| Happy New Year to all! |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|11:33 pm] |
My 2009 in (small) pictures.
And in these pictures, top to bottom, left to right:
1) Greg and I moved from Sydney to Brisbane
2) Greg's foot met Toby the Lizard who lives on the verandah and likes to bite people's toes
3) a random space-filling Australian black swan
4) three Travel Elephants together again, overlooking Brisbane, when Dad came to visit in May. The three Travel Elephants are for me, Mom, and Dad. :)
5) I got to hold an owl (for about a minute)
6) Went to see the start of the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race on Easter
7) Won a book cover design contest with my illustration of the geese, for Gander Press Review, and got published
8) Got the most awesome job ever, at The Canvas Art Factory, who support my artwork and sell my art prints on canvas
9) Went to see Riverfire in Brisbane in september
10) Was able to start creating canvas prints of my artwork, and expanded my Etsy shop range
11) Went to Cairns with Greg and family to attend a wedding, celebrate our 2nd anniversary, and have an adventure in general
12) Adopted an amazing dog named Charlie!
13) random picture of the dust storm that hit Brisbane this year.
Actually I don't know why there are 13 pictures, I blame it on the space-filling corner swan. :)
I wish everyone a wonderful, fulfilling, creative, delightful and friendly year 2010!! May all your wishes come true. |
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| Zayed University artist residency-- day eighteen |
[Dec. 30th, 2009|05:39 pm] |
Sigh. Oh my.
I wore my cope pretty thin by 1:30 and should have called it off then, but
I had a group of students painting and I was trying to finish these d%*m
peacocks.
A colleague took this while I was working. You cannot see my snarling face
or red eyes, which is maybe for the better.
This morning I taped some of my photographic source material to the wall. It was a
defiant gesture and casting off of shame and it felt really, really good.
When I was little I remember that some
artists gave my mom a hard time about using photographic reference material,
and it was therefore something you were supposed to do only on the sly.
Or maybe they didn't give her a hard time but she overheard some talking
smack about some other artist who worked from photos. Anyway, like most
messages we pick up as kids, this one has rattled around in my head
for a long time. (I am sure my mom got over it a long time ago.)
I sat for my mom a lot, and I liked posing; there is a painting somewhere
of me when I was two and she told me I was very good when I sat for it.
I sat for her until I was maybe sixteen, when she broke definitively
and forever from realism. However such things can be measured, she
had put in the years/yardage of canvas and earned the right to
paint from her head. I missed sitting for her though. I've always been
good at sitting still. Moving is more problematic.
The anti-photo thing--as if, when we want to paint peacocks,
we should tie the poor creatures down (or shoot and stuff them
per Audubon) so we can stare at them for hours and hours? Um, no.
But every so often I run into someone
who must of heard the same thing, that painting is not as valid
when you work from photos, and they give me the look.
Working from life is special in a certain way, fine. It mostly
has to do with the internal experience of the painter if you ask
me (and how that is romanticized). I have plenty of rich internal
experience without an actual screaming peacock in my face.
Life is nice but I prefer life backed up by REALLY HUGE JPGS.
So today I taped my source material to the wall. What happens
in the States when you show naive viewers your photographic source
material is (usually) this-- they consider the photo authoritative,
and look to see how faithfully you've reproduced the
photo. The extent to which you've copied the photo is the measure of
your success as a painter. End of discussion. I don't like my work to be examined
this way, but I had a hunch it might go down differently here and now.
Not surprisingly, the students could not have cared less about the photos.
They have grown up with digital media. Many of them check their
outfits and makeup with a digital camera/phone/iphone every single morning.
If it isn't appropriate for a student to shed her abaya to show a friend
today's outfit, she might show her friend the photo instead.
That I use photos to source details for my paintings is as noncontroversial
as breathing.
Phew.
Actually I'm old-fashioned as far as the students go
because I actually print out the photos. They just use their iphones
and zoom in when they want to see detail. A student came today and wanted to paint,
and she showed me a photo of potted orchids--on her phone. I said
it was so small?! and she went zoom on a single blossom
and showed it to me. She sat down and worked from her iphone for over four hours
today, zooming around the big jpg on her little tiny viewing screen.
[Edit: I get that some people choose not to use reference photos and
appreciate the structure, discipline, limitations and lifestyle involved in
working from life. In one of my imaginary alternate lives where I do
the things I can't do and still do what I am doing now, I am a nightime
urban pochade painter.
Well, maybe I will still try that one, it might work well in Abu Dhabi!] |
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| Zayed University artist residency-- day seventeen |
[Dec. 29th, 2009|08:05 pm] |
Long day! Got the brushes out maybe 9:15 this morning and
crawled home after six, with a short lunch.
Worked with some students, will ask tomorrow if I
can show off their work here. I have a group
of regulars and they are now past playing with the
art supplies to see what they can do; they are wondering
what I might ask them to do or help them to do,
if they let me. Which is awesome.
It's easy to teach someone who is feeling it to learn!
Worked on collage/working in layers with one student, charcoal sketching
from photographic source material with another,
and a third I tormented with everything from timed sketches to blind contour
drawings because she's a sport and because she had already built up a repetoire
of skills from drawing during all her classes for the past 10+ years.
None of them have art classes yet, which
is why they have the time to sit around and paint and draw. The advanced art
students like to discuss content and technique but they have projects due shortly;
if they are painting, it is for an assignment.
Today was more parrots, and turning the crows into house crows,
and researching UAE birds to identify the type of egret I see every day,
I want to fit it in this piece somewhere.
Guess I get to fix the wing attachment point on the top bird in the morning.
Added Arabic text into city skyline, painted in around buildings.
Tinkered with the sky in response to some feedback. Will see what it looks like
tomorrow but I think I will be tinkering more, it wants another layer.
Preferably when I am not grumbling at the painting I think you should
be done already. They take as long as they take, and I cannot grumble
and paint nicely at the same time. |
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| Zayed University artist residency-- day sixteen |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|04:24 pm] |
Started a new piece today, that is the black canvas in the middle. Did another
interview with a student, and had some nice conversations.
This blog has anonymous UAE readers! I have been told
about you! Fear not, you were not named by name. But I know
you exist because I found out about you today
in the faculty lunchroom. :))) Leave a comment or email me or something--
as you know, this (blogged) residency is kind of a new thing for the uni
(and me). If reading about it is working for you, it is nice to know.
If it is not working for you, I want to know that too.
Really aware I have
only three days left to paint-- I don't know what I can get done, rushing the
work won't help-- wanting to make the most of the time.
Students have been using the studio space even when I'm not there, which
is awesome-- I walked in to find another four canvases drying under the
stairs. The students however are messier than I am. At least the drips are
acrylic and dry fast, so I'm not tracking paint down the hall. :)
I figured out how to get this angled shot sitting on the stairs through the
banister bars.
I mostly painted parrots. I did not get a detail shot so no
parroty details for you.
I wanted to see if uni tired would photograph. It is a strange
tired, I've been hearing about it for years from people who teach.
Basically your brain quits working and your body says loudly how it wants a nap.
It threatens nonspecific but dire illnesses.
I'm not getting the full expression of university tired since my
interactions are all informal, no meetings or lectures, and I get to paint.
In my case it's about trying to be there for people/conversations because the
chance to have them won't necessarily come again, but having no brain.
Wishing to say something witty or kind or helpful or just-right but
there is only static where the words should be. Nodding and smiling
inanely. Feeling intense sympathy with tongue-tied students, but they
have the excuse that they are managing in a second language, and I am not
managing all that well in my first one.
Mornings are pretty good though. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 27th, 2009|08:49 am] |
I love working with Vanessa. Our sessions become better and better each time we work together.
We recently did two Monday sessions back to back and here are some of the processed images (more to come!)
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! |
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| Zayed University artist residency-- day fifteen |
[Dec. 27th, 2009|02:35 pm] |
I stumbled in after a lovely, slothful Xmas weekend all pumped up on
coffee and discovered 1) my 000 brush missing ("walked off" is the euphemism),
and that I forgot to bring more 2) Liquin, 3) acrylic medium, and 4) the adapter
with which to charge the camera batteries. Plus a Zayed field trip
to the Emirates Palace to see the Guggenheim show was scheduled, which
was a great excuse to bow out of the studio early if I even needed one.
So I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out the destiny of
this two-panel painting, and did some drawing and erasing
and plotting. Here is the worst ever photoshop job of the two
panels with some notes in vine charcoal. My camera was about out
of power and I had to beg it to take even these bad photos and then I
couldn't bother to merge them correctly. Post Xmas sloth is tough.
Believe it or not I feel like I know what is to happen with this one
now, so painting it might even go smoothly from here. Or not.
I also draped fabric over a new canvas, but couldn't do any gluing without
forgotten medium so there is nothing yet to show you.
Anyway, off to the Emirates Palace. I've seen the Guggenheim show either
three or four times now. This time around I got interested in
Asger Jorn's Green Ballet.
I can't find an image online of the piece, but here are a few detail shots
that show off some of the paint.
(angled)
I got to talk about Dubuffet
with some students. Specifically, we reverse-engineered one of his superchunky
paintings done on masonite. That was fun. Geeking out on technique with art students
is fun.
Can't find the Dubuffet we looked at online either, but it was from
this same series. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 25th, 2009|12:02 am] |
Right at the stroke of midnight, my mp3 player spit out Crowded House's "In My Command."
This song and thoughts of Santa Claus should *not* be combined.
Cute kid pix should appear on facebook tomorrowish... |
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| Season's Greetings! |
[Dec. 24th, 2009|07:42 pm] |
Wishing a very merry Christmas to all who celebrate!
If you're looking for a last minute gift, I'll be selling Tomorrowland: The Art of Aaron Acevedo pdfs for $5 until the end of the year.
Also, for all you Savage Worlds fans out there... Savage Suzerain is now available.
And finally, all prints in my archive are $10 each (includes shipping). If you order two or more, you get a free Tomorrowland pdf as well.
If you'd like to place an order, you can do so using the button provided below. Please make sure to include your shipping address if you're ordering prints or physical books.
Stay safe for the holidays, I'll see you next year.
Peace. |
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| Zayed University artist residency-- day fourteen |
[Dec. 24th, 2009|03:03 pm] |
After yesterday's Day Of Horrid Painting Pain, today was easy and brisk and
awesome, the kind of day that makes me happy to be a painter. Brain works,
hand does what eye wants on very first try, materials behaving.
Yesterday I wore glasses and today, contacts. I think there is a huge difference
in eyestrain-- while contacts are superficially irritating, there is not the
reflection/glare/struggle to see past frames that I have with my glasses.
Students came and painted with me today, I worked on an abstract/experimental
canvas showing them various layering techniques with acrylic, but conveniently
forgot to take a picture. Just kidding, I actually did forget.
It seems hard (to me) to learn to mix color
in acrylic-- the color you mix is not what you get when it dries
because the binder is white when wet. Then they dry matte and dark,
so if your painting was looking just how you actually want it when you set it aside
to dry? Better take a picture. I know how to deal with the matte
problem (gloss medium) but anybody have any ideas how to help
students mix color better? |
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| Zayed University artist residency-- day thirteen |
[Dec. 23rd, 2009|05:28 pm] |
I had a late start and a gruesome day painting, vexatious brushes
all thumbs and and paint that was too sticky or not sticky enough.
I stuck it out because
I could not believe how rough it was going and was sure any minute
I'd hit a patch of flow. Never happened.
But I pronounce this done for now and that
almost consoles my achy feet.
 |
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| Zayed University artist residency-- day twelve |
[Dec. 22nd, 2009|07:42 pm] |
Worked mostly on the men today.
A bit on the landscape-- green.
Really pushing to wrap this one up, but it needs probably two-three more
days. I wonder if I want it done to deflect attention from the two-panel
painting with the tiger, which feels like one big unanswerable question.
I trust my process and it will make sense eventually, but it really
doesn't right now. |
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| Zayed University artist residency-- day eleven |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|02:58 pm] |
Quiet morning except for a student interview-- some were assigned to interview
me for a class, to get a sense of what kinds of factors influence artmaking.
I've been interviewed four (?) times now and talked about different things to each
student. They will compare notes and wonder if they spoke to the same
person.
One thing is trying to pin down the magical moment: when
did you become an artist? No idea what criteria should apply. In '95 I was painting
pretty much full time and showing/selling so I just say then. But there were
a lot of milestones and battles before that, and it took something
to win them.
Part of the problem is the question: because my mother is a painter,
I knew painting as something that someone does, a verb. If you are
a professional artist, you also are coping with showing and selling.
There were various moments when I got clearer
that painting and showing/selling is what I wanted to do. But I never
had a magic moment where I looked in the mirror and saw the word artist
written on my forehead in glowing gold letters or something.
Anyway. I got in this morning and got busy and I do think maybe the content is resolved
for this painting. Now I just have to paint it in and make it all get along.
Many more changes stemming from conversations with students... interactions between
the various women taking on some tone, correcting false gestures
and adding in new ones. More work on clothing, still more to do
after this layer dries.
Decided that it is simply easier to accept comments and make the changes
than to try to rationalize not making the changes. How long does it
really take to sand down and repaint? Not that long. But rationalizing
and resisting = very hard work which is incidentally totally unproductive.
(This epiphany has to do with sanding off
and repainting the arm of the woman in red-- see above-- I originally put hand
on hip to introduce some energy and variety into the grouping. But
since she is in trad dress she is probably older, and students said
older woman would not stand that way. I wrote about this yesterday
or I meant to, was tired. Once I moved her arm I had to move her feet,
and then I had to... etc.)
I really love the camera and computer for getting distance on a piece. I used
to have to set things aside to see them fresh or turn
them upside down or look at them in a mirror but photo plus monitor
works better and faster for me. It's a good thing.
( Bigger image behind cut, for me to get a better look. ) |
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| Savage Mojo partners with Cubicle 7 |
[Dec. 20th, 2009|10:38 am] |
December 17th, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Savage Mojo partners with Cubicle 7
We’re delighted to announce that Savage Mojo is joining forces with Cubicle 7 to deliver a range of roleplay material in print.
“Our traditional strength has been in the PDF market,” said Martin Klimes, the head of Savage Mojo, “and we plan to continue offering high art downloads for the convenience of gamers everywhere. Now, though, we can move beyond the occasional print-on-demand offering to develop a full range of products in game stores.”
The initial roll-out in the first half of 2010 will see the following RPG game books going to print, each one an addition to our acclaimed Suzerain game universe.
Savage Suzerain, our core setting book for the multi-award winning Savage Worlds system (192 pages). We’ll be following this book with six setting/campaign books, each hard bound and full color throughout:
Dogs of Hades, 160 pages of Spartans in Space. Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ meets ‘300’. Admit you’re intrigued.
Shanghai Vampocalypse, a cyberpunk setting and campaign for demigod characters where one vampire is a monster… but eight million are an apocalypse!
Noir Knights, a setting and campaign in the Great Depression of the 1930s, where gumshoes and government agents investigate the paranormal and the truth is out there.
Caladon Falls, the first part of the War of the Wild series in the fantasy world of Relic, and a gritty look at what it’s really like to be inside a war in a fantasy setting.
Covert Ops, where it’s 1998 and there are secret agents and Secret Agents. Answering the question, “What would Tom Clancy do with his elite special forces troops if there were werewolves and wizards to hunt?”
Halcyon 6, a far future aboard the most exciting exploration fleet to ever leave known space… right until everything goes wrong, about ten seconds through the Archon Gate.
Additionally, we’re delighted to announce the development of our first special edition: Celestium Empires, a self contained swashbuckling world for our own Mojo Rules! game system, planned as two 256 page full-color volumes, including all the rules you need to play politics among the courts of the New World empires, cross swords with pirates in the Setward Isles, or head out to the wild frontier… and it’s very wild indeed.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Savage Mojo was formed under the name ‘Talisman Studios’ in 2003 as an art and design studio to the adventure games industry, the brainchild of master artists Jason Engle and Aaron Acevedo. The studio is an Origins Award Winner (for Deadlands Reloaded), and has worked on dozens of products. In May 2007 the company stepped up a gear, becoming a publisher in its own right, starting with its Gamescapes line of game accessories and building up to the launch of Suzerain. 2008 saw the company work on more than a hundred high art gaming products, with Suzerain being Origins Award semi-finalists. 2009 expanded the range of books and game accessories further and brought products to print for the first time. 2010 will see Savage Mojo in game shops everywhere through a partnership with Cubicle 7.
Suzerain is a multi-genre, multi-world game universe, Origins Award nominated in 2008. Ron Blessing of The Game’s The Thing (www.thegamesthething.com) had this to say about it, “I can't wait to spend time in this playground. As a whole it’s awesome. Suzerain can be as simple or detailed as the players and GM want. The art is absolutely gorgeous. Hopefully it's obvious I'm pretty high on this product. Wow. Just wow.”
For contact on this or any Savage Mojo topic, contact Savage Mojo at:
Website: www.savagemojo.com
Email: hello [at sign] savagemojo.com |
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| Savage Suzerain goes live! |
[Dec. 20th, 2009|10:33 am] |
Suzerain is an Origins Award Nominee from the Talisman Studios design house (who brought you Shaintar and Gamescapes, and are Origins Award winners for Deadlands Reloaded). This edition of Suzerain is written for the Savage Worlds rule system (SW:EX rulebook required), expanding the core rules in a number of key ways – a new approach to races is just the beginning.
Suzerain takes characters from one world to another or even to another time. History and fantasy; past, present and future – they are all your playground now. Your gaming group just became...
...a pantheon in the making.
Inside the covers you’ll find:
* All the universe background you’ll need to run games in any time, any place.
* Over 50 new Edges, Hindrances and Powers.
* Stats for over 100 new NPCs and monsters to use as allies and adversaries.
* A vastly expanded system for characters once they hit Heroic rank, with plenty of emphasis on the Legendary experience, and introducing a whole new rank – Demigod.
* 30 scenarios including a campaign spanning the three main eras of a character’s development – Novice, Heroic and Demigod.
Where most Savage Worlds settings finish their campaigns, Suzerain is just getting started. With Suzerain a Novice character can expect to battle his way up to being a true Hero of the universe, to meet deities, and finally to become a god himself!
Product Contains: A 196 page full color, hi-resolution PDF. It is a large download file and art intensive. Also included for the same price is a print friendly version.
Available from: Savage Mojo Shop, RPGNOW, DriveThruRPG, and Paizo, for your convenience. |
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| Zayed University artist residency-- day ten |
[Dec. 20th, 2009|06:19 pm] |
I really do not know what is happening with this painting! The
students increasingly offer a reading of this painting + the other one as
"traditional culture meets globalization."
The other painting is falling into place and I suspect 3-4 more days on it will
have it in order... it is missing two pieces. I figured out one of the two
in conversation with a student today, who made an excellent suggestion. :)
Nothing I would have thought of in a million years, which is why it is so good
to let people into my process.
I spent today working on the jalabiya and putting in the peacocks,
which still need a few more layers. Visited two classes and had many visitors
and two interviews, so a bit short on painting time. Saw some wonderful
student work.
Shopping for holiday prezzies at the mall on the way home? Downright relaxing. :)
It's all a matter of perspective. |
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