Comic update.

So, I'm still working on that comic from a while ago. Here's proof!

www.flashrecord.tumblr.com

That "done" post-it is a bit misleading. That page is done. And even that page has a few minor details to be tewaked. Anyhow, It feels good to be back on this project again.

Gallery Done, Reception Planned

So the room is oficially done, and we are really prout of it. If anyone is interested, we're holding a sort of opening for the gallery on August 12th at Dinosaurs and Roses upstairs in and around Studio #11. I hope to see people there!

The space is active.

I hope you'll check out our new gallery space at Dinosaurs and Roses located at 6029 W. Charleston. This is more of a soft opening as we're not fully operational there yet, but I'd love to hear what some people think. Here are a few photos from the (almost) completed space:

Oh! And I finished the logo, check it out:

Sierra Photography Logo

Wow, so Wednesday went by and I didn't update. That's not a good start.

However! I have something today. I've been working on a logo design for our revamped pseudobusiness thing "Sierra Photography". What I have I kind of like. I also have a chickenscratch layout of the room we'll be setting up on Saturday. If you know our work well enough you might be able to visualize how this will look.

New Project

So the wedding is gearing up for a wonderful year long roller coaster ride of planning and stress. Flowers, honeymoon, tux, dress, alterations, boots (yeah boots), and so much other stuff its insane. I think that there kind of is an entrance exam for marriage. And it's this part. Okay, that aside, I have a new project.

When I was younger my friend Gabe and I created comics. He and I collaborated on content and I drew them. Given my remedial skills as an illustrator, we kind of looked like the same person in the comics. And, while the storyline was kind of there, I like to think we'll have more depth this time around. We're going to attempt a comic about childhood. A sort of blend of reality and fantasy. I found that after drawing long lanky characters all my life, drawing kids is freaking hard. (As I said to both Gabe and Deanna because I thought myself clever: "They're all big heads and tiny arms. Like a T-Rex, but less cool.")

So now gabe and I are working on a story and character models. I see the comic starting out playfully, but dealing with some real issues as the story progresses. Possible things to tackle:

Is what is happening (aliens, dinosaurs, etc.) actually real?
If not, then is the other friend even real?
And probably more, lol. I have some sketches I'd like to share now.

Outside

Outside
A Mural Print by Daniel James Clark

Through my artistic development, my work has drawn from a common theme: the blending of reality and fantasy. I’ve made the association between childhood fantasies, and the adult need for wonder, excitement, and adventure. My thesis is that as we age, our thirst for the magical, the fantastic, and the “otherworld” just out of sight does not diminish. As adults we still need to believe that anything is possible. I feel that the way we can satisfy this need is through exploration: going “outside”. Whether exploring takes us just outside our comfort zone, or thrusts us into something wholly immersive does not matter, so long as we are outside.

“Outside” examines that conclusion by drawing the character, and thereby the viewer to peer outside through the window into a universe of possibility. Printed as a 40x26 inch piece, “Outside” is intended to place the viewer in front of a scene they can immerse themselves in more effectively than a smaller print would allow.

Urban Decay

This series, titled "Urban Decay" draws from my stencil archive. This is the first black and white series I've done in quite a while. It also draws from more narrative than conceptual roots, which is almost an about face from my standard techniques.

Artwork in Strega

So I've finished an epic amount of work. At least it felt epic. The final project for photo is complete. Not only is it complete, but it's on display at Strega. Yep, that's right, I have an outside show. And it's not even only for the book. I have other art up as well. Lets have a look.

Was, is, will be.

They're strong. Words, that is. I've come so far. My words from the past have come back to... remind me.

I was talking to Deanna when my phone cut out. I was talking about my past. I'm really sad I can't talk to her right now. I tried to find another phone but I can't. It's times like these that I feel how far I am from her. I wanted to apologize for how blind I was. The whole time, during all of that turmoil in my life. She was there and I didn't even stop to look.

I used to do this a lot, I feel I was better off for it. I'd write and see what happened, you know.

In 2006 my art took a shift. I've been doing highly personal work that has been lost to most audiences since then. I think it may have culminated last semester in a journal I have yet to post here. I made the switch in 2006 away from political art. I think I'm ready to move outside of myself now. I think as a final step in my college career I need to do the last thing that scares me. I need to arrive.

I've put myself out there.

That says it well: I've shoved a "me" out there for people to view. But. I haven't been out there myself. I once told Deanna that I see my art as an extension of myself. I feel like I need to stand beside it. I think what I need to do is something that is, me. My class calls for me to pose a problem to myself. To attempt to overcome a challenge. I don't quite know what it is yet. But.

My challenge involves standing next to my work. It's large. It's immersive. And it's intimately connected to me, and as a strange turn of events, to the outside world.

My art WAS a reflection of the world.
My art IS a reflection of me.
My art WILL BE my reflection on the world.

I miss her so much.

More project plans.

This is going to be a bit disjointed. But here it goes.

Behind the Glass: A project based on a sort of obsessive sketch I used to draw. A mental patient of some sort on the right side. A man in a suit in the left. Between them is a pane of glass. Inspired by a photo I can't find and by a single frame from a Blink182 music video.

The shots planned are a more dynamic version of the sketch I previously described.

Party Perfect: Essentially shots of a party, kind of like the ones you'd see on Facebook. But magazine perfect. A comment on reality and perception.

Three projects.

Las Vegas
If you read this blog you might remember my post on Las Vegas personified. Well I'm making that a reality. Photo collage of things quintessentially Las Vegas tiled to do this kind of a thing. I hope to make a statement about my hometown that's neither positive nor negative simply real.

Moments
I'm currently collecting moments. These moments don't need to be huge and earth changing, in fact the smaller the better. These moments should fit into this general description:

Though the moment is abysmally small.
and insignificant
I found it lying it in my mind.
and my heart
It is still there today.

perhaps some moment that nags at you even though it really shouldn't. A lost teddy bear, a missed kiss, anything. Once I have these moments collected I'll try to make something.

Objects
This is a highly personal piece having to do with physical possessions. Kind of a case for materialism.

Selling art (For real this time)

So I'm making the first art sale of my life tomorrow. I'm really quite happy.

Teaser for Tomorrow

That's right. This is a teaser blog for tomorrow's entry. I went to California this weekend. And at the end, during our drive home, we stopped at an abandoned suburban neighborhood in Victorville California. An entire neaghborgood abandoned, vacant, ruined. Remnants.

First Friday art sales idea.

Sell stencil kits at First Friday. The kits would sell for 3, 4 or 5 dollars depending on what I do. The basic premise is that I cut s shit ton of stencils from my archive. And sell them with a can of paint. Basically a do-it-yourself vandalism kit. Paint is cheap from Wal-Mart and the cardstock comes cheap too. You could rubber band the stencil around the can of paint, maybe include a short how-to guide. This could make lots of money, and it could also fail moserably. I'd only lose a bit of money if it didn't work. But I'd make quite a bit if it took off.

So a kit would include:
1 hand cut stencil
1 can of paint
1 set of instructions

I'd also sell pieces that I'd made with the stencils. That would requre a larger investment. I'd be willing to work with someone of this if you have a steady hand. I have some people I want to ask first, but if the position of partner becomes available I'll replace this:

"The position of partner has been filled"

Well SHIT!

So. I was working with my laptop in a last ditch effort to fix it.

The screen flickers and sticks and such. But when you twist it to the right, it stays stable enough to read and figure out what's going on.

It's getting stuck at MUP.SYS which is apparently one of the great unsolved mysteries of the computer world. So in an attempt to do what one website suggested I do, I was twisting the screen to get a stable image when I heard this unholy crack, like someone snapping the neck of an adversary:

Fuck, right? Splintered and cracked. It's now a piece of modern art. I think if I took this thing to a gallery it'd be sold for a chunk of change. I've even got a name for it: "Shutdown Cycle"

The computer is in a freaky loop which was the problem to begin with. It loops when trying to start up, failing, tries to start, fails, etc. And now with it's splintered screen it goes batshit loco every time.

You know if I were rich I wouldn't have this problem. I'd already have a new computer. It fucking sucks to have $10 to my name and be in debt by the thousands. And now I need a new computer.

Fuck the world.

I want...

I want to create a piece of artwork that causes people to be removed from reality. I believe that this has been my goal all along. I want viewers to enter into my piece and suddenly know that they are somewhere else. I want to play with perception, twist the idea of reality. I want the "viewers" (it would be a multisensory expirence actually) to enter and become something else. They will leave my art with knoeledge they hadn't thought they would ever posess. I don't want them to be able to express it in words.

I want to explore what is real.
What defines art.
How far I can push the liminal idea of space and time.
I want them to forget they are looking at a piece of artwork.
I want them to expirence it alone.
Trip the mind and have it fall into place somewhere else.
I want it to make them think they are dreaming.
I want them to faint inside it.
I want them to feel both small and infinite.
Expirence nothing and everything in one moment.
Find their senses incapable of comprehending.

Strawberry Skies

Yeah, I know what it sounds like. But it should be a very pretty shot.

Robot.

Yep. Here's a robot. I sure hope it has some kind of lead lining. That mushroom cloud is kind of menacng.

I draw nuclear landscapes a lot, weird. I've never noticed it till now actually. I suppose it has something to do with their ability to end all life.

My Final Project

All Things.