And the beats keep rolling with this new run of Alphabet Attack! I'm having a blast with these, so far. And I have a feeling they're only going to get weirder. Er, I mean, better.
Stay tuned for The Letter D, tomorrow!
"I looked at every fiesta, for you I wanted to greet. Maybe I'd sell you a chicken, with poison interlaced with the meat."
- David C.
Wowzers! My schedule today was way too loaded for me to complete "Bigot Brutality" without the help of my trusty clone. Still, in his absence, I was able to put time into the early painting stages. I started off by applying a color wash, bringing the various elements in the composition together by giving them an overall tone. I chose a transparent blue, since I'm imagining this as a cold painting with some key explosions of warmth.
Along with the blue, I roughly painted in areas where I plan on unleashing said warmth.
From there, I started building up my darkest areas. The police dog, parts of the officers' uniforms, random shadows -- I knew right off the bat that these areas were going to be (more or less) black. So knocking 'em out early frees up my brain to focus on more challenging elements of the piece, that are yet to come.
Whew! It's been a topsy-turvy week for Series 3. But the creative fires are stoked! I'll be putting some time into "Bigot Brutality" over the weekend, in between jobs. I hope to have the finished piece ready to post on Monday. Next week will also be the start of the illustration for The Letter C. Aw yeah....
In the meantime, have a fun & sweaty weekend!
"Reflections, arrows, glory!"
- King Gum
Here, at last, is the finished illustration, "Almost Anonymous." (9 x 12" , acrylics & collage on cardboard). The last time you saw this piece, it was simply a line drawing. But through several hours of meticulous acrylic glazing, I was able to whip it into the shape you see before you.
In the final work, we see that our masked She-Devil has betrayed her lover, and is slicing him open like a fresh fish. Despite his immense size advantage, her victim is caught unawares and easily dispatched. All the poor fool can manage is to unmask her and peer into the face of his own doom, as his kingdom burns around him and Death comes bloody and grim.
I knew I wanted this to be a darker piece, both in tone and actual look. And I ended up putting a lot of time into building up the subtleties in the shadows. When I'm painting (or even inking), I imagine myself physically carving out the deep, dark areas in a piece. It can be a slow process, but I find that it works for my creative mindset. Maybe it's based on my constant craving for process, rooted in my love of printmaking. Or it could be from when I was much younger and worked in clay as much (if not more) than I did in pencil, ink and paint.
Now that I'm back on track with Alphabet Attack!, I'll be kicking into then next piece in Series 3. Look for the raw beginnings of the "B" illustration tomorrow, August 24th.
"My man, where you going? You can't escape. When the Tribe is in the house, that means nobody is safe."
- Dave Crosland
