Drawings

Recommended blog: Front Free Endpaper

Today’s recommended blog is Front Free Endpaper, written by Callum James of boutique publishing company Callum James Books.

Callum has an eclectic approach to life which I really appreciate, and which comes through in his blog.  His passion for little details such as patterned paper book coverings and bookplates has converted me to noticing and appreciating things I would have barely glanced over before.

The blog also looks at men and the male body in a fresh and interesting way, paradoxically by drawing on images from the past, in the form of vintage photographs, postcards, and artworks.

The female gaze

I recently discovered Filament magazine, whose tagline is

“The quarterly women’s magazine inspired by the rocket science that women have brains and eyes.”

The magazine also challenges the idea that women aren’t turned on by visual stimulus. As a woman, I can categorically state that this isn’t true, and I’m glad that the collective consciousness seems to be gradually coming round to the idea that it isn’t.

They also say:

“There is no single female gaze – every woman finds different photographic qualities, and different types of men, appealing. There are, however, patterns of things more women like and things fewer women like. Having an idea what those are is useful for Filament, because we’re trying to provide something that’s genuinely for women in a world awash with popular opinion about what turns women on, and in which photography for the gay market has been routinely repackaged as ‘women’s erotica’.“

This leads me to wonder what the difference is between images of men packaged for the gay market, and images of men for women to look at. While I do appreciate gay male erotic imagery myself, and while such material isn’t always stereotypically presented, I can understand what Filament means. I am finding it hard to describe why, as physical appeal is a slippery subject, and a lot of the time  the sexiest of images are those which present a model in a new and challenging way, so “sexy” “mainstream”, and “challenging” will always be moving targets.

Anyway, that said, I do like a lot of the images in Filament; they do present a challenge to a too-perfect airbrushed mainstream, and are undeniably very delicious, sexy and appealing pictures.

Drawing

How to be creative

Creativity is in essence the art of solving problems, and can be applied to almost anything in life.  Painting and drawing are ways of solving the problem of how to give the illusion of a 3d object on a 2d surface. They also involve solving the problem of how to manipulate one’s self – relaxing and entering a meditative”right- brained” trance state wherein the the outcome of the drawing is not only unimportant, it is forgotten about, yet paradoxically one’s full attention is given to the subject, carefully observing and measuring, balancing when to let loose and be expressive, and when to be careful and controlled.

Why create?

There is also the matter of why to paint and what to paint. After leaving art school, and during to some extent, this was my major struggle. There is no immediate logical gain to be had from art, and when going out into the world on my own, and preoccupied with rent, bills, and an uncertain future, art seemed suddenly pointless and unconstructive. Painting no longer seemed a creative pursuit, as it wasn’t solving any immediate problems. Yet at the same time, I felt something sorely missing; art had defined me for most of my life, and without it I was simply a mediocre being living for the next pay installment, and identifying far too much with Bridget Jones.

Bridget Jones

At art school, there had to be some logically constructed “reason” for whatever one was creating. Generally, if it was linked to a fashionable philosopher’s theory, however tenuously or pretentiously, this was a “good thing”. The issue is that for most artists, art must come from the emotions. The reason for art is memory, feeling, and funny little obsessions. This doesn’t mean that artists shouldn’t use intellect or technical skill. Technique is the vehicle for expression.

Space

Which brings me on to where I am now. Virginia Woolf said that a writer needs “a room of one’s own”. As an artist I have realised that this is fundamentally true. I also realise that on a global scale I am incredibly lucky to have this, or to have the chance of it when I don’t. If I have a room with my visual inspirations blu tacked all over the walls, I will draw, paint and constantly come up with ideas. If I have no space or bare walls, I won’t.

Virginia Woolf

Obsessions

Another thing I need is obsessions. I tend to become utterly obsessed with the most incongruous people, things, or ideas for a few weeks at a time, and then drop them like a hot potato. I have realised that this is the driving force behind my artistic creativity, and I must give myself time and space to tap into these things. A housemate at art college, named Oliver, was a sounding board for these strange obsessions, and nowadays we still talk on the phone for far too long and get far too excited about the things which inspire us.  Recent shared topics have included John Leach pottery, goth types, hippy types, tree surgeons, gruff men, bleak towns (esp. Portsmouth), antique furniture, unusual sex, Brighton, Bath, Bristol, pubs serving real ale. Past topics have included the Third Reich, Berlin, and Star Wars

John Leach Pottery

Mental state

Finally, there is a peculiar mental state I have realised I need to get myself in in order to create. I am going to go almost beyond cliche here and announce that this mental state is “melancholy”. As a teenager, this state came very easily, and thus, I was very productive. As I got older I realised that I would prfer to be happy, but recently I am becoming better at inducing the temporary melancholy needed to draw and paint.

I will always remember a news article where Poet Laureate Andrew Motion announced that he drank Lemsip every morning, as it made him feel like he had a cold, and this self pitying mentality was the perfect psychological environment in which to write poetry.

The first way I do this for myself is to try and harness my everyday worries, anger and upset (job, money, house etc etc) and literally give them shape and voice through a drawing. It doesn’t mean I am making negative drawings. The drawings can be quite positive and beautiful in their intent, but somehow they are a channel for my feelings. For a few years I did 5 rhythms dance, and one of the lessons  was to keep dancing, just keep moving somehow. I understood this fully, and try to apply this to my drawing practice now. It’s tempting to try and wait until everything is OK, and secure, before drawing. What I have realised though is the insecure and difficult patches of my life are those where I must create the most. If that means drawing small while crashing on a mate’s sofa, or spending my last £10 in the world on paint, then that’s part of it. I try to remind myself that many people in the world live in poverty, yet still find the space and time to fully express themselves. This seems to be the case especially with musicians.

In 5 rhythms, another lesson was to just allow negative feeling to be, and to give them expression through movement. I never understood how to do this, but now I fully understand how to do it through drawing and panting, It was a skills I had and lost, and have found again.

Another way I get into the right headspace is with films and music. Guy Ritchie’s 2009 Sherlock Holmes had exactly the right atmosphere and I played it in the background while working on a recent series of drawings.

Tonight’s creative catalysts are Arcade Fire’s “Modern Man”, “Rococo”  and “Suburban War”, and a bottle of finest Hobgoblin.

Anastasia Pollard

I just discovered Florence Academy graduate Anastasia Pollard’s portraits. Below is Organia, 2006, oil on board. The image links to Pollard’s website.

Naked Truths

I enjoyed seeing David Thompson’s work at the View Gallery’s Naked Truths exhibition. His cute little oil paintings of cute naked chaps in southern European surroundings have a nostalgic quality. You feel like you should have found them hidden away in someone’s attic, but they are all recent. Very nice.

Images link to David Thompson’s website.

View Gallery’s website is at www.viewartgallery.co.uk

Recommended blog: Coates and Scarry

Bristol arty types Richard Scarry and Chippy Coates’ blog is a fantastic and inspiring resource, with practical and down-to-earth interviews with local and US based artists.

The interviews give valuable insight into the artists’ working methods, and into how they came to be professional artists.

Each post ends with an pic of this unusually cutedorable couple in an art specific location.

Visit http://coatesandscarry.wordpress.com/

Drawings

My favourite slash artist

So my favourite slash artist is Magnus on Yaoi gallery. Not much to say except wow, yum, and what a cool and very accomplished style. She has a great feel for masculine sexuality. I love the immediacy of the lowermost drawing, with the hand in the foreground. Images link back to her Yaoi gallery profile; you must be a member to view.

Cute Time OMG

STOP. Hotson Time.

Get that out of my face.