Nobody Has Enough Personality For Pirate Braids

This week was a little odd. I had been asked to put a painting in a one night show in a public space and I had the strange realization that I have no G-rated paintings. So I thought, "well" I'll just make some." Not as easy as I had anticipated.

Eventually, I settled in on a nice set of teeth. I decided to paint over a painting I started last year and never did anything with. I was farely pleased with the outcome. i sent the work off. Christina told me I should come to the show as it might be a good networking opportunity given that 2 of the other artists were former Real World cast members. So, I packed up my daughter at 7pm and made for the show.

 

I arrive to find that not only that my work and Christina's work are not up, but the entire space is packed with the paintings of the two MTV "personalities".  One of whom is wearing pants completely covered in paint, I assume to show that he was taking a well-deserved break from the studio. (redacted statement about art) I didn't even bother to try to get an explanation as to why our work wasn't up.  Honestly, the one conversation I can't stand is the "why your art isn't hanging" conversation (It is often related to my first dilemma of not having any G-rated work).  I was told by the woman providing minute samples of wine that the wine was free and so was the art show.

Now, I cannot speak to the personalities of these personalities (as I left before bothering to talk to them), but I can show you one of their buisiness cards.  Not only is she a personality but she is a purveyor of fine pirate dreads.  ::Sigh::   But...

Ultimately, I'm glad our work wasn't up.  And I walked away with a pretty sweet painting.  I did, however, get a nice visit from some old

friends Mr. R. Eric Mcmaster and Nick Hochstetler.  Eric was in town shooting at an ice rink for a fast approaching show R Eric McMaster: The Obstruction of Action  at 1708 Gallery in Richmond VA, January 4-February 15 2013.  Check it out if you're in the area.

Hygene

The Homeless Knight Rises

This might be my Christmas card.  (His picture was used as packing material for another picture I was sent by a friend)

I Am a Flawed Individual.

It's a mouthful, but I think it's important.

Misanthropy is Overrated (and another tease)

 I try to share my work with everyone.  Especially people who won't get it.  At the very least I try to get people talking about art.  SPEAKING of art that might fall on deaf ears, I have been hard at work, putting together images I've taken of some very lovely people and here is another tease:

I still haven't figured out when I'm going to come clean as to the concept here, but I thought it would be fun to throw it out there.

Heads up

So, the time has come.  The work it finally in full swing.  I'll let you know more as the pieces develop.  This is just a little teaser.  I've gotten several models through my interactions on Craigslist.  I'm super excited about the results and met some really nice people who were very generous with their time.

For those who are interested you can follow me now on Instagram and Twitter.  I will be posting little snippets of my process that won't make it to the blog.  @Emergencymeat

Terrible People Can Be Good Allies

This week is a big week.  I have been meeting with people regarding the masks and it's looking good.  Next week I should have some big developments!  Very exciting.  In the mean time, here's my latest little cartoon.

Advice From Flawed People

So, I've been making doodles to remind myself of things I've learned being an artist over all these years.  Things that I found out on my own or interesting things I was told and never listened to.  I thought I would start sharing them on here.  I always like hearing advice, good and bad.  It tells you a lot about the person giving it.  Hopefully I won't eat those words.  This week I started a new covering the new head.  With this one I may have bitten off more than I can chew.  I've also been posting online for models for the final project.  Here's hoping!

Wow, this is a big head

Crap, this shape means I'm going to have to sew a butt-load of seams

Not sure if I like it  yet...

The real cold weather kicked in this morning.  All I could think of was beef stew in a bread bowl.  It looks like raw stewage, but it was amazing.

Last Halloween Post.. I swear.

What a crazy week.  Finished all the costumes for my family and myself.  Here's a close up of the batcowl and a shot of the Robin Costume.  Also a shot of what it looks like without a cape.  Today I carved out an hour ::rim shot:: to make a quickie punkin.  I just used a large rake, a small rake and a knife.  I'm not terribly proud of it, and I probably should have planned what I was going to do first.  But here it is anyway.  I was going for a Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein kind of thing.  Hope you like my little how to carve a pumpkin demonstration.

Dynamic Duo

BatFAM!

Empty

Ripped

initial shave

Right about when I knew I should have planned it out.

Aw, man.  Why didn't I plan this out?

Sigh

I guess he will do.

Lubed him up with vasiline to seal in the moisture.

Next week: back to the art

Release the Kraken!

I had a few minutes to play:

Be safe my New York friends...

Hurricane Sandy, Kraken, Fake pictures, Sandy, Hurricane, fakes, New york

Screw the Debate, Let's Talk About Important Stuff... Like Halloween.

Well, Halloween is nigh and I've been hard at work on my entire family's costumes.  Some things are going better than others.  I have custom sewn some pleather (without a pattern) and made a pretty boss Robin suit.  Batgirl is 99% done.   Batman has the bulk of the work to do.  Let's take a look, shall we?

Seaming the batmask.   Some of the seams are so bad there's no fixing them, but really they are unnoticeable from more tan a few feet.

sewn while the model was at work.

Pretty snazzy

I'm going to redo the boots, but otherwise we're all set!

I saw this somewhere online and I couldn't help myself.

Next week we get to see the finished costumes!

Masks and Flashing

So, I know the costume work I'm doing isn't really "art" per se, but I am using all my artistic chops to get it done.  I've also sanded out a new mask for my muppet heads and it's looking mighty good.  Check it all out:

Poor man's earplugs

What took hours, now takes 15mins with a belt sander

Demolded.  I don't think I can express to you how happy I was that this came out well.  The mold gods were smiling on me yet again.

My badass cape which is probably my second proudest achievement

Here it is.  I am doing another casting to see if I can fix some of the seaming issues, but this one will work even if the next one doesn't pan out.

Next week: the toothening

I HAVE THE POWER!!!!

 I had a bit of a fun find this weekend.  I found rome old Masters of the Universe characters in a bargain bin (and a pretty sweet MOTU Classics Skeletor!)  Enough of that.  I managed to fleece my latest head.  Even with the Henson Stitch, I feel like I will need to do something extra to conceal the seams.  I was going to try flocking it and see what happens.
In an astonishing turn of events I managed to demold my Batman mask without a hitch.  It just sort of popped off.  I was feeling pretty good about myself.   More on the costumes next week.  I'm also looking to start another head and polish the latest one off.

Rough cut

Profile

All seamed up

 and ready for teeth

Demolded!

Sexy Skeletor is looking for someone to master his universe.

Return of the Mask

No, I'm not making praying mantises (manti?) I just almost stepped on this one yesterday.  Anyway, so I'm back in full force on the heads with some newfound inspiration, so hopefully I can get some more of these guys done in the next month or so.  So check it out:

Much like the Cat in the Hat I live a mess everywhere I go

Added extra jaw and some cheakbones

I thought I'd give he belt sander a try for smoothing.  Not perfect, but it cut out about 2 hours of work.  I couldn't find my earplugs so I used 2 AAA batteries.

Next week I'll be adding his skin :)