JURASCALS HISTORY: April 2012

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Jurascals 4/23 -4/28

April Jurascals for week of 4/23 through 4/28 as seen in the print edition of the Auburn Citizen, the newspaper of record in Auburn, New York.

This week I've been able to create art with different styles that really benefits from the new color printing system for the newspaper.

The above two Lichtenstein inspired parodies are two of my favorite comic strips I've ever done! I recommend checking out Lichtenstein's work and you'll see how I was inspired as well!

The above was a reference back to Warhol, saying goodbye temporarily to Pop Art and jumping into abstract art with the bottom two.

I created both pieces of abstract art for the above two pieces of work. For the first 4/27, I used fingerpaints with my son, placing them all on paper I normally use for acrylic paint. Then I mixed the paint together. It didn't work out as intended. Then for some reason I just decided to "rinse off" the paper and as the water removed the top coat of paint it revealed a really interesting pattern. I took a photo of it with my phone, then tried to print it out but because the color ink was running low, it changed the color and created a new piece of work which i happened to like!

For the second, my "Jackson Pollock' inspired piece, I tried to do the "drip method" of painting but with my paint choices, it didnt work so I used brush strokes trying not to create a "pattern". Then took a photo of it, printed it (see above-same thing happened), the color looked different. So i painted on top of what i had printed out and then attached it to the comic strip. For the third panel, the pattern on the fridge was done just on the computer.

Next week: SURREALISM!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Art in 2012 UPDATED!

4/21/2012 Jurascals as published in Auburn Citizen, Auburn NY

Jurascals has been in print in the Auburn Citizen for a year (April 11, 2011 to April 11, 2012) and I am extremely grateful to Jeremy Boyer and the Auburn Citizen for allowing me the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream. A cartoonist is someone who read comics as a child, drew their own comics as they grew and refused to stop drawing long after school had an "art class". There are precious few opportunities to express oneself as a cartoonist in a print medium and I am grateful that I have that opportunity.

In 2012 I have a vision of what this comic strip can and will become.

The primary advantage is color and how the color is applied. The Auburn Citizen has the benefit of a new color printing system. Since April 2012, I have created the work with acrylic paint and then used some ink for definition of the characters. So each day the reader will see a new painting of mine.

The idea of doing a daily workproduct is not an uncommon practice for creative folks: One twitter friend I follow endeavors to do a microfiction or flash fiction story a day, many bloggers write a blog a day, some photographers do a photo a day. My work is a comic strip a day that is actually a painting and printed in the newspaper. So the big question after understanding the process is: to what end? I will ensure that the subject matter warrants the new look.

I am blessed in that I know a worthy subject matter that is pertinent to the medium. It is art itself.
This idea could not have been done before the advent of affordable proper color newspaper printing technology. So this is right place. right time. nothing more.

I'm working on discussing Lichtenstein and Warhol right now. Here's the Warhol inspired work up close!