This Should be a Dove

 

I'm feeling overwhelmed by the news of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It's a disgusting, unnecessary, illegal and immoral act that seems like it should be impossible here in the 21st century; aren't we past world wars? But here we are and all because of one asshole who is not smart enough to think of creative ways to contribute to the common good, instead he has to fuck it up for all us. The people most negatively affected besides the Ukrainians are the Russian people who will have to suffer the consequences of this nightmare for generations to come.

So, what does that have to do with today's drawing? I almost didn't do anything today because, frankly, I feel really depressed about the state of the world. The center does not hold and all of that seems to be the way of the future. Why bother making a drawing or anything else? But I got something done, thanks to a bit of encouragement from Ieva. I feel guilty because I should have drawn something related to the war, drawn attention to some image or hopeful idea, but I wasn't feeling that. I needed a break from the doom scrolling of images of destroyed buildings, scared people huddling in subways, blasted tanks and satellite photos of damaged airfields. I went for the safety and comfort of African masks and pulled this one from the IG account of feereafricanart. Ironically enough, many of these masks were designed for rituals to confront danger, ward off evil spirits or send curses to bring misery to an enemy. I don't know what this Dan mask was original used for, but let's send it out to inflect sharp pains through Putin's colon and send him running for the nearest bathroom and a long, painful explosive shit that leaves him and limping. Fuck that asshole.

All we are saying is give peace a chance...

OK HW

52 Fridays - Red Frankenstein

 

Yes, I know that Frankenstein is the mad doctor's name and not the monster's, but "Red Frankenstein's Monster" just doesn't have the same ring to it. This drawing was inspired by an image of a "Grebo/Kru" mask I found on the Instagram account of "feereafricanart", a place that I have drawn from before. The Grebo people are from the Ivory Coast region of Africa and produced some amazingly weird and fantastic masks and other artworks. I know I'll be drawing from them again.

My version is very different from the original. There is some anxiety in mine that must be the result of reading the news first thing in the morning. I also leaned into the Frankenstein feeling and looking again, there's also a bit of Hellboy in there too. It was good to break out the color again and play with layering and throwing in some complementary highlights to sharpen the contrast and create some tension. 

Friend good, fire bad.

OK HW

52 Fridays - Unknown and Toothless

 

Greetings and Happy Friday! Have you ever felt like a toothless unknown? I know I have, so when I saw this toothless fellow, well he's missing one tooth, I had to draw him. He's another find from Instagram, this one came from the account of artsafricains.bakongo. Unfortunately there is no listed information about where or what tribe or anything, hence the "unknown" factor. If anyone out there can tell me anything about him, drop a comment below. I used a basic black ballpoint pen to sketch him out and finished with colored pencils.

Thanks' for stopping by and have a good week!

OK HW

52 Fridays - The Nose Knows

 

I love this guy's nose, reminds my of Sammy Davis Junior's nose. Color again this week, this time no ballpoint ink under drawing, just some pencil to lay it out. I amped up the yellow and slate grey background for contrast. I wasn't able to play with the subtle textures like I normally like to do mostly because I am out of practice with drawing in color. 

This image came from the Instagram account of "lesboisquimurmurent" and is a "Bateba Lobi" or wooden carved figure made by the Lobi tribe of the Burkina Faso region of West Africa. 

When I see my drawing next to the original, I want to draw this again, but next time in black and white and focus on the form. I think I lost that with my the muddy use of color. Always better to try and fail than not try at all, or just watch TV, right?

OK HW