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Don’t know why I drew this, but it was fun

I’ve really just started to work with this thing but i am totally hooked. My model is the Intuos 3 by Wacom, which ships with the mesmerizing Corel Painter software (Essentials edition — I can only imagine the full fledged is even better). The tablet top surface felt a little slick at first but after I put a piece of paper on top and hooked up the pencil tool, I started getting chills for how similar it was.

Presently, my method is laying down a sketch with the 2B pencil, and then inking over it the Fine Point pen tool on a different layer. For color, I’ll add an additional layer behind the ink layer, and then for hilites, another layer above the ink.

Some top slot artists use this program professionally, but it’s so easy to get going it’s hard to get discouraged. Probably the next step for me is slowing down and taking my time.

Not real.

I’ve always enjoyed the biblical stories about demons, and there are lots. It was a common belief of people in that age where people knew little of health sciences to think that a child had a demon when it was a physical ailment. And the stories had Jesus going around expelling demons to cure the sick.

Less fun is sitting in Dunken Donuts and being proselytized by a Jehovah’s Witness going on about ‘dark angels‘ who were ‘standing behind‘ those ‘bad people‘. And he wonders why I want to ‘fight‘ about his beliefs. These guys never learn, you just don’t solicit an ex-Catholic.

Of course, I was the one who lost patience, and I couldn’t escape without one of his damn flyers. He held a copy the whole conversation and stubbornly pointed at the pictures when I protested his characterizations.

A lot of good people wonder why they are persecuted for their beliefs, but the fact is, they believe a lot of stupid shit, and when people try to express wisdom regarding morality, they retreat to the emotional appeal of their beliefs.

I try not to be a dick about it, but if someone wants to have a serious discussion about good and evil, right and wrong, spirituality, and the imperfection of the human condition then I’m doing them a favor if I deconstruct the certainty of their faith, detox it of it’s emotional pull, muddy it’s baptismal waters. If I leave frustrated, I hope he leaves confused about why, because the biggest sin would be to believe anything without question, no dialogue within oneself about truth and fiction.

The one moment we sat in perfect agreement was when he pointed to pictures of false gods from around the world. Fittingly, a image of a gold cross was nestled beside them, the distinction between them was unclear. What a funny thing, to see the owner of each religion trapped on a single page of uncaring newsprint, a battle of imagery with no clear victor, easily lost within the pocket sized booklet, easily forgotten, totally underequipped to enter our discussion in any persuasive capacity. I smiled at it.

Overall, I imagine we’re not that different. He fears my capacity to confuse his faith, I fear his single mindedness and determination to make a believer out of me. I just feel the world becomes much less interesting were I to actually believe the ideas I find simply entertaining.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is alone worth the trip to New York City.  While the ‘Wow!’ factor varies between collections, there’s enough antiques to satisfy people of all cultural persuasions. That said, the Egyptian collection steals the throne. See scores of Mummies (before they were movie stars). Walk inside not one but two actual tombs, rebuilt within museum walls. The Egyptian culture threads the line between antique and hip, boasting enough modernity to impress while maintaining that vintage look and feel — it’s the ideal subject matter for museum goers who want to learn by seeing (maybe reading a tiny bit… if they have to).

The Sphinx knows it’s cool.

Elsewhere, relics from a dozen or more regions around the globe are showcased in intimate proximity to the visitor, with hawk-eyed curators ready to reprimand bad museum etiquette.  The Greek collection hosts the classic amputated, headless, and neutered figure statues, the inspirations for the multitudes of mall mannequin knock offs. The Arms and Armor is studded with unlikely protective Medieval innovations, which probably have more entertainment value than anything else.

Look closely, he’s smiling

However, some collections fail to inspire. The Chinese collection is Buddhalicious, but that’s the apparent extent of it’s offerings. The Japanese collection also seems sparse. The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, boasts a much healthier sampling of Asian culture. Still, the scale and grandeur of the Met bolster it’s hard-earned reputation as the big cheese of refined, aged taste.

Fat Buddha is full of enlightenment, Thin Buddha is looking for a handout

The instant immersion of the building plan means the onlooker is more likely to be lost than bored. A quick trunk check before tidy parking begins an experience well worth the $20 fee. If nothing else, the Met proves NYC has a relaxed side for those tourists weary of the bustle.

Why do people care about this movie? I thought people were sick to death of the president, Ds and Rs alike. It reminds me of the Lil’ Bush show on Comedy Central that might have been considered funny if countless lives weren’t lost at the command of the non-cartoon characters still occupying positions of real power.

I understand the movie involves more rounded, human characterizations based on informed insight into the personas of the Bush Administration. But I wonder if their mystique still has many people scratching their heads. I believe most people have made up their minds about Bush, and history, in the interest of turning a tired page to Act 2. Maybe this film is a good reprisal of the past 8 years but it’s far less interesting than deciding the players of the next decade.

Yes, much like the dollar, the value of the Presidential currency has eroded with the confidence of the public, and the controversy has dissipated with the anticlimatic glare of cinema house lights after a matinee showing of Mr. Deeds.

Modern:

Postmodern:

I had some blues between holidays. I got sick with the flu or something. Being alone when you are sick is a painful thing. It’s kinda scary even. You think about being cared for, and maybe you stick it out like I did, and get better without the doctor’s help. Those times make you more aware of how you have to look out for yourself, and care for your health.

For those fortunate to be cared for, these words are not relevant. For those who go without care, my sympathies to you.

For the New Year, I want to resolve to be more mindful of my wellbeing. I feel that everyone can benefit from thinking more selfishly when it comes to wellbeing. Keep strong friendships, and don’t be ashamed to ask for help, but also think of your own person, and what it needs as an individual.

It’s a hard world these days, and people are scared of each other, but I try to keep my head up and my wits about me, and try to avoid negative thinking. Mental health aids physical health and no stress is good stress.

See the challenges around you, endeavor to overcome, but don’t be hard on yourself, keep at it. It is human to be limited, and wise to recognize your shortcomings, but staying positive is essential.

The new year reminds me how we give ourselves the opportunity to tackle old challenges. Here’s to your efforts!

- mixo

Frank Frazetta’s Bucking Broncho

I got a hold of a volume of prints by Frank Frazetta when I was in highschool, and his art got a hold of me. I carried that book around, in school, and rumors abound that a certain student was toting pornographic images. Not entirely surprising given Frazetta’s penchant for painting nude females languishing amid pheromone rich settings. But I was quick to point out that the book was also chocked full of muscular marauders vanquishing reptilian foes, stranded spacemen, and a second nature of of untamed, imaginary forces.

Frazetta was an originator of american fantasy art, a movement that is descendant of 18th century Romanticism. I find it difficult to understand or appraise fantasy art without some reflection on the Romantic era. I first read about the Romantic movement in the exceptional Gardener’s guide to art, but Wikipedia has a poignant entry:

It was partly a revolt against aristocratic, social, and political norms of the Enlightenment period and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature in art and literature. The movement stressed strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as trepidation, horror, and the awe experienced in confronting the sublimity of untamed nature.

Romantic art idolizes the moment by exaggerated the aspects of the subject matter that evoke an emotional response. As quoted above, it defies scientific accuracy for sensationalism. Where super-realists take a bottom-up approach to conveying a scene, Romanticists exploit the symbolism of the elements by eluding to poetry, mythology, and religious themes.

As quoted above, Romanticism was, in part, a response to scientific observers of the day, who where offering compelling insight into the forces of nature that made the world seem more logical. But these artists feasted on the meat of desires, worshiped before the pillars of faith, and gasped in the thin air of man’s fear. It was the intrigue of fact versus glory of fiction.

Artists such as Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix were prominent French Romantic painters. Géricault’s famous painting, the Raft of the Medusa, and Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People are widely recognized as two defining Romantic works.

Putting these two images side by side reveals some of the conventions used by Romantic artists, specifically the triangular layout of the subject matter. Each has a climatic peak, the flag, which coincidentally occurs at the focus point of arrangement (presuming you aren’t staring at Liberty’s tits). The meaning of the two paintings is entirely different. Medusa is a culimation of desperation, as raft occupants signal for help amid a the cutting knots of the sea. Liberty waves a flag in the midst of a war, as a symbol of triumph, despite ongoing conflict. But the two images are strikingly similar in regards to their presentation. This is not accidental, nor is it an isolated likeness, it is convention among Romantic painters of the time.

From a broader perspective, the most common tie is the way each member of the painting reinforces the overall theme. So while the message of the two paintings is completely different (desperation / liberation), both scenes have all participants reinforcing the theme. Each figure seeks to add another dimension to the theme. Every face, wisp of cloud, strewn pose, and the overall arrangement of those facets is an endeavor to define the moment in the most memorable manner possible.

Flash forward to the 1960s, when young Frank was astonishing a new audience. Early on, his sensational Conan book covers were driving the up the sales of the Conan genre books. It was the dawn of a new era, where the audience had different dispositions then their Romantic period ancestors. Well informed and invested in science, fantasy readers sought the same escapism that Romanticism offered but not so much in disregard of the scientific world, moreso to delight in permutations of possibility. Science aided the imagery insofar as it inspired the subject matter. Frazetta proclaimed a his longstanding facination with the prehistory of dinosaurs, and saber toothed mammals — actual creatures of mythic proportion. Other works portrayed alien landscapes, where spacemen voyaged into the unknown. This was the art of informed fantasy.

A prominent modern fantasy artist, Boris Vallejo, explains that it’s a turn of the old adage, truth is stranger than fiction:

The job of a fantasy artist is to even the odds and make fiction stranger than reality.

That’s not a departure from the Romantic movement’s modus operandum.

Frazetta’s “The Destroyer ”

…In what may the most famous work of the most renowned fantasy artist bears many similarities to Romantic style art. In the same triangular layout, Conan towers above the carnage of his own making, gripping a bloodied axe, poised to strike another fatal blow. The opposition collapses around him. Figures are recoiling, giving way, writhing in pain, and even crouching apprehensively before their assailant. This work is said to be entirely unrelated to the book it was contracted for (besides featuring the main character, Conan). Like his predecessors some two centuries ago, Frank is reveling in the moment. He is quoted:

I just select the peak moment of action and paint it.

But what I observe as a distinct difference between these two eras is the steady assimilation of new science into the realm of fantasy art. Cyborgs and neural nets are common subjects in fantasy art as well as the literature they cover. There is no assumption that the world is well known, there is less delight in the classic themes of the human experience. Indeed, modern fantasy art follows science and fills in the blanks. Yet, to evoke the mystique of a theme and provide detail is a fine line to walk. Frazetta addresses this notion directly in the following quote:

I try to keep a balance, I try to know what to leave out and what to put in — and in the final analysis, the original painting can look very simple. But it really isn’t. Making it look simple is very, very difficult.

This gets at the core of the more informed fantasy art movement. Invention is necessary, but enhancing the mystery, rather than explaining it to the viewer, is the crux of good fantasy art.

Frazetta remains my favorite fantasy artist, and one of my favorites in general. I got my quotes from this fine compilation of his work. Next time I visit this topic, I’ll examine more modern fantasy artists and take a look at how the field has changed since the heyday of Frank.

A Daily Kos post points to an article in NY Times magazine that eulogizes Steve Gilliard, but given a few inaccuracies in said article, here’s a link to the folks that knew him best.

Generous, zealous, credible opinion. It was furiously well written, with each word swaggering in for a direct hit to your noggin. Steve Gilliard made me think about topics that I might avoid.

Gilliard covered the Iraq war so well, he deflated Chickenhawk jingoism with ease, and so he was hated by the biggest war boosters. He wouldn’t merely embarrass opponent bloggers with a fact or two, he would beat the fuck out of their posts by citing actual history.

He tormented bloodthirsty Bush-backers. Reputable bloggers became various forms of chickens, pro-war Republican rallies were transformed into buh-bawking hen houses with a dismissive wave of his prose.

It was gleeful reading. And to have such a credible writer against the war infused the whole anti-war wing of the blogosphere with confidence.

Domestically, Steve had more challenging things to say. With the same bare-knuckled commentary, he pummelled issues of race, scourging black Republicans, and defacing their candidates with minstrel paint. Never a one-sided arguer, he later challenged his fellow bloggers over the New York transit worker strike, and their attitudes toward the union.

He made it look easy, and he wrote with a frequency not even matched by the platoon of bloggers who tended his site while he struggled with a failing heart.

I remember checking his site every day for posts. It was his distinct voice, the tone and the perspective, all surmised in a New York minute.

Now, the absence of it… It’s so hard to assess the value of the loss. Even now, the antiwar message online seems in disarray, like each writer is waiting for a Gilliard post before pushing their comments live.

It’s a remarkable thing, maybe a first for the internet, that the lack of a participant should be felt so acutely, by so many. I guess his words were filled with his spirit. He transcended his medium, crossed the electronic void, and left behind a meteoric imprint.

I miss him too.

R.I.P. Steve Gilliard

I got this kaleidescope for Christmas. It makes some really pretty pics!

Merry Christmas.

This day is best when the religious ties are put aside, to make way for good will toward men, women and all the friendly beasts.

- love, mixo