Cuneiform

I think I actually did this one in my undergraduate degree.  The text, the triangular stuff going on above the figure is Akkadian cuneiform.  I am not kidding you, at one point in my life my goal was to be an epigrapher, so I was studying things like Hebrew and Akkadian (in more lay terms Babylonian).  Unfortunately I have forgotten most of it, so I don't remember what this says.  Cuneiform is actually incredibly difficult.  It was the first known writing system so granted there were some kinks that needed to get worked out, but part of it to was that only the scribes were literate and people had to pay them to send or interpret their letters.  The scribes didn't want it to be easy because then they would be out of work.  Basically the way cuneiform works is that there are three types of sign: logogram, determinative, and the phonetic signs.  Logograms represent a full word, determinatives refer to what the word in question was made of (i.e. the word for boat always has the determinative for wood with it), the phonemes are like they sound they are a syllable.  Now the difficulty comes in that one sign often has three different syllable sounds associated with is as well as a logogram or determinative meaning with it. 

I had forgotten about this one.  I did it while at the Vitamin Studio.  Primarily it was a thing of I had an odd shaped piece of copper that looked like a sea monster to me.  The leash if I remember correctly was mainly a formalist addition, although maybe content wise it speaks towards personal responsibility.

Blub Blub

I did this one back in graduate school, but I did not have a camera to photograph it.   Blub Blub pretty much sums up how I felt in graduate school.

Light

I cannot recall if I posted this before.

Arabian Nights Cover

Maybe I should not post this, but this was intended to be the wrap around cover to my Arabian Nights book.  It is an engraving.  Always a concern is people stealing my images or whatever, but I thought maybe it should be seen even if I never get around to the book.

This is a fairly old print, I think like 2007-2008.

Proof of an old old block, originally done for Prints for Peace although I never sent it out.

This is a proof off of an old old block.

First Silverpoint

More on this can be found at the Want Something Drawn? Yo I'll draw it blog.  Although not a whole lot more, not particularly wordy tonight.

Work in Progress

This is the first proof off of this block so far I would have to say that the left eyelid needs to be widened, an over all increase in white specks.  Maybe chinecole on the barette, and a different printing color.  The black is a little macabre on this piece. 

The Leftovers exchange

Damien Hirst

There are a lot of people who hate Damien Hirst, and let's be honest there is a lot to hate.  1. He has got to be the wealthiest artist in the world.   2.He has a posse of assistants who do the work for him.  Most notably the infamous dots of Chloroperoxidase, none of which he colored.  Hirst's recommendation is to buy the ones Rachel did.  3.  He does steal ideas from other artists, which unfortunately is something artists do.  4.He has a drug problem and one of the things he is known for is sticking a burning cigarette in the end of his penis (not a predesigned art thing, as far as we know)  5.  His website sucks.

That being said I find the work being produced in his name interesting, and the reactions he gets are also interesting.  His attitude is also appealing.  He is honest about Rachel, whereas Kinkade would have never admitted to her.  Part of why I like his work is because it has a point.  One of my favorite pieces is For the Love of God.  It is an 18th century skull that his assistants recast in platinum and set with diamonds.  There is a ton of content with this piece.  In my mind it speaks to the pointlessness of the diamonds, as the owner is clearly dead, perhaps with the inclusion of the title it points to an atheist streak within Hirst.


Besides who else can say that they have killed 9,000 butterflies in the name of art, ooops Lori Precious did in 1994.

Dread Scott

Okay,
I originally started looking at this guys work because I really like his name, but I quite like some of his Revolution Paintings, and the installation with the shooting gallery.  The paintings were made via xerox transfer to canvas of original photographs from that time, and then he painted over them in places.  He is more of an idea type of artist.  Click the link to see more.

www.dreadscott.net

Sort of Congratulations to me

A very merry sort of congratulations to me.  While I did not win anything at the Light, Space, and Time Juried Figurative Exhibition I did get into it, even with 731 entries.  It was the Very old one from Scranton featured on the Naked Beast.

Proof

The Impossible has happened

For years I have said that I was not likely to grow any larger vertically, but I have gained an inch over the course of this week thanks to my new chiropractor.

I've been told that I shouldn't talk about these things, but this is an expression of the mental health problems I have been having.  This past Monday was such a good work day for me, nothing for eight hours.

Drawings for the Gillman Comic Book

Lubok the Popular Prints of Russia

Found a book on these today.  Most of it is in Russian with a brief English summary.  Maybe I'll write more latter.

Cedar Rapids

I did this last month, but I get so distracted and busy these days things don't always happen in a timely manner. I made the five hour drive down from La Crosse to Cedar Rapids.  For those out there not familiar with Cedar Rapids it is the sight of the Legion Art Center, where Mr. Kimm works.  It was also Grant Wood's city of origin and the heart of Regionalism.  Cedar Rapids also had some horrific flooding, which if I remember correctly hit to the second floor window of Legion art center.  It has undergone extensive renovation, and I would have to say that I was thoroughly impressed by the facilities.  Cedar Rapids is also the location of the Quaker Oats factory.  As Mr. Kimm will attest smells can vary in Cedar Rapids; things like Captain Crunch.  Coming back was a bit of an adventure I took a wrong turn and got lost in the city, but with a little help managed to make way back out.
If you can go now you can expect to see Gary Hootman's wood fired ceramics, which are indeed monumental and impressive pieces of work reminiscent of Mesoamerican art.  You can also see Four Directions, Four Printmakers, which I would highly recommend.  Chauvin had some very impressive etchings.  They were quite large, but still maintained a lot of detail and fluidity in them and are impressive from a technical aspect as well as for their content and design.