“The Monster was the best friend I ever had.” ~ Boris Karloff
How many times have I said I love monsters? Here’s the original inked goodness, but otherwise I rest on the quote above……
Related Monstrosities:
7 Comments
Posts Tagged ‘ink wash’
6 items.
The dark clown is what emerged from broad brush strokes of ink, an ink wash, and a touch of water color which I used to stain the inkwash. I was going for a kind of noir vibe. I love Frank Miller stuff. I don’t think I was even going for a clown initially just some bold dark brush strokes with some intensity, expressiveness, and contrast between light and dark.
The archetypal clown to me is a grotesque exaggeration and is something positively creepy in that we never actually see their faces. The clown hides behind his paint and makes no bones about being an in-your-face distortion. I am also certainly not the first nor the last to consider the irony of the clown whether sad, evil, or in my case dark.
So why did today’s sketch of the day end up a clown at all? How did a study of light and dark with a bold and expressive intention become this?
Honestly, I’m finding myself momentarily lost in thought and feeling like I am all over the place in explaining something simple. Quite actually, I see a sereneness in my dark clown noir that I find peaceful. It is more authentic than ironic and grotesque, and only ironic by piercing through the expectation of irony.
Actor Lon Chaney Sr. once said, “there is nothing funny about a clown in the moonlight.” He was right of course, but at the moment, I am more interested in whether there is something true.
More Clowning Around:
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent
will . . .” ~ Charlotte Bronte
The long dead English novelist who somehow knew the attitude of my pen and the freedom of being not. Either that or we can enjoy bending her words in my context to support me out on this limb.
It is possible to be without being. I can see it in the shadow of the bird and I hope you’ll ponder with me… Be Not, Be Free!
Related Posts:
“This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin’, little tenderizin’, an’ down you go.” ~ Robert Shaw as Quint in Jaws(1975)
Alright enough of that. Really, I just wanted to convey the bad boy allure of this apex predator with the imprint of my Simian Style rather than reinforce the stereotypical idea of the malicious man-eating shark. This stereotype has been terribly harmful to sharks which by some estimates are dwindling in number at a rate of 100 MILLION per year killed as a result of human fishing and also deliberate shark fining.
Shark fining, for those of you who don’t know, often involves catching a shark, removing it’s fins and disposing of it’s carcass overboard to slowly drown. The fins are used to prepare the Asian delicacy of shark fin soup and sadly that’s where the money is. Sharks are a majestic creature and they deserve our respect and awe not to be inhumanely savaged, mutilated, and killed for their fins.
Some of you may remember that a while back I posted a logo I designed for a fantastic organization called Iemanya Oceanica which seeks to preserve sharks and rays. They have numerous great programs ranging from “adopting” your very own shark to scholarships and educational outreach. I encourage you to check them out to further educate yourself on the predicament of sharks worldwide.
Finally, I found this great video called the “Death of a Deity” by Joe Romeiro of 333 productions which does a superb job portraying how incredible sharks are, how vital they are to the ecosystem of coral reefs, the inhumanity of shark fining and also the degree to which generally human activity is damaging sharks and the ocean at large.
More Jay Zuck Oceanica:
Behold the hippopotamus!
We laugh at how he looks to us,
And yet in moments dank and grim,
I wonder how we look to him.
~ Ogden Nash
Not too long ago I displayed a charcoal drawing of a Rhino to which a friend of mine teased, “That looks more like Rhino butt to me.” Fair enough, but I have decided more nature butt is in order.
“God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant, and the cat. He has no real style. He just keeps on trying other things.” ~ Pablo Picasso
The zoo is one of the most visually stimulating places for an artist to visit. There is something to be said for seeing a variety of animals from all over the world with your own eyes. I make numerous pilgrimages to the Los Angeles Zoo during the course of a year and I think an annual membership to your local zoo is a great investment for any artist.
The Zoo is actually the place where I developed and refined what I call Simian Style. It is a quick, but rewarding way to capture the essence of animals who are in constant motion.
For more examples of Simian Style or Simian related works I encourage you to peruse the following at your leisure: