TITLES ARE FOR PEOPLE WITH IDEAS

This is the End, This is the Beginning...

2010-12-23T21:17:00.001-06:00

I have moved my blog to JPMorrison.net Please continue to follow me and my work there. and thank you all for your attention and support. Happy New Year!

Showing in Florida, and NYC!

2010-12-11T20:25:00.009-06:00

So this November my piece "The Sibyl Admiring Her Saturday Reflection" was accepted into a show at the Sarasota Design Center, in Florida called The TaTa Gala, which is an exhibit that supports breast cancer research. I drove down to Florida for the event, which was a great drive. Yes, 11 hours of driving for two days, but somehow lovely. I loved watching the trees change from state to state and watching the local color go by. The event was great and I met and showed with some wonderful artists, including Erik Jones, Kip Omolade, Lauren Rusignola, Clint Weldon, Matt Buck, and several others. Then of course there was the beach, I love it so! Here are some pictures from the show:

The other big news in relation to this show is that they're having a second showing in NYC at The Sacred Gallery which I have been chosen to participate in called "The Best Of The Breast" which showcases the 15 best pieces from Sarasota exhibition as well as a few other artists, one being Shepard Fairey (!). I'll be heading to the big apple for the opening Feb. 5th, and you'll be hearing more from me about that experience as well as lots of other big news, soon.

Prints for Sale, Limited Time!

2010-12-11T19:56:00.007-06:00

I have high quality 12" x 18" digital reproductions of these original pieces for sale at $40. a pop (plus $5.00 shipping). Email me if you are interested and get them while they last! Thanks!

josephinepearl@gmail.com

"Sphinx"

"Dream"

"preparing to protect you from yourself"

"Water"

"Fire"

Charcoal Erase Studies

2010-10-25T00:36:00.006-05:00

these are for something new and special that I will talk about later. I have been getting into laying out vine charcoal on vellum, and then erasing out what I want... it's an extremely satisfying process, totally idiot proof, everything can be drawn back in like nothing happened, they're fast and they require rendering in very high contrast, something my colored pencil pieces aren't great at. I hope you enjoy them as much as I am.

JRB Small Works

2010-10-20T04:11:00.005-05:00

"Catharsis" 8' x 8" colored pencil and paper collage on board.

This is "Catharsis" my piece for the annual JRB Small Works Show opening Nov. 5th 2010 in Oklahoma City. It will be hung on a grid with around a hundred other artists creations on 8" x 8" canvas. There is an etymological link to the word Catharsis that is "to shine light in dark places".

I have always been fascinated by the ideas behind the word catharsis. The first time I heard the word it was because it was the title of an art show I attended. I didn't much care for the work, the artist was obviously working through I great deal of pain anger and resentment, something at fifteen I didn't really relate to. The canvases were torn and stitched back together with surgical stitching thread, they were abstract but were very obviously wounds inflicted on the waxy canvases. Perhaps the concept this artist was trying to convey was healing, but to me still to this day it just seemed like fetishizing pain. I think humans often get confused and romanticize pain. It's a very bad habit to get into, it tends to result in suffering hanging around much longer than is necessary.

However since that first encounter with the word catharsis I have learned how much more it means. It is to cleans, to purge often by confronting directly the troubling issue. Perhaps to release through living, to meditate upon what might more easily be avoided. It's rather twisted really, in a good way.

This piece is a little tongue in cheek, humor is the best way to address difficult ideas, issues, etc. It's hard to feel threatened if you're laughing. So this was sort of a first meditation on ideas of self reflection, and confrontation... I've been pretty self portrait-centric lately, I am always telling stories in my pieces, though don't ask me to tell you those stories, so often they are hidden to me until years after I've completed a piece, but I realize that I am telling my own story, through images, sometimes the objects in a piece are true representations of the story, other times the repetitious task of creating the work, the mark making itself is the story... one of me getting lost mentally, emotionally etcetera, in line patterns and drawing rhythms, you'd be amazing how important that is.

so... that's a lot of text for such a wee piece, but it's part of the foundation of ideas that this next body of work will be built on, so... off we go!

Momentum Tulsa TONIGHT

2010-10-09T15:16:00.004-05:00

Hi all, so I've gotten in the habit of being pretty 'day of' as far as notice is concerned, tis what it is, however if you're in Tulsa this evening I will be showing my piece "Dryad" in the Tulsa branch of the OVAC show Momentum. Momentum is a group show for artists 30 and under, designed to initiate the newbees and also show that good art doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how long you've been on the planet. There is good music and a fun lively crowd, I look forward to seeing you.

If you'd like to see a step by step photo demo of the creation of Dryad, click me.

and here's a photo from last year, where I received a juror's choice award for, "The Sibyl Admiring Her Saturday Reflection"

Here is a picture taken of me and my work at last years opening, by my friend Jeff Hogue, clearly marked.

12 x 12 TOMORROW NIGHT!

2010-09-24T23:35:00.005-05:00

"The Expectant Wife" 12" x 12" colored pencil, acrylic, silver leaf and paper collage on board.

Please come join me and 149 more outstanding artists tomorrow night for the Oklahoma Visual Artists' Coalitions yearly fund raiser The 12 x 12 The event starts at 7pm in down town Oklahoma City at the Fred Jones Industries Building 900 W. Main St. You will have the opportunity to walk away with or more outstanding pieces of art, including mine! Check out all the information, plus pick your favorites in the online gallery HERE! http://ovac-ok.org/Events/events_12x12.cfm

Landscape vs. portrait

2010-09-07T02:49:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to decide which way to turn the piece I am currently working on, it just occurred to me tonight to turn it vertically, and it works well, not to mention suddenly it's so much easier to understand the structure of the nose... I don't look at many of them lying down.

I'm rather enjoying all the white background too, this is the danger of posting in process, something I think I've said before, I as well as perhaps you may become attached to the un-finalized piece, the looseness of in process is often charming... I might leave her hair whitish in fact, we'll see... I guess since I'm not putting the pencil down y'all will just have to trust me on this one.

This photo shows it turned vertically, i.e. portrait... I've been working on it for weeks with her lying down, i.e. landscape, it's terribly confusing but you will come across artists using these two terms to describe a composition, portrait = vertical canvas, landscape = horizontal canvas... try to be patient with us... we're creative.

This Years 12 x 12 sneak peak

2010-08-25T17:41:00.003-05:00

"The Expectant Wife" *Detail* 12" x 12"

colored pencil, ink, paper collage and silver leaf on board

So here we are again. I have been participating in the Oklahoma Visual Artists' Coalition's annual fund raiser, "The 12x12" for something close to a decade ... An exciting thing about this show is that the work I produce for it is very often some of my most cutting edge stuff. The piece that is the background for the title of this blog would be a good example of such a piece, as well as the one I use on my business card, and this years creation is no exception.

"The Expectant Wife" was created using strictly the impulses and desires of my subconscious. I've been wanting to play with Dali's ants for quite sometime, but have been concerned about the inevitable creepery of such rendering... No longer! No more shall I restrain myself with worrying if something is to "disturbing". It was funny, I was almost through with the piece when I realized that I was making a "subconscious" piece, that was also very pointedly a homage to Dali... go figure. I used myself as the model, because if I'm going to cover anyones mouth with ants it ought to be my own... I may also add some quip to the title alluding to "sweet talking" something ants would be attracted to. Right now I'm just posting a wee detail shot, please stop back by for the full reveal sometime in the next month leading up to the show.

Oh, and it's nice to talk to all of you again, sorry I've been less than active around these here parts... sometimes life gets in the way of art.

Good Girl/Bad Girl

2010-04-14T06:38:00.004-05:00

"Good Girl/Bad Girl" 48" x 36" colored pencil, gouache, ink and paper collage on board.

Gifts from fairies are strange.
Rewards falling from mouths?

A good, humble daughter, hardworking without complaint and disinterested in material gain is rewarded for her kindness: with rubies, diamonds and pearls that fall from her mouth each time she speaks!
Her wicked stepsister is only interested in personal gain and gratification. She is henceforth punished for her grandiosity with toads and snakes falling from her lips.

Here the two girls are linked into one, two sides of the same coin. One side exploits the other. The Good Girl, whose immaterial nature is irreverently rewarded with material blessings, her words forever lost in the tumbling forth of jewels. Does this symbolize the value of kind words, or is it just the objectification of a girl whose is now reduced to life as a candy dispenser? The Bad Girl who unapologetically sought this verbal bounty, silently stares at us, confronting our attraction to those who seek their fortune ruthlessly, regardless of the reptilian consequences.

Dryad finished, and the new work.

2010-04-14T06:17:00.003-05:00

"Dryad" 36" x 18" colored pencil, acrylic, and paint pen on board
She's hanging at JRB Gallery until the end of the month.

This work in progress, is based on goldielocks and the three bears, the chair is cut out of paper and I haven't decided if this is where it will end up. We'll see! the photo is also in reverse, because I took it with the photo booth application.

All The Way To The End

2010-03-04T03:11:00.019-06:00

Tomorrow is my Opening Reception. I have 24 pieces hanging and I cannot wait. I've already had three pre-sales before the opening, and I'm going to feel so good seeing those red dots on the wall tomorrow! Please come join me at JRB.

This is the last piece I finished for the show, I haven't had it professionally photographed yet, but a very sharp image should be showing up soon on my flickr. Until then enjoy this little peek behind the curtain. These photos are a bit dark and yellow, but you get the idea. Why dark? Because incandescence lights are relaxing. And I don't like to make process shots into a big production because that creates too much pressure.

Here you can see the first three layers of the piece, the conté sketch, green pencil for shadows and blue for the first of the face paint.

Below I have added the yellow and pink pencil for the face paint, as well as finished laying in green for the shadows.

Jumping ahead, below I have finished the skin tone and have moved onto sketching in the background patterns. If you would like to read more about the layering technique I use to create my skin tones, check out this entry: In Process...

Below, I've gone ahead and thrown some underpainting into the piece so I can see past all the white, I like to think that underpainting will all be covered up so I don't get to precious, however I often like the results and end up using some of the underpainting. In this case I kept the yellow in a great deal of the piece but totally painted out the green in the dress.

Here I've masked off portions of the background design, (see the video below for removal) and I've started adding the background details, this was all very intuitive and happened very quickly and naturally. After that I worked very slowly and over thought almost everything to avoid messing up all that was already good. I haven't sat and just stared at a piece this much in quite sometime.

Below you'll see more background details. I added the vines around the edges and settled on an under paint color for her dress, grey, which I also worked into portions of the background to tie everything together. Not only are designs in the background masked off, but so is her skin and hair so that I can paint more freely. All the splatters on the skin are actually on a layer of frisket.

Below, the background and her dress are finished, consisting of many layers of translucent acrylic paint, drips and outlines of paint pen.

Here is a video of me taking the frisket off of my piece, I'll go back into the blank spaces with paint pen. I also use frisket to block off the skin and hair, so that I can freely paint the background. Why not paint the background first you ask? Well, because I don't like to, and I find that the finished personality informs color and form in the background more.

My wonderful studio engineer and father applies the high gloss varnish to the background. He's much better with sprays than I am. *Note that the colored pencil of her skin and hair are still masked off with frisket, I will removed the mask later, revealing the pencil.

The finished piece! hanging at JRB Art At The Elms.

"Dryad" 36" x 18" colored pencil, acrylic, gouache and paint pen on board

Event TONIGHT!

2010-02-24T14:36:00.003-06:00

Come see two of my pieces, "Sphinx" and my collaboration w/ tribalbot, "Unwillingly Wilted" tonight at City Arts Center there will be wining, dining, great music and wonderful art from some of the best artists in the state. I hope you can join me.

Event Happens,

@ City Arts Center in the OKC fairgrounds,

from 5:30 to 8:30pm Feb. 24. 2010

Check out the link for full information:

CityArtsCenter.org

trepanation

2010-02-14T21:37:00.005-06:00

"Attempts At Seeing Into The Future"

graphite, acrylic, colored pencil and marker on board.

This piece was a quick choice kind of experience, it went from idea to execution within a matter of hours. I am happy. It is a raw piece, not in appearance but in feeling, there is a lot of my mind in it, a lot of what I am experiencing in my life right now is tucked into the corners, so to speak. Sometimes the best choices are the ones you make when you are not aware there are choices.

Holding Together Our Existence

2010-02-11T04:12:00.004-06:00

These are the first two in a series of elementals I am working on.

You can see these first two in person at the JRB Show this March.

I am going to create Earth and Air over the next few months.

!!! excited artist here !!!

"Water" 18" x 14" colored pencil and acrylic on board.

"Fire" 18" x 14" graphite, colored pencil and gouache on board.

a first go at it

2010-01-07T07:10:00.003-06:00

"Better Than Her Bite"

7"x 5" colored pencil, gel pens and gouache on board.

Terrible Photograph. Blurring and a little Flat.

good enough for some blog-age.

So. I've been drawing mouth hats for... well over a year now, and I love them, however I love them very stylized and graphic in my sketch books, and that esthetic has been the rock to my realistic renderings hard place. Did that make sense? I have been sitting on my hands trying to figure out how to marry the two, and been a totally chicken about it. Until now. This is the first study, I just went for it, and I'm fairly happy. I didn't allow myself to think about it much at all for fear of once again over thinking, and just dove in the with a model I liked from the 40's (thank you flickr commons) and some ink. It's very bright and carnival. I want to play with harmonizing the mediums a bit more, and get a little darker and bring the hats a bit more into the third dimension. So, now that I've taken the weight of doing it once off my shoulders, doing it again and again seems... no longer daunting, but exciting.

ray gun girl

2010-01-05T19:23:00.004-06:00

"still working on the right title for this piece..."

24" x 18" colored pencil, graphite and paper collage on board.

This is my friend Alex, I took the source photo at a gathering that after the fact came to be known as the white face blue nose party ... baby powder/pool chalk. We all talked in Russian accents all night. I got several great shots that night, I'll be using another one soon. The collar, gun and goggles were all created by my friend Daniel. Lovely metal work, they're radical. During this particular shot and the ones surrounding it Alex was interacting with a poster of Edvard Munch's "The Scream". It was great. in fact, here's one from the set, so you can see for yourselves.

Dream

2009-12-31T03:53:00.005-06:00

24" x 18" colored pencil, acrylic, paint pen and paper collage on board

In Full Bloom

2009-12-28T03:43:00.004-06:00

--Above is a detail of a piece I just finished, while it was still in process. I have dealt with much more obvious and intense blooms, but this is the best photo I have of one thus far. If you look at the middle of the scalp you will see a strip through it running down into the leather strap, that is much more dark and rich than its surroundings, that is where I have wiped away the bloom, and revealed the original colors.--

I've been wanting to write about wax bloom for several months, but I haven't been able to find any good visual examples online, and being a visual thinker, this has kept me milling about, waiting for my own blooms, because there must be an example! Well, I wait no longer, let's begin.

Almost all my pieces bloom. what is blooming? It is a side effect of using colored pencils. After a drawing has had time to sit, one might say settle, the pigment and its carrier the wax will separate, leaving the wax resting on top in a cloudy layer with the pigment underneath. Dark colors will look dull and washed out, it won't be as detectable on lighter areas but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened and that your drawing isn't dulled.

Blooming doesn't happen to all drawings, but it does especially in pieces with very thick coats, one might say burnished into the substrate, something I almost always do. I prefer to work my colored pencil surface until it will barely take any more pigment, so this is a common issue for me, but blooming may be something you never encounter. My pieces usually bloom after they have been allowed to sit three to four days. Another way I can spot a bloom on lighter work is if the surface is matt when I reflect light on it, and it shows finger prints quite clearly, I like my drawing to have a very polished shiny finish, which is the natural quality of the pencil on board, regardless of fixative.

The solution to blooming is deliciously simple. You just wipe the wax off! Ta dah! I like to use a dry clean paper towel, however I work on board and my drawings are... what did I say, yes, burnished into the boards surface so I can be a bit rough, if you're working on paper you may want to use a soft cotton rag. What is important to think about while removing the wax, is to not rub a dark area into a light one, and visa versa and do not rub into any other mediums in your composition.

It will probably surprise you how little pigment will be picked up when you wipe because the wax is on top and the pigment is settled into the substrate. This is especially true if you're drawing with a very waxy pencil like Prismacolor.

I let my pieces bloom about three times before I seal them, once a piece is sealed, say with, workable fixative, it shouldn't bloom again, however if it does, things are not so simple, if a piece blooms underneath a seal there is no way to wipe it off... basically, you're stuck with it. This thankfully has never happened to me, and so I don't have any advice or solutions if it happens to you. This is the main reason I let my pieces bloom at least three times before sealing, because by that point most of the wax that wants to separate has. Often after I've wiped away that third bloom even if I don't seal the piece it won't bloom again.

I try to avoid blooming altogether in a piece that has integrated graphite with the CP, because graphite smears all over the place. sometimes in B&W pieces I like to use graphite for my initial sketch and darkest darks, and in this case I may use workable fixative throughout the drawing process and immediately after finishing the piece, because with the graphite so integrated into the CP wiping away a bloom would smear my piece into oblivion.

Now, wasn't that exciting!

for more resources check out this online book:

The Colored Pencil

By Bet Borgeson

a brief update

2009-12-28T03:25:00.003-06:00

Hello you dahling! So, here we are at the end of the year. I've been awfully tardy here in blogsville, but that is because I have been hard at work out in the real world, plugging away at work.

There have been a few group shows I haven't promoted online whatsoever. For that I deserve a good slap on the wrist (doesn't sound unbearable...) Momentum Tulsa, The Champagne & Chocolate gala at Living Arts, and a great little underground show at Ebb & Flow Woodworks, tucked away in downtown Tulsa to name a few exhibits. These were great shows, and I hope I saw you there. Maybe I'll mention something here next time. foo.

Shortly to come are a few new posts. You'll soon be seeing three new works for my March show at JRB Gallery, in OKC, and hopefully tonight I'll finish putting together a technical piece explaining the troubles with wax blooming in colored pencils and what you can do about it. Bloom what?

Thank you for continuing to stop by during this stale period, things should be happening at a rapid pace from now until the opening in March, so, please continue to come by and see what's News. Also I promise I'll be more proactive about promoting group shows where you can see my work, and letting you know about other goodies abounding around.

Thank you, JP Morrison

i love my job.

2009-11-04T04:14:00.001-06:00

all works in progress.

the girl in the high collar waits.

2009-10-19T03:06:00.004-05:00

"Edwardian" 8" x 8" colored pencil, graphite and acrylic on board.

See her at JRB's small works show, 100 artists 8"x 8" pieces, all priced at $180. Opening Nov. 6th 6-10 pm. show runs through Nov. 29th

JRB GALLERY

Telephone Operator Girl

2009-10-05T06:04:00.003-05:00

"Telephone Operator Girl" 8" x 8"

colored pencil, sharpie and gouache on board.

So, I hemmed, and I hawed, and I procrastinated and worked on pieces I shouldn't've and then I went and did something I don't like to admit I am capable of. I did the entire piece in one night. See, above. 8 hours of work, wah la. I am super super happy with her too. It was one of those effortless little undertakings, where the first choice was always the right one. I needed this boost as well, I've been moving a bit show since "Beguiled" opened, and I feel empowered. Huzah! High quality images will be posted to my flickr hopefully by the end of the week. see the link at the top of the side menu, or click here: flickr

a piece I should wait to work on... but I'm not.

2009-10-02T04:16:00.003-05:00

This is a quick in progress shot of a piece I've been dabbling with for the last month or so. The shot is in reverse because I took it with the photobooth program here on my little maccy. I'm planning on adding much collage to this piece, it also includes much more invented rendering than most of my work, i.e. no photo reference for certain parts. I'm enjoying it immensely, but currently should be working on two other pieces that I have an Oct. 15th deadline for... this piece symbolizes two things I should be doing, one: not this piece, two: sleeping. for real. The foreground hand is only in its first three layers of work, very unfinished, you can see the difference in tonality and color between the two hands, and working up the wrist. The photos were taken at sunset and the colors are very rich and varied I am especially in love with the blues. I liked this particular shot because of the way the negative space in the background hand created a symbolic eye. Also it has been interesting drawing a face with gravity pushing the features sideways, since it's my own face I'm especially aware of the differences. I've been trying to avoid using myself as a model as much, but I'm right here when I need someone, and I know exactly what the artist wants. Sometimes I'm hard to pass up, what can I say.

The Next Show : a brief musing

2009-09-12T16:08:00.004-05:00

I'm currently working on two pieces for my next show in March in Oklahoma City. I haven't entirely articulated what the blanket concept for this body of work is going to be, and the two works currently in process are very disparate in nature, though the mediums and styles unite them. One is a new drawing of a 'hand tree' or 'angel' an example of which is the header for this here blog, the other is me... sleeping... with airplanes... maybe...

I built 'Beguiled' my last show on a very specific theme, and I really enjoyed having the foundation of women in folklore to build upon, but now I want to loosen the reins a bit, wiggle in new ideas that may not necessarily fit into a single box.

Also in this last group of works I challenged myself to remove all nonessential information, wanting to shed my reputation for needing to fill every single space in a work with decorative material. (horror vacui) I shall restrain myself no longer! There will be airplanes... lots and lots of airplanes... in one of the two pieces currently resting on my drafting table... however I have learned some true moderation from my year of blank backgrounds and the 'hand tree' piece will have very little going on beyond the subject itself.

I know I'm talking in very vague terms, with no photos as of yet to explain myself. Describing art and the ideas that surround it with no visual reference is akin to trying to describe a smell; mostly impossible and rather frustrating... but here we are. The only comfort I can give you dear reader is the knowledge that these things shall reveal themselves in time... much like the true nature of this next group of works. I can't wait, can you?

TONIGHTS OPENING!

2009-09-04T15:47:00.003-05:00

Tonight, Sept. 4th, 6-9pm @ The Base Gallery. Last Chance to catch me and "Beguiled : The Folklore of Women" in the same room together. Please come out and visit, show runs through Sept. 24th.

The Base Gallery is in the basement of the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, 2012 Baltimore Rd. KCMO

12 x 12

2009-08-22T03:56:00.005-05:00

Here is this years 12 x 12, possibly my favorite arts-org. fund raiser, it is a great event for a great organization. You can see last years piece above, as the title art for this blog, and the year before that is prominently featured on my business card, the work I've produced for 12x12 has been some of my very best in my personal opinion, I seem to grow with these pieces. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on last years piece, absolutely worth it for the personal advancement and education, it was a huge leap forward for me. This years work turned out so much better than it appeared it would half way through the process, *wipes brow* sepias and grey tones always give me trouble, but I'm quite please with the results. Please come this year if you'll be in the OKC area on Sept. 26th. Get all the info :Here:

Beguiled Opening

2009-08-16T13:04:00.007-05:00

Beguiled opened last weekend, and it was a wonderful evening! All my favorite people came out of the woodwork, and many new faces shared great ideas and feelings with me regarding the new artwork. It rocked. The cherrie on top goes to Josh Rizer for letting me share his lovely after party. He had an opening that night as well, please check out his tight writing and great paintings Here. Below are some photos from the festivities. Now, I'm gunna enjoy a little down time, and relax after teaching another week of summer camp before hitting the drawing board again. Yes soon there shall be news, but for now there is only a late Sunday brunch in my future. ahhhh.

Photo credits for this post, and all shots from the preview party go to RC Morrison (me daddy).

My Show Review on OVAC's Blog

2009-08-12T16:00:00.001-05:00

check it out here:

http://ovac.blogspot.com/2009/08/exhibitions-jp-morrison-at-pearl.html

The Previews Perfection

2009-07-31T01:33:00.006-05:00

Last night was the preview party here in Tulsa. It was wonderful. The questions, interest, support, and kind words have given me such a wonderful lift. I can't wait for the next big shindig in Kansas City August 7th. Thanks to all who attended here in Tulsa, I really was overwhelmed with the love and support of each and every one of you who came and said hello, took time to look at my work and give me so much great feed back. You must all take the credit for helping me to continue down this path of creative expression, I couldn't do it without the love and support of my family, friends, peers, mentors and patrons. And a very special thanks to The Pearl Gallery, owners Janet and Doug Edwards are truly remarkable people and gallerists, I recommend them to any artist as representation, and to any collector who wants a respectful, personal and thoughtful buying experience, they are genuine and caring people, and I am so grateful to them. cheers to you all!

Pre-View Party Tomorrow Night, July 29th.

2009-07-28T18:40:00.011-05:00

If you live in Oklahoma, this is your one chance to see my new show, "Beguiled" before it heads up to Kansas City. the details are as follows, Tomorrow, Wednesday the 29th, from 5 - 8 PM @ The Pearl Gallery, 1201 East 3rd Street, Tulsa, OK. 74120. Please come out, I'll be there, all crazy and happy and bouncing about off the walls and bystanders. finished the last touches on the last piece last night, around 2:30AM. I was happy I got to read the novel I've been devouring the rest of the night (morning) without feeling guilty. I love loosing that "I should be working" feeling. So unfamiliar to be without of late. Here is a video I took last night no long before I completed the piece. Don't jump when my hand hits the camera!

Honestly it still hasn't sunk in at all that I am finished. I think my relief is tempered with the knowledge that I still have a statement to refine, and titles and note cards to write up before the Real Opening August 7th. Not to mention the several other pieces looming in the background for the next shows that must be worked on and completed soon. Upcoming? OVAC's 12x12, and an early piece for promotion of my next show. slated for March @ JRB Gallery.

I have two pieces that I still have not published online for "Beguiled" - unless you count the sneak peak video above - I'm going to wait until the opening, give those who attend something they haven't even seen a picture of before. Stay tune tho, this will be the first place I publish them. Okay... now back to my novel... ahhhh.

The WEBSITE

2009-07-19T16:04:00.002-05:00

I've just updated my website! It's very simple, but it's something I can manage myself which is a huge help! Right now it's just a new gallery, but soon it will include my latest statement, resume and biography, as well as information on how to order commissions, etcetera. Please check it out!

J P M O R R I S O N . N E T

In Process...

2009-07-06T03:38:00.010-05:00

Here are the first several stages of the piece I am currently working on, I'm going to break down a few stages for you, so you may better understand this craziness. After completing this piece I have only one more to crank out for my Show opening this August at the Base Gallery, in KCMO. The show is going to be called, Beguiled: The Folklore Of Women. And if I can get the work I still have to complete finished in time (note panting breathe) I will be.... well, really happy. stay tuned for more!

Stage One:

Here you can see my conté sketch, it's the soft red outline everything is built on, also I should mention I'm working on un-gessoed hard board, which is basically really nice light toothy masonite. I prefer an off white surface, not because it's logical but because off-white is just way more approachable in my opinion, and it's nice to work out from a mid-tone surface.

Stage Two:

Which I refer to as the hulk stage, in which I lay down all the darkest shadows in green, specifically Marine Green. I only use prismacolor pencils, no snobbery, it's just what I learned on and if it ain't broke don't fix it, so color names are specific to that brand. So, hulk stage, which you can see in the neck, nose and mouth. I'm working really lightly here, just laying out a map of tones to build upon later.

Stage Three:

The sun burn stage, where in I use Carmine Red, a pinkish red, to "put the blood in". I'll use this all over the whole figure, but I won't put green or red where my white highlights are going to go.

Stage Four:

Here I go back over all the image with white, it's sort of a pinkish, zombie burn victim stage. The arm is the only thing that has been lightened with the white in this photograph. It's important to get this white very even but not too heavy. Also, as I mentioned both layers before this are very light, because the tricky thing with colored pencils in not building up too much with them. If you're frugal you can get about eight to ten layers of color down, then the wax build up will prevent anymore perfecting, whether you like it or not. I'll use the white lightly in the darkest shadow areas, but I will still put the white where it later won't belong for both consistency and blending purposes. I always go lighter on this stage than is needed. I work up my lightest lights and then I'll work back down into my dark colors, with colored pencils, it's always easier to go darker after the fact, they're transparent, so you'll never get your whites back if you cover them up.

Stage Five:

After laying down white everywhere, I'll go back in with Carmine Red, and Marine Green the two colors I used before and define the shadows (green) and mid-tones, (red) more clearly.

Stage Six:

Laying in the darkest shadows with Indigo Blue, and Raspberry. The only places in the image above where Indigo and Raspberry are used are the inside of the mouth, nostrils, eyelashes and shadows behind the fingers. Everything else is just the polished Marine Green, Carmine Red, and White.

Stage Seven and then some:

A lot more has happened here, you wouldn't be able to see all the little tweaks I've added about... six more colored to the skin tone, not counting the colored I used in the eyes. I'll have to come back and update the color list, but basically, once I get all the tones just right, only then will I start adding other colors, usually just those three colors are too pink, so I use two different oranges, Pumpkin Orange, and _____, and two different mossy soft green blues, Jade Green, and ______, these two blues are good for nail beds and veins, I also recently started using the pinks, Nectar and Henna which are closer to an actual skin tone than any other pencil I use, they're good for blending and warming shadows. Eye color is always a mix of whatever feels right. I wish I could be more specific for you here, but at this stage things get really intuitive. You'd have to just sit next to me and watch and listen to me babble at you.

Stage Eight:

Now that the skin is finished I can start all the embellishments. The mask is also colored pencil, in white, a very light blue and a few cool grays the specific names of which I can't currently recall. I'll tweak things until the very end. I look forward to showing you the completed piece. And I'll update those missing color names tomorrow when I head back into studio. Also please disregard the smashed spider, these things happen, I live in the country, and I doubt it will be part of the finished piece, although currently I'm rather enjoying it.

Blue Beards Wife Eating a Pomegranate

2009-06-27T18:58:00.003-05:00

18" x 24" Colored Pencil, Gouache and paper collage on board. I may play with the background a bit more. but here you go.

Good Girl Bad Girl

2009-06-24T19:09:00.004-05:00

this nearly killed me... or nearly made me kill... but it was worth it. Also please note that the colors are much more vibrant than this picture illustrates.

48" x 36" colored pencil, gouache, acrylic, and paper collage on board.

invisionable

2009-06-22T02:42:00.003-05:00

I have been working hard in the real world. Which hasn't been good for my bloggery. It really is a misfortune because this is just the place to be building all the hype for my August show in Kansas City. the press will have to be set up and sent out by the end of the month, so much should be posted soon. The reality is I'm a tad overwhelmed, and free time is spent fretting over the next thing instead of talking about it here.

I put in a whole new background in my largest piece tonight, it's not as good as the one that was there before, tomorrow I shall paint over all of it, and start a new. This realization was a little crippling in the moment, but I am at peace with it now. I never would have been satisfied with that first background, I was and would continue to doubt it... but i was heading in the right direction, and it will be better the second time round. Honestly it's good mental headway, even if I have to back track about four/eight hours of work.

The Latest!

2009-05-25T02:21:00.005-05:00

Here it is! No title yet. I finished it just about 30 minutes ago! Still a little tonal tweaking to do, but I was too excited to wait on posting it! It was originally meant to be a companion piece for Jessi Lively, however it took on its own life and color scheme as I worked on it, and while this was upsetting at first, I am very happy with the finished results. I believe I will still hang the two pieces together, but now they will both have to stand more for themselves, this is really a good things, diptychs are hard to sell.

The figure is all colored pencil, the background is a combination of washes and stenciling in acrylic and gouache, the patterning in the top right corner is this crazy holographic metallic paper, here it looks yellow, often it looks green, I like it best when it looks hot pink, and sometime it's even purple. The background needed something ballsy, the washes and stencils were too "wallpaper" the shiny pink paper was just the ticket. I'm really happy with the finished background because all the first choices ended up being the right choices. That is always so pleasing.

Censorship

2009-05-24T05:21:00.003-05:00

This is a piece I did for an invitational. The theme was color. I chose the colors indigo and blue. This is the blue piece. The parameters were very specific for this show. I was given a paint swatch to match my colors against, 75% of the piece had to be said color, and all the works in the show were required to be the same height, for consistency. In the end 1/3 of the participating artists either didn't pay any attention to the parameters, or just blew them off… Charming. I'm so glad I did all that work, and spent the money on -x- size canvas etc.

So, now that I’ve set the mood...

I will start by saying I respect the curator of this show immensely. The curator was a victim of the situation and nothing more. No blame or frustration should be or is placed there.

The situation was that this show took place in a public pedestrian space, specifically an underground concourse where mostly office workers travel to and from other buildings or parking garages. For those of you in Oklahoma City, you will be familiar with, the underground, this art space is also overseen by a private committee.

I started this piece with an inkling that I might have problems, but I can hold my head high and say… that’s never stopped me! However, before I turned the art in I emailed images to the curator. Just a, "hey, here are my pieces, see you soon!" sort of heads up. I wasn't surprised when she replied to me that, the breasts might pose a problem. We talked on the phone, and although the curator was willing to take on the issue with the higher ups I decided to simply let this one go.

It does rub me the wrong way that this show had such detailed parameters as mentioned above, and yet nowhere did they state the there was any sort of subject restraint. Was this something I was supposed to assume? Well I didn't, and I won't ever make that assumption.

There is a time and a place to fight and this wasn’t it. I have my reasons for choosing to not stand up for my own principals and paint out a beautiful pair of breasts. One reasons is that I did this piece especially for that show. I wasn't going to show it anywhere else and therefore it made no since to have it excluded. You may scoff at how quickly I bent over on the issue, but as I said I respected the curator and didn’t feel that making trouble would be productive, efficient or effective. However, it certainly did put the issue into the forefront of my mind.

I am working on a nude now, and will be starting another soon; I haven’t yet decided how nude to make them… they will both be much more realistic than the blue piece above, and both could be full frontal, if I so choose. I will make the decision based on how valid the nudity is to the subject and the overall mood of each piece… these sorts of decisions happen in process so, no predictions here.

It is hard to completely push the trouble with nudes from my mind and my creative process. Lots of galleries will tell you that nudes are hard to sell, and lots of galleries will simply refuse to take them. I know this from experience. And as you can tell from above, they are in general hard to show. Especially in the market I am currently working.

It really amazes me. First of all we all look at nudes in art all the time… there are bare breasts all over the art deco and nouveau buildings here in downtown Tulsa. I use that example because Tulsa, like OKC is in the bible belt, which I do think figures into the argument. Classical art has the human form all over it… true, often conveniently draped, which drives me crazy. Are we really still too uptight to enjoy the breasts above? Sadly yes. If breasts are such an issue, what about pubic hair, and what if I wanted to paint a male nude? Can I sell a penis? All I can say is I will do my best to not let this subjugation of our own bodies deter me from making the art I want to make, and next time, I will stand up for my breasts, etc.

a little blog hello from me to you

2009-03-23T00:48:00.005-05:00

Things have been quiet here at TAFPWI.... Taff peewee? sure. Life hasn't been quiet, life has been loud, and there's lots of good catching up to do, of which we will only touch upon here tonight.

I was planning a blog on censorship in art, but I can't find the example I wanted to show you, that being, a painting of my own that I had to edit the breasts out of in order to show it in a public space. I know what your thinking -or at least I hope I do- breasts?! you had to edit out breasts?! well yes, and when I find the before and after pictures I will tell you more. Please stay tuned.

The biggest news here in JP's-vill is that I have officially booked a solo featured show with JRB Gallery at the Elms in OKC, for March of next year. This is a really big deal for me. I think I can safely say this is one of the top galleries in the state. I never expected to get this far in this amount of time. it's a great accomplishment for having only been "at it" (promoting myself in Oklahoma) since last October.

So two solo shows to prepare for, and a slew of summer camp work in front of me, and I'm feeling rather full, as in busy and satisfied.

Life is good, even if I do have a head cold. Now... just to make this a fun post instead of a little rant about what I have and haven't done, here are some awesome images:

5x5

2009-02-18T23:21:00.002-06:00

I've completed my 5x5 early this year. early JP? But, JP! You don't do early? well no... I don't, however, after being asked if I wanted to participate in some press releases for the event, in which they wanted to show the artists alongside their pieces, I said SURE! Because if there's one thing I am learning about being successful as a self employed artist, it is that it's a constant hustle. And I'm always game for a good publicity stunt!

So here's the little beast. It is a self-portrait, colored pencil on board, measuring 5"x 5" in the frame, which my dear father built for me, (he's a gem).

You may choose either of these two reasons why I chose a self portrait;

1. I am the easiest model to get a hold of on short notice.

2. I wanted my picture taken twice, a picture of me, with a picture of me.

I got a great deal of flack in college for doing self portraits, The logic being, I assume, that, if you are a semi-attractive young woman, the only reason anyone can think of that you would choose to draw yourself is because you're totally into yourself.

*Insert me screaming expletives at imaginary critiques, here.*

There are several reasons why I chose to portray myself in various works. Each time the reason was different, and it's really just luck that I happen to be a semi-attractive young woman. When I am old, I suppose everyone will assume the work is about my own death, or a commentary on aging... I bet it won't be.

As I've explained above, I chose to use myself for two reasons,

1. I was the easiest model around. I still have a great deal of trouble directing my models, and getting the mood right. I am working hard on finding the cure of this... I'll keep you up to date.

2. Because the work was about my experiences, and I didn't want someone else in there mucking up the catharsis of putting my own image through that experience again.

Now it could be argued, that number 2. is in fact narcissistic. But! Lets get real. If we deem that all artwork about the artist's experience is narcissistic, then all art is so. And that, I can agree with. All art is for the artist first, and the patron/the public/the mesuem/etc., second. I've said it before and I will continue to say, that art is a masturbatory event. It is firstly self-serving and self-satisfying, and rightly so. In my personal experience artists that try to ignore this truth, try to make it about something bigger, better, holier, progressive-ier well, those artists annoy me greatly, and are also never happy... or, satisfied. It is us exploring our own world, not their world, ours, and it can only ever be our personal experiences, and interpretations that inform our hands to draw what they do. So go forth my little painting friends, and rub one out on the canvas! Just don't go calling me a narcissist, I can do it myself, and for the right reasons.

Self Portraits (a revisiting)

2009-02-18T23:05:00.009-06:00

In the post above this one, I went into some length about how vexed I become concerning the misinterpretation of self-portraits. One of the issues I mentioned being frustrated with, narcissism, stems from the fact that I am very touchy about being labeled self-centered. This deeply upsets me because it may be a wee bit true, and I put a good deal of focus into keeping it from being so... after all I can't help that I am kinda awesome now can I? The point is, that my awesomeness is not the reason I use myself in my work. I shall go into a few brief examples...

"Self" this 24"x 18" panel is painted with nose bleed blood. Yes, you read that correctly... it was early in 2005, cold outside (heater induced nose bleeds) and I was in a rather dark place in my human development. I was rebelling against a gentleman whom I had deeply respected, who, having just dumped me, his judgement was in great question. One of the opinions in question was that all female artists who painted themselves nude were just looking for easy slutty attention. Several other topless pieces were to follow. bottom-line, what else would you paint with your own blood?

"Upon the Penultimate" this roughly 30"x 24" collage piece is as literal a snapshot as I could creating of my return from Eastern Europe. The emotions psychically felt like my neck opening up into a great Elizabethan collar. I rode the moving sidewalks all over the Chicago Airport waiting for my flight. I could never use someone else to express such a personal experience.

"Another Anticipation of Toads" 18"x 24" This is the second of two pieces dealing with the fiary tale idea that the good daughter is rewarded with diamonds and rubies and pearls falling out of her mouth every time she speaks, and the bad daughter having toads etcetera fall out of her mouth. I am totally into the weirdness of this tale, both times I have planned to have toads falling from the mouth and both times it didn't seem to need to be happening once the pieces were designed. In this case I knew exactly what pose I wanted and what shirt and what bathtub to use. I was easy to use, and that was why I was it. sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Whipping it out!

2009-02-10T02:12:00.004-06:00

This is Jessi Lively, I drew her in a matter of days... this is quite an accomplishments for my methods. 20"x 16" Colored pencil, paper collage, conté and ink on board. Let us hope things continue this lickity split!

I've been debating in which ways to display this new body of work online, if at all, until its unveiling later this year at my shows. However, I must admit to a deep hunger for feedback. It is so difficult to create a piece of art and set it aside for later, it requires something of which I do not excel, the suppression of my own excitement.

The other side of the coin is that I am letting the cat out of the bag. I am showing work that must rest here with me until at least August. For now until I have stronger feelings about how stingy to be, I'll only post work here, not on my other pages... You dear blog reader may enjoy, a lengthy preview. Thank you for joining me here.

We Have Come Full Circle

2009-02-09T03:42:00.003-06:00

This is the finished piece, (as of yet untitled) that I teased you with, dear reader, in my very first post. I finished it just before the weekend, and I am very pleased...

The specs are: Colored pencil, with an acrylic background on board measuring 24"x 36" I still have a majority of the pencils I used on this piece sitting out on my desk, I shall count and then share with you exactly how many pencils it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop.

For some reason this work has felt like it took an especially long time to complete, even though it has been pretty average, and gone smoothly. I believe this is in part due to having transported it on many of my travels, making it feel... almost like a ball and chain. Making it much more of a literal physical burden. BUT! Here we are today, and I have that nice sense of accomplishment chirping inside me.

2009-02-07T04:54:00.002-06:00

This is Victoria Reynolds work. I love it, it's so beautiful and visceral without being gross... or at least I don't find it gross, (these things are subjective). I love that the frame is so integrated into the piece, some of her other work has more basic framing and those don't sing as well as they do when the frame itself becomes the stuff of cartilage and bone. I love that it is just a big unapologetic pile of meat. love love love. Life, death, self, nourishment, sanguine, goodness.

Let's talk about gross... I'm really not into it. Not in art. I think shock value is sort of what losers resort to, if I may put it so bluntly. I believe this is because it's the easiest way to get a reaction. Art is supposed to cause feeling, Art doesn't survive unless it gets noticed, but what a sad state, for an artist to have to resort to horror in order to grab at you. Think about it. Try and make someone feel love, feel desire, feel compassion, make them feel these emotions by putting them in front of a painting. Well, good luck to you. It is almost impossible. These emotions are guarded, we're all so very suspicious of a piece of Art that wants to make us happy. However, in any situation, the fastest reaction, emotion, feeling you can evoke from someone, fully, honestly and completely is, disgust. Wipe one of your boogers on your sister and you're done. Message received and achieved. Reaction full, reaction bodily. So. Easy.

Yes, yes, horror and the grotesque have their rightful and respectable place in art. These things do need addressing, from booger wiping, to genocide. They are worthwhile, some in their own right, some importantly so... but the shock is so over used. Since it is so easy to shock why can't we have a slow and thoughtful reveal? If you want to deal in the disgusting, the vile, the violence and the cruel give it the respect it is due, give it beauty, give it bravado. Perhaps in a light example, the way Ms. Reynolds gives her dead animal parts provocativeness... Sexy dead animal parts. That nuance alone makes me think about it much more than if I were, in fact, presented with a pile of slaughtered elk. Another more heavy handed example might be Andres Serrano's Piss Christ which is a beautiful photograph! And that is one of the reasons it works so very well at delivering its sucker punch message.

What I am trying to express is best described in the cliche, the dark looks the deepest against the dawn kids. If you're going to make big angry artwork about awful/gross/violent/sanguinary topics, I demand that you give me my damn spoonful of sugar to go along with it.

Collaborations~

2009-02-01T11:48:00.012-06:00

"Nurturing the Fertile Spirit" the central piece, 24"x48" in a series of new works created by myself and tribalbot, the figure is mine, the setting is Mr. bot's:

Greeting in the New Year... yes... I realize it is now somehow February... I have no idea how that happened. But let me tell you this year is off to a roaring start and I am feeling like a flapper at the worlds fair. Speaking of Worlds Fair, which is the name of the Flaming Lips record label, Friday night, Jan. 30th 2008, I sold one of the below collaborations to Wayne and Michelle Coyne. This fills me with a certain glowing pride, knowing that something I had a hand in creating is uplifting and will be hanging out in the home of two such Dreamy Dreamers as TFL's lead singer and his wife. I feel cool.

It couldn't have happened without the help of my lovely coconspirator and collaborator tribalbot. The piece is centered around his tweaky twiggy black and pink flower, and the Coyne's have expressed interest in Mr. bot's work in the past, all that plus my flashy gold background sealed the deal. Yay for us.

The show opening where all this went down, was the annual fund raiser for City Arts, and it was fantastic. Great energy in the room and great feed back on the paintings. I feel that the hard work I put into this body of work, has paid off. Cheers 2009, I'm totally into you!

"Fitful Flora" 10"x 6.5" the sold piece in question:

"Ode to Bee" 5"x 5" which sold to the talented artist Ryan Cunningham, I drew the bee tribalbot painted the glowing yellows and purples:

"Converging Trails" 10"x 10" My bit in this piece would be the snails:

"The Natural Order of Things" 10"x10" I did the background in this piece, tribalbot painted the centipede:

"Kiss Me!" 8"x 10" I drew the pretty pocky toad:

"Pink Moon" 12"x10" I drew the trees and the soft pink and grey background, tribalbot applied the glowing fowl:

Women

2008-12-25T01:40:00.010-06:00

I am caught like so many, by the beauty of women. All the work I am currently planning involves a beautiful woman. I cannot help myself. This is after all a universal and timeless obsession for artists. Although the work smattered across the pages of art history books is dominated by men painting women, today the female artists of notoriety are often as inthralled by their own forms as their homo and heterosexual male counterparts. The female body is art. It just is. I won't be tiresome and attempt to explain or explore why women embody artwork, let's just accept it as true, and let me say in passing that I am grateful to get to be a part of such a renown gender.

I've always been more interested in drawing women, I think it's because the female form was much more popular in the drawing books I taught myself from, breasts are easier to get published than penises, I suppose, and of course, my own figure was always the most available for study. I've always thrown in the token male figure, some pieces need a yen and a yang, I have even attempted a few pieces with men as the sole subject, but they're pitch has always been a bit flat. the form of a woman inspires me, I identify with what or who I am creating, perhaps. Or perhaps... I don't have a good answer, and I am just tiresome in my justifications. It is tiresome to me. Justification was shoved down everyones throat at school and I'm damn sick of it. I love drawing women just because. It seems to be what I need and desire without any good reason at all. So there.

A note on the subject of men, i.e. a counter argument of the above:

I fine men delicious. I am one straight lady and I am bonafided and certified boy crazy. I love being boy crazy too, I think it's healthy and entertaining. I love to look at men, and I love to take them apart... yes in the emotional way of course, but I'm talking figuratively here... I literally mean figuratively... The male body is fantastic, I am particularly fond of mens hands and forearms, also shoulders. I could look at the male form all day, taking it apart and putting it back together. Muscle structure is always much more wonderful and easy to study on a man. But, perhaps here-in lies the problem... I'm attracted to men, I covet and attach hopes and desires to them. Women seduce me esthetically. Women seduce me the way a beautiful sunset does, only better, because this landscape contains within its gloaming light, innate sex-appeal. Men are more like joyous 2x4's to the back of my head than sunsets... the last thing I'm thinking about while examining the esthetic grace of a mans hand and forearm exposed underneath his cuffed sleeve is drawing it.

Bottom line, I'm going to be drawing women, because they keep inhabiting my ideas, but I haven't given up on getting past my twitterpations and expectations to capture the form of a man, it's a challenge with winning possibilities.

These are some of my current favorite images of women from my reference stash of online finds. Enjoy!

Also, if anything you see here infringes on copyright law it was found on public forums and likewise believed to be for public viewing. Upon notification any copy-righted material will be removed.

Image Credit:

Autumn Whitehurst
Coby Whitmore
Raphaelite Harpies (credit unknown)
Nude with spear (credit unknown)
Amy Adams
Sylvia Ji
Kris Lewis
Chiara
Jean Giraud
Tamara de Lempicka
Tank Girl by Jamie Hewlett
Kevin Francis Gray
Fashion Photograph (credit unknown)
Harajuku Girl
Philip Hale
Adam den Haene
Hashiguchi Goyo
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Owl Mask (credit unknown)
Natalie Portman
Factory worker at realdoll (adult content at this link)
Egon Schiele
Image from: ffffound
Image from: ffffound
Image from: ffffound

The Moth Man

2008-12-19T03:51:00.001-06:00

I've found the stories of the Mothman fascinating and only mildly disturbing since I first heard them years ago. If you don't know what I'm talking about you can read more :here: You will probably disagree with me about how disturbing the accounts are, but I look at them as modern day fables. Thinking of them in that way it is easy to apply my own set of ideals, by dedicating a certain amount of hooliganism and hidden morality as derived from fairytales to the mix. (ugh... that was a mouthful I shouldn't blog so late at night.)

I have read my share of fairy tales. Ones meant for children, adult's, those redesigned by literary geniuses like Angela Carter and those paper backs that fill the fantasy section of your local bookstore. I have read about other horrific and yet strangely majestic moth-folk in these books, the Mezmurden with deadly sweet kisses and hexagonal eyes, and those that will sing you to sleep. I'm into it.

I'm also into moths just as they come. I've caught a few giant caterpillars in my day, and waited with them through they're secret metamorphosis. Such as the cocoon we kept on out kitchen window sill when I was about 12. We were certain it contained one dead polyphemus moth/caterpillar, but no... when we least expected it... there came a scratching within! Those are the sorts of gifts you can't unwrap yourself.

Now I am working within my head (mostly) on a piece of artwork dealing with the Mothman. It's been a while in the making, something that has skipped across my consciousness but never come to lie until now. I've done a few sketches, but I'm rethinking the female element and her position which started as standing... There almost always has to be a female element. I can't really tell you why at this point... I just accept it. So, for now more sketches, figure out the pose and then pick a model. Note: this ain't no weird hairy red eyes glow'n kinda Mothman, this is my mothman... and I rarely do anything... ghoulish. I'm more inclined towards the exquisite kind of corps.

I am Interviewed.

2008-12-09T03:31:00.006-06:00

the two people discussed in this post.

My dear friend hissingfauna the savvy little artistic blogger that she is, has begun a weekly interview (each monday to be exact) of artists and other creatives that she publishes to said blog. I happen to have had the honor of being the popper of her bloggidy interview cherry. Lucky ducky me. No really. Please be so kind as to humor me with at least a little skim through of my witty retorts to her thoughtful questions and if that isn't enough to lure you away from my shiny page onto hers you can check out the rest of her cute blogs as a bonus prize! Go :here: and do it now! pwees?

Collection of Mouths

2008-12-04T19:55:00.006-06:00

The Open Mouth Theme (that has secretly been running through my life for years)

2008-12-04T03:18:00.010-06:00

This is just the tip of the ice-burg my friends... the POINTY POINTY TIP!

Images:

1. Some Notes, 6" x 4" (matted 8" x 10") Mixed media, $150

2. Cherubim, 48" x 24" graphite and acrylic on board, $300

3. Better Than Sushi, 14" x 11" Collaboration with tribalbot, mixed media, $500

4. - 6. Various photobooth photos of yours truly over the last year or so.

TEETH! MOUTHS! HATS!

2008-12-04T03:09:00.008-06:00

I am really happy with these little sketches I did recently while chill'n and draw'n with some of my favorite friends/artists. I have been collecting any and all images I can find these days on ffffound of open mouths, cat mouths in particular. These hats had been drifting somewhere in my subconscious for awhile, and now wahla! It looks like it's going to be a theme.... or maybe it already has been a theme.... more to come.

New Beginning

2008-12-03T04:33:00.006-06:00

This is my latest work in progress. It's in reverse because I took it with Photobooth on my laptop... yeah, it was silly looking while I was doing it, holding my laptop up in the air in a fashion similar to how Moses might have held up those tablets to the sinners straddling that gold bull. I am excited as - insert witty analogy here- about this piece. This photograph is from night before last, as of tonight I've finished the tiger's head and I am work on the water now... what water you ask? well, you'll just have to wait and see. Water, yes, and the girl... there's a girl too, but she's asleep. The panel is three feet wide by two feet high. I've logged somewhere between 18 to 20 hours into this work so far... that is counting composing the source image in Photoshop, printing to scale, sketching the outlines and now coloring. The medium is as usual, colored pencil.

Hair is my least favorite part of a figure. It is very similar to figuring out the conturing of clothing, which isn't in my list of favorite things to render either, but perhaps, higher on the list. I was concerned with this work, that I would become oft and easily frustrated or tired of the process due to the fact that animals, in this case a tiger, are nothing but hair. However, working through the animals head, I have really enjoyed myself, perhaps more because it's a tiger, and I got to draw the mouth around the same time which I was really looking forward to. (I've been on a real predator's mouth drawing kick lately, I will explain ((perhaps)) in another blog). I still have most of the body to draw hair all over, but I've got a system going, and since it's more like skin-- I have to think about muscle contours etc., it's been a bit more rewarding than drawing a plain ol'up-do.

Bottom line: Animal hair can stay in the game... but all you humans may end up bald.