It’s been exactly 10 days since I’ve been able to create art as it’s been wage-slavery for the last two weeks. I needed to create. Don’t like it? I’m wearing the Melania jacket today. Although I could have spent a little more in post-prod.
Why? Because, sometimes something just needs to be. I’m busting through stereotypes about age, about witches, and a third thing, which I forget.
This is four digital art paintings in one. It represents the things a tree would see over a lifetime. It got messy putting them together, but art is messy when trying new things. I may turn it into a gif.
The layers I used are each represented below in order. Layer 1 is infancy and youth.
Layer two is love and hope.
Layer three is strife and conflict.
Layer four is denouement and loss. The ghosts become real.
I suppose it could be a snapshot of any century, but I relate it to the post-9/11 world.
This started as another #light study, because light is my favorite thing in #art – I added all the other stuff to make the composition less boring. Thematically, it’s an update of the whole #paulrevere ‘the Redcoats are coming’ schtick at the start of the #revolution and updated to reflect the #multicultural #equalityforall society we’ve become since then. At first it looks like a #woman standing by a #window but notice the weapon, the walkie-talkie and the detonator, & she becomes much more than a vapid #model starting out into space, she becomes a #hero – #new #digital #doodle masquerading as #artwork
“She woke up, disoriented, confused. The last thing she remembered was driving down that dark country road, probably too fast, when the deer came out of nowhere. In that last moment, she recalled her body was not made to go through a windshield. Now, here she was, the floor was cold, wet, full of water. Picking herself up, she looked around, the strangeness of her surroundings hiding in the dim light. Her entire body hurt except her arm, it was strangely numb. She looked at it, and the panic set in, the unusual metal didn’t belong on a body. Then, from above, she heard movement. Looking up, she froze in terror as the alien being came into view, it’s limbs reaching for her. With a flash of blue light the alien finished its work, activating the cybernetics in the limb.”
There was a moral in there somewhere. Originally, this digital artwork started as a beach scene, but there’s too many of those. There’s not enough alien appreciation out there.
This was a doodle. I didn’t particularly have any goal in mind besides playing with lights off reflective surfaces, ye old, reflection in a reflection. It feeds into my love of light; and it turned out cool, so, I’m happy. Otherwise, tomorrow is another day in the work (to feed my body), art (to feed my soul), and sleep (to feed my mind), then repeat, routine.
Well, November is over. I came in at just under 21 pieces of artwork, or 70% efficiency. For those who may have missed one or two, I’ve collected all of November below. The last piece I did was technically published in the wee hours of December 1, so I have to include it there.
Why do I keep track? Art is what I do instead of playing video games (lots of time lost there in the past) or binge watching TV (also lots of time lost in the past) – but no ‘regerts’, as the meme with the misspelled tattoo suggests.
In all seriousness, keeping track helps me to realize the value of time, since, as an artist going for fame and glory three-hundred years from now, there is precious little of it. Time is the one irreplaceable thing we have, so I want to make the most of it.
Without further ado, I give you November.
Note: there are some closeups, so there are 24 photos in all.
So what was November about? I think my themes were generally the power and beauty of woman, irony (as always throughout my work) and hope. Thoughts? What did you see in the artwork? Commentary welcome!
Rollo hated when the elf made him pose for the soul-stealer gem. For some reason, she liked hanging out with ogres, he in particular. He just wanted to drink, the tavern was good for that, even though it was full of dwarves and humans. “Smile!,” she chided, snapping him out of his musings. Her hair smelled good, he thought, as he tried to pull the corners of his mouth upward.
“Everyone knew the war would one day end. It had raged for eons since Lucifer decided he would rather own his house than pay rent. The sides of light and darkness had fought themselves to a standstill. “If only God’s pets could see the ethereal ruin that lay in between their Starbucks and obsession with the Kardashians,” most angels mused to themselves as the conflict went on.
What no one expected, was for the war to end today. No one foresaw that the strongest of the Angels would exercise her free will, just as Lucifer had at the beginning of time. She had grown weary of the routine, the constant pressure of vigilance, of maintaining the balance, and had decided to do something about it. She would become what God loved most – human.
As her wings relented under the blade, tremors shook the ethereal, summoning Lucifer to her side. He loved her, this angel, his greatest threat. He had held her in greater esteem than those braggarts Michael and Gabriel. She, who had fought him to an aeons-long standstill, had earned his respect, and worse, corrupted the purity of his hate with love, however selfish.
She had chosen to become mortal, a contemptible, imperfect, creature that had what all angels desired. Now, the balance had shifted. He had loathed the favorites of God, he had achieved self-actualization through his torment of them – and now she was one of them! Could he go on destroying them? His heart sank at the only conclusion he could reach. The war was over.”
‘Gathering of Souls’: People once believed that when someone dies in battle, a raven flies at dusk to carry their soul to the land of the dead.
This is a rescue painting. Originally it was going to be a geometric design based on the Old Futhark rune for prosperity, which looks like an angular version of those ‘support x’ magnets you see on the back of cars. It would have been entitled “The Tree of Othala”, which is the name of the rune.
Unfortunately, I’m not Cezanne and kind of messed up; so I went in another direction.
I can do better but I wanted to show that not everything we do as artists is that great. Still, I’m curious as to thoughts on it?
I’m waiting for paint to dry so I decided to do a tongue in cheek artist statement for my work in video format. Enjoy!