Anatomy of Art

To start, a Happy New Year to those who celebrate the Lunar calendar(aka 'Chinese New Year') I spent most of the day in bed sick, and because of that I felt the need to start today productive. So my first update to this blog for 2011 was a fine place to start.

I was recently fortunate to be selected in PrintZero Studio's first publishing of their annual Print Exchange, 2010 edition.

My print, 'We Lost Ourselves' was one of 35 of nearly 300 submissions to be included in their catalog. I thank all those who sent me congratulations, which made the work even more worth it. Though also, I thank a few who honestly replied with, "Why?" Why did you draw this? Why would they chose it?

Well. Perhaps inspired by my great, wise friend Amy Scheidegger and her Artistic Rebuttal, I'm going to break down my thought process behind this art. Will those be reasons to why it was selected? maybe not. But maybe you'll find it enlightening.

The Concept: My personal work often falls in this category: figurative, theatrical, with narrative elements. In what I do, I'm interested in conveying some story relating to the Human Condition. My starting point for this was saying farewell. To bring a close to a chapter, cutting it from your life, the end. The visual is a woman, perhaps in her home, cutting up the photo of a man. We don't know their relation, but it is unimportant. She looks to be asleep, maybe because it's something she can't bring herself to do coherently.

This piece alludes to a print I did in the past, 'I Take A Little Off the Top' where cutting signifies bringing an end to something for relief.

The Elements: Every visual we see contains some combination of the elements and principles of art, but here, I'll highlight a few of the major details I included.

We're naturally drawn to the human face, so it's important to include details to pull the viewer throughout the picture plane. Here, though it is subtle, the space created by the foreground hand is in close vicinity and mimics the shape and details of the head.

In this same area, though we know the hand created depth of space, the visual repetion pulls and relates pieces together. The woman's arm completes a pattern of fingers.

Among my favorite artists, the late Paul Hartley taught me the appreciation for repeated lines. This repetition is subconscious, but visually holds the picture together.

Again, repleted lines to create repetition in the image. The blue angles serve as arrows which are an advertent choice to keep you within the image though there is a figure who is outwards and cut off. I commonly decide on cropping figures because it's visually interesting to me, so it's important to pull the viewer back into the picture with such elements.

While on the subject of the cut figure, it's safe to assume that the man's face is his, as it visually 'completes' his body. And hey, weren't we pointed directly to it?










The Execution: This is a plate etching done by carbine-tip needle, printed in Daniel Smith Standard Black ink on Rives BFK paper.

So there you have it. The thought process behind one of my pieces of art. Tune in next time!

Hmm.

Definitely past due for a new post.
Sorry about that.

It's summer, and in that season one tends to go into serious chill/kick-back mode, or hop onto things they can't get to the rest of the year. But that could just be me. I'm least art-active in the summer(a by-product of school I assume)and more excited to travel or just get out there with friends who now have more time(a by-product of school). So among the travels I made was the Las Vegas trip for Evo2010. This was fully the most enjoyable one I've attended...you can read a quick write-up on my take of it here.

This summer I managed to feverishly work on and crank out a print for PrintZero Studios. This year it's huge and marks its first juried catalog. I had to participate! I'll keep you updated with a shot my entry soon.

With summer coming to a close I've gotta start getting back into swing of things...with whatever swing that was there to begin with...

Back in Touch

I've been blessed with meeting some of the best people in the world and being able to click with them even if years of time have passed between. It's a great, great thing to have.

The end of this month I'm traveling back to ol' NC to get out of the OC and spend some time with my college crew. And maybe even catch up with one of my favorite professors, Michael Ehlbeck, the printmaker and man of knowledge extrodinaire. Where I picked up most of what I know in Printmaking? Talk to this man.

I'll be able to rumage through a few friends' houses for art they've stored for me for years. I'd better come bearing gifts, eh?

Prints Charming

Earlier this year I participated in PrintZero Studio's Exchange 6. This group annually collects editions of fine prints, Exhibits them, and distributes them out to artists. My lithograph was on this panel at the bottom, third one over. It was an abstraction of a curtain and telephone. Anyway, you can Check out lots of the other cool entries on their photostream here.

I'm looking forward to the LAPS Exhibit opening reception this Thursday. Was just recently accepted in their society and now I'm allowed to be all in the know of printmaking events going on in CA. It was all just hearty laughs at me before.

The postcard for the show is here, with a little preview of all of the pieces in the show. Come check out the art in person if yer in the area!

All the info on the back:

Everything, just over time.

I've been up to much as of late. Or, I've been up TOO much as of late. Which ever it is, here's the quick run down:

Continued ideas in printmaking work. 'Delicate Ladies'? 'Japanese Ericks'? It may not make sense now, but you'll know soon. Picked back up progress with 'The Fedups', though substancial content remains far away. Worked with Darrick Lazo in creating a solid entry for corporate video contest at work(The results have yet to be released). It inspires continued video work.

Submitted lithographs to Los Angeles Printmaking Society’s 20th National Printmaking Exhibition and got two pieces accepted! The show will be opening next month!
Last week the huge japanese gaming news site, Famitsu featured an interview with Ono, who was revealing info on the upcoming Super Street Fighter 4. He sported the 'New Warrior' shirt I gave him at Evo2k. Sick!!!

Details on a next shirt design are underway.. Competing in a SF4 2v2 tourney in Santa Ana in a week. Training underway...

And that brings us up to date. I've been fortunate to have a lot of good stuff going this past month. Things I've aimed for that have accumulated overtime. Now, it's getting late in '09, which means it's time to kick into gear some work for printmaking. Sheesh, that's a lot in such short time.

I'll end with a few collabs I've done with Chris Kato. A little bit of things I hope to continue, unless the art world tells us that's enough.

Relationship, litho/silkscreen on Rives BFK

Bryan the Kid, litho/silkscreen on Rives BFK

Trying to Lose?

Over the past couple months I was taking on a few artistic projects...Heck, more than a few. I was trying on more than most should aim to, it was like setting myself up for failure. Learned Flash animation(will post the final project sometime), createded on a small line of SF shirts(still in process), continued development on The Fedups project, worked on printmaking.

One of the pieces I spent too much time on is the lithograph below. It started with my wanting to add a piece that would compliment and expand my body of fineprints. When I get around to it I'll try to get you guys some peeks of a few other prints in the portfolio.

Trying Toulouse, lithograph on Rives BFK, edition of 20.

Printin' portraits

So I figure it's bout time to show a little bit o' the progress I've made in printmaking with some of the newer etchings I've done this year. Here are two in their completed state. They're part of a four(five?) part series of portraits that's hopefully rounding out my portfolio of fine print work. Then maybe sometime you'll see the dozen or so I've got in unfinished states. Or maybe they'll get finished. Who knows.

Comfortable Company
Day of Departure

Well, Merry Christmas, Happy end to '08, and Healthy prostate to you all. Ah, at least some of you.