Vice: "Popper"

This snake has gone by two names "Pills" and "The Popper". I chose the second title as an official to allude to the term "Pill Popper"....DUH! The basis for this snake started on the premise of people who are addicted to pills, both legal and illegal. Whether it be pain killers, acid, or even ibuprofen in some cases there are some individuals are let pills act as their escape from problems.

The abuse of pills leads to identity crisis. I chose to make the snakes belly out of pills. The snake bites down hard into his pill stomach trying to ease the pains of life but is in essence hurting himself. He bites and bites and ravages his body trying to numb his body. He bleeds the same as the insides of the pills he takes, showing how he has become his vice.

Between his scales lie his true body still attached to the pills to cement this notion of "becoming one's sin". The color choice: I definitely wanted a dark red, this dark color compliments the brightness of the pills.

Snake number 3 in the series, it is a favorite of many. I hope everyone is enjoying.

"Feast or famine, Drink deception"
Mastodon

Vice: Vanity

So this is a snake that grew out of the vice of vanity, concietedness, and arrogance. Being a member of the artistic community I am always encountering pretentiousness. People who feel their work is the best. It's good to have self-confidence, don't get me wrong. But there are thsoe who hoist themselves up onto a pedestal while knocking everyone else down from their joy and high points.

The imagery I used dealt with a green snake as you can see, but the green had no real content it was just a color choice that I found very inetersting. The roses however evoke the feeling of passion. I wanted to juxtapose this vision of vanity to that of the supermodeling industry. The roses equal passion, and this is a trait shared by those who favor themselves over others. they're passionate people but that's not necessarily in the "lovey dovey" sense. It's more in passionate attitude. Models in particular have such high emotions in how they deal with stress and life in general. The many varibales that arise in this situation are countless and you can better use your imagination. The razors are the result of low self-esteem, this goes back to masochism as every snake shares this common bond.

Another note concerning the roses, the roses I drew were part of a new way in experimenting floral tattoo imagery. I used inspiration from many tattoo artists to draw roses that resemble traditional american tattooing while also remaining unique.

Lastly, I chose not to color the mirrior surface anything to signify the void that is the human mind when feelings of low self-worth are apparent. this feeling of uselessness, this feeling of worthlessness can make anyone, even the strongest person, feel small and empty.

And this is Vanity Snake. Enjoy coming up next will most likely be "Injection" or "the Popper", I hope everyone is enjoying

P.S. just click the pictures for a larger view

"Disrupt the established order and everything becomes chaos"

Joker

Vice: Masochism

Masochism, the first in the series. I first drew the sketch for this snake in a class last winter and, while flipping through my drawing journal, I came up with the masochist snake. I figured I should start the Vice Series off with less obvious vices. Most people initially think of the "big three" being smoking, drinking, and marijuana abuse.
Masochism is something that also plays a huge part in the rest of the snakes as you will see in the rest of the series. I used a scroll in the middle of the piece with the word addict to allude not only to the fact that this is a vice snake but also it lends itself to the tattoo styled art I incorporate into a lot of work. the color of yellow has no significance but the color scheme does. As I may have mentioned before this series is not just about conceptual art but it is also about pushing media. The color of the snakes is always done in a complimentary scheme. For example, red is the complimentary color for green, blue to orange, etc. In this case Orange is the actual color of the snake though it would read as a yellow since it is neither primary nor secondary but a tertiary color. tertiaries being the result of a secondary and primary mixing and more of one being added. in this case it is yellow-orange. Since its hue is more orange I chose a blueish color to compliment it.
Another technique I really tried exercising was using complimentary color for the value structures of the work. Most people feel that black is best for creating darkness and dark value in a composition but in most cases using black alone can make the piece too flat. In this case I really wanted the snake to pop off the page. Using the compliment of the base color to shade gives value rendering a more 3-dimensional effect.
Lastly, a lot of people have asked me why I use gold in the background and what it is. the gold is actually just run of the mill acrylic gold paint in a 99cent tube. I chose gold to allude to Giotto a figure in art history. His paintings of the ''Madonna and Child" used gold backgrounds to signify importance and the sanctity of the subjects. In the snakes case gold is used almost in the same way but it's more to represent vices being "worshiped" in a way. Some individuals take their hindrance to the next level and almost rely on their vice as one would faith in a religion or higher being.
So, that is thus far in the series. This snake was featured in the show and on the next few days I'll be adding the others and discussing them. Let me know what you think! :P

"And you know the thing about chaos, it's fair"
-Joker

PART DUEX!

.......and so began my "journey". As the title suggests this new series of work would revolve around inevitability, my feeling towards the notion everyone has a vice, everyone is guilty of a vice that leads to the ultimate inevitability: Death. So in my journal I began doodling random snakes in my new style and thinking of different vices that have arisen in the lives of those around me, things I have seen people bring themselves to the brink of death with. I even examined myself, knowing damn well I too am guilty, I wanted to bring across the point that no matter who you are you're going to have a vice, but it's ok. In doing this series I have caught criticism from people who feel "everyone isn't guilty why do you feel everyone is screwed up?"....those individuals had their opinion and I respected it, but they obviously didn't get the point.

The point that others have gotten is this: Yes we are all guilty of a vice, small vices or large, everyone has something. But it's ok to have something that helps you through your day. Its when we take these vices and rely on them to get us through everything that we let it become us. It's when we let these vices define us that we begin to lose our identities as people and this in turn leads to our personal demise.

For that reason I decided to create my own social commentary with tattoo imagery. I'm not trying to preach anything I merely stating a well known fact and elevating it into an artist's perspective.

As some of you know the show that featured five of the snakes just opened. It went well, I'll have to get a copy of my interview for a posting soon. So next time I will show you the first vice snake and explain a little bit about it.

Until then stay phrosty, and please let me know what you feel about things

:P

The Beginning of the Snakes PART 1

This is a series of drawings that originally began last winter.
Having studied tattooing and tattoo art for several years I noticed the styles of different artists. I began to draw a lot more tattoo imagery before this time and wanted to create my own style that made my work iconic while at the same time original. I had previous been working on a lot of Koi fish imagery and Irezumi dragons. But I began taking an interest in snakes in japanese prints and tattooing.

I saw what T.C. Williams, an amazing tattoo artist, did with his snakes in tattooing and how his were so original. His style is unlike anyone elses. I tried out my own style of snakes, I began drawing like a fiend. I first drew traditional "tattooish" snakes, getting a feel for things. Next I started drawing realistic snakes until finally I brought the two together. I added small elements that gave them flare and eventually started using a different coloring process. I payed close attention to the movement of snakes and how their bodies interact with the wa they move. I finally came to a unique vision.

You can see for yourself how it this particular is designed like most tattoo flash, but upon inspection it has something different that makes it unique to me. Those who know my artwork previously can see my style of drawing.

At this time I also began even more so exploring art conceptually. "Art for art's sake" is fun but as an artist there is a need to create meaning and significance in your work. Lately I have been dealing with the human condition and other aspects of life that lead to demise. This notion, along with my interest in creating images that signify revelation, would be integrated with the original snake to form what I call the "Inevitabilites: Vice Series"....

...to be continued

Gallery Showing

Hey all,
As some might know I'll be one of several Art educators exhibiting work in the upcoming gallery showing at CCSU. The opening is Friday, December 5th at 4pm at Chen galleries, located in the fine arts building at CCSU.
Free wine and cheese! If
you're available don't be afraid to come by and check out my work as well as the work of several talented artists I have had the pleasure of working with.

The show will be on after the opening everyday 1-5pm until mid-December

In the coming days I'll have posts showing the work I have chosen specifically for this show as well as blurbs describing the works. So, until then enjoy Thanksgiving, get fat! or in some cases FATTER!

"Ars Gratis Artis"

This is what I do

Some people wonder why I do what I do, they wonder why I create the art I create, well now I'll be able to share my thoughts and feelings about my art and how I create what I do and how I think of what I do. And you mgiht just get some bits of insanity in here too.

Life is fun, life should be full of laughter, because without laughter life just isn't worth living! So Enjoy the show...

"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I don't what I would do If I caught one!"

- The Joker