Monsters of Classic Cinema (July 2012)

I wanted to do something a little goofy.  Continuing the theme of classic film, I decided to take a look at some of the best bad guys in film history: old school monsters.  Also, just for kicks, I decided to do sort of a Warhol thing and ditch the black-and-white in favor of full color.

Count Dracula
Dracula (1931)
portrayed by Bela Lugosi

Frankenstein's Monster
Frankenstein (1931)
portrayed by Boris Karloff

Larry Talbot/The Wolf Man
The Wolf Man (1941)
portrayed by Lon Chaney, Jr.

The Creature/Gill-man
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1951)
portrayed by Ben Chapman and Ricou Browning














Also, I had some supplies that I needed to use up before my next move, so here's this.  I used images of Buddy Holly for inspiration along with a tip of the hat to the Doctor Who 3D glasses bit:

Stream of Consciousness (July 2012)

This one probably has some sort of deeper meaning, but I'm not completely sure what it is-- perhaps something to do with the fleetingness of thoughts and dreams?  The woman depicted here is Martha Vickers, a noted actress, model, and WWII pin-up girl who is probably best remembered for playing Lauren Bacall's trouble-making younger sister in the classic Bogey/Bacall film noir, The Big Sleep.  One of the things I sought to do with this piece was exploit the wide range of blue tones available in post-it notes, and while I think I accomplished this, a few of the shades did sort of run together (creating a lower contrast image than I would have preferred).  Still, I'm pretty pleased with it.

I'll also add a close-up here where the different blue tones are a little more apparent.  Now that I think of it, I ran into a similar problem with the Duck Dunn portrait a few weeks back.  Yep, there are about seven different shades of blue available in post-its, but the contrast between them isn't quite as high as I'd like.  It'll do though.

The Boy Wonder (July 2012)

I'm on a bit of a comicbook kick lately, so it seemed like an appropriate time to capture one of my favorite superheroes using the post-it medium.  Yep, even though I'm a huge Batman fan, Robin has always seemed like the more interesting character to me.

A little backstory: Dick Grayson is an orphan who Batman takes under his wing, and one of the recurring themes throughout comics and cartoons is that Batman is attempting to spare his young protege from the same neglect and bloodlust that have made Batman the vengeful, bitter man that he is today.  Of course, Robin does his fair share of brooding as well, but he's ultimately a fairly lighthearted character, making the contrast to his mentor all the more stark.  In this piece, I tried to capture some of those more Batman-like tendencies (exemplified by the bat signal present in the background and the darkness obscuring Robin's face).

Of course, speaking of Robin's similarities and departures from Batman, it just hit me how much this post-it imitates the style of the old "Batman: The Animated Series" title card.  That was completely unintentional, but I'm glad it turned out that way.  That show had a phenomenal visual style that stirred in elements of comicbooks, art deco, and film noir sensibilities, so I count any similarity to it (no matter how accidental) as a good thing.
[sigh]  I know.  I am such a comic nerd.

In other news, I burned my index finger tonight while fiddling with a candle, so this may limit my post-it work for a bit.  I put aloe on it right after it happen, so maybe that will keep it from blistering up and I'll be able to work again tomorrow.  I'd cross my fingers, but that kind of hurts right now.

Morpheus (July 2012)

I needed a break from the hyper-detailed stuff and wanted to pay homage to Neil Gaiman's The Sandman (in which I'm currently engrossed), so here's Morpheus the Dream Lord.

Veronica Lake (July 2012)

I have kind of a fascination with 1940s-era actresses.  The "NOIR!" series was kind of an outgrowth of that, and this piece continues that theme.  There's just something about the movies of that era-- the barb-laden dialogue, the constant double crosses, the competent and complex female characters.  It's a pretty stark contrast to the more action/sex-obsessed films of today.  I digress.

The woman in this piece is Veronica Lake, and you might recognize her as the inspiration for Jessica Rabbit.  You know that iconic hair-over-one-eye look that actresses, models, and musicians have been using for years?  Yeah, Veronica Lake invented that.  More importantly though, she was a highly versatile actress.  Her first leading role was actually in a poignant comedy (Sullivan's Travels), but she could play the femme fatale and a slew of other characters as well.  Despite a rather turbulent personal life and a reputation for being temperamental, she was a reliably gifted actress who --in the words of director Rene Clair-- didn't believe she was gifted.

Also, fun fact: Veronica Lake was often cast next to actor Alan Ladd, but the pairing wasn't just about their on-screen chemistry.  An underlying factor was that Ladd stood only 5'5", and the 4'11" Lake was one of the few actresses next to whom he looked tall.

So there you have it: Veronica Lake-- gifted actress, enduring icon, totally post-it worthy.

The Best Ever Reaction to Post-It Art . . .

"And you do this for . . . fun?"

Punch-Out! (Part 1: The Wind-Up)-- July 2012

This piece is actually just the first part of something a little bigger, but the second part is still very much in the mock-up phase, so in the meantime, here's part 1 of "Punch-Out!"  I've taken a few cues from comics here.  In particular, the Marvel superhero Iron Fist has the amazing ability to focus his chi directly into his right hand making it like unto a thing of iron!  (Yes, that is the exact wording from Power Man and Iron Fist #66.  Read anything enough times, and it will be memorized.)  I wanted this piece to show the potential energy being harnessed in the wind-up of a punch, and the Iron Fist comics --with maybe just a dash of Kirby dots-- seemed like a good place to start.  What will come next?  Well, there's really only one logical direction for the follow-up, but with a small stack of books and some travel on my plate right now, that may be a few weeks in coming.

Random Art-Related Thought

The average observer would probably find it strange to walk into my home and find me measuring my dishes to see which plate I can use as a stencil.


Later realization that evening . . .
Wait a minute.  I keep a possum on my porch, and my walls are covered in post-it notes.  Measuring plates is probably the most normal aspect of my existence.

Hooded Figure (July 2012)

A while back, I was toying around with the image of an old Crusader, and this piece is a variation on that theme, but there's some other stuff going on here too.  Visually, I'm still debating about tweaking the background a bit, but the high contrast of the orange and red was proving difficult to work with, and the current configuration still seems like the best option.  As to the meaning of the piece, let me get preachy for a moment . . .

Scripturally, the main resonance here is with Matthew 22.  While speaking with a group of Pharisees and Herodians, Jesus is presented with a challenge: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?  Jesus responds by asking for a denarius (the standard currency of the day) and then posing his own question: "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"  The crowd answers that it is Caesar's face and name on the coin.  The show-and-tell concluded, Jesus responds with the famous line, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's."

Genesis 1:26 speaks of human beings as bearers of God's image.  Song of Solomon 8:6 uses the image of a lover's seal set upon the heart.  Also, I know that there are passages about the Word of the Lord being written on the heart, but for the life of me, I can't seem to remember where those are right now.  I digress.  While the coin in Matthew 22 may bear the image and inscription of Caesar, Jesus knows that the image and inscription of God rest on humanity.  The coin belongs to Caesar, so let him have it; humanity, however, belongs to God.  This piece is an exploration of that theme.

Additional Note (7/28/2012):
My friend Kiki recently identified some things about this piece that I hadn't considered.  The white/blue hoodie and red crosses create a similarity to Christ's garb in standard iconography (white or blue robe and red sash).  Kiki described the piece as a modern depiction of Christ, and while that hadn't occurred to me, I like it.  Kiki also reminded me that the hoodie has a strong association with the Trayvon Martin case earlier this year, and the conflation of Christ and Trayvon certainly adds a bit of controversy to this piece.  Again, I hadn't really thought of either of these connections, but that's the beautiful thing about art: it's all in the eye of the beholder.

Also, this piece isn't for sale.  I'm going to be keeping it around.