52 Fridays - This Week in Living Color

 

Welcome to week fourteen of my "52 Fridays" art project. I'm changing this from a "drawing project" to the more general term art because I want latitude to play with different mediums. Sculpture, painting,  interpretive dance? Stay tuned and see what happens.

This week is a drawing of a wood carved figure of the Gurunsi tribe from West Africa (learn more at Africa 101 Lost Tribes). I found the photo on "Zachary Feere—African Art" Instagram's feed, which has been a treasure trove of amazing stuff and this is not my first time pulling something from there. I was drawn to this piece because of the strong cuts across the face that suggest ritual scarification or maybe, healed wounds. The epic nose and sensual lips and overall shape of the head also attracted me. I decided to add color to this piece and used color pencils to overlay my ballpoint drawing. My girlfriend, Ieva, commented that "He looks bloody.", which I didn't notice, but see that now. I think he looks like a warrior who has been through hell and out the other side and wears has scars proud.

Happy Friday and see you next week!

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52 Fridays - Fast and Loose

 

"I'm better when I move..." A favorite line from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". This week's drawing is of the fast and loose variety. I seem to have two speeds, either "fast and loose" or "slow and tight". It is some insight into my psyche. The F & L drawings drop from a place of confidence and have more life. The S & T drawings rise from an opposite place of careful, too careful, consideration and a desire to disappear into the details. Somehow the F & L drawings manage to capture more of my soul, maybe because I am thinking less and just making marks, which feels good. 

This was drawn from an image found in the book, "African Art" by Frank Willet. This mask is from the Congo basin area of Africa and is called "Ngbangba Ikoro" and was carved by the Ibo tribe. I always include this information so you can research this if it inspires you like it does me. It's a holy act to speak those tribal names and draw their image with my own hand attaching some of my spirit to their's to keep that energy flowing. I'm not trying to appropriate the culture, rather, I hope that it will appropriate me.

Happy Friday amigo,

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The New Logo - Keep it Simple

 

This is the new official Weaverwerx logo. What do you think? I have a bad habit of over-thinking everything and have been mulling over a new logo design for some time, too long. I was sketching out some ideas tonight and drew this and immediately liked the loose, hand-made quality. It is authenticate to where I am at the moment with the Weaverwerx thing. It's not really a business right now, just an umbrella to throw over top of whatever I happen to be messing with. I think it would look good on a t-shirt. Always best to keep it simple. I'll leave off the "stupid" part of that meme as there's no need to beat myself up over this. 

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52 Fridays - I Didn't Draw This for You

 

Just sayin'. Not you specifically, but anyone, everyone. If I start thinking about an audience, I get self-conscious and the drawing is dead. All the magic and mystery leaks out onto the floor. This week's drawing is called "I dreamed I disappeared, but I was wrong." It's built from the leftovers of last week's drawing, those splotches are the bleed through of the India ink on the page below. The ink went through several more pages creating ever smaller and fainter shapes, so I will continue to harvest this randomness. I like how the ink has warped the paper creating a subtle series of dunes, like a desert. 

See you next week.

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52 Fridays - The Headless Troll King of the Free Flat Land

 

Greetings friends and welcome to another happy Friday! This week's drawing is an original piece I call, "The Headless Troll King of the Free Flat Land". I used a technique of randomness beginning with a couple of drops of brown India ink on paper charged with clean water. I let it dry and then looked at it from all angles, seeing different things. A process not unlike looking for shapes in clouds. This strange troll, orc thing was what I found. Somebody call a psychiatrist! I enjoy drawing from real life objects (or photos thereof), but part of that exercise is to add layers to the compost pile; build a vocabulary of mystery to articulate my own thang. 

See you next week!

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52 Fridays - Teotihuacán Head Mexico

Welcome to week ten of this 52 Friday's drawing project. This week I was inspired by an image from a book called "Before Cortes Sculpture of Middle America" from the MOMA online library.  Great site to visit if you have a few hours, days or weeks to burn. I find the I'm compelled to draw pieces that have some damage; chips, cracks, worn surfaces; something that has a bit of character. This is the face from a female figure carved from greenstone. I think I will draw her again sometime as I'm not completely satisfied with this one. I drew the forehead to high and the eyes are too small. I also think my tones are too flat. I took too much time and over thought it a bit. Even so, I had fun making this drawing. Not a bad way to pass a Friday evening...

Have a good one,

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