A Kiss in the Crowd

   The essence of both visual and dramatic tension is the moment or space where two points almost meet. Perhaps this is the reason why I have been fascinated by kisses for my entire life. The mechanics of a kiss is really pretty bizarre when you compare it to most of the other gestures we use when in social situations. I mean at what point did human beings evolve the concept that touching mouths is a thing that should be done? You'd think far differently of me if i went up and stuck my finger in your ear, right? But it's even such a complex gesture that it can't be contained by merely defining it as a motion of affection. There are as many kinds of kisses as there are people who give them. A kiss can be coy, passionate, aggressive, tender, impish, impetuous, or even confrontational. To me, it expresses all the things that can happen when two people are that far within each others boundaries of personal space.
   Speaking of personal space, I tend to be very territorial about mine, and generally avoid places and scenarios where I am forced to share it. Which is why I surprised even myself by agreeing to go with my cousin to see the Darius Rucker Homegrown Tour concert. I think I wasn't expecting it to be all that crowded since he does it every year and hasn't been part of Hootie and the Blowfish for over a decade, but boy was I wrong. The stadium was packed by the time the warm up band finished. It was, of course, at that very moment when the bottom fell out of the sky in a torrential summer thunderstorm. The scene became a structurally reversed version of the Titanic: the rich folks stayed relatively dry and the rest of us in the cheap seats drowned. Because of the thunder and lightning we were forced to vacate the steel bleachers and wait out the storm in the gallery below. Of course with that volume of people nothing can happen fast, which made me wonder how it would have been had there been a fire, rather than mearly inconvenient and uncomfortable rain. So it took at least 30 minutes for us simply to get downstairs. Everyone was packed together, shoulder to shoulder, other parts to other parts, in a mass exodus that most of us silently agreed to get through as civilly as possible. But when you press that many people together when they can't move or really see where they are going, anything can happen. Two brawls very nearly happened when a man didn't appreciate people jostling his pregnant wife, and when a Jersey-born acquaintance of mine was accidentally shoved by then end of a domino-style series of stumbles as people tried to descend staircases littered with beer bottles.
  But then something completely different happened. A blond teen with a crew cut practically leaped over three of his friends to kiss a girl not two feet in front of me. He must have called her name, because she turned her head. He reached his entire body towards her, grabbed her neck and pulled her to him. He kissed her in the dazzle of the downpour. It wasn't a Euro-hello kiss, nor some childish "ha! I got away with it" kiss. This guy made it count! I saw he had blue eyes and they sparkled as he went for it and as he withdrew. The girl smiled. But then much to my confusion, the boy withdrew and melted back into the crowd. He didn't stay and chat or greet her friend she stood with or say "Bye." And I was like "WTF?!!" Who are you? Who is she to you? Where are you going? Why aren't you staying? WHAT'S GOING ON? I found myself entranced by these kids story that I had virtually no information about. It was a story made of a single gesture.
   Even if my phone hadn't gotten waterlogged and died, there would have been no way for me to whip it out and capture that moment. It happened in an instant. And plus if the kids saw me take a picture of their pda I'd have looked like a creeper. But I couldn't help it! It all happened 15 inches in front of my face! So I drew it. I'd like to take the time to work it into a fully completed drawing or digital painting, but only had time for a sketch this week.

It's so hard to draw a kiss happening and make it look real and believable. So much lining up has to happen and then how do you not mash noses? Anyway, maybe I'll work on it and post some process updates later.
In the meantime, check out the art of Claude Theberge: http://www.claudetheberge.com/index.html Some of his paintings of people kissing are kinda goofy, but I love the energy that his figures and compositions have because everything looks like it's posing or taking place in a high wind.

Light Feet and Heavy Thoughts

I actually had time to put paint to actual canvas this week, which is something I haven't done since I moved. When we left our old apartment, I had to sell/give away most of my artwork. I had a lot of stuff that had accumulated over two years, and swore I would focus on digital media once in our new place in order that my new office/studio should not become cluttered and overflowing with paintings. I failed. I just missed that visceral feeling of painting, of actually mixing the colors that never come out exactly the same way twice. The feel of it on your brush as you sweep it across the canvas. Though I have outgrown my idea of earning a living selling paintings on the roadside (granted, there are folks that earn a living that way. I have not figured out how. More power to them.) I feel it is something I will always come back to.
When my husband and I were living in Rock Hill, there was a gallery that we would visit upon occasion called Lark & Key. They have a wonderfully unique collection of dreamy, earthy works from their artists. Check them out at http://www.larkandkey.com/ My favorite artist is Duy Huynh. I always feel terrible that I can't remember how to spell or pronounce his name, but I wish I had a thousand dollars so I could have some of his work! His depictions of floating girls, shadowless birds, and contemplative youths  in mysterious open spaces are just hypnotic. I literally stood in the gallery for fifteen minutes just staring at a single piece.

This is a really bleary picture. I have the worst luck at photographing my work. Anyway, in addition to being influenced by Duy's work, it's also inspired in part by my friend Erin. When Erin was little, whenever she and her mom would drive by a memorial garden or cemetery, she would say "Look mom! A flower park! I want to go play in the flower park!" But of course her mother would never let her. I rather think I would have a different perspective on death if I were allowed to play gently in a cemetery as a child.

The forging of the A**Hole

For those of you who don't know and may possibly care, I'm currently working on writing a graphic novel. I feel silly trying to explain the premise, mostly because I'm sure it will offend hard-core zombie genre enthusiasts, but silly is exactly what I mean for it to be because silly is how I perceive the entire zombie concept... So there!

My zombie world is much more like our own, but full of undead people. Kevin is one of those, who is not only having to come to grips with being a rotting corpse, but having to contend with all the trials and tribulations high school as well. In addition, he has a crumbling home life, which brings me to the subject of today's post: Kevin's father Chet.

Chet is, for all intents and purposes, one of the villains of the story. I have to say, I am relatively new to the fiction writing gig, but I have to say without a doubt that the bad guy is the hardest to write! And even more so when all he really is is a massive jerk. Anyone can write a Super villain. You can go nuts! Everyone loves to write the Hitlers, the Voldemorts, the Magnetos, the Maleficents. A baddie on a grand scale is easy because going into it, everyone knows that this dude is pretty  F***ed up! I mean, look at the outfit. The flunkies. The capricious insane gestures of grandeur. There's a theatricality that is undeniable and irresistible. They're fun to write, and fun to play.

But what about all the wannabees? The C-class villains, who, at the end of the day are the types that we deal with the most. Most of us will likely never deal with someone who is legitimately evil. Even though roughly a third of our government and business leaders have psychopathic and sociopathic personality markers, most of us will come up against people who are merely assholes.

But what separates these sorts of bad guys? Is a jerk the same as a bully? Is a prick the same as a douchebag? I felt like I needed to straighten this out, because I actually have three separate characters that I need to spread out over the spectrum of petty evil and I don't want them to all seem like cardboard cut outs of each other.

I drew some sketches of Chet to help me. Sometimes the drawing of the characters expression, body language, etc, tells you things about the character that you didn't even know in the writing.
Initially, he seemed like a domestic bully. But Kevin has a bully at school, and I didn't want the relationship to be the same. After looking at the sketches, I felt like Chet's posture and falling-apart, disjointed body language weren't nearly aggressive enough to be a true bully. Passive aggression. That's Chet's style. He's resentful of the world because the Event (the unexplained whatever that caused 70% of the human population to go zombie-fied) also cost him his job, as well as his former college athlete good looks. He hates his boss for no real reason and embarks on several failed attempts to kill him and eat his brains, only adding to the hatred. He resents his family for not being the perfect 1950's style household that he once envisioned it to be. I haven't come up with a specific issue he has with Kevin, and I feel like that might be important. Kevin can't stand him in general because he's a jerk who lashes out at everyone.

I feel like writing dialog, getting into the head of a jerk, is really difficult because I've worked for the majority of my life not to be one! The kind of person who is rude to waitresses. The person who doesn't tip. Who can't appreciate anything from anyone. I can articulate all these things that I want Chet to be, but I don't know how to show him as such. I tried to do a little research on who are modern pop culture's greatest jerks and I don't want to dig any deeper because I can't stand reading about Kate Gosselin BECAUSE SHE'S SUCH A JERK! Lol. But probably exactly who I need to watch for inspiration. Her and maybe Hannity.

To complicate matters, my story is essentially supposed to be a comedy, so I have to make him a funny a**hole, and not so much of a jerk that the reader wants to walk away. Or more importantly, I want to walk away before I finish! I also want to give him a bit of a character arc, if only from bad to worse. (SPOILERS!) Ultimately, Chet drives away his family and descends into alcoholism. How do I make that funny?
Looking at my drawings, I feel like as a zombie, he should be more gruesome, but I want you to be able to see the shadow of his former self. To be able to tell he was once a good looking man, so there's some pity for this character who will ultimately and quite literally fall apart by the end of the series.

The Plight of the Princess: In Disney's Defense

            I’ve been perusing a number of movie blogs lately that have been tracking trends in recent Disney and Pixar movies. It’s the usual really: condemnation for choosing marketability over substance, why can’t you make a good movie for boys?, why are your movies for girls so anti-feminist?, etc. It seems the studios can’t win for loosing these days. I never thought I’d say this, but I think I might just have to go to bat for Disney here.

            If someone said “Disney” to you, chances are the first character to pop into your head wouldn’t be that studio-launching mouse. More likely it would be a young royal girl in a dress some tooth-curling shade of insipid pink or purple. Let’s face it, it’s good to be the princess. Sales of princess and girl-oriented paraphernalia grossed over five billion dollars last year. Is it because girls like pretty outfits or are we really relating to these twirly, helpless females?

            I suppose the best place to look at what went wrong with the children is to go back to the beginning. Which means Snow White. Despite being the highest-grossing animated film of all time (adjusting for inflation), this is the Disney film that seems to be met with anything from groans and eye-rolls from feminists. And perhaps rightly so: the protagonist is a shrill ninny who gets lost in the woods, loves nothing better than to cook and clean for seven random men, and is wont to take food from obviously evil strangers. But look at the time period in which it was made. In 1937, Europe was on the brink of war. Women really were still expected to stay home and cook and clean and sing a merry song while they did it. The economy was in the gutter, the Hindenburg crashed in a fiery inferno, and America was looking for all the stupid wholesomeness it could desperately cling to while rocking back and forth singing to itself. It doesn’t matter if the characters are believable or not. They are distracting, by which I mean entertaining. The perverse beauty of it all, in my opinion, is that the flaws of this story are painfully obvious to even a child! I remember watching this as a five year old thinking, “She shouldn’t take food from strangers. She must not be very smart.” I don’t think that allowing your child to see this movie will result in her running off into the woods to join a hippie commune that talks to animals. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the silly antics of the vertically-challenged woodsmen and the beautiful color washes of the hand painted backgrounds.

            I think it is also a good idea to point out is that a common influential factor in having a woodland twirling, creature serenading heroine is not writing her any other friends into the story! I’d probably be a socially mal-adjusted recluse if the only other people in the story were either trying to kill me for no real reason or rescue and marry me without so much as a how-do-you-do. Which brings me to my next movie; you guessed it, Sleeping Beauty.

            It seems almost unfair that the princess Briar Rose, aka the Sleeping Beauty, gets the film named after her when she’s really only featured in about 30% of it. The real focus of the story is the efforts of the Three Good Fairies and the dashing Prince Phillip to save and preserve this porcelain princess from the evil clutches of Maleficent. And honestly, it’s because of this that I think it’s a pretty darn good movie. By ignoring the boring princess, we get to see some daring sword play from a legitimately handsome prince who actually has some lines, and ostensibly, something to say. We see the chemistry of conflict and comedy among three enchanted women who all have their own way of doing things, and we get to here these near-Shakespearean monologues from one of the most theatrically diabolical, bad-ass villainesses to ever wield a scepter! The movie works, Tchaikovsky’s score is sweeping and will make you waltz in your living room in spite of yourself, and the medieval-inspired animation is completely mesmerizing. Oh yeah, and there’s a princess too. Shame she wasn’t really the star.

I think there is definitely a lesson for girls here about what it takes to be the star of your own story: resourcefulness, courage, perhaps a willingness to not blindly follow your parents wishes. These are the traits exhibited by the prince. And as such, is there any reason why a male can’t be a role model for women? Even from a young age, I remember being far more interested in the Prince role than his female counterpart. Let’s face it, roles for men, were and to a large extent still are just better written. Girls get to wear pretty dresses but boys get to do stuff. To that end, I remember playing pirates with my sisters just as often as I played princess. Plus merging the two was pure gold: I dressed for several years as a pirate princess because the outfit was as sexy as it was simple: black leotard + black pants + boots/old jazz shoes + cape and/or whatever pointy object that could be concealed in ones boot/jazz shoe = instant badass. We were heroes and brigands, we were chicks with stories. And no amount of tea and crumpets could substitute for that. It taught me the character traits that I would come to find attractive and winsome not only in the men I allowed into my life, but what I expected of myself if I were to be the mistress of my own destiny.

Long about the 1990’s Disney began to rethink a number of approaches to the game of animation, not the least of which was rethinking the idea of the princess. And it only took half a century for them to do it. Yay. But worth the wait I’d say. That decade produced some of our more proactive princesses. For brevity’s sake I’m going to focus on Mulan and Jasmin, mostly because I find it ironic that these women seem the most modern and feminist of all the princesses in their attitudes towards their role in society, yet in both cases they come from stories set in male dominant eastern and mid-eastern cultures. Both of them go so far as to articulate their dissatisfaction with their situation: Jasmine overhears Aladin and the Sultan discussing Aladin’s potential as marriageable material for her, at which she indignantly shouts “How dare you! Standing around deciding my future! I am not a prize to be won!” Though in fact, in many cultures even today, that’s exactly what a woman is. But it sounds great to us lucky gals in the good old modern USA! YAY! Similarly, Mulan expresses her motivation for forsaking her spot on the match makers list and joining the army. Even in the face of court marshal and abandonment, she muses “Maybe I didn’t do it for my father. Maybe I did it so when I looked in the mirror, I’d see someone worthwhile.” Even in her moment of defeat, I can’t think of a better role model for girls. Not to mention, Mulan actually got to do some kung fu and blow stuff up.

Honestly, I’m not sure why these didn’t do better at the box office. I would have thought Mulan would appeal to boys as well as girls with both an interesting main character and plenty of action. Aladin did well in the box office, but strangely enough according to polls Jasmine still never ranks among the favorite or well known princesses. Mulan I guess looses points for not being a real princess, as much as a female protagonist. But Jasmine seriously has it all! She’s beautiful, has cool outfits, is the closest thing Disney has to sexy with a PG rating, she’s smart and resourceful and regal. And she has a freakin’ tiger for a pet! Not to mention, she happens to have landed a pretty decent prince. Aladin is probably one of the most three dimensional characters ever created by Disney. He has humor, brains, flaws, a character arc, all them fancy words that make a character likable and interesting. And even better, Jasmine herself is balanced fairly evenly against him. They actually have chemistry. They are the first Disney couple that actually bothers to go on a date before they get hitched. (In fact, they managed to cram a whole Saturday morning series out of that relationship before tying the knot. I guess you’ve got time to kill if you’re waiting for a street rat to afford an engagement ring.) It is for these reasons that Aladin the movie will always remain one of my favorites and Mulan and Jasmine mah 2-D sistas.

This last one’s a bit of a stretch, but only because it’s technically Pixar, though released by Disney: The Incredibles. Worth every bit of it’s Academy Award for Best Animated feature, this movie does the best job of any I have ever seen at addressing and balancing gender roles. The stretchy, sassy Elastigirl marries the stoic and somewhat traditional Mr. Incredible, and the two of them attempt to raise a trio of super children in a world that is no longer Super-friendly. This movie does a brilliantly subtle job of exploring the roles of both the main characters and thereby explores what it means to be a man and a woman, a husband and a wife, a super and vulnerable human being. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best stories come from being human. By exploring how Helen and Robert Parr cope with their super powers balanced against their secret identities when their family is threatened cuts at everything that makes us people. The fact that children are a part of the family and the story make it accessible to audience members of any age, and also increase that vulnerability. If super hero stories have taught us anything, it’s that having someone close to you gives your enemies leverage against you. “With great power comes great responsibility” in my opinion should read “With your first kid comes great responsibility.” But I guess that doesn’t sound as nifty. These characters go above and beyond the stand-by princess protagonist and the “I’ll save you” prince. This sentiment is solidified in the heat of the final battle when husband and wife have their own private battle (SO TRUE!). Robert tries to insist that Helen and the children flee to safety and Helen refuses, thinking Robert is motivated by selfish macho reasons. When he burst out “I can’t lose you again! I’m not strong enough!” We see every bit of fear and inadequacy revealed, at which time his beloved raises his face to hers and replies, “If we work together, you don’t have to be.” That is the essence of gender equality, and indeed true selfless heroism.

And yet this filmed was out-grossed by CARS!!!! WHY! Yes five year olds like tow trucks, but parents, you’re the ones buying this crap for them! This is what the real princess dilemma comes down to. It’s the same reason our country is facing an obesity epidemic. GIVE YOUR KIDS WHAT THEY NEED, NOT JUST WHAT THEY WANT! The same as a diet of fast food and high-fructose will result in fat children, the constant consumption of frilly dresses and tiaras will result in, well….a Kardashian. I’m not saying swear off all things Disney or even girly. I’m just saying everything in moderation. Let there be pirates as well as princesses no matter what your child’s gender. Let them have classical literature and art supplies as well as soccer balls and ballet shoes. Most importantly, talk to your kids about the things they watch and see if they’re getting the stuff out of it that you think they’re getting. Snow White may not have made me a simpering princess wannabe, but it may have made me more than reasonably frightened of snaggle-toothed old women. It’s not their fault that Medicaid doesn’t offer full dental coverage, but I’m still pretty sure they’re out to poison me with food.

winsome wine designs

I have an unfulfilled desire to design wine labels. I'm quite fascinated by them. Every time I'm in a wine shop or even my local grocery store I have to wander through looking at each one. It seems like there is just so much variety these days. At last! Wine itself is a bit of an off-putting beverage, conjuring images of snotty french folk and bored, unfulfilled housewives. I think the average person might pass up a bottle with a swirly scripted European name and a drawing of a stereotypical french farm thinking it's "just too fancy for someone like me". Can't say I blame them. The whole purpose of design is to tell you about the product, not just tell who you want to consume it. Wines are tricky enough anyway. It takes a bit of education on the subject to tell the many varietals apart just by looking at the bottle, let alone learn which types you prefer the taste of. Different vintages, ages, and growing regions affect even the bottles sold under the same name. So how is one supposed to remember one wine from another? Have no fear! Clever design is here! Here are some examples of ones that I found in my local grocery store:

First weapon in the label designs arsenal: wow factor. These labels are somehow printed directly onto the bottle with a variegated texture that feels like the stone walls that the label represents. In addition to having a tactile texture that actually makes you want to pick it up, each varietal has its own illustration that looks like its own ancient Grecian frieze. I'm also a bit of an art history buff, so this caught my interest in that regard and reminded me that the braincells I was about to kill were really quite educated. I actually ended up purchasing a bottle of the Pinot Grigio and it tasted quite nice too. Ten points! 

Weapon number 2: Target demographic. Heck, women make up a large percentage of the wine-drinking population. We love to get together with our girlfriends, and drink and gossip. This wine maker totally tapped into that. Once again, a unique illustration for each varietal not only lets you remember the label but which flavor you prefer as well. I only ended up with a couple of images here, but the Middle Sister label offered at least five different varietals, each with a middle sister with outfits indicating a different personality. Women love that. We want to relate to our product. We want it to remind us of our friends. The merchandiser wants us to want to buy more and share it with our friends. And sisters. Which is exactly what I plan to do on my next trip to the store. This label is clever too in that it asserts the individuality of the center figure, and makes the lady customer feel that she too is making a unique choice of her drink. Also, the adjectives describing the personality of the figure on the label should hopefully describe the flavor or personality of the wine as well.  Full marks!

Weapon 3: Humor. I think having a good time is generally at the forefront of our minds any time we crack open a bottle. I love it when wine labels can acknowledge they can be part of that by not taking themselves so seriously. I love labels that use puns (pinot evil...Ha! and the monkeys...it works visually and verbally. Teachers say that's how students remember things.) My husband loves them to, so I would certainly look for a wine that had a wonky sense of humor whenever entertaining like minded individuals. And the Arrogant Frog...now that's both snarky and clever...because it's a french wine. And it can make fun of itself. Ha. I'd be willing to give such a drink a try.

Weapon 4: Interactive. Now I've long been a fan of the Coppela winery, but this one certainly renewed my interest. I absolutely LOVE how the flip-book/film reel design of the label refers to Mr. Coppola's legendary work in the film industry. But because we recognize it as such, we again want to pick it up and see if it works. As much as I wanted to see if the figures appeared animated as I rotated the bottle, I was afraid to spin it too vigorously until I had purchased the bottle and consumed its contents. But I think a label like this definitely lends a whole new dimension to a game of spin the bottle!

Weapon 5: Eye Candy. Labels aside, there is something intrinsically enchanting about a glass bottle. It's shiny, the shape of the bottle is fluid and pleasing to pick up. I compulsively collect these bottles as I do shells on the beach. Despite in both cases, the item is meant only to protect the substance within, and meant to be disposed of when it's contents are removed...BUT IT'S SO SHINY!!!! I love the bottle designs that make use of the color of the glass itself. It brings the aesthetics enforced on a designer by the very screen printing process to use shape and color and form to their utmost effectiveness. I've had the actual wine, this Valley of the Moon, and didn't especially care for it, yet every time I see it, I gravitate towards it like a child hypnotized by a gleaming lollipop saying "Mommy I want that one!"

This is my contribution to the genre. I don't know if it remotely follows any of the qualities previously discussed, it just sprouted from a doodle in my sketchbook of some whimsical wine drinking zebras. It made me think of a warm summer afternoon somewhere in France on a holiday when nothing really matters but good wine, good food, good food and good friends. Cheers everybody!

Eeeek! a sketch!

Ack! It's monday....here's a sketch! Found some watercolor pencils in the closet.

....boom!

Happy July 4th everybody! Here's a little piece in honor of our most explosive holiday. Drawing elements, especially ones constantly in motion: explosions, fire, water, etc, is always a challenge, but I had fun playing with some brushes I don't normally get to use. Now to fling myself into a pool-side lounge chair for the remainder of the day and not think about the 40+ hours I get to work this coming week.