Cybear. 2nd Draft. Because I'm Bored.

I'm trying to figure out how to operate the gradient tool in Illustrator. I've never really had any reason to use it before.

It's a lot less intuitive than I would have thought.

Anyway, I'm liking how this one is coming together. I did away with the black stroke that I've been using and I'm trying to rely on color and shading (I realize that the lighting and shadows probably don't make sense in this image yet - it's a work in progress).

Cyborg, Alien Invasion, and Undead Teddy

Here are a very more bear sketches for your amusement.

It seems like this whole idea is starting to leave the fine art realm (if it were ever there to begin with) and is drifting towards...I dunno.......doodles during high school biology class? These three are a definite departure from my original concept of teddy bears on the fringes of society. I guess these guys would fit better under "teddy bears in sci-fi 'B' movies."

Fuck it. I'm having fun. I'll figure out how to defend them against the wine-drinking, beret-wearin' types later.

Suppose now I should vectorize a few of these guys and see how that goes.

Sometimes Desperate Times Call For the Use of Overwhelming Force

The title of this blog has nothing to do with the content; I just thought it had a nice ring to it. It should definitely be the title of something.

Another Weird Bear Poster by Moi

I'm considering doing a whole series of these. Maybe I'll call it "Teddy Bears on the Fringes of Society." Or something to that affect. Just imagine teddy bears stabbing each other outside of night clubs, having sex with each other in public bathrooms, and cooking Crystal Meth in their trailers. Lately I've just been obsessed with subverting the image of the teddy bear. Its this amazing piece of Americana that no one really questions. To me its already a perverse icon; I mean think about it, we take an apex predator, an animal that's be known to eat humans alive, and we make plush versions of them for our children to play with. So I'm just taking it one step further. I'm just making the perversion a little more obvious.

As far as the actual illustrations go, I'm still unsure. I think the two I've done so far are a little plain. It seems like they need to be more stylized - I want them to be really eye catching. Maybe colored pencil? Maybe watercolor? I don't know. I feel like I really need to challenge myself this year, and since drawing (both freehand and computer aided) has never been something that I've been particularly good at, thats what I want to focus on. I really want to be able to draw better.

And if these go as well as I want them to I want to make a book. Maybe 20-30 illustrations; part children's book, part coffee table book, a little humorous, a lot perverse. I'm thinking 8x10 hardback. I've been looking into it a little. It's not cheap to have books made.

Thoughts?

The Joys of Tilt-Shift Photography

Tilt-shift photography is the process of taking images of real places and through a series of manipulations making them look like miniature models. Basically you take an image at a high angle, with a super shallow depth of field, and over-saturate the colors, which results in images like these...

Effing awesome right!? I really want to try this. You can find more examples here, along with some tutorials.

Happy New Year!

So long 2008. Here's to an optimistic 2009...

Felt Teddy Bear Skulls by UO Alum Stephanie Metz

I came across Stephanie Metz's website earlier this month and found myself captivated by her work in felt. It's beautiful and hilarious and creepy all at the same time. I can't say enough good things about it. stephaniemetz.com

Merry Christmas! Also, Here is a Malfunctioning Dog.

More Headless Bears

I watched "In Bruge" last night and it was pretty darn good. So good in fact that I decided to watch all the special features too (which I rarely do any more). Anyway, there was one particular deleted scene that I found especially interesting:

Colin Farrell is walking around Bruge, alone and drunk, when he sees a teddy bear sitting on a bench. He sits down next to the bear, smiles at it, and hands the bear his beer. When he does the bear's head falls off and plops into the canal behind them. Then Farrell just sits there looking confused and sad.

It was hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time. Or maybe it was just really late at night and I thinking too deeply about it.

Working Artist Statement

So I've been working on my artist statement, but I don't really know how specific to get because I don't really know where my work is going....or what all I'm going to show on Friday.

But any way, here is what I have so far...

Fragmentation of the Familiar

My recent work centers around a fascination with deconstructing familiar objects, analyzing their components, and then reassembling them in ways that seem more attractive to me. Our culture is filled with objects, ideas and processes that are accepted as normal with little to no scrutiny from the masses. My question is why? Why is it acceptable to eat a food that is made entirely of sugar, artificial flavors, and coloring? Why is it acceptable to humanize an apex predator in the form of a plush toy and give it to our children? With my current projects I’m asking these questions by recomposing artifacts of popular culture and contrasting them to their original counterparts. My hope is that these investigations into the “normal” will spark new and interesting avenues of discussion that would have otherwise been left veiled by the cumbersome shackles of the status quo.

Fragmentation:
2. the disintegration, collapse, or breakdown of norms of thought, behavior, or social relationship. (dictionary.com)