Week 9: Mid-semester Portfolio Presentation

We are now at the mid-point of the semester, and are demonstrating the 10 best works 

we've made during this time.

"The Gardener's Home"

"Jesus died when he was 33"

"Speaker"

"Blood in the sand"

"War of the Worlds"

"David Bazan Triptic"

"Worlds collide" taken at Covert Beach, Michigan

"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - diorama" in felted wool, canvas and acrylic.

"The ocean doesn't want me today."

"Beoplay H8"

Week 8: David Bazan Triptic

I was driving home from work at night on an abandoned country road the first time I heard David Bazan.

I remember pulling the car over to listen.

His music, his lyrics and his journey still captivate me.

I've taken inspiration from a senior project I saw at the senior seminar mid-term critique 
where an artist created portraits of artists that inspired her.
This week, I have created a triptic of portraits of my favorite musician.

Entitled "David Bazan Triptic," I've portrayed him at age 18, 28 and 38.

In 1996, David formed the band Pedro the Lion and signed to the christian music label 
Tooth & Nail records. I was a fan of T&N's catalogue and was intrigued by his raw, un-coached sound.

David had grown up in a Pentecostal church with very fundamentalist leanings.
He channeled that upbringing into his music by pushing established boundaries with his lyrics more than with his indy rock sound. 
An example of that boundary-pushing is his first album, "The Whole EP" which dedicates 6 songs to a comparison of Christianity to heroin abuse.

---------

The first image of Bazan is a simple line drawing to highlight his youth, the minimalism of his lyrics, 
and the simplistic nature of his early musical style.

"It never goes to stay" - Bazan @ 18

By 28, David was still fronting Pedro the Lion, but had developed a serious alcohol  
problem and while his music was still pushing bounderies, it was clear that things were falling apart. His faith seemed to be causing him more pain than comfort, 
and he began openly questioning the church and right wing politics in his music. 
He gained weight, grew a big beard and worked with a rotating cast of characters 
that served as a band with very few exceptions. 

I saw him several times during this period in his life, and he was a mess. 
He forgot lyrics, drank on stage and seemed miserable... 

I used graphite for my second drawing, portraying Bazan as doughy and disheveled.

"The poison" - Bazan @ 28

After 11 years, 4 full length albums and 5 EP's, Bazan broke up the band and quit the bottle. 
He worked on several small projects and in 2009 came out with his best album to date. 
"Curse your branches" is a seeringly beautiful work, in which he turned his standard
storytelling style inward & described in detail 
the loss of his belief in god and the path he took to that decision. 

The songs detail the fallout of his choice to become agnostic, 
and are essentially "directions" on how to dismantle one's faith.

Since then, he has become a dramatically happier, healthier person and is producing great music and is participating in excellent collaborations.
He has recorded albums as a lead singer or member of the Headphones, the Soft Drugs, Undertow Orchestra, Crystal Skulls, and is a current member of Overseas.

I used graphite and watercolor pencil to portray him as colorful, mature, and happy.

"Hello again, oblivion" - Bazan @ 38

"Bazan Triptic"

Week 7: Lake Michigan Shoreline

This week's assignment was to create something inspired by the work of one of the artists 

featured in the Bishop Quarter Room of the Saint Xavier library. I chose Andrew Wyeth.

I've seen some of his paintings over the years, but was inspired by several of 

his stark watercolor, ink and charcoal drawings, like the ones seen here.

Taking from the stark color pallete, and the crosshatch pen lines, I decided to complete a charcoal drawing of the Lake Michigan shoreline while tent camping this last weekend.
Our first day there, we experienced 30-40 mph winds, and drawing was impossible,
but by day four, the wind had completely subsided, and I was able to set up my easel on
the dunes and complete my drawing.

My setup, using my portable easel.

The Shoreline of Covert Park, Lake Michigan, Michigan.

After finishing the drawing, I made a brush from the grass on the dune, and whipped the drawing for several minutes, creating a large crosshatch pattern in the charcoal.

"Lake Michigan Shoreline"

Special Edition Blog Post #4: I had art featured in the 2016 Beverly Art Walk at the St. Xavier Gallery

I wanted to include a couple pics from the awesome gallery showing by Saint Xavier 

at the 2016 Beverly Art Walk.

"Speaker" and "Jesus died when he was 33"

Week 6, "The War of Worlds"

This week's assignment was to pen sketch a drawing, scan or photograph it, 

and "do something" different to each copy. I chose to replicate 

(and mess with) one of my old vinyl records, a copy of the Orson Wells classic 

"War of the worlds."

The three versions of "The War of Worlds"

After drawing the album cover in pen, I scanned it into photoshop and applied 

multiple hue/saturation layers to selected pieces of the cover to colorize the image. 

I then imposed two real planets (Mars and Venus, can you guess which is which?) 
over my sketches underneath the hue layers and 
superimposed the head of an alien in the background.

Secondly, I recreated the image in Adobe Illustrator as a vector object. 

I then played around with color, and eventually decided on a greyscale representation 

with a simplified look focused on negative space. I also deleted several elements 

(like the tops of the saucers.)

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...

After completing the assignment, I wanted to do something more drastic with the album cover, 

and I've been dying to try out acrylic paints... so I made this.

"War of the Worlds" is a deconstructed album cover with painted vinyl on acrylic.

To accomplish this look, I painted a canvas I have with a fiery orange and red backdrop.

Good times.

I let my 6 year old son choose the alignment of the canvas, 

and he opted to put the large red space in the lower right corner.

Exacto-ly.

I then cut out the elements I wanted from the album cover, 
and painted the album itself blue, running water over the acrylic paint 
and reapplying until I could see the title in the middle, but not see the vinyl around it.

Finito

I then glued the elements in place, and weighed them down to make sure they stuck.

All in all, I'm very happy with the piece, and plan to make it a Christmas present for somebody.
It has a real fun presence in person that I hope I've captured in the pictures of it.