all he sees.
In his mind he is "...all that and a bag of chips."

"A Boy is A Stick is A Dog"

...Or in my case "a gallery piece, is a newspaper cover, is a class assignment" It's all the same. The Gallery thing didn't work, but the pieces I'll turning in anyway as part of maybe getting one of these thing on the cover of the Boise Weekly.

So anyway, here they come. They take forever to paint, but they're so much fun!

Tonight "Lust" ~one as part of the series, and ~one designed for the Boise Weekly assignment.

We'll talk more later. I've been at this all day, and I need to get to bed.

d.

7 Deadly Sins "Pride, Greed & Lust" [Draft ]

Another late night. Gradually bring all three piece up to gallery ready. Although, the shows dead line has pasted. It's OK, there will be more opportunities. These are good ideas, and solid pieces.

"Scary" + "Chickens"

These chicken came years before the "Deadly Sin" chickens. Another class assignment. This one came from putting two random words together, "Scary" + "Chickens". Fun! If you like this, I have storyboards for a would be animated short that you might like.

The Brian Bateman Blend

Preview of the art work. Albums recorded, just needs to be mixed. The photo is one of Brian's Great Grandfather. Quite a character! Every family should have one...every family probably does. I like the feel of old family photos, they have to be cleaned up and scratches remove to get them to look good big.

Printmaking

I'm not one for printmaking when it comes to talent, unless you count wearing concert shirts. The project gets me out of my comfort zone. This will be a five color print when its done. The assignment asks for six completed pieces, which means I'll probably have to make tweleve to get everything lined up. I'll show you one when they're done.

Self Portrait. No.5

Illustration 461

Self Portrait & Bio

February 2, 2011

I have many self portraits lying around the house. One on this blog right now as a matter of fact. I could have used any of them.

But I wanted to create something new.

The portrait is pen and ink and watercolor, my favorite, nothing new there. The step forward is putting the illustration and the bio together as if they were one piece. The image, a mild-mannered man, with rose colored glasses, peaking around this mass of strange words, both looking as if they were put there willy-nilly.

The individual words on their own mean one thing, when teamed together create a new word, teaming with possibilities. The words come together mostly for fun, and not as some deep look into the artist being.

The inspiration was borrowed from something my teacher said in illustration class, a thought from John Lennon, and the chorus from an old Rush song.

...And I’m back!

I’m back in Boise, back with my kids, and back in school. Turns out I wasn’t as far from getting a Bachelors in Visual Arts as I thought. If all goes well I’ll walk in May. Wish me luck.

The next three months will see me heading straight for one of the biggest artistic pushes of my life, and of course I’ll blog it. Because this is my last semester, my classes are going to be vehicles for this push. My illustration class contract has already been set up to accommodate Beth’s “Redwood” children's book. The Brian Bateman Blend first album is mostly recorded, and it’s album cover artwork is in process. And finally, April may be the month I see some of my art work shown in a gallery for the first time – in Portland no less.

Some of you were asking how Daisy is doing. She had a great time riding up here, likes her new home, and likes having her kids closer. Daisy is the subject of my Printmaking class first assignment. My group liked one of my drawings of her, so she is about to get screen printed!

High Watermark

This marks my fiftieth post! I’m pleasantly surprised. I had a class at BSU that required me to blog regularly. It was very unnerving. I can speak in public without a moments notice; but ask me to put those same thoughts on paper, not only will it cause me to go into a complete tail spin, you will not see your paper for weeks. I’ve over come a great deal of that anxiety with this project, and accomplished creating a forum for my thoughts and art work. ~ So cool, here's to another fifty! Thanks for your support. I've posted a new blog header; among other things, Georgia's picture has got some bling!

Say Cheese!

Art, in any form, is just a snapshot in time. It's but a brief layover for the artist as well as the viewer on their way to something bigger and brighter.

The Life magazine cover by Alfred Eisenstaedt of the sailor and the nurse kissing is iconic now. But he was just there at the right time. Did you know U.S. Navy photo journalist Victor Jorgensen captured another view of the very same scene? Each picture is taken at the same moment, but each still tells a different story.

I have a picture of me taken not too long ago. I was down in Joshua Tree, CA, visiting my friend Elena. She’s a very talented and accomplished photographer. You need to go see her work [www.elenaray.com].

The photograph is one she took of me in front of the hotel room where Gram Parsons died. ~ Creepy, I know, but it’s my hobby, [I have a picture of me with my oldest son at Jimi Hendrix grave]

I’m using the picture in front of the hotel door for my profile picture because Elena took it, and it represents a fleeting moment in my life were, a least in my head, I was in a very relaxed state. It’s nice to look at that picture, and think of that day and remember that feeling.

Elena said later, "It was truly your Jim Morrison moment."

"In this moment you were completely mentally and energetically free." She continued, "...and very much in touch with your mystical source, which enhanced your masculinity in an expression of presence and completeness. Notice the locked hands: strength and solidity, held close to your body center so it is not aggressive but more spiritual like a monk. The 8 at the door also signifies infinity. The doorway itself is a metaphor for your relationship to the unknown. The dark glasses are a paradox, they hide your eyes allowing you to see but remain unseen, though your gaze at the camera is penetrating."

Thank you Elena. Great insight.

[Self] Promotion Poster

I created this { self }promotion poster as an exercise in butt kicking. I took this picture of Ian for a photography class some time ago. It was always one of my favorites. I decided to make it a concert poster with a future date to help me visualize myself playing the gig. I'll let you know how well it worked.

“Ugly Baby God”!

When I’m an Art teacher, I’m going to assign a project like “Ugly Baby God”! We were to find the strangest subject and then put it in an even stranger environment. Georgia had this really scary ugly baby doll that was one of my first choices. When I took it to class so everyone could see it, the ugly baby was a hit. Early sketches had the doll in an “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” thing, as an Aztec chief sacrificing another ugly baby to the gods, and finally an ugly baby in the “Thinker” pose, its own head in hand, contemplating its self. All good ideas, but I opted for making ugly baby a god standing on its own creation “created in its own image” looking into infinity. It was a fun project! I hope my students like it too.

Self Portrait No.10

This started out as my last assignment in the watercolor class I talk about. It was all free hand, about 2’X 3’. I love the feel of all the Catholic Icons. There is an innate mystic quality to them. I was reluctant to pattern a self portrait after one though, because some people actually believe the Icon has healing powers. I learned a lot from the project ~ again ~ the teacher was really good at giving away some of his tricks. On the robe he showed me how to take the wet red watercolor, put plastic wrap and dry it with a hair dryer to give the finished piece the look of drapery, very cool! The piece was designed with a blank square in the arms of the subject. I wanted to photo graphic the painting, and then in Photoshop be able to put my favorite album cover there. Why you may ask? Why not I answer?! It’s a piece that lends its self to change, and I like that.

Self Portrait No. 8

Last project @ B.S.U in 2008. Self portrait 5'X6', charcoal on old children's book pages. This was a great class. I'm really looking forward to being back in Boise with the kids, and going back to school.

Return of the Splotch

This poster was for a friend of mine.

Lets go back a little bit. It started in High School. The local bands would come to me and ask if I would design their fliers and logos. Back then, everything was done by hand. If there was a mistake, I would have to start over. Advances in the last ten years have changed the way I do everything. What I can do on the computer today, was impossible to do back then. Adobe products, like Photoshop and Illustrator, allow me to add and subtract things from my original art quickly, therefore cutting down on time and frustration. Getting back to this piece. I love all the colors. To think it started from just a little doodle I drew at lunch. Everything is basically just one layer on top of another. From my original ideas, to line drawings, to watercolor splotches, and hand written text, forty layers finally making up one piece. It was a great learning experience. I had a great time!

[one of those splotches from the watercolor class is in this piece]

Art of the Macabre

My fascination with the mystic of death, grave yards and headstones goes way back. I started making “rubbing” of headstones after a friend told me of his collection. The beauty of charcoal or graphite pencil on sketch paper takes on a life of its own. The rubbing shown here is from the Randy Rhodes Mausoleum in San Bernardino, Ca. Randy [1956 -1982] was the guitarist for Ozzy Osborne. The pencil lines in the rubbing are in stark contrast to John Tenniel illustrations, and that’s O.K. There is a time and place for both. The “Blue Angel” is a watercolor, pen & ink of a headstone in Rome. I did this around 2007. I like the freedom watercolor and ink gives me. I kind of like to work fast, and take the first thing that comes out of my head. I don’t know why I do that, short attention span maybe? Don’t they make medication for that?

[thanks to Randy and Gab for their help]

The Brady Bunch On Acid

This one is my favorite. It started as a project with just the kids in a straight line, and ended up with the nine grid. Truth is, these days we’re more like the Brady Bunch on acid. G.[First Square, Second Row], and I worked very close together on his. All the kids where pretty vocal about their renderings, and gave some good feedback. H. [Second Square, Second Row], said “You made me look like a chipmunk!” S. [First Square, First Row], is the first born, and the first drawn. His success promised everyone after him success. I. [Second Square, First Row], always has a smile on, teeth optional. C. [Third Square, Second Row], like the flame red backdrop,he always has something cooking on the back burner, and when it’s ready, it's guaranteed to be mind blowing. L. [Third Square, Third Row], is the youngest of the boys, and there is no doubt, he can hold his own. Youngest of the seven kids, and the only girl, G-G. [Second Square, Third Row] Well, she's everybody’s favorite, and you can see why. Blessed vessel of all these beautiful cherubs is J. [First Square, Third Row] I know, because I was there to see every single one come out of her. [Third Square, First Row]That's me.

The Inspiration

Mad As A Hatter

It’s a nice night out. The moon looks like the Cheshire Cat from “Alice in Wonderland”. This prompts The Hatter in me to ask, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Then you say, "Because Poe wrote on both."
Next time you get a chance, take a look at John Tenniel illustrations for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871). They are beautiful. All his lines have meaning and purpose.

[thanks to Dion, for the answer to Hatter's riddle.]