Disgusted Fairy

I was looking through some old drawings and what did I find? This is an expression I fell in love with the moment I saw it. I just can't get over it, and I smile every time I see it. Have you ever seen such a perfect look of disgust? Thank you Soul Eater ^^

Seriously though, I think I'm going to have to get this tattooed on the back of my hand or something, so I'll always have some thing to laugh about ;)

What does this have to do with art?

What do 6 million Jews and one starving dog have in common? Apparently, that's how much it takes to prove that the human race is awful and that we really needed Hitler and evil artists after all.

In 2007 Costa Rican artist Guillermo Vargas tied up a stray dog and left it to starve as what he would like to call either an 'installation' or 'performance' piece of art. Some art critics say that this is just another in a long line of artists using their work to challenge society. Vargas stated that the exhibit and the surrounding controversy highlight people's hypocrisy because no one cares about a dog that starves to death in the street. I have to say, making an image of a starving dog to make a statement about society is completely a different kettle of fish from actually starving one. And it philosophy/logic just don't back it up.

Starving a dog to prove how indifferent society is - that's some rather twisted logic. By the same logic, Vargas could as easily claim that it was a good thing Hitler killed all those Jews because it showed how rotten the world is.

Surely if you have the pre-existing idea that society is rotten, you must have already found lots of anecdotal evidence which you could use, combined with your own two hands and some actual sweat, to make some actual art?

I think the thing that Shock and Awe artists (yeah, I put them together with Bush, and they deserve it) miss is that getting a cheap thrill out of a crowd lasts only a few minutes whereas the best art (Francisco Goya, The Shootings of May 3, 1808 see image) last and continue to have meaning.

Paintings like this were indeed shocking. If we weren't so jaded they still would be. But they still have great power precisely because we are still dealing with similar situations today. You don't have to claim that literal bodies and corpses are art just to get impact, you really can produce art with your own to hands that has impact, too. I don't know why artists today have lost faith in the power of art so they go running to find ways to create sideshows. It's a mystery.

On a side note, the life and death status of the dog used in the exhibit has not been established, but many believe it to have died as a result.

Lotus Flower <3

I suddenly understand how Art Nouveau took off so strongly in the 19th century. It has to be because of all those sexy, delicious, curvy lines.

I got a great big taste of it doing these lotus flowers. I was frankly surprised how quickly I took to them. I was enjoying them so much, I fear I put probably way too many petals ^^

The question now is..... do I stop where I am or add some watery washes in the background? I had planned to leave the background blank, but I unfortunately went outside the lines a few times and a wackground wash would cover that up completely. Is a puzzlement.

Shading has it's uses

You may remember this little number from a previous post, tho I seem to have mislaid it.

The last time these mums made an appearance, they were bare bones outlines. Now that I have started working on washes, I decided to give the mums some TLC, and boy, did they respond.

It's still just a stodgy old picture of mums that will never be contemporary, but they're still a lot nicer now ;)

Mounting Difficulties

I'll admit it - I've been totally neglecting mounting my artwork. And for the simple reason that I was intimidated by the idea. What if it wrinkles? What if it tears? (Where am I gonna store it all?!)

Well, I'm over it. With the huge backlog I've accumulated, I couldn't afford to let it just keep piling up, so I took the plunge. And it turned out to be not so scary. Naturally, there is a significant danger of damage, but slow and steady does the trick.

It's actually just a combination of stretching watercolor paper and pasting wall paper in the end (see still moist results above). Silly me. Now if I could just find places for it all... any volunteers?

How to Fail as an Artist, 6

If you want to get ahead in the art world, you have to know how to play the game. But it helps to know that the fastest way to get ahead in the game is to take the normal rules and turn them upside down.

For example, if you're going to write a paper, you probably know that you'll get a bad grade if you 'Beg the question' instead of really making a proposition.

Completely the opposite for success in the art market. For something like the last 50 years, artists have been making money off the dregs of their genius forebears by begging the question, "what is art?"

It goes a little something like this: The less it looks like art, the more it *is* art. The more people question if what you are doing is art, the better. It's kind of like an extra long, extra expensive episode of punkd.

And the biggest secret to this is that rich people love buying stuff that's inexplicable. That way, they can claim to have this extra-refined sense of artistic taste that you just wouldn't understand. (Remember the emperor's new clothes, anyone?) But of course, they still need their investments to appreciate in value, so it's not quite as easy as all that.

Still, it's good to know that you don't have to deal with actually making art to be an artist. As long as you can beg the question, you can rise right to the top.

Next week, how to make platinum, jewel -encrusted skulls that *don't* look like they're supposed to be on your stick shift.

Watch out for those viri

My brain is incapacitated this week due to some virus, so I'll have to avoid thinking for this post.

I decided to let you have a look at the frame job I did for this little iris painting. I've gotta say, the frame can really make the painting. It looks 400% better now.

I wouldn't normally think to use a mat with a painting, but the painting is 4x6 and the frame is 5x7. I used silk to spiff it up, and it looks quite classy.

Please join me again next week when my brain should be in working order to do another installment of 'How to Fail...'