52 Fridays - Ibo Mmaji Mask

 

Happy Friday once again and the last one of February. This week's drawing is a "Mmaji (or maji or ma ubi) mask from Ibo, Nigeria I found in a book called, "Masks of Black Africa", that is in my personal library. Sometimes I prefer to draw from a book and take a break from the screens that dominate my life now (computer, phone and TV). I chose this mask because it is so weird and wonderful and just makes me smile. It is abstract and goofy and kind of cyberpunkish. I used a basic black Bic ballpoint ink pen.

I noticed that since I've begun this project that I am doodling more. I crave drawing. I'm compulsively making marks everyday now. It's my natural state. Go with the flow...

I hope you are safe, healthy and can go with your own flow.

OK HW

52 Fridays - Kono Mask

Another Friday. Is time moving as fast for you as it is me? These winter, lockdown days are blurring together for me, but at least I feel we are moving in a better direction now. The COVID-19 numbers are going down, the vaccine is being distributed and the general madness has become background noise. But enough of all that, you are here for the art, all three of you, and thank you for dropping by. 

This week's drawing is another inspired from the fantastic IG feed by feereafricanart. From the description, this is a "Kono Mask" -  ex. Mauricio Lasansky, ex. Cooper Evans (perhaps these are the owners?). There are so many things I love about this mask; the big, round eye holes, the beard, bullet shaped head and contrast of textures. I may take another run at this one as I am dissatisfied with my rendering of the beard and missed capturing the full shape of the head, mine looks more like a bullet. Even so, I am content with my version. The beautiful color of the original is also compelling me to get out the prismacolor pencils. Stay tuned!

Stay safe and I challenge you to get creative! 

OK HW

 

52 Fridays - Bassa Beauty

Happy Friday and week number seven of the "52 Fridays Drawing Project". Only forty-five weeks to go...

This week is an African woodcarving from the Bassa people (of Liberia) from an image I found on IG posted by "feereafricanart". The sweet, soft feminine quality of the face is what compelled me to draw this. Unfortunately, I completely missed capturing that quality, as my image is decidedly more masculine. I read somewhere that all art is self-portraiture and I think this sketch proves that theory. Even so, I still like the drawing that I made as it has it's own life. Perhaps that beautiful woman gave birth to a beautiful son? I like the shape of this face, full at the crown and narrow at the chin. Reminds me of a seed. Plant this, nurture it and grow yourself a beautiful friend. 

See you next week.

OK HW

52 Fridays - It's Friday Somewhere...

All good intentions and all of that... yeah, so week six and I have already missed posting on a Friday, but it's got to be Friday somewhere right? Better to carry-on and get back on track. The harsh critic, doubter part of my brain whispered, "No one's looking at this, so why bother?" and "The world is awash in unasked for content that no one has time to look at. Why add to the noise?". Why indeed? Because I enjoy making these drawings. It just feels good to make art, make anything and be active and not passive. 

This week's subject is a terra cotta figurine from Mali that I found on IG posted by "la_chefferie_paris". There is a vulnerability to this figure, something in the awkward, sitting pose, missing arms and directness of the gaze. I may draw this again as I would like to spend more time exploring the subtle textures and shadow interplay.

See you again next Friday-is...

OK HW

52 Fridays - Bad Drawing? All Good

Happy Friday and week five of this weekly drawing project. This week's subject is a weird, tiny building that I saw and photographed in Hakkaido, Japan. There is an abundance of weird, tiny buildings all over Japan, and I have amassed quite a collection, so this won't be the last weird, tiny Japanese building that I will draw. 

Is this a bad drawing? It's not great, but I enjoyed doing it and like some things about it, but it's not great. This drawing was actually my second attempt, my first effort was the next drawing to the lower left;  a quick ballpoint pen sketch that followed the original image more closely. Notice that I removed the fence in the second attempt to simplify the composition. This tiny building with the ridiculously large vent reminds me of a robot head and I decided to play with that vision, so did a few more quick sketches. I also did multiple drawings of this subject because I wasn't satisfied with any of these drawings. I felt like they were "bad" because I didn't capture the soul and character of the building as I remember it and what I see in the photo. Even so, I am satisfied with myself for pushing through and continuing to play with this subject, that was fun, so it is all good. The moral of the story is, keep pushing.

Now go do your own bad drawing!

OK HW

52 Fridays - Totonac Mexican Skull

This week's Friday drawing is from an image from Instagram posted by "smithsiannmai" of a "Totonac pottery mold used to make sugar or paper maché skulls for Day of the Dead, ca 1940. Veracruz, Mexico". I drew this on December 12th. I love skulls and this one has a weird, simple quality and shape that made it fun to draw.

See you next week.

OK HW

 

52 Fridays - Is It Magic? Or Is It Crap?

Happy Friday! Here is my third drawing of this “52 Fridays” drawing project. It is of a wooden figure of the Chimu African tribe from 1000-1470 AD. I worked from a photo found in a book called "Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from The Museum of Primitive Art" that I found on The Metropolitan Museum of Art web site. They have made available over five hundred art books for free, as PDF files. It is a treasure trove for any art lover, so if you are looking to be inspired, pay them a visit and download a few (dozen) books. You will feel better, I promise you.

I choose this figure because I liked his shape and for the strong wood grain texture. There is also an "x-factor" there, something that I connected with that I can't articulate and don't want to spoil by thinking too much about it. 

I roughed out the basic shape in pencil and did the final drawing with a cheap, black Bic ballpoint pen. I like to draw, but always have to fight through the resistance of my critic and doubting mind to get to the fun part. That shitty voice is always telling me that whatever marks I am making are crap, that it's wrong, why am I bothering, and, of course, "you are a fraud". I've learned to fight through this, nodding my head and mentally agreeing in a patronizing way, "Yes, yes, you are right", but I continue on anyways. I always give myself an out that I don't have to show anyone if it really is that bad. I find drawing to be meditative and always, at some point, fall into a shallow trance and wake up when the the sketch is close to being done. That's when I often find that the marks I had so recently had no confidence in, now have magically become something. Mere marks now  have become wood or metal or bone and the the thing looks back at me. If I can get a little bit of my soul in there, then I have won. That is always a feeling worth the effort.

OK HW

52 Fridays - Drawing #2 - The Egyptian Museum

    Happy Friday! So, I missed posting on here last Friday, but I did post this on Instagram on the 8th, so I am covered. That means I will do a double posting on here today!

   Last  week I drew from a photo I took at The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt in the #BeforeTimes when I was literally traveling around the world. The Egyptian Museum is a sprawling, causally maintained facility, full of what seems to be millions of artifacts in dusty display cases with cracked glass and yellowing typewritten description tags. I loved it. I skipped the lines for King Tut to hang out with the more neglected displays such as these exquisite figurines. Unfortunately, I don’t have any historical details about this about this piece, but looks to be carved from Malachite and it was 3-4 cms. high.

    I hope wherever you are at and whatever your situation you can find something that brings you joy.

OK HW

52 Fridays - A Drawing Project

Greetings and Happy New Year! Here's wishing that 2021 is a better year than 2020, which is a pretty low bar to cross. I'm not one for setting "New Year's Resolutions" (sidebar shout out to my pal Neil's podcast where he recently ruminated on this very topic), but I do love to set goals for the year. S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based) goals, stuff like, log 1,200 miles walking/running/hiking. I hit 1,972 miles last year. This year I decided to set an art-based goal that will motivate me to draw more often. Inspired by my prolific friend (same guy with the mentioned podcast) Neil Bruce's "52 Fridays" music video project from last year, that I contributed some video clips to, I have decided to do an art version of that project and will post a drawing every Friday through 2021. I will primarily be posting new drawings, but there might also be the occasional blast-from-the-past. 

This week's drawing was done today and was taken from an image I found on Instagram posted by "@johngrahamtribalart". It's an interesting woodcarving of a simple, primitive style face from the Lobi tribe according to the info from the original post. I used a cheap Bic ball-point pen and drew it in a little travel sketchbook that doesn't lie flat, so I get to be a hand model. 

Only fifty-one to go! 

See you next week,

OK HW

 

Another "Off-World" Birthday

This is the fourth birthday that my wife Janet will celebrate "off-world". She left this Earthly realm a few years ago and I miss her terribly, always will. Janet's hands were always busy drawing, knitting, baking; she was an artist and creator of many things. We were fortunate to live in Ireland for a couple of years where Janet earned her MFA at the Burren College of Art. She had Irish roots and loved living in Ireland as I did. We returned for visits as often as we could. While looking through photos and video of our life together, I found this snippet from our last trip there in December 2016. It's so strange, sad and wonderful to get this glimpse of Irish pub life (courtesy of Connolly's Pub, Kinvara) and hear Janet's laugh again. I'm grateful for all the time I had with Janet. She was a beautifully formidable wife and friend and I am a better man for having been with her. 

Cheers my sweet baby,

OK HW

Shadows on the Wall

 

We are always surrounded by art. We just have the right eyes to see it.

From yesterday, some shadows that I saw...

OK HW

52 Fridays - A Case Study in Good Collaboration

I've been creatively collaborating with my friend Neil Bruce for over fifteen years. Our first project together was on my short animated film, "ZANK", back in 2005 for which he wrote a fittingly zany music score. (Catch up on "ZANK"'s history here). Our next project was a few years later when I created a music video for one of his songs "A dream of life". Neil is an idea  and creative machine, and always has several projects going on, including a podcast called "There is Another Way" aimed at anyone pursuing a creative life, multiple YouTube channels and album projects. Check out his website for more information. 

I'm grateful for Neil's friendship and particularly enjoy the creative sparks that fly whenever we get a good chat on. Through the years, we have generated more movie, art and music ideas than we could ever possibly finish in our lifetimes. Finding a good creative collaboration partner is as rare as finding a good romantic partner, both contain an element of mystery and chemistry that can't be explained or quantified. Collaborating is a tricky dance as there are egos involved, so care must be taken to honor each other's point-of-view, while talking honestly about the value of the ideas and whether they support the overall vision. Beyond the alchemy of idea creation, then there's the practicalities of crafting the ideas into a coherent plan and finally accomplishing something. For all of this to happen, all parties involved have to maintain communication and enthusiasm for the project until the end. I've seen too many projects die-on-the-vine because one person or another starts "ghosting" the thread and the project sinks beneath the waves of day-to-day life. If you want to get something done, you either make it happen or make excuses. The best of creative partners can help keep your creative life going, particularly when the well runs dry. Just as it is with a running or exercise buddy, it's easier to stay on track when you have someone to answer to and share each other's struggles.

Which brings us to my latest collaboration with Neil, his weekly music video project called "52 Fridays", found on his "Light Before Sound" channel. 

I have contributed four videos for his music on this project so far and will likely have a couple more before it is finished. 

If you find your creative life is stuck in a rut, then think through your circle of friends or people in your network who might be good to collaborate with and reach out to them and give it a try. You might be surprised where it might lead. Remember, you can go faster alone, but further together.

Thank's Neil!

OK HW

The Old Guinea is All New Guinea to Me!

I love primitive art from every culture and time period. There is a spiritual power and fierceness I find that permeates art created in pre-modern cultures. I am no scholar or authority on primitive art (the scholars and authorities are vigorously nodding their heads in agreement), but merely an admirer, so often when I am drawing for pure pleasure, I will crack open a book on African or Mexican or, in this case, Melanesia culture and flip through until something speaks to me. I always acknowledge the culture I am literally drawing from because I respect their art and hope that the information inspires someone else to learn more about an indigenousness people. Here is the link to the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery.

I have recently done two drawings of New Guinea, Astrolabe Bay Masks that were collected in the late 1800s.

I generally am first drawn to a mask by it's overall shape and this one has a strong, top-heavy look. The mouth-like eyes are weird enough for me and I like how you can see the cutouts for the wearers actual eyes just underneath. The mouth itself looks dangerous, something from a nightmare.

The second mask reminds me of some mutant beatnik with the tiny soul man beard hanging off his chin and crazy, beanie hat on his conehead dome. I also love the cinnamon bun eyes, once again with cutout eye holes just underneath.

I hope to travel to Papua New Guinea one day and draw some masks from the real thing and not just from a photo.

OK HW

Evil Rays - The Unofficial Music Video

  Evil Rays - The Unofficial Music Video from Weaverwerx on Vimeo.

My friend Sam McDonald is in a two-piece rock band called UGLYOGRAPHY that makes strange and humorous music. When he asked me if I was interested in creating a music video as background for live shows, I said "Hell Yeah!". Currently the band is sans drummer, so they embed a drum track to play along with. Sam gave me some vague ideas of what they were expecting, but mostly trusted me to to keep it weird and so I did. All the footage is public domain and was found on www.archive.org, the junkyard of culture where you can find everything from feature length movies to books and all your favorite childhood arcade games emulated right on the site, but I would save the games for last otherwise you won't get anything done. You will notice some reoccurring themes; monkeys, masks, retro go-go ladies, all elements that just felt right to me for this song. 

"A dream of life", A Music Video Collaboration

It has been too long since I worked on a film project, so when my pal, Neil Bruce of "Light B4 Sound" put a call out to film makers to create a music video based on a song from his latest album, "Senescence III", I jumped at the chance. I've been enjoying Neil's smooth, cinematic tone poem while on long walks and had some ideas that I thought would mesh well. The music reminded me of visiting the Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo, a magical facility, part of Skytree town. I recall wandering among the displays of jellyfish, penguins and the big tank; compulsively shooting pictures and video, that now would serve as the raw material for this project. Using Adobe After Effects, I created a gently hypnotic tapestry of textures and images that I hope flow harmoniously with the Neil's music.

Enjoy!  OK HW

A 12-Mile Journey - 2/6/16

It's been too long since I last posted anything. How many times has a blog post begun with that sentence? It probably numbers in the thousands, maybe even millions. Regardless, I am back. Since my last entry from November, much has happened. The holidays rolled in and dominated the calendar as they do every year, but the bigger event was we moved to a new place. It's not far from the old place geographically, but the difference in lifestyle is huge. We went from a little beach bungalow to a high-rise condo on the fifteenth floor. I'll save the details of all the differences between the two places and how I felt about moving for another time.

Today I want to share with you a twelve-mile hike I did from my new address on Saturday, February 6, 2016. I decided to document my journey by shooting a photo every mile as I did last August in a post called, "My Eight Mile". My new location is prefect for hiking as there's a variety of environments to explore from the beach out front to the forest in First Landing State Park. My training will also benefit from living on the fifteenth floor, as I will take the stairs down and up when I go out for a hike. You can check out this outings stats and see it plotted on a map here on Endomondo. I've been using Endomondo for a couple of years now and have found it to be easy to use and reliable. If you're on there too, feel free to connect with me. It's fun to encourage each other and see what hikes and runs other folks are doing.

On to yesterday's 12-mile journey. It was a cold and clear day, perfect for hiking, so I filled my CamelBak and headed out...

Mile Zero - Heading down the stairs from the fifteenth floor.

Mile One - The Cape Henry Bike Path looking east.

Mile Two - Still on the Cape Henry Bike Path heading east.

Mile Three - First Landing State Park on the Long Creek Trail. There's lots of Spanish Moss in the park.

Mile Four - There is no shortage of Pine Cones here.

Mile Five - Alone on the White Hill Lake Trail. I only saw two other people on this trail.

Mile Six - Where the White Hill Lake Trail meets the Cape Henry Bike Path.

Mile Seven - A always feel better walking in the woods.

Mile Eight - Found art - This dead, graffiti covered tree looks like modern art to me.

Mile Nine - More nature-based abstract art.

Mile Ten - This house along the Cape Henry Bike Path has some cool sculptures. I always love to see this skeleton and the flying man in the trees to the left.

Mile Eleven - I started the hike with long pants, but it warmed-up enough for me to convert to shorts.

Mile Twelve - Heading back up the stairs. This was from the fifth floor stairwell window.

The End - My front door.