Jephyr's Newest Digital Painting: "Doc"

Hello!

A while back I made a very quick digital sketch of a character.

As with a lot of my concepts, I really didn't have an idea in mind as I did it—and though it was very loose and unrefined—there was something I kind of liked about him.

I saved the sketch to a folder (and named the character "Doc") and periodically I would open that sketch in my software, fire up my Wacom Intuos stylus, and tinker around with it—painting a little here and there.

I admit that—although I generally liked the character—it was a struggle to "bring him to life".

Recently, though, I was getting closer and closer to feeling like I had him completed—and one day while I worked on him, I moved the software interface over as I attended to something else.

 When I looked back at my digital painting it seemed that "Doc" was peering at me around other windows I had open on my computer.

So I decided to paint a wall or column he's looking around (and add his hand resting on it), and felt this was the final piece of the "puzzle"—making the over-all image WAY more powerful.

"Doc" - Work In Progress Digital Painting - Copyright, 2016 - Jephyr!

 

My hero, the late Frank Frazetta, defended his decision to work on paintings until he was satisfied that they were "done", even AFTER he'd sold the rights to a publisher and they'd achieved a lot of acclaim.

Though, I cannot put myself in the same company as Frazetta when it comes to my skill right now (but I'm working on it...SERIOUSLY), I'll reserve the right to call what I'm presenting today a "work in progress" and may continue to paint on Doc until I feel he is "finished."

Anyway...I'll share him now as seen at the top of this post—and will update here down the road if I work on him some more.

Thank you for stopping by and taking a look at Doc.

See you soon!

Student's Modern Art Museum Glasses Prank

Buzzfeed article:  A teenage prankster has fooled scores of art lovers into believing his glasses were a modern masterpiece in a hilarious stunt at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

As someone who has spent years dedicating myself, first to becoming a musician...and now a visual artist...I am continually amazed by how easily some people are fooled by "art".

For some reason, the average person is not as easily fooled by what "music" is.

If someone takes musical instruments and simply smashes them with a sledge-hammer and stomps on them with their feet...very few might be convinced that it was "music"...or would consider spending money on a recording of it...or would rush to plunk down their hard earned moolah for a night at a "concert" of it.

 

And yet...for some reason the human eye/mind is more easily "tricked" by those in the "visual" arts.

Photo from Buzzfeed article:  https://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/people-are-loving-this-teens-art-gallery-prank

Give someone a canvas...and have them randomly toss paint at it...and far too many peeps will stand around and study it...searching for its "deeper" meaning.

Or if an "artist" goes to Toys-R-Us...buys a doll and smears it with...umm...whatever...and it winds up in a museum...a crowd (figurative and otherwise) will stand around and ooh and aah...and talk about how brave, daring and innovative the "artist" is.

Would any of us take the same approach with music?  Would we applaud a guy sitting at a coffee house making guttural grunts and noises, and pounding on a guitar without any strings...and talk about how meaningful and deep his "music" is??

This may happen in some circles...but for the large majority of us...this would be madness!

I even knew a fellow artist once, who vigorously argued the merits of an "artwork", when we were looking at a "painting" in which the artist had only painted the entire canvas an ugly, dark brown and then slashed a black scrawl across it with a large brush. 

 

Even later when some of the FAMOUS people creating this kind of "art" admit they are pulling a "joke" on the well-meaning art crowd...their status as an "artist" remains changed.

I'll NEVER understand it.

And I'm always telling everyone who will listen that  the King isn't wearing any clothes!!!

Photo from Buzzfeed article:  https://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/people-are-loving-this-teens-art-gallery-prank

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To illustrate this point:

Buzzfeed has published a story about a teen, TJ Khayatan, 17, who was unimpressed by most of the modern "art" that he'd just seen at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/people-are-loving-this-teens-art-gallery-prank

"Khayatan told BuzzFeed [...] that one example in particular puzzled them.

'We stumbled upon a stuffed animal on a gray blanket and questioned if this was really impressive to some of the nearby people,' he said.

Photo from Buzzfeed article:  https://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/people-are-loving-this-teens-art-gallery-prank

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It was then that the teens decided to put a pair of glasses on the floor facing the room, to see how people would react."

According to the Buzzfeed article museum patrons were soon gathered around the "artwork"...some even taking photos of it.

"On Monday, Khayatan posted [pics of the stunt] to Twitter and got a very strong reaction from people. The pics quickly went viral, and have over 32,000 retweets and 36,000 likes to date."  [As of May 25, 2016] 

No doubt...there are some who are so committed to "modern" art...that this stunt (and Buzzfeed's article and THIS post about it) has enraged you.

To that I can only offer my deepest sympathies!

: ) 

 

Photo from Buzzfeed article:  https://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/people-are-loving-this-teens-art-gallery-prank

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Thanks for stopping by!

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Please come by my Show every Thursday all summer long...where I take a chain saw to a pile of stringed instruments.

Critics have described the "music" as simply "breathtaking"!!!!