Delivered by Art (The First Post)

A fellow artist friend of mine has been sending me postcards featuring his work.  He tends to throw away his artwork (crazy, right?), and I tend to keep everything, including the lint from my pocket.  So, it works out that I will be acting as a kind of archivist or curator for at least some of his artwork.  It also dawned on me that I have mailed artwork via postcards myself.  In fact, from myself to myself, which is a bit odd, but whatever.  And then I realized that I recently got a postcard for supporting SAW (Sequential Artists Workshop), so I put them together, and I got about 8 postcards, so that is plenty to start making posts out of them.

Want to learn more about SAW?  Check out their website by clicking on the image above, and be sure to follow them on Twitter @comicsworkshop. But I digress.  Here is the first of Jim's postcards:

Hemingway and Castro by Jim Webner, pen and ink with watercolors

And I uploaded the back, because it features a classic Beetle Bailey cartoon strip stamp.

Stay tuned for more postcard art from the road.  Want to send my a postcard?  E-mail me at inkpuddle@hotmail.com.

Making a Postcard Art Feature Graphic (Process)

Another "feature" for the blog means another custom graphic needs to be manufactured.  A fellow artist friend of mine has been sending me postcards featuring his artwork.  He tends to throw away his artwork (crazy, right?), and I tend to keep everything, including the lint from my pocket.  So, it works out that I will be acting as a kind of archivist or curator of at least some of his art.  Here is how it started off.

Sketchbook page with rough drafts

I included the whole page, because I thought it was funny in what direction my brain was going.  The graveyard scene concerns my character of a zombie Shakespeare.  I was also working on a design for a baby bib for a friend's baby.  I am not sure where the bird comes from.  The bear is another bib design that I had done a while back.  And then there is the mouse holding a martini.  Mad Men inspired.  An odd 1950's Mickey Mouse turned corporate shill and playboy.  We'll see where that goes.  I was also trying to figure out what I wanted to call this postcard art feature.  Here is the really basic design up close.

That is some rough sketching

So, I transferred that idea into a blue pencil sketch.

Cleaned up non-reproducing blue pencil sketch

Then I inked it.

Inked using sumi ink with synthetic brush

Then I colored it.

And you will see the final graphic design when I post my first "Delivered by Art" feature.

Haddonfield Arts Festival

This post is couple weeks later than I thought it would be, but it is worth mentioning.  Every year, the town of Haddonfield, NJ hosts an Arts & Crafts Festival.  I try to go there every year, if only to browse the artwork, but it is even better when you can chat with some artists.  The show features fine artists as well as crafters and miscellaneous vendors, so for every painter or photographer, there was ten people selling country cottage decor featuring lambs and chickens, but I digress.  I spent every red cent I had in my pockets that day, and you could easily drop thousands of dollars on the works of art displayed there.  In Part 1 of this post, I will introduce you to two artists I met.

The first booth that drew me was one featuring oil paintings.  Jack Nie displayed a wide variety of oil paintings.  One side of the booth was hung with seascapes, but more interesting were his city scenes, especially from New York City.

www.niebrothers.com

From Jack Nie's website:

The painter, Jack Nie, left China for Europe in 1989 to travel through Belgium, Germany, France and Holland. He studied the works of the European masters, particularly Renaissance painters, and learned the techniques and skills of artists in the Western hemisphere. His works and that of his brother Leon were awarded 4 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals and 1 Bronze Medal. In the 1990s he emigrated to New York, the major center for art in the USA, where he now lives and paints. Jack Nie creates vibrant paintings which, like those of his brother Leon, are skillful blends of modern, classic and traditional Chinese art. (See more information at  http://www.niebrothers.com/English/Home.html)

The print I bought that day

Next up was Andrew Cherashore (andrewcherashorephotography.com).  He had a great selection of color landscape photography.  It was nice seeing landscape photography that wasn't black and white prints posing as Ansel Adams rip-offs.  He had some great variations on the same subject, too, such as the same mountain during sunrise versus sunset.

Click on the image to visit his website

I was immediately thinking that if I had the money, it would interesting to assemble multiple photographs, contrasting how the light significantly changes the tone and feel of the exact same subject.  We talked a bit about his trips, his method, and the film he uses.  It is always nice speaking with someone who is passionate about his work.  And he was nice enough to pose for a photograph.

andrewcherashorephotography.com

From Andrew's website:

I have always had a passion for the outdoors and discovered my talent with the camera twenty years ago. I have an interest in creating images that show true expression of the actual scene and show how magical and sometimes mysterious nature can be. I focus on dramatic landscape images throughout the United States and Canada. 

I met two other interesting artists that day that I will cover in Part 2 of this post.

Sketching and Scanning For As Long As I Can

I recently had a conversation about the benefits and downsides of a 1 a Day blog, like taking one photograph a day or doing 1 sketch a day.  The problem is that you are not always in the mood to write an essay, or take a photograph, or sketch, so when that good-intentioned blog turns into a drag, a chore, annoying homework for a class you are not getting credit for, the magic is gone.  But, I am a glutton for punishment, so here is my Sketch-A-Day Tumblr site: http://sketches.inkpuddle.com.

If you do not see a new sketch each and every day, feel free to harass me by e-mail inkpuddle@hotmail.com or on Twitter @inkpuddle.

Sad, Sad, Teddy Bear (Groan Folks Books Project)

So, here is another illustration from the Groan Folks book project I have been working on with my brother for the past two years or so.

Click on the pic to see a larger image

Here is something that perhaps other students of art encounter.  When I look at a fine example of a watercolor painting or even a fine example of a finished pencil drawing or illustration or ink sketch, it is not uncommon for you to see some remaining underlying pencil marks.  In some ways, I think this is intriguing because you can see how the artist began the work and you can see some of the drafting --> painting process at work.  Also, sometimes you can't really see the underlying pencil marks unless you get really close to the work, and if you have ever looked at a van Gogh painting up close, you will realize that the real effect of any work of art is not 2" away from the work or under a microscope, the real power is seeing it from afar or seeing it on an easel or a wall, anywhere from 3 to 20 feet away from you.  So, on one hand, I think underlying pencil strokes that show through in the final product are not only acceptable but awesome.

BUT, on the other hand, sometimes when I see my own underlying pencil marks, I get very frustrated and self-conscious.  First, because if I think the drawing or illustration is "done", then I don't particularly want to get into the process or erasing those lines and then trying to re-draw that exact shade of shadow or line and sync it up with the other lines and shadow in the piece.

Click to view larger and see the "early" pencil line(s) that remain

If you are not in the same frame of mind or month or year that you did that drawing, trying to go back and re-create the conditions in which you worked is like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.  When these drawings are printed on paper the size of normal children's picture books, you don't see the offending lines.  But I know they are there, and I am still unsure how I feel about them.  In one minute I say, "it's done, so it's done" and then I will turn around and say "that was just a draft.  I will re-do the whole thing over again."

You can see the "offending" pencil line here without even seeing the larger image.

Here is the dangerous part: I know about re-scaling images and Photoshopping images and printing resolution, so in the back of my mind I know that many imperfections magically disappear when scanned, processed, and printed, and this worries me that I will be (or have been) lazy in my efforts.  I think the key is to keep drawing, revising, more drawing, and do what feels right in the future in terms of fine polishing my pencil drawings, but it is a concern that continues to nag at my very soul.

BONUS BLOG POST!  What?  Bonus blog post?  That's right.  I am crossing my fingers, slapping myself in the face, shouting to myself, "You will sketch every day!" and thus was born The Ink Puddle Sketchbook @ http://sketches.inkpuddle.com.  We will see how long it lasts.

Interview: Yao Xiao

A new, regularly-appearing (hopefully) feature here at the Ink Puddle Art Blog is going to be exclusive interviews with artists.  First up is Yao Xiao, whom I first discovered through Twitter.  I recently had a chance to sit down with Yao...well, actually, I sat down at my computer and typed out questions.  I am not sure whether she was sitting down or not when she answered them.  Anyway, here is how it went.


Ink Puddle: Yao, thanks for being on Ink Puddle.  I have read some of your bio from an interview online, but could you introduce yourself and maybe say a few things about who you are, what you are doing now, and where you are going.

Yao Xiao: Hi! I am Yao. I'm an artist in New York who draws pictures and comics, and sketches live. Right now my art centers around capturing city nightlife, performances and scatters of erotic fantasy. I am an illustrator for a few fiction journals in China, and I am a caricature/sketch artist for underground parties in Brooklyn and other private parties. I am originally from China-this is my fifth year in the States. Currently I am going onto my third year at the School of Visual Arts as an illustration major. I'd like to keep experimenting with what I'm doing right now and see where my art wants to take me.

Ink: Well, it looks like your art currently takes you to a lot of events.  You have a number of wedding sketches posted on your Tumblr site, and they are great. With people dancing around, having a good time, you seem to capture a moment like a snapshot.  They seem like spontaneous sketches, and yet, they have great composition to them.  Great use of black and white space.  When I am drawing anything, I tend to do small thumbnail sketches first, and then re-do them larger and change them a bit.  Do you do any kind of pre-sketching? Or do you just start drawing?  What is your process like when doing these sketches?  Do you wait around for the "right moment" to present itself or do you keep sketching all the time and pick out the best ones?  And about how many sketches would you say you do at an event like a wedding?

Yao: I just start drawing. It happens very quickly when I sketch these, so a lot of the times it is an intuitive process. To describe it, I guess I usually start with the most interesting curve, or the key of a movement, and start from there. For landscapes and buildings I like to start from the farthest shapes in the background. I start with a single curve/person/shape and then add things around it. As for the "right moment," I do tend to watch and wait around for an interesting "shot," then I start from that moment and add other things/people as I sketch. At an event like a wedding which lasts for 6-8 hours, I can make about 36-40 drawings. Sketching at events is my favorite, especially when there's good drinks and music.

Ink:  That sounds like a very busy yet very fun day.  And speaking of fun, a lot of your "from life" gesture sketches come from Dr. Sketchy sessions.   We have Dr. Sketchy here in Philadelphia as well, but for people who don't know what it is, describe a Dr. Sketchy session for me.  How helpful are these sessions for developing your art and for meeting other artists?

Yao: I found Dr. Sketchy's when I first arrive in New York City. I think coming to Sketchy's was the best decision I've made. Dr. Sketchy's is a life drawing session mixed with cabaret and drinking, founded by New York artist Molly Crabapple (@mollycrabapple) A typical Dr.Sketchy's session include one or more models posing in costumes which fit the theme of the day. The session starts with short one-minute poses and moves onto 5 minutes, 10 minutes and eventually 20 minutes poses. The fun part is the drinking and the contests...there is always a left-handed drawing contest, and the other two are related to the theme. I like Dr. Sketchy's as a place to practice drawing because it is a good mix of art and comedy, drinking and burlesque performance, and the audience is often a fun crowd to meet. I always get good drawings out of it. The atmosphere is way more energetic than a generic life drawing session and something unusual might spark in one's creative mind.

Ink: It certainly looks like a good time to me.  Since I am fan of comics and comic books, I can't resist asking you about them. First, I love the fact that you do short comics, sometimes just 4 panels, to illustrate a single thought or a dream or just one experience. Do you read comics now or in the past?  Any favorites?  Do you feel that drawing comic style art as a balance to the "from life" sketching you do?  On a daily basis what art form do you do the most: from life sketching, illustration, cartooning?  And which do you enjoy the most?  Also, some of your life sketches have a storyboard/comic/graphic novel feel to them with your use of panels.  That is not a question, just an observation.  And as far as Dingleberries! goes, is Coco-Tatas your superhero alter-ego?  Do you truly have magical cleavage?

Yao: I'm glad you asked me about the comics! I've always been in love with comics since I was young--I read a lot of Japanese manga, and wanted to be a manga-ka (comic artist) when I was 12. I didn't grow up with American comics, so I still have a lot to catch up to. My most recent favorites--I just finished reading Parasyte by Hitoshi Iwaaki, and Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis (@warrenellis) & Derrick Robertson. I think they will be my favorites of all times from now on.

Art has always been a big mix for me. Ever since I was young, I was in love with fine arts, I adored the Renaissance just as much as I adored Yoko Ono, I read a lot of manga, played video games and read alternative graphic novels when I came to the States. I believe that it is natural for an artist to be attracted to everything--not even just art forms, but everything in life that excites and provokes people. I can't decide what I want to do the most--I like drawing comics just as much as I like making paintings. I learned ceramics and I've made fine art sculptures and installations. I like to try everything.

Right now, perhaps on a daily basis I draw from life on the subway, doodle some comics at work then make illustration at home? It is not a routine but I always end up doodling something. My goal is to be drawing all the time-so I'm glad that I have multiple categories I can switch in and out of. I keep an open mind for changes: in style, in content and in disciplines. Sometimes it frustrates me, when my style changes or when I find myself liking my old work better--but I believe it is a process to go through in order to be a good artist. My style has changed so many times, on average it happens every couple months. But i can't hold the urge to change, because I believe every artist is an adventurer, and staying in the same place seem to be counter-intuitive. It's a good sign that I'm still going further, I believe.

On the subject of Dingleberries!...I believe the answer is yes to both. Coco-tatas is what I turn into at times of danger, and my cleavage can stop bullets/breed bunny bombs. Coco-Tatas was created by Foley, the writer of Dingleberries! when we were first doodling jam comics for character ideas. I refused to draw her for the longest time because I believed that showing up in comical undergarments on the Internet is outrageously inappropriate...I have no idea how that belief was undone. :P

Ink: Well, I think the world is safer with Coco-Tatas.  Your Monday's Child book project is really wonderful looking, very bizarre, but not scary.  There is something sweet and funny about the characters. (By the way, this one [below, left] reminded me of Dr. Seuss' 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins) How many did you print for MoCCA and are you going to print up more of them?  Or sell them on Etsy?  Also, I have seen that you have done posters for plays like West Side Story and books like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  And your recent portrait of Allen Ginsberg.  Were these commissioned pieces, or do you make the decision to use stories and literature in your art on your own?

Yao: For Monday's Child, I made about 24 copies for MoCCA. After MoCCA and FreshMeat (comic fest at the School of Visual Arts) I have just a couple of them left. I'll certainly need to print more for future con's and Etsy. I haven't set up my Etsy shop entirely yet, it will be finalized soon. I've also been handing them out like a business card. The little booklets are very handy for that. As for the West Side Story and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-those pieces (Click HERE to see Yao's West Side Story poster) were mostly practice pieces for possible future commissions. I have to do the pieces that I want to do just in case no one asks me for them. And now I have done them, it sets a good example for people who are looking for works with a similar feel.

Ink: That is great, and great advice for other artists, too.  Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing where your art takes you next!

Here is where you can see Yao's art:

Follow her of Twitter @yaoxiaoart
Illustrated Life Through Sketching http://yaoxiaoart.tumblr.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/yaoxiaoart
Talking Muffin! http://www.artifolio.com/xiaoyao
Dingleberries! http://www.dinglecomic.com