Hail to the King, baby!

Making excuses about not blogging is lame, so I won't do it.

Instead, I will make a post to honor the King of Comics, Jack Kirby.

He was born exactly one hundred years ago today, August 28, 1917.  Undoubtedly the single most influential artist (if not the most influential person) in comics. His creations and influences are just too long to list here but man, was he a creator. Captain America, almost all of the early Marvel art, invented romance comics during a superhero lull, incredible runs at both Marvel and DC...I could go on and on and on...

Happy birthday, Jack!

(As an added bonus, here is an io9 article with a great video where other comic creators talk about Kirby's influence)

A New Project!

I am collaborating with a friend on a new project - he made the initial design and carved the wood, I am painting it (personally, I think I'm getting off easy but don't tell him). Here's a picture with the undercoat:

The black lining is fairly deep - deep enough that I had to use umpteen coats of spray primer to get the whole thing coated. Every time I thought I was finished, I picked it up and looked at a different angle and lo! Bare spots in the crevices. When that part was finally finished, I painted the raised areas in a few thin coats of white.

I'm not exactly sure of the color scheme, but I'm probably going for a more traditional Ganesha but I'll probably take the printouts I made and play around with come colored pencils for a while.

DO

In 1965, the sculptor Eva Hesse was in the middle of a creative block so she wrote to her friend and fellow artist Sol Lewitt (whose Wall Drawing #370 I got to see again at the Met last week). His response is probably the most motivating thing I've heard in a while. If you want to see his actual letter, it's here) but here are some of my favorite parts:


Learn to say "Fuck You" to the world once in a while. You have every right to.

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Don't worry about cool, make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world. If you fear, make it work for you — draw & paint your fear & anxiety.

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 Try to do some BAD work — the worst you can think of and see what happens but mainly relax and let everything go to hell — you are not responsible for the world — you are only responsible for your work — so DO IT.


 I first heard about this letter when the always-great Open Culture blog posted a video of Benedict Cumberbatch reading it aloud. It's the (NSFW) kick in the pants that everyone needs sometimes.

(by way of Open Culture and Letters of Note)

Edward Hopper

I recently got back from a trip to New York City where I spent most of my time lurking in museums. One of the paintings I was excited to see (again) is one of my favorite paintings at the Met - Edward Hopper's The Lighthouse at Two Lights:

I'm sure many artists would call him trite and provincial, but I really enjoy Hopper's work: simple yet it draws you in with every painting having some hidden story and uniquely American with an undercurrent of loneliness (I suppose growing up outside of Chicago and frequently getting to see Nighthawks at the Art Institute  on field trips didn't exactly hurt either).

The Muddy Colors blog recently posted about Hopper as their "Artist of the Month." Worth a look and I promise to write more about my trip and what I saw. (Alas, no pictures from the Frick collection.)

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

"Practice, practice, practice!"

Something that is on my mind a lot lately is the idea of practice and skill acquisition. I've read a few interesting books on the idea as I continue painting and I really think the concept of "deliberate practice" has helped me as I continue to learn. This short video summarizes a lot of research in the field.

Getting ready for a new show!

I've been spending some time this month getting ready for a show and I am submitting my stuff later today: the Modbo gallery in downtown Colorado Springs is doing a show called "Drowned in Moonlight," which commemorates famous people that passed away is 2016. Here are the pieces I am taking over:

A busy couple of months

Boy, I kind of lost my blogging mojo for a bit there. Good to be back.

I didn't paint as much over the holidays as I would have liked, but I did some. Here's something I have recently finished...

(Confrontation, acrylic on canvas, 16 by 20 inches)