An article/rant/annotation to an illustration. A #Hackney bar and its flies.
This picture is not as sad and blue as it might at first seem, I promise.
It is early in the week and the pub becomes the territory of the most outspoken drinkers. Raised somewhere between Churchill and Harold MacMillan, a night such as this is time for them to spin out a yarn of nostalgic fantasy. Encouraged by the lack of a crowd and with space to fill, statements start to fly.
In the opening rounds the barman athletically hits back with factual blocks and reality-check haymakers; statistics and personal experiences are given. Two histories cross examined, one where 1982 means Thatcher and the Falklands, the other renders Reagan and the AIDS crisis. Stoicism and national pride vs mental health and realism.
In the latter rounds the barman is fatigued, swaying on the backbar, glasses begin to stack up as form begins to drop. The older men seem stronger than ever.
The barflies come in close now, they scrutinise his generations work ethic and make wild political comments on poverty, immigrants and the minimum wage.
The barman is close to sheer bloody despair, he maintains his defence and focuses on breathing while maintaining his professional stance.
But at the end of the night the barman knows HE will ring that bell, they will politely leave and they will return again in a week and maybe, just maybe there will be a change, common ground or maybe at least polite silence.
But what these interactions have given despite the salt in the eye is community and an exchange between generations, culture and class of those participating. No home is ever straight forward, no relative without their good and bad traits and in a world where we often slide into echo chambers online or in our physical environments, the pub is still a place where society is family, face to face, pint to pint. Or maybe it's just a room with alcohol on tap?
This drawing was done as a request for someone, the horse that I drew is an award winning show horse named Black Prince. This was my second attempt at realism using black fine liners and pencils, personally I think I didn't do too bad.
I drew it with "Derwent" a graphite pencil, the drawing is A4 size. Upon request, I drew the bunny based on a photo. I wanted to introduce the bunny personality traits, which I did. The owner was very happy for him. :)
A Civics class arm doodle, a fitting place for a tattoo design. Today was the wrong day to wear a white long sleeve though. This weekend was interesting...good, bad, and very personal. It's currently 8th period though, and here's to the fact that I get to end my day in art.
This is a piece I did for a short film about the life of a victim of sexual abuse, after all the court cases and conviction. The film wanted to show the side that you don't see, the director wanted me to paint a picture capturing that emotion. Although I have never been through it personally so I cant speak on the feeling, I hope this makes you think about someone who has been having a battle in their mind. Give them some love !
Took the opportunity to use the prompt to do an illustration for a personal project. A key describing the symbols would be super long here, but the curious can see them listed at https://inkpaperstring.com/lunar-houses/