Untitled mixed media 10042013
Click the picture to see it bigger.
I was screwing around with my watercolors again. This time I decided that I was going to have an artsy threesome with charcoal, wax crayons, and water color paints. I found working these three mediums together to be very fun. They didn’t do exactly as I wished at all times, but the chaos of creation is served well when that happens.
This was done on coldpress watercolor paper (my usual) and is 9″ wide x 12″ high.
I have not played with this mix of art materials for many years, but think I shall have to do some more.
On a funny note, as I was messing cropping this image on my laptop while at my work a client walked in unbeknownst to me and spoke out of the blue, which resulted in making me jump about ten feet in the air. (obviously a huge exaggeration)
Lucky for me the client was a regular who was not easily offended and actually claims to follow this blog (“hi” if you read this) because she loves my “naughty art.”
She does claim however that she could never have any of it around her own home because others would not understand. I replied that art of this nature is often meant for the bedroom. She said her son goes in her bedroom.
Hmm… I have my bedroom as the one private room in the house. It is a kid free zone. If you are invited into my bedroom we are heading to the bed. The bed is for sleeping and sex. That is my take.
Anyways… The gal who walked in and startled me while cropping this said it was very 3D. She also said it was very unrealistic though. I said I wasn’t really going for 3D, and I hared zero for realistic.
We ended up having a conversation I seem to have a few times a year with people.
Many people seem to think that artists aim for realistic.
I think that realism skills should be developed by artists, but only so the artist has more control of how he or she is able to manipulate reality. Real sucks. It also becomes easy. Artists have different goals in mind when working. They have different reasons too, but one thing they all have in common is the desire to create. Creation is making something new, saying something new, or showing something in a new way. It is NOT copying things in a realistic manner.
I have to do that shit to make a living a lot. I will draw your car, your kid, your cat, whatever… for a buck (not a literal buck obviously) just the way you want it. That is not art though. I am not creating. Learning to draw, paint, etc… is a craft. That is all it is. It is no different than playing a piano. Learning to play the piano is systematic. It is a craft. Composing NEW music, or putting a new spin on something already out their can be art though. Good art, bad art, it doesn’t matter. High or low, insider or outsider… fuck the labels. Creation is glorious. Aiming for realism is boring and tedious. I like to let my art kinda create itself. I let it move and shift. If it comes out “realistic-ish” it is because it chose to on it’s own. I want that natural growth. I love the chaos of it. Chaos is beauty.
Besides all that… certain works would literally have zero reason to be made if I was going for realism. This piece is the perfect example. This wasn’t done just from memory. I started this by making a loose sketch while looking at a photo. If I wanted to have it just be visually real I would have stuck with just having that photo. Creating this however allowed me to feel. I was able to delve into the actual experience and express a moment of it in a way that a photo never could.
The old saying that artist use lies to tell truths is a good one. We also use whispers to shout. We amplify things. We exaggerate to let the viewer know something they otherwise would have missed. We let the viewer experience something they never could have if we went for realism.
I’m sure I will have a conversation with someone about this again soon. Hopefully it wont start with me getting scared out of my pants.
Note: due to an odd comment from someone who fancies themselves a comedian, I am adding that “no my cock has not turned purple,” and that “no, I don’t find it odd drawing/painting my own cock.”
I actually find my own cock to be a beautiful model and am pretty darned attached to it. (I meant that both figuratively and literally) I will even add that looking at my own cock in photos such as the one that inspired this bit of art is quite pleasurable. I have always taken such pictures, (yes, you shall most likely become art girls if you allow me to take a pic) but in truth I take more as the years go by just because of ease. Thank the invention of the cell phone for that. I usually have a cell phone close by, but back when the cameras sucked (and before that) I needed to pull out a legit camera. Not always available and often a big mood killer.
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