I actually finally got round to framing this piece I did and hanging it up on my wall the other day, which made me really happy :).
Tool used: acrylics, colouring pencils, posca markers on brown A4 card.
Maia, one of two current German Shepherds was born here at our house ten years ago. She is a grand old lady with a big ears, a big ruff and a sweet personality. This drawing was done from a photo reference AND her sleeping at my feet. I used Pigma Micron Pens in black and brown with a little graphite smudging to add a bit of shadow.
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?
A quick group portrait I made to try making a timelapse of the process. The timelapse is posted to my instagram account. This time, I used brown and yellow bister ink on watercolor paper. Normally I paint the monsters themselfves, but now I used negative painting to create them.
I uploaded a version of this that I felt was kind of a throwaway. Just dinking around and trying to get a feel for techniques. In the end, while I was happy with what I learned, I didn't think much of it as far as a completed work goes. But I couldn't leave it alone so I took about another hour and fixed what I felt could be fixed short of starting from scratch. Because it's a process, right?
New one shadowed & ready for color. Drawn with a Pilot Custom 823 FA (favorite pen at the moment) with Noodlers 41 Brown on Strathmore Mixed Media paper.
This guy's running up like "Hey man, you know... If you're not going to use that computer I'll take it because you know... You don't have to throw it to those robots, man. You know?" Just like that.
It's been a while since I draw on kraft paper.
So, here is the result on the thinking process: How can faun shield themselves from sunlight if they can't put a hat on?
Answer: They tie branches to theirs horns.
...
I should be the one shielding myself from the sun just so it can't kill anymore neurones.
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Ça faisait vraiment un moment que je n’avais pas dessiné sur du kraft.
Donc voilà le résultat de la réflexion: Comment les faunes font pour se mettre à l’abri du soleil s’ils ne peuvent pas mettre de chapeau?
Réponse: Ils s’attachent des branches dans les cornes.
…
Je crois que c’est moi qui devrait me protéger la tête du soleil, histoire que ça ne cogne pas trop sur mes pauvres neurones.
