Dominance War IV - week2

some updates:
illo test thumbs
orthos for body core
concept sheet

Joan of Arc

my entry for this week's chow. been pretty busy lately so this is closer to a speedpaint than illo, might fix her up some more later. thanks to davi for help with paintover and critiques!
wips:

ROSEBUD

John Updike, one of the world's greatest and most highly regarded writers, died in January at the age of 76. From the day he graduated summa cum laude from Harvard, Updike worked tirelessly to produce (in the words of his New York Times obituary) "a body of fiction, verse, essays and criticism so vast, protean and lyrical as to place him in the first rank of American authors." It's hard to imagine a life more productive.

Here are just some of the international awards he received for his brilliant work:

1959 Guggenheim Fellow
1959 National Institute of Arts and Letters Rosenthal Award
1964 National Book Award for Fiction
1965 Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger
1966 O. Henry Prize
1981 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
1982 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1982 National Book Award for Fiction
1982 Union League Club Abraham Lincoln Award
1983 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism
1984 National Arts Club Medal of Honor
1987 St. Louis Literary Award
1987 Ambassador Book Award
1988 PEN/Malamud Award
1989 National Medal of Arts
1990 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
1991 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1991 O. Henry Prize
1992 Honorary Doctor of Letters from Harvard University
1995 William Dean Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
1995 Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
1997 Ambassador Book Award
1998 National Book Award Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
2003 National Humanities Medal
2004 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
2006 Rea Award for the Short Story
2007 American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Fiction
2008 Jefferson Lecture

Updike wrote over 60 books during his lifetime. In his last months, as he knew he was dying, he completed one last book, a final collection of poems entitled Endpoint. One reviewer wrote,

In their last years, many artists cast aside all their usual flourishes, dismiss the circus animals and simply set down, as directly as possible, the realities and inevitabilities of old age. So John Updike has done in this moving book of poems.

So putting aside all the wealth and fame and world travel, what lesson does Updike have for us about the true nature of happiness? Updike writes:

To copy comic strips, stretched prone upon the musty carpet--
Mickey's ears, the curl in Donald's bill,
The bulbous nose of Barney Google, Captain Easy's squint--
What bliss!

Seems like you can either start working on that first Guggenheim fellowship, or you can pull out your pencil.

SPAM ALERT to all my Feedburner Subscribers

I to all who subscribe to Art Car Central via feedburner, yoo got an email last night with my name on it which did not come from me. It was a request with an arabic return email address saying it was from feedburner via Art Car Central.

the message was

Hello there,
You recently requested an email subscription to Art Car Central. We can't
wait to send the updates you want via email, so please click the following
link to activate your subscription immediately:

DO NOT REPLY TO IT, i DID NOT SEND!!!!!!!

Sorry for the weirdness and I do I appreciate you all being loyal subscribers to Art Car Central. I love making you all laugh.

Donna & Catherine

Donna - oil on canvas, 20" x 30"






Catherine - oil on canvas panel, 22" x 28"

ARTISTS AT WAR: GILBERT BUNDY

Gilbert Bundy (1911-1955) painted with a light and elegant brush.



Look at the graceful way he handles the bouquet of flowers on the table:



... or the foliage and chandelier in the background:



Bundy gained fame as a cartoonist in the pages of Esquire magazine in the 1930s. He painted delightful watercolors of the leisure class at play, specializing in millionaire sportsmen and glamorous show girls.









High society photos from this period show the handsome young illustrator out on the town, dressed in his tuxedo and escorting some beautiful young chanteuse to gala parties. Here we see Bundy in his studio with yet another gorgeous model:



Bundy fell in love with the right girl, married her and had a baby daughter. Life was sweet.

But when World War II came along, Bundy decided for some reason to leave it all behind and volunteer to work as an artist in the South Pacific for Hearst newspapers.





In 1944, Bundy was accompanying the Marine invasion of Tarawa when a Japanese shell exploded in his small landing craft. Bundy survived but was trapped beneath the bodies of four Marines. The wreckage of the craft lodged on a coral reef within range of enemy gunners. For most of the day, Bundy remained pinned beneath the corpses, drenched with blood, as enemy bullets and shells strafed the remnants of the craft. When it finally turned dark, Bundy freed himself and swam away from the wreck, taking his chances spending a night alone in shark infested waters rather than endure another day under fire. The Hearst newspaper reported, "He was believed dead for three days. His reappearance startled his Marine mates."



Bundy returned to the U.S. but never recaptured the joy in his pre-war art. On the anniversary of his ordeal Bundy committed suicide, thereby rejoining his fallen comrades.

Sometimes I think about how a sensitive, observant artist such as Bundy perceived such horrors. Of course, I also wonder what lured him to leave his loving wife and daughter in order to paint war to begin with.

Arthur Koestler wrote persuasively about why artists and writers chose to immolate themselves in the flames of World War II. They were not fearless patriots or fanatical believers. To the contrary, many believed that "to love one's country is vulgar, to love God is archaic and to love mankind is sentimental." Yet, some other force drew the artists toward their doom: "there is no escape, and he feels it; so he goes on trying at least to name the nameless force that destroys him."

In trying to "name that nameless force," Koestler wrote of his friend, the young writer Richard Hillary who became a fighter pilot and was shot down in the Battle of Britain. Hillary was burned beyond recognition. After months of painful reconstructive surgery, his face was horribly disfigured and his hands resembled bird claws. Still, some of the most beautiful young women in London pursued him. Rather than embrace whatever semblance of beauty that remained in life, Hillary pressured the air force into letting him fly again and the next mission ended him. Koestler wrote that Hillary

flies like a moth into the flame; and having burned his wings crawls back into it again.... Why then, in God's name, did he go back?.... [H]e was the only one left , and he had to go on paying the tribute [to his fallen comrades]. For the survivor is always a debtor. He thought he came back [to civilization] for the fellowship with the living , while he already belonged to the fraternity of the dead.

Hillary's motives, like Bundy's, were more psychologically complex than mere patriotism. He wrote that people who feel guilt for "imaginary debts" account for many of civilization's great accomplishments:

You could not expect healthy motives to lead to the morbid act of self-sacrifice. The prosperity of the race was based on those who paid imaginary debts. Tear out the roots of their guilt and nothing will remain but the drifting sand of the desert.

Art and war together in the same petrie dish can result in situations that are not always easy to understand, but which are worth investigating. I will offer a collection of such stories in the months ahead.

Rudy: Cuban Gynecologist and American Used Car Salesman

Why is this so funny? I used to sell cars once upon a time and I heard a lot of stories about ways to sell cars. But this is by far the worst gimmick I have ever heard and hopefully Rudy the Cuban Gynecologist and American Used Car Salesman doesn't plan on doing both at the same time. Or maybe he plans on throwing in his services as an added feature to the 100k mile warranty.Wait I think I just spotted the spoof. This video was made by Rhett&Link and they also have a making of the making of this funny commercial they made.

Top of The Stairs - Art Showing

White Center for The Arts, a new artist haven and gallery in South Seattle, is holding it's second art show on Saturday, April 18th, from 5 to 10 pm. Six of my paintings will be on display.

White Center for The Arts (map)
9639 16th Ave SW
Seattle, WA ( White Center)
http://www.whitecenterforthearts.org/

MAPS

Nothing is more solid and constant than the earth beneath our feet, right? It provides us with objective standards for measurement ("milestones" and "landmarks"). The physical location, dimensions and characteristics of mountains or streets or rivers can be quantified and recorded on maps that can be read and agreed upon by all.

Isn't it interesting, then, how various artists can view that same objective reality so differently?


A map of Florida from Walt Disney's Dumbo, with storks parachuting baby animals down on the circus.


The earth as a jester, with cautionary Latin maxims.


New York City as a huge penis


A map of London from the 1851 World's Fair

The earth may appear constant to a farmer or an engineer building a road. A map maker has tools and standards to depict the earth as objectively as possible. Artists look at the same object, but what a blaze of creativity in their responses!



The earth as perceived in 1940s romantic fiction, where the single most important thing on the planet is that rendezvous with your true love


A 15th century map of the earth

A 4th century map of the earth


A Hollywood map shows how California contains a microcosm of the rest of the world for purposes of filming movies.

Guerrilla marketing

(via)

Gallery

Oil on canvas, 20" x 30"

The Fahrvernpüssy Lounge by Tré Taylor

The Fahrvernpüssy Lounge VW Art Van is the creation of Tré Taylor who is also the amazing vocalist for The Dangerous Martini Quartet. Her VW Art Car is a 1973 type 2 camper van and has a 911 Porsche engine. The Interior, Custom Glass Mosaic Art done by Sherry Tobin and is basically a mobile Cocktail Lounge, with it's own little wet bar.

The Fahrvernpüssy Lounge with Tré Taylor at the Wheel


The Fahrvernpüssy Lounge Interior


The Fahrvernpüssy Lounge in Full Lounge Mode

via

Star Wars Art Cars II - Revenge of the Art Trucks

I got an email the other day from Pete owner of GalacticBinder who sent me a link to some pretty amazing Star Wars Art Cars, Vans and Trucks. When I saw these I knew that without them ACC would not be complete so I had to post these. Pete also claims that his site is the biggest Star Wars directory in the world. I think he is right and if you are a big Star Wars fan its the place to go for all kinds of interesting and odd Star Wars stuff. By the way I think Art Car Central is the biggest Art Car directory in the world now with over 450 entries. SO if you are a fan here are a few more Star Wars Art Cars you cant live without.

Star Wars Van Art Car


Star Wars Darth Maul Art Van


Star Wars Phantom Menace Big Rig Art Trucks


Star Wars Custom Art Van


Star Wars Art Camper

Dominance War IV - week1

decided to join in this year's DW fun :D comments and critiques welcome

Demon Princess - Dak-hana: The Brooding Hunger

Character Description:
Dak-hana is a Demon Princess whose stomach is a "gateway" that opens to the darkest pits of hell where nightmarish creatures reach out to grab at everything. Anything that passes into the "gateway" of Dak-hana's belly will lose all their lifeforce and soul (if any). Some of the physical pieces are absorbed to be incubated/stored as parts to create offsprings.

When Dak-hana has eaten enough, she gives birth to undead abominations that is made up of all the bits and pieces of creatures/beings she has incubated. These undead abominations become her minions and army.

Because of this, Dak-hana usually become most powerful in battle, where she gets a large supply of "food".

Her favorite food is goldfishes.

>.>

preliminary doodle, to get a vague idea of the overall shape and elements as a starting point.

upper body test

test thumbs for head/neck design

test thumbs for basic body

Back to the Basics

Robert Rauschenberg, Erased de Kooning Drawing (1953)

It never stops being astonishing, the way the dynamics of a piece can outgrow the original input, the aesthetic conception, the initial conceptual framework.
I had heard a version where it was Rauschenberg asking De Koonig for a drawing that was dear to him. The story as told by Rauschenberg is so much more human, and impressive.

First Ever Desert Jet Ski-Margaritaville Jet Ski

here is the skinny on this first ever Desert Jet Ski via

When the project started early November 2003 I knew exactly what I was after: “The Evolution of a Jet Ski”. I was in search of a watercraft to build my little bit of Paradise. A friend of mine showed up with this poor, mistreated, abused and beaten body of a wave runner. I went to work on her. And when I fired up the first set of lights on her engine cowl and stood in front of her, I knew that she was in fact alive and ready for her new life. Rita was built from a 10 ft Kawasaki wave runner and a Murray lawn tractor. (best thing that ever happened to a Murray). It was literally like attaching a 2x4 to a rock! Now She is an Art Car. An Art Car is a vehicle that is transformed into art, where Her body becomes the canvas.

Rita now sits on a John Deere frame as of 7/12/08. Ready to go with a hydrostatic transmission.

Art Truck Bed By Patrick Amiot- A Great Place to Crash

photo on David Bacigalupi's Sketchbook Photo Journal

I found this art truck bed yesterday photo taken by David Bacigalupi and I had to post it on art car central. The funny thing is that hours later on my walk around Sebastopol California I decided to go visit my friend Patrick Amiot who creates the most amazing and whimsical sculptures made from junk. His work is all around town and many are located on Sebastopol's famous Florence street. He is also the creator of the Shark Art Car and has many more art cars on his web site. So I am chatting away with Patrick and Brigitte in the back studio when he offers to give a tour of the house. The first stop was the bedroom and what did I see??? This amazing Art Truck Bed right there just like in the picture. It was totally weird how only hours ago I had made a mental note to put it up on my blog. After I saw it I knew it had to put it up, and so here it is. I love how it has the gas tanks for bed posts and the old GMC grill. 

Commissioned Tattoos

for Stark (Brandon) <3

Dress-up

Two ideas for an eye-opening surrounding:
Chris&Ruby's Footies, socks for your chairs

and TRASH:Any Color You Like, a rapidly growing project by Adrian Kondratowicz, based the simple idea that trash bags are also sculptoric forms.



(via)

The Von Tiki - Tiki Style Party Bar on wheels

I wrote about the von tiki party bar art car some time ago. Now I bring you the in depth video interview with the creator of this art car, Jake Goldstein.

Manly Studies

practice practice
portrait studies of Nemesis from irc
another study
30 minute doodle