52 Fridays - BEARDROBEER

 

Happy "Black" Friday, although I don't do the big Christmas shopping thing anymore, especially on this day, so maybe I should say, "Anti-Black Friday". 

This week's drawing is a BEARDROBEER Gere African Mask from Liberia I found on an IG feed called "afrikaria". According to the description, the BEARDROBEER is some kind of crazy wild boar that has inspired ritual masks across a wide group of tribes in Western Africa. To my eye, he looks like one of the funkier and cool Muppets that likely sat in with Dr. Teeth's rock band. I gave the ballpoint ink pen a rest this week and used this lovely Sakura Pigma (Pig - get it!) Micron 005 pen that lays down a really nice line. I don't normally fetishize my creation tools, but I'm hooked on this pen and need to try some other sizes. This is a small, nearly tiny drawing, the pen is there is reference, no I'm not trying to sell anything here. I was inspired by the amazing work of R. Crumb and Moebius as I worked on the drawing. They both are masters of fine line work and getting the most out of every mark. Maybe if I keep practicing and live to 152, I might be as good as they are one day...

OK HW

52 Fridays - A Fragment from a Sacred Post...

 

Is this a fragment of a sacred post? Too early to judge. Greetings from Riga, Latvia. I am settling into this new life, feeling a bit fragmented myself from the jet lag and soft culture shock. I could do with a bit of defragmenting. 

This drawing was done on a layover in JFK airport on the flight over. It is a "FRAGMENT OF A SACRED POST", Gupna village, Owaraha island, Solomon island, Melanesia that I found on the IG account "tribal_art_society". I'm always drawn to fragments of sculpture or carvings and I'm not sure why that is. Maybe it's the asymmetrical form or the opportunity to fill the space in, who knows. This one also pulled me in with the one good eye and large nose ring and small, pouty mouth. 

So was this a sacred post? Only time will tell...

OK HW

52 Fridays - The Kiss Goodbye, the Kiss Hello...

 

This week's drawing was a quick one as it's been a busy time. I am traveling to Latvia to be with my girlfriend Ieva. I moved out of my apartment in Richmond, Virginia this week, put a few things in storage and gave away the rest. RVA has been a good home for me this last two years and I will miss, my friends, hiking along the James River and the people and culture here, so the kiss goodbye. On the other end of this journey is Riga, Latvia, also a city defined by a river, the mighty Daugava, also a capital city with good people and culture, so a warm kiss hello. 

This mask comes from the Luba people of the Zaire River Basin, who are known for their Striated face masks. I found it on the Instagram feed of "beauty_and_the_belief", whom I have pulled from before. Does that look like a kiss to you? It did for me.

See you next week from Riga!

OK HW

52 Fridays - Dark Mask

 

UPDATE- This a "Pende Mask" from the Congo region of Africa. Thanks to "gaetan_antic" from Instagram for the added information.

I know nothing about the origin of this mask other then it is from Africa. Unfortunately, "gaetan_antic" on IG didn't provide any background info, but I have a query into them, so will update this if they provide some details. It's important to credit the artist always. 

Halloween is done, so I'll return to tribal masks for the last seven drawings of the year. I choose this one because I like the shape of the eyes and mouth. There's also some interesting textures and reflections that are interesting. When I started the drawing, I was a bit timid and everything quickly became muddy, but then I stepped into the dark areas and pushed the contrast and it came alive. I find that if I get too precious with whatever art I am making, it has no life, but if I am willing to take a risk, even risk destroying the piece by going deeper into the dark areas, the unknown, then it lives. The lesson, let go of the illusion of control and just let the unknown flow.

Happy Friday!

OK HW