Monday, November 9, 2009
On the big board today...
Started with color today on my new Monkey King piece. Here's where I'm leaving it tonight. I've been practicing not working so long each session with my art. My standard practice was to marathon with a piece until it was done, but I'm slowing down now, taking my time. I've found I'm not so anxious towards the end to finish, and so I don't short the work on the finishing touches. I get to look at it a couple times with fresh eyes too, take a few days to really make it right. With that said, here's the progress for day one... having SO much fun with the clouds!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
A Quick Commission...
I was contacted late last night by Amanda, the head of INDIEana Handicraft Exchange about doing a technical drawing of a store they are trying to get going. There's a presentation tomorrow in front of a grant committee to fund the store, so It was a VERY short-notice project. It was fun and challenging to draw like an interior designer... I ended up coloring it pretty simply in Photoshop, so it looks a little like Rogue Robot, but a little more realistic. Here's an inked version, and the final color image. Back soon with initial progress on the Monkey King final drawing, on a big piece of paper.
Friday, October 30, 2009
More Monkey King-ing
Been on a Monkey King kick again, as well as returning to my graphic novel, but I really want to use this winter as a time to make some big, portfolio-bulking artwork. Here's a sketch I started with, and a rough color mock-up of Monkey King defending his island, at the entrance to the South Gate of Heaven. In the story of the Monkey King, Heaven is depicted as the capital city of gods and immortals, not a paradise for the dead. There is a government there that controls all creatures on earth, and Monkey King is on their shit list for being blasphemous, and generally disobedient. So Heaven is kind of "The Man" in the story, and Monkey King just wants his independence. I've included this backstory to explain my visual interpretation of the clouds, how they need to look sinister, but still have a Holy/golden feel. Anyway... Here is a scene where the South Gates of Heaven are opening up over Monkey King's island to cast their judgment, but MK is resolute. I'll be posting progress on the final piece, once I get the clouds figured out. I'm not completely happy with them yet.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Monkey King / Self Portrait
Forgot to post this marker drawing I did about a month ago. Lots of fun. I double-matted it in a fun skinny frame. Good keepsake.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Amory goes to the Emergency Room.
Thought I'd tell the tale of my first valid visit to the emergency room, mostly just to have it for my own records, but also for your reading enjoyment.
The backstory (pun intended):
Around the time I started tattooing full-time (this may have no actual relevance and be mere timely coincidence), in September of 2008, I'd started having incidents of serious back aches, that seem to come out of nowhere. They would last for a couple hours, coming on slowly, and growing in intensity until I was literally unable to stand. They would slowly pass with the apparent help of ibuprofen. The pain is sharp, like a knife, in my upper/middle back, just below my shoulder blades, and always just to the left of my spine. Those back aches happened a handful of times over the fall and winter, lasting a little longer each time, maybe by an hour, until I had a worse one in February of this year. I traveled to Chicago for a meeting with some fellow camp counselors of Marwood. During the meeting the back pain started. It tapered off with the help of some stretches and a bit of back massage from Morgan, another counselor. That night after the meeting, I stayed at my aunt's house in Oak Park, and took a nap early to try and sleep off the residual pain. It came back, and in much more potency. The pain gradually spread from my back almost directly forward to my abdomen, and a what I can only describe as a "bubble" grew in my solar plexus. it was painful to touch, and kept me lying down only on my back, and not my sides. The pain in my abdomen turned into nausea, and I spent the following 6 hours puking my guts out every 20 minutes. I couldn't even keep a sip of water down, so no pain-killers I took had enough time to break down and get into my system. I took a hot shower around 4am to get my mind off the pain, and finally fell asleep after out of mere exhaustion. The last thing I remember was thinking I wish that I would just die, so it wouldn't hurt any more. I woke up the next day tired, and with a sore stomach, but otherwise feeling like nothing had happened. I didn't have health insurance at the time, so I couldn't realistically seek medical attention.
That incident caused me to rethink the way I position my body when tattooing. From then on, I sat my clients higher and myself lower, to straighten my back, and hopefully give my stomach a rest. I started going to the YMCA regularly and doing stomach and back-strengthening exercises to hopefully reduce the risk even more. With the exception of a small hour-long episode at Kristen's back in May, I've not had any more incidents.
The Incident:
This weekend I traveled to St. Louis on Saturday morning to visit Kristen. I hadn't seen her in over a month and with us both having been through very difficult times lately- the loss of her mentor to cancer and I losing my job at Voluta, we finally had a chance to reconnect and see each other again. Saturday was great. We caught up, spent time with her friends, watched SNL. As SNL was ending, I felt a familiar strain starting in my back. I immediately did some stretches, and repositioned myself to take any and all pressure off my back and stomach. It didn't go away. I figured it would be another small episode like last time, coming and going quickly. I'd been taking good care of myself, so I wasn't worried about another "Chicago." We went to bed around 12:30, and I knew I wasn't going to sleep any time soon. I got up, did more stretches, and tried to stay calm. Panic was welling up inside, and I got really scared. I took a hot shower around 1am to try and relax my muscles, hoping I could just fall asleep after that. I got out of the shower feeling nauseous. From after my shower until 4:30am I was throwing up and having diarrhea every 15 minutes. I tried to sleep on the floor of the bathroom in between, but I couldn't. I finally woke up Kristen and had her take me to the ER at a nearby hospital. I shivered and shook uncontrollably the whole way there and threw up more outside the ER. I was admitted, and had to tell 3 different people at 3 different stations the same information, before my 1/2 hour long wait to see a doctor. No pain relief, no help. Finally they called my name after several trips to the bathroom, and I got to my room. They put a tube in me, gave me fluids, a high dose of morphine, and other drugs to help with the pain. I found that as the pain lessened a little, it didn't go away. I only cared less about it than before, which seems unfair in a way. I wanted the pain gone. Over the following 9 hours they drew blood, ran tests, gave a rectal exam, found blood in my stool, took x-rays, and mostly left me waiting, doped up and half-conscious for hours at a time, Kristen sitting in a small chair at my bedside for the entire thing. She slept, in strange positions across 2 chairs, on and off between doctors coming in to ask me the same questions the ones had asked previously. Out of the whole thing, I remember most clearly being asked my birth date at least 10 times. The final verdict- Gastritis. Gastritis is an inflammation, irritation, or erosion of the lining of the stomach. It's basically an extreme case of Acid Reflux. It can be caused by a variety of things: Stress, a boost in acidic drinks like coffee or alcohol, spicy food, and H. pylori- a bacteria that lives in the stomach and causes ulcers, and sometimes leads to stomach cancer.
The Doctors did however say that blood tests showed that aside from the gastritis, I am in "perfect health." So..... With that I'm on my way. I've got some painkillers that I won't need for the pain I don't have right now, and some other stuff that will help to regulate the acid level in my stomach. I feel like someone whisked up my stomach with a hand blender and I've got a bunch of knots on my back that need some deep tissue work. Other than that, I feel fine.
As of today I'm no longer drinking coffee, my hot sauce obsession is now kaput, and I am officially past my "gin and tonic" phase. Time to get in more "perfect health," whatever that means.
The backstory (pun intended):
Around the time I started tattooing full-time (this may have no actual relevance and be mere timely coincidence), in September of 2008, I'd started having incidents of serious back aches, that seem to come out of nowhere. They would last for a couple hours, coming on slowly, and growing in intensity until I was literally unable to stand. They would slowly pass with the apparent help of ibuprofen. The pain is sharp, like a knife, in my upper/middle back, just below my shoulder blades, and always just to the left of my spine. Those back aches happened a handful of times over the fall and winter, lasting a little longer each time, maybe by an hour, until I had a worse one in February of this year. I traveled to Chicago for a meeting with some fellow camp counselors of Marwood. During the meeting the back pain started. It tapered off with the help of some stretches and a bit of back massage from Morgan, another counselor. That night after the meeting, I stayed at my aunt's house in Oak Park, and took a nap early to try and sleep off the residual pain. It came back, and in much more potency. The pain gradually spread from my back almost directly forward to my abdomen, and a what I can only describe as a "bubble" grew in my solar plexus. it was painful to touch, and kept me lying down only on my back, and not my sides. The pain in my abdomen turned into nausea, and I spent the following 6 hours puking my guts out every 20 minutes. I couldn't even keep a sip of water down, so no pain-killers I took had enough time to break down and get into my system. I took a hot shower around 4am to get my mind off the pain, and finally fell asleep after out of mere exhaustion. The last thing I remember was thinking I wish that I would just die, so it wouldn't hurt any more. I woke up the next day tired, and with a sore stomach, but otherwise feeling like nothing had happened. I didn't have health insurance at the time, so I couldn't realistically seek medical attention.
That incident caused me to rethink the way I position my body when tattooing. From then on, I sat my clients higher and myself lower, to straighten my back, and hopefully give my stomach a rest. I started going to the YMCA regularly and doing stomach and back-strengthening exercises to hopefully reduce the risk even more. With the exception of a small hour-long episode at Kristen's back in May, I've not had any more incidents.
The Incident:
This weekend I traveled to St. Louis on Saturday morning to visit Kristen. I hadn't seen her in over a month and with us both having been through very difficult times lately- the loss of her mentor to cancer and I losing my job at Voluta, we finally had a chance to reconnect and see each other again. Saturday was great. We caught up, spent time with her friends, watched SNL. As SNL was ending, I felt a familiar strain starting in my back. I immediately did some stretches, and repositioned myself to take any and all pressure off my back and stomach. It didn't go away. I figured it would be another small episode like last time, coming and going quickly. I'd been taking good care of myself, so I wasn't worried about another "Chicago." We went to bed around 12:30, and I knew I wasn't going to sleep any time soon. I got up, did more stretches, and tried to stay calm. Panic was welling up inside, and I got really scared. I took a hot shower around 1am to try and relax my muscles, hoping I could just fall asleep after that. I got out of the shower feeling nauseous. From after my shower until 4:30am I was throwing up and having diarrhea every 15 minutes. I tried to sleep on the floor of the bathroom in between, but I couldn't. I finally woke up Kristen and had her take me to the ER at a nearby hospital. I shivered and shook uncontrollably the whole way there and threw up more outside the ER. I was admitted, and had to tell 3 different people at 3 different stations the same information, before my 1/2 hour long wait to see a doctor. No pain relief, no help. Finally they called my name after several trips to the bathroom, and I got to my room. They put a tube in me, gave me fluids, a high dose of morphine, and other drugs to help with the pain. I found that as the pain lessened a little, it didn't go away. I only cared less about it than before, which seems unfair in a way. I wanted the pain gone. Over the following 9 hours they drew blood, ran tests, gave a rectal exam, found blood in my stool, took x-rays, and mostly left me waiting, doped up and half-conscious for hours at a time, Kristen sitting in a small chair at my bedside for the entire thing. She slept, in strange positions across 2 chairs, on and off between doctors coming in to ask me the same questions the ones had asked previously. Out of the whole thing, I remember most clearly being asked my birth date at least 10 times. The final verdict- Gastritis. Gastritis is an inflammation, irritation, or erosion of the lining of the stomach. It's basically an extreme case of Acid Reflux. It can be caused by a variety of things: Stress, a boost in acidic drinks like coffee or alcohol, spicy food, and H. pylori- a bacteria that lives in the stomach and causes ulcers, and sometimes leads to stomach cancer.
The Doctors did however say that blood tests showed that aside from the gastritis, I am in "perfect health." So..... With that I'm on my way. I've got some painkillers that I won't need for the pain I don't have right now, and some other stuff that will help to regulate the acid level in my stomach. I feel like someone whisked up my stomach with a hand blender and I've got a bunch of knots on my back that need some deep tissue work. Other than that, I feel fine.
As of today I'm no longer drinking coffee, my hot sauce obsession is now kaput, and I am officially past my "gin and tonic" phase. Time to get in more "perfect health," whatever that means.
Friday, October 2, 2009
I'll be here Friday and Saturday, so come out! It's free!
Friday, October 2, 2009 6 - 10pm | |
Saturday, October 3, 2009 10am - 6pm | |
Harrison Center for the Arts | |
1505 North Delaware Street | |
Indianapolis, IN |
The INDIEana Handicraft Exchange is a contemporary craft fair that consciously celebrates modern handmade goods, the relationship between creator and consumer, and local, alternative economies. The IHE is quickly becoming a notable stop on the indie craft fair circuit, which includes events such as the Renegade Craft Fairs in Chicago, Brooklyn, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Indie Craft Experience in Atlanta, Stitch Rock in Delray Beach, Florida, Art vs. Craft in Milwaukee, Detroit Urban Craft Fair in Michigan and Art Star Craft Bazaar in Philadelphia, among others. The IHE began in 2007 as a way to highlight local crafters and artisans as well as to expose Indianapolis to some of the best vendors on the national indie craft fair map.
Most of the products sold by IHE artists serve the dual purpose of art and function and range from the beautiful to the irreverent, from the adorable to the slightly sinister, from the hysterical to the just plain bizarre. Vendors may use traditional crafting techniques but they express contemporary themes and design. Vendors offer a range of unique handmade goods from wooden jewelry to fanciful undergarments, from custom vintage-inspired western wear to stationery, from plush animals to natural bath and body goodies, from hand-screened rock ‘n' roll poster art to pop culture icon finger puppets and much, much more.
The INDIEana Handicraft Exchange fall show will be held on Friday, October 2, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in conjunction with IDADA's wildly popular First Friday gallery openings, as well as on Saturday, October 3, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Harrison Center for the Arts, located at 1505 North Delaware Street, just north of downtown Indy. This fall the IHE will feature 70+ vendors, live roller girls, live music by the Shirtless Biddles, Mandy Marie Luke & Mo Foster, The Jack Davies, Julia Schafer & D. Mark Conway, Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun and A Squared DJs, as well as giveaways of many fantastic raffle prizes donated by our vendors and sponsors.
Admission into the fair is FREE to the public. Raffle tickets are sold for $2 each, three for $5 or 7 for $10. Patrons may obtain additional raffle tickets by bringing children's arts and craft supplies, or children's art books, for donation at the door the day of the event. Money made from raffle ticket sales is used to purchase arts and craft supplies for select Indianapolis area public school art programs. Prizes for the raffle are donated by our vendors and local, independent business sponsors.
The event is kid-friendly, but some artists’ work features the occasional dirty word or sexual image, so parents might want to take a gander before their little ones get an eye full.
The INDIEana Handicraft Exchange is the first and only of its kind in Indianapolis and is currently held biannually.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Concerning Tattoo: A Step Out of Familiar Territory
Today's a good day, and I'll tell you why:
Thought I'd share a new design for a client at Voluta. I felt like sharing it here because I've had a lot of freedom with this design. Most of the time, clients have something pretty specific in mind whether they know it or not, but I was basically given an open project on this one. The only structure was the starting point being a Fibonacci Spiral (geometric spiral that appears in nature i.e.- sea shells, hurricanes, galaxies). Here's the rough sketch of what I came up with. Needs a few tweaks, but the client and I are both very pleased.
This design is a milestone for me. I've been cruising along, sticking to the mainstream "boundaries" of tattoo. The client wants a lion, they get a lion. They want a floral arrangement with names, they get just that. They are beautifully drawn, perfectly executed in tattoo, and the client is completely satisfied. However, starting primarily with this design, I'm venturing into a more open project where I have a lot of artistic license. This brings me to an unfamiliar and very enticing place. A place I feel stylistically terrified, without boundaries or guidelines, and completely free. Rarely do I travel into the realms of the not-easily-recognizable, and NEVER into the abstract... It's just not my thing... at least not until I dreamed of a design last night, woke up, and this poured out. So now I have this adrenaline-like rush in my chest, fueling my brain to push, push, push the envelope, to break the boundaries of mainstream tattoo, and offer clients something a little crazy, but truly original, in it's most raw form. If it catches on, I'll be sharing it all here. I'll post the final product soon too, one the client approves!
Thought I'd share a new design for a client at Voluta. I felt like sharing it here because I've had a lot of freedom with this design. Most of the time, clients have something pretty specific in mind whether they know it or not, but I was basically given an open project on this one. The only structure was the starting point being a Fibonacci Spiral (geometric spiral that appears in nature i.e.- sea shells, hurricanes, galaxies). Here's the rough sketch of what I came up with. Needs a few tweaks, but the client and I are both very pleased.
This design is a milestone for me. I've been cruising along, sticking to the mainstream "boundaries" of tattoo. The client wants a lion, they get a lion. They want a floral arrangement with names, they get just that. They are beautifully drawn, perfectly executed in tattoo, and the client is completely satisfied. However, starting primarily with this design, I'm venturing into a more open project where I have a lot of artistic license. This brings me to an unfamiliar and very enticing place. A place I feel stylistically terrified, without boundaries or guidelines, and completely free. Rarely do I travel into the realms of the not-easily-recognizable, and NEVER into the abstract... It's just not my thing... at least not until I dreamed of a design last night, woke up, and this poured out. So now I have this adrenaline-like rush in my chest, fueling my brain to push, push, push the envelope, to break the boundaries of mainstream tattoo, and offer clients something a little crazy, but truly original, in it's most raw form. If it catches on, I'll be sharing it all here. I'll post the final product soon too, one the client approves!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
WhopperCroc™
Sometimes only one thing can satisfy you...
On display in the Benjamin Franklin Gallery
Friday, September 18th, 6-10pm
During the Wheeler Open House
On display in the Benjamin Franklin Gallery
Friday, September 18th, 6-10pm
During the Wheeler Open House
Sunday, September 13, 2009
A Last-Minute Return to Art vs. Art
Hello everyone. Thanks to a serendipitous run-in with Shannon from Primary Colours, I've decided to take part in Art vs. Art. For those of you not in the know, it's a local painting competition that happens every year, that I've managed to win twice already, in 2005 and 2007. I didn't compete last year, and was convinced to come out of hiatus. So I'm back, and I need your votes! Visit this site: http://www.artvsart.com/ All the rules and regulations of the competition are there for you to peruse. Click around on the Primary Colours logos till you find the "Vote Now" page and check out the 113 paintings that were made between the hours of 10am and 4pm this past Friday. If you like Canvas #94 (my painting, see image below) vote for it! All you gotta do is type in your email and confirm the auto-reply! Thanks, people!
Here's the website image:
Here's my own photos of the finished piece, and the supplies I was given to paint it. Red, Yellow, Blue, White, Black (didn't use any), and 4 hours. I finished in 3:45.
Here's the website image:
Here's my own photos of the finished piece, and the supplies I was given to paint it. Red, Yellow, Blue, White, Black (didn't use any), and 4 hours. I finished in 3:45.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Late Night Creep-Out.....
OK.... so I'm wiggin' out.
I've been working on the drawing below for the last 3 hours... I got up to get more tea and stretch, and as I stood I looked directly down at the drawing. Suddenly, a flood of memories came rushing into my head, like a flashing montage on visual images, and I remembered seeing a pattern, THIS pattern, broken by an insect... Then I remembered it from a recurring dream I had a couple times when I first moved into the studio I live in now... I've dreamt about this piece! This exact friggin piece, over a year ago... A Dharma Wheel and a Bee. I've never had this happen before, and it's eerie, and exciting all at the same time! I want to keep working but I want to jump up and run around all chills and gyeeaaaahhh!
Ok, so here it is in progress...
On another note, I've noticed that the last 2 weeks straight, I've been waking up at exactly 9:20 am, every day, like clockwork (pun intended). This morning the first thing I did was open my eyes, turn my head a look at the clock... Yep. 9:20 as usual. Ten minutes before my alarm. I think the cosmos is lining up in my head or something. I hope an alien doesn't pop out. I like my head.
More soon, friends.
I've been working on the drawing below for the last 3 hours... I got up to get more tea and stretch, and as I stood I looked directly down at the drawing. Suddenly, a flood of memories came rushing into my head, like a flashing montage on visual images, and I remembered seeing a pattern, THIS pattern, broken by an insect... Then I remembered it from a recurring dream I had a couple times when I first moved into the studio I live in now... I've dreamt about this piece! This exact friggin piece, over a year ago... A Dharma Wheel and a Bee. I've never had this happen before, and it's eerie, and exciting all at the same time! I want to keep working but I want to jump up and run around all chills and gyeeaaaahhh!
Ok, so here it is in progress...
On another note, I've noticed that the last 2 weeks straight, I've been waking up at exactly 9:20 am, every day, like clockwork (pun intended). This morning the first thing I did was open my eyes, turn my head a look at the clock... Yep. 9:20 as usual. Ten minutes before my alarm. I think the cosmos is lining up in my head or something. I hope an alien doesn't pop out. I like my head.
More soon, friends.
New Art....
Here's a peek at the new piece I just finished... i think the monocle is my favorite part.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Pencil Test
Test: Peonies. Rules: From memory, no erasing allowed.
I'd like to have a block made out of this for printing...
Spindlebot Press, anyone?
I'd like to have a block made out of this for printing...
Spindlebot Press, anyone?
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Unveiling...
Spindlebot Press.
Years in the making, Josh and I started tossing ideas around about collaborative work back at our first show at Corner Coffee in 2005. It wasn't until recently that we discovered a new avenue for our works in the budding independent arts and crafts movement. So here we're trying something a little old, and a little new, collaborating on letterpress artworks and design/illustration. The image above is the first design we've come up with as part of a series of 12 promotional letterpress prints. Stop by the BLOG and peep the Etsy store later on for artwork (coming soon). Here's the big leap!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Big Plans and the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange
So..... Josh and I are collaborating on something.... We'll have an unveiling online, maybe tonight. All I can tell you now is that we will have a booth at the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange, October 2nd and 3rd at the Harrison Center in Downtown Indy. Stay tuned for the big hullabaloo.... In the meantime, here's the flyer for the Handicraft Exchange:
Robot/Rapture
My latest charcoal work, took me a while to finish it. Had the day off and she was calling me from the wall... Feels great to get my hands dirty again! This is a tribute to Lempicka, Edward Kwong, and overcome robots everywhere.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Jascha Cover - Update
Ok, rework of the typophone to look a little more organic, and "watermarky," not so boxy like the old style. Realized I'd been spelling the band's name with a capital J and that's NOT cool. The illustrated stuff in the middle was getting a little busy, so I opted for an old newspaper article regarding a dramatic house fire instead. Made these changes last night...
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Album Cover Work...
I've been commissioned by the local indie/folk band Jascha to illustrate their upcoming album cover... Here's phase one of the "Typeograph/Phonowriter." More to come as the cover progresses....
Sunday, June 28, 2009
New Work and Ramblings...
A new piece.
I'm finally getting back to drawing. I was inspired last night, so I penciled out a new piece I plan on doing in grayscale charcoal. Progress updates to come.
On the subject of Muses, and new directions.
For the past few months, I've had my "inspiration eye" on an illustrator named Edward Kwong... the linear shape building in his compositions are just phenomenal. I'm still a little unsure of his approach to coloring his work. I can't tell if it's partially or completely digital. Following blogs of other practicing artists makes me ache to work on canvas, or at least fancier paper. I think I'll be getting back to that. I'm busy enough with tattoo work, I can afford to give myself a weekly "Art Day" off from the shop. Discipline is a much more frustrating obstacle to overcome.
Thoughts on tattoo, and creativity.
Something has become clear in my work at Voluta. Tattooing has taken over my main source of creative outlet. I guess from the job perspective, that's a blessing, considering I'm paid very well to be creative. The conflict lies in my own guilty feelings about what gets set aside in the meantime. My novel. My personal art. When I started tattooing, I promised myself that my job would never take priority over my art/illustration. I believe now that it was not a skillful promise to make to myself. What more could I ask for in a job, than for it to be creative and inspiring? I guess my only answer would be to still feel creative and inspired when I get home at night, or on my days off. I've always believed that one's creative energy was in endless supply, especially with a healthy diet and plenty of good sleep, which I get. I guess where I'm going with all this is to recognize a growing feeling that I'm not spending enough time on my own work. I'm sure you will all respond with a resounding "DUH!" haha
I'm finally getting back to drawing. I was inspired last night, so I penciled out a new piece I plan on doing in grayscale charcoal. Progress updates to come.
On the subject of Muses, and new directions.
For the past few months, I've had my "inspiration eye" on an illustrator named Edward Kwong... the linear shape building in his compositions are just phenomenal. I'm still a little unsure of his approach to coloring his work. I can't tell if it's partially or completely digital. Following blogs of other practicing artists makes me ache to work on canvas, or at least fancier paper. I think I'll be getting back to that. I'm busy enough with tattoo work, I can afford to give myself a weekly "Art Day" off from the shop. Discipline is a much more frustrating obstacle to overcome.
Thoughts on tattoo, and creativity.
Something has become clear in my work at Voluta. Tattooing has taken over my main source of creative outlet. I guess from the job perspective, that's a blessing, considering I'm paid very well to be creative. The conflict lies in my own guilty feelings about what gets set aside in the meantime. My novel. My personal art. When I started tattooing, I promised myself that my job would never take priority over my art/illustration. I believe now that it was not a skillful promise to make to myself. What more could I ask for in a job, than for it to be creative and inspiring? I guess my only answer would be to still feel creative and inspired when I get home at night, or on my days off. I've always believed that one's creative energy was in endless supply, especially with a healthy diet and plenty of good sleep, which I get. I guess where I'm going with all this is to recognize a growing feeling that I'm not spending enough time on my own work. I'm sure you will all respond with a resounding "DUH!" haha
Monday, May 18, 2009
An Evening Battle with Pastels
Started a pastel piece of some lonely Spanish Conquistador that turned out looking like absolute rubbish. I smeared black chalk over the whole thing, and busted out the Lightning Bug in retaliation. I was victorious.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monkey on my Mind
I've been making little marker drawings of Monkey King before I go to sleep the last couple nights. It's making me have dreams about Monkey King and some wild adventures which is pretty friggin awesome. So in honor of my early morning post, and the Bull-demon hordes that I conquered in my sleep last night, here are 2 more drawings of Sun Wu Kong...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Long Time No Post
It's been over a month since my last post, sorry for that. If you're thinking "Gosh, Amory hasn't done any art in a while!" Think again! Feel free to visit Voluta Tattoo and check out my portfolio of all the tattoos I've been working on. Every single design is an Amory original, custom hand-drawn for the client. To hold you over, here's a fun little marker/charcoal drawing I drew up the other night of Monkey King. Enjoy, and I'll be back much more frequent with new art posts!
Monday, February 23, 2009
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