MY HALLOWEEN NIGHTMARE

It was the same dream I always have.

Once again I found myself filled with dread, on a pier overlooking the sea. 

Once again I knew that help in the form of a ship was on its way, but it was doubtful that the boat would ever make it. 

Whatever it was that was after me was also after the ship.

 Machines patrolled the shore. 

Gliders, too. Nothing could get past that.

There was nothing for it but to turn back to the city. If I could walk through it and find my way to the countryside maybe I'd be safe. 

It took a while before I realized that I was being watched.

People in an airplane were following my progress. They seemed to know who I was. 

It was sport for them. They were probably betting on wether I'd make it or not.

I had to tune them out. I just concentrated on putting one foot in in front of another. 

Just look at the ground. 

Don't catch anyone's eye. 

Don't look at the people who look at you.

Just keep walking.

Finally I got to the outer edge of the city.

At the base of the hill I realized that I'd left the world of adults behind. There was nothing but odd children down here. 

The oddest of all was a little girl wearing oversize shoes.

Somehow I knew that she'd done unspeakable things. I'd have to avoid her if I was going to get though this. 

I saw the bridge leading out of the city. 

I wondered if the people on the airplane could still see me. Probably not. I had a strong sense that the watchers had disappeared. The now empty plane circled pointlessly overhead.

I found shelter in a cave that ran under the bridge.

Even there I felt I was being watched.

But why? Why would they watch me? What did they want?

In the dark I heard something behind me. 

Then, as I always do, I woke up.

CARICATURE OF ME!

I just unearthed this caricature John did of me, way back in 1994! It'll serve as a great placeholder til I can post again, probably tonight.

MORE ABOUT COMEDIC FIGURE DRAWING

 I was a cartooning teacher for a while and in some classes we would apply whatever the lesson was to model drawing. Before paying individual attention to students I'd quick-sketch the pose myself on a big board just to suggest one way of approaching the problem. No one was required to draw in my style.

If you're curious to see what this kind of session (or rather, an idealized version of such a session) might have looked like then read on. For the purpose of this post I'll try an operatic theme.

Before the comedic poses started the class will have done some quick sketches of the models so they got used to caricaturing them.

Backgrounds were optional but encouraged. I handed out reference to those who wanted it. Yikes, maybe the BGs would have been a little simpler than the one shown above.

The opera had no script and nobody actually sang. I just got the models to take comic singing poses, as Wood did here.

Haw! I like a pose where someone steps on someone else.

The model session was meant to firm up the lessons contained in the lecture that preceded it. In this case the lecture was about composing figures in space. One of my jobs was to position the models so there was a foreground, middle ground and background.

The scenario could involve several people even though there was only two models. The models did double duty.

Hopefully, we got some good, comedic poses in there.

The beginning and end poses suggested a hint of a story even if the middle ones were completely random.

What style was used?

Whatever style the student chose. No, that's not my drawing above. I got it from the net.

THE TILTED ROOM

Hawhawhawhaw!!!!!!!!!! Sorry for the delay. I've been incredibly busy! I have many, many things to blog about, so stay tuned!

MY KID'S CARICATURES

Haw! Haw!  Here's (above) a Theory Corner exclusive: a drawing of Ben Franklin eating a bug. I bet you won't find that anywhere else on the net!

My daughter drew it for "Be Fat" magazine, which was self-published by my son. It was a whole magazine devoted to what my kids believed was my insatiable consumption of sausages and candy.

Is that a canker growing out of my jaw? Hmmmm...maybe it's a Frankenstein-type electrode.

Here's (above) a woman with a daisy in her hat. She has an electrode, too.  My daughter loved to draw like Don Martin.

Yikes! It says it's a caveman (above) but the "Wow!" identifies it as me. It looks like in my desperation for food I fought a tiger over a slab of fat, and got mauled in the process.

This was an important time for my kid's artistic development. The very week these Be Fat pages were drawn and salted away was the same week she first tried out her new caricature style (above). That would stay with her for years. No more Don Martin!

In the same dated envelope I found this drawing (above) I did of my kid....

...and this sketch (above) that John did of me. I guess we all drew each other in the same week.

WHY I LIKE ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

The criticism of Abstract Expressionism that you often hear is that the painterly examples are just glorified artists palettes, that any competent painter produces beautiful patterns on his palette in the act of painting. The hostile critic asks, "What's so special about that?"

Well, far be it from me to disparage palettes. If artists were smart they'd sell their palettes instead of throwing them away.

Even so, a palette-type painting (above) wouldn't be very satisfying.  It's a limited form of expression. 

But, come on, Abstract Expressionism is obviously more than that. Here's (above) a picture by AE artist-in-good-standing, Willem DeKooning. Okay, it superficially resembles a palette, but surely you'd agree that it's more than that.

These are carefully chosen colors that evoke strong emotions and the blended textures and color fields deliberately prompt questions about how and why color works. I haven't seen such an interesting study of color since Nolde and the Fauves.

Here's one of Frank Stella's three-dimensional Sculpture-paintings. Wow! How exciting! It's a celebration of life and intellect and the senses. What's not to like?

Here's a guilty pleasure of mine...a black and white canvas by Franz Kline. Kline took a lot of flack for being "merely" a calligrapher. He's actually more than that but it's hard to appreciate his work if you haven't seen it large, and in real life.

Kline's work is highly decorative and looks great on living room walls. That's not a Kline above, but it'll serve to make my point.

I shouldn't have to say this but there's nothing wrong with art being decorative. Matisse was decorative. The Cluny Tapestries are decorative. Decorative is fine. A work can be challenging and decorative at the same time.

While I was gathering pictures for this post I did a search for  "Abstract Expressionist Architecture" and was surprised when I came up with nothing. I did find clusters of buildings that collectively seem to make an Abstract Expressionist mosaic, but no single buildings in that style.

I guess AE is a busy style that requires lots of angles and, as any contractor would tell you, the more angles the higher the price.

My guess is that the best real-world place for AE to take root is in landscaping. It's hard to believe that this landscape designer (above) wasn't influenced by that movement.

Haw! Jackson Pollack would feel right at home in this forest.

GARY PANTER AND OUTSIDER ART

Here's my favorite picture of Gary Panter, the amazing artist who did the "Elvis Zombie" picture in my left sidebar. Gary's what you call an "Outsider" artist.

Here's (above) another view of Elvis Zombie, this time darkened and compressed. 

You can see what some of Gary's influences must be: Warhol, Lichtenstein, Picasso, Pollack, underground comics, Punk, Graffiti,  and maybe Leger, Stella, Dufy, Hockney and Basquiet. No doubt I'm missing names. It doesn't matter much because Gary managed to carve out his own style regardless of influence.

Here (above) he tries a crayon look.

Haw! Panter (above) must have been influenced by 3D comics, the way they look before you put the glasses on.

And here's (above) the world as it would appear if we were all made of happy little colored worms..

Ouch! This one hurts! I like Reagan and I hate to see him ridiculed this way. Even so, I simply can't ignore the beautiful technique.  

For those who didn't recognize Basquiat's name (spelled right?), here's an example of his work, above.

I also mentioned Stella. I'm guessing the above picture is his, but there's Lichtenstein and Hockney influences. 

Here's (above) a Leger from 1944. Boy, the roots of Outsider Art go way back, back to Dada in fact.

Despite all its resistance to commerce, Outsider Art also finds its way into fashion photography. I generally prefer happy, cheerful styles but I'm seduced by the cleverness of this approach. It's so...bold!

30S AND 40S FASHION

Right now fashion favors the thin, skin-hugging, emo-influenced look, but amazingly it also favors...or at least tolerates...the opposite (above): the luxurious, wrinkly, over-size, sort of designer baggy look. Baggy's the wrong word but I don't know what else to call it. 

I'm not talking about the baggy that skateboarders wore. I'm talking about something with design and good fabric...something like Hepburn is wearing in the picture above. It looks great. It may never go out of style....a true classic.

That goes for men's fashions, too. Men's suits looked great in the 30s. We should dress like that now.

The 40s look was even better. The shoulders were padded so that every guy looked manly, like Superman, and the pants were wide so you could jitterbug in them.

Not every set of threads was equal, though. There was the upturned sharp-shoulder look, which I find detestable.  The too heavy slacks in those suits drooped like weighted drapes.

Zoot suits were part of this period, and they were hilarious, but covering that would require another post.