Ninja September 16th, 2009
I just discovered Eric Fortune’s process videos! Oh, joy!
Here are 3 time-lapse process videos for his piece from the Overdose group show at the Copro Nason Gallery.
Eric will be one of the featured artists of the upcoming show, Go East: LeBasse Projects in New York. Here’s his latest installment: unexpected clouds.
Related postsNinja September 11th, 2009
I’ve been meaning to post my process for the King of the Deer painting, but haven’t gotten around to it until now. I made this painting for Penguin as an inside joke. Enjoy!
Rough sketch
Transferred sketch on wood panel and blocking in shadows with Payne’s Grey
Layers of gesso and Payne’s Grey
Building up layers of thin Burnt Sienna and Raw Umber slivers with acrylic paint
Ocher Yellow washes
All done! Yay!!
Detail
Happy painting,
Ninja
Ninja August 10th, 2009
Jim Lee’s SDCC 2009 Sunday impromptu panel: How to draw Batman. The sound quality isn’t so great, but it’s worth sitting through to see the man at work.
PS Jim Lee turns 45 tomorrow! Happy birthday, Jim!!
Related postsPenguin July 22nd, 2009
In a recent Wired article about the using Twitter to test material, I stumbled on this gem:
Preciousness and perfectionism are the enemies of laughter, Feig says. I’d go further: They can be inimical to creativity itself. And the positive implications of disposable ideation [...] go way beyond the chuckle hut. Picture a continuous curve of non-perfected, non-permanent expression, as opposed to individual, agonized boluses of brilliance. “Fuck it. I wrote it; if people don’t like it, I’ll put another out there soon enough,” Feig says of his Tweet ethic. “It’s freeing.”
Unfettered creative freedom is dear to Feig, who labored for years to perfect a near-perfect television show only to see it strangled to death by network exigencies.
The key quote in there is: “Fuck it. I wrote it; if people don’t like it, I’ll put another out there soon enough”
After watching Eyes Wide Shut and considering the mastery of Kubrick’s work, I’m torn. Part of me wants to produce impeccable art. The other part of me wants to hammer stuff out, each piece focusing, stretching, challenging, and stressing, my abilities. If it’s true that we need 10,000 hours or about 10 years of experience to become an expert, then I need all the practice I can get.
Talking to Ninja last night, I decided that I can live with both. If I want to produce impeccable art, I need to be disciplined on how I make that art come about. It would start in the concept and extend all the way through marketing and distribution. The perfection can’t be limited to just when you’re putting it together. This also means factoring in time for mistakes. And whenever you’re trying to be impeccable, you’re going to make mistakes.
Until I come up with that idea that is really worth pursuing with such energy, discipline, and abandon, I need to get to the point where I’ll be able to pull it off. That means pumping stuff out, being free and not over thinking these smaller projects. Because I know that each one is focused on stretching me in one particular way.
You can compare it to strength training. You can either use a machine that will isolate that specific muscle or use free weights to use an entire group of muscles. In reality, we use our entire bodies when we exert. This is why I love climbing so much. Your technique is balanced by your power is balanced by your mental discipline. It’s the body, working as one, that attains the goal. Does isolated training have it’s place? Definitely.
It’s the same thing with anything creative. The entire process is like the body. And you go through it, some of it is easier, so those muscles aren’t stretched. Others, hopefully, are more difficult, and really push you to the limit. And afterwards, you rest, renew, and grow.
You should follow me on twitter here.
- Penguin
Related postsNinja July 21st, 2009
Wohoo, I’m done!
Detail
Thanks for giving me much love as I continue to do my art! The past few weeks have been spent burning the midnight oil to prepare for this show (it’s my first group show). I’m so excited, and I would love to see you there.
Where
The Littlefield
622 Degraw Street between 3rd and 4th Avenue in the Gowanus
Brooklyn, New York 11217 (map)
718) 855-3388
When
Friday, August 7, 2009
One night only!
Doors open at 7:00 PM
Cost
Free admission
It’s been such an honor to collaborate with one of my heroes, the talented musician, Kaki King! She invited me and 15 other artists to create visual representations of her music from some busted guitars. Here’s a glimpse into some of the artists’ creative processes:
Ahuvati
Night After Sidewalk by China Morobosa
Open Mouth
Pull Me Out Alive by Andrea Arceneaux
Sad American by Reni Papananias
So Much for So Little by Katherine Guillen
I can’t wait to see them all in person!
Also that night, Kaki will perform a special rendition of Pink Noise with paint on her fingers. Her resulting performance painting piece will then be auctioned off for charity.
Magic Hat Brewery is sponsoring the event so there will be plenty of free swill for those of you inclined.
Big smiles,
Ninja
PS Much thanks and love to my wonderful friend, Tony Bologna Yang, for shooting the finished piece and to my lovely model, Tanya Dakin.
Related links
+ To see more, become a fan of Kaki King Guitar Art on Facebook
+ Kaki King SPIN interview
Album purchasing links
+Mexican Teenagers
+ Dreaming of Revenge
+ Until We Felt Red
+ Legs to Make Us Longer
Ninja July 17th, 2009
Apologies for the long absence! I’m sad to say that my laptop still hasn’t been fixed. T_____T Some of my more techy friends will take a look at it over the weekend, and hopefully I’ll be up and running soon (and posting more regularly). Much thanks for your continued patience and love!
As promised, here’s my latest step in my Kaki King guitar project process. I lost a lot of process photos when my hard drive died, but imagine if you will layers and layers of paint built up into an awful mess, uneven eyebrows, and off-center lips. The (gasp) puffy cheeks and washed out skin tone stage can be seen below.
I have the bad habit of overthinking/overworking a painting, hating it, sanding it all off, and starting fresh. It’s a crazy and nerve-wrecking part that has insidiously crept into my process.
After a bit of sanding and sighing, it became this (above). The guitar is so close to being finished. Just a few more sleepless nights of tweaks and installing hanging hardware, and it’ll be show-ready.
As always, thanks for stopping by and checking in!
Much love and happy painting,
Ninja
Ninja July 8th, 2009
Hallo again! Thanks for popping in. ^____^
First, let me start off with a small apology. I won’t be able to post as regularly on the interwebs because my Powerbook is ill once more. While trying to shut down, it made 3 piercing screams while the pinwheel of death spun wildly. And today, it just wasn’t having it at all. I turned it on and nothing. Penguin suspects that it may have suffered a head crash.
But my lack of technological comforts has made for some good painting progress. Oh dear, it took me 6 hours to get from here:
to there:
I added more warm tones (to make the shadows richer) and fly-away strands of hair (hair that is too perfect looks fake).
Her lips are looking a little too done up, so I will revert to a paler shade in the next round.
detail
Oh, happy painting,
Ninja
Ninja July 6th, 2009
Yawn & happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful, restful weekend. And for those of you in the States, a lovely Independence Day.
I did a lot of painting of my weekend—yay! Here’s where I left off on my Kaki King guitar project.
Previously, her neck was too thick. There was more neck on the left than on the right, so I extended her hair to cover that part up.
I have the tendency to obsess and overwork when I paint—apply paint, hate it, sand off, repaint.
Later, I took a break and sketched this giraffe-icorn for Penguin, too.
Happy painting,
Ninja
Ninja July 2nd, 2009
Hallo, hallo you lovely folks! Thank you so much for all your encouragement and little love notes as I nervously go through prepping for this show. You have no idea how much it means to me.
For her hair, I layered burnt siena, raw siena, and raw umber acrylic paint around thin strips of ochre underpainting.
Here’s where I left off at 3 AM. Seemed like a good stopping point. Stay tuned for more obsessively detailed hair painting. ~__^
Much love back atcha,
Ninja
Ninja July 1st, 2009
Thanks for joining me as I go about my painting process and prepare for my first group show.
Fixed the crooked jawline and added some tone with light acrylic washes.
Evened out the eye levels. Then I built up and layered the shadows with thin acrylic glazes.
Next step: hair! I can’t wait. ^______^
Happy painting,
Ninja
Limited edition lithograph prints. Signed + numbered.
