Artwork, drawings, and various sketches by a once-and-future freelance illustrator.
After talking it over with my art teacher, I fixed the Radio House piece so that it now has antennas…or antennae, I guess, or however you wanna spell it. In any case, they’re made out of macrame beads, which just goes to show there is a point to being a pack-rat, cause eventually there might actually be a reason to use stuff that’s been hiding in the back of the closet for many many years. Like, you know, stuff left over from the Macrame Robot thing I was gonna make, way back when.
Here are some more of those folding house-like things. The first one’s called Radio House and the second one’s called Henry’s House. And that’s it for today, I guess.
Right now I’m working on a bunch of linocuts for a book project, which is one of the reasons I don’t have as much drawing time as I’d like. ‘Cause I for sure need to draw about 700 more drawings before I can get close to where I wanna get, wherever that is. But, it’ll be worth it if the book thing turns out halfway decent, which, of course, it may or may not do. Anyway, all I’ve got for today is a scan of the most recent block. I’ll maybe start printing everything a coupla weeks from now, or so I gigantically hope. Meanwhile, gotta go work on redoing my lame old website (the goal for that project is: fewer images, easier navigation, more consistent design, way simpler everything).
Kind of extremely busy all of a sudden, but I did sort of manage to get around to cutting some lino, for whatever it’s worth. Anyway, I guess this is a really crummy proof, but you can sort of see what’s going on, although the final version of this thing I’m making won’t have a lot of readable text on it, ’cause of how I’m gonna layer and collage together a whole bunch of disparate prints. We’ll see if it looks like anything when it’s done. (Even if the whole idea of “done” seems like a pretty relative concept in art, not that I know much about such things.) I think I used to be better at cutting letters, but I can’t really remember now. Not that it matters…these linos are based on hand-painted signs that used to be all over my old neighborhood, so it’s probably okay if the words are all crooked and whatever. Plus, who has time to cut stuff nice? Maybe someday down the road I’ll be a pro linocutter, able to render shadows and light and everything, but for now I’ve just gotta get this stuff done, since my project’s gotta be finished in a few short weeks, and the point of the project in any case is it’s supposed to be sort of cruddy around the edges and stuff. Meanwhile, maybe I can get back to drawing in maybe a couple of weeks.
So, when I’m old, which’ll be in about five more years, my big plan is, I’m gonna sit on park benches all day long and draw billions of little triangles in spiral notebooks. Plus, I guess I’ll feed birds, too, but I’m mostly gonna be concerned with the triangles. Anyway, to get ready for all that, I cut this sort of pointless lino block earlier today, and now I have to go and cut another one. Then, maybe I’ll go and draw something else entirely, unless I get distracted by a bumblebee or whatever.
Anyway, so here’s the other half of that so-called ‘zine-like project I was talking about. And, yeah, I know I already posted one of these pages, but now it’s in context, assuming that matters at all, considering the shape the world’s in. Meanwhile, even though I’m supposedly studying for various CLEPs and also for a giant and frightening Algebra exam, I’m for some reason really stuck on reading The Grapes of Wrath. Like, there’s no pressing reason to do it…but, once you get past the turtle chapter, it turns out it’s a pretty ripping yarn (I mean, the turtle chapter’s okay, except it makes you wonder a little about when exactly the story’s gonna start). Anyhow, I just finished the scene with the one-eyed man at the junkyard, the one Tom and Al get a piston rod from. I love that guy, despite his general grossness, and wish he was in a spin-off book, ’cause he’s such a magnificent specimen of the classic American loser. I mean, he’s the exact same kind of person we have nowadays, too…somebody who’ll complain heartily about the current state of affairs, and yet will go ahead and vote for a candidate who offers nothing but more of the same b.s., just ’cause, I guess, those kind of people like to complain instead of doing something constructive, like voting for a candidate who’s whip-smart and decent and chock-full of youthful energy. Anyhow, I reckon that’s why I also love it when Tom gets annoyed with the one-eyed guy and tells him how he oughta just get an eyepatch and quit whining about how crappy his life is.
Otherwise, I’m totally looking forward to reading Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. My wife (who rocks, in case I haven’t mentioned it today) brought back a signed copy from the book festival they had here this weekend. I couldn’t go on account of the Algebra, but I’m glad she got to meet Mr. Alexie, who also rocks.
P.S. Don’t get me wrong: complaining about the current state of affairs is a perfectly understandable reaction to eight years of corruption, incompetence, and just all-around tom-foolery. But, you know, in a few weeks we have a chance to do something about it and change things for the better, so it’s a complete mystery to me why some folks keep clinging to the idea that some guy with nothing but old, outdated ideas is the way to go. ‘Cause he’s so not.
P.P.S Why, why do I even have to take Algebra, given my incredibly advanced case of senility?
So I guess this is pretty much the layout for the so-called book I guess I’m working on, in-between other tasks and chores and whatnot. Although, I oughta mention, this thing, it’s not exactly a real book, instead it’s more of a ‘zine-like object, although who would want or need this particular ‘zine is a real good question. Also, it’s not even really a ‘zine, on account of how it doesn’t contain a longish confession of childhood misdemeanors or a cartoon illustrating the kinds of epiphanies people can have when watching leaves fall off of trees or a recipe for a weird kind of candy or any super-obscure music and book recommendations. Or, well, I mean, I reckon I can recommend uploading your files to the sound of Guitar Paradise of East Africa (Cardiac Records, 1991), and also, it’s fun to read The Crying of Lot 49 at the same time as you’re reading The Grapes of Wrath, though don’t ask my why I’m doing that, ’cause I don’t actually know.
Yet more junk for the alleged book project, which may or may not ever get finished before the sun burns all the way out. At any rate, having at long last actually drawn a bunch of stuff, I’m now trying various different non-designy layouts, since my 1D inner eye can’t simply imagine how pages look when they end up facing each other. And, so, yeah, exciting stuff, I know. Oh, except, there’s this dumb thing: it’s hard to believe, but I’m supposed to demo making rubber stamps kinda soon…so, let’s hope I demo it right, ’cause we all know how technical and esoteric the process of carving an eraser is. Plus, you know, I am fairly certain my Whole Entire Future Career depends on how well I do getting some basic-as-hell information across to people. So that’s a fun amount of extra pressure. Assuming, of course, I’ll even have one of those career things after the centuries of schooling I’ve for some reason been pursuing since around about the late Middle Ages.
Yet more pictures from the mysterious book-like thing I’m sort of working on in mock-up form before I commit to actually ruining some nice blank lino blocks. And, yeah, I know, on the real thing, the title won’t be on the cover. Also, I’m already aware I apparently have an inordinate fondness for triangles (if I may paraphrase J.B.S. Haldane, which is always fun to do). Anyway, mostly while doing this stuff, I was thinking about the Assyrian reliefs we saw in London, and all the beautiful old writing that encodes more stories than we’ll never know. Although, of course, this stuff came out different from what I was thinking. As usual.
