http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Smolin&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Smolin en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:45:26 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/24855114/ http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/24855114/ Wed, 20 May 2009 11:42:44 PDT
]]> *Smolin http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/23589778/ http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/23589778/ Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:51:35 PDT
]]> *Smolin http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/20287777/ http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/20287777/ Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:43:22 PDT
I was on vacation in the Poconos last week and dragged the gang over to the Frazetta Museum so I could have a gander at Frank Frazetta's up close. As luck would have it, the National Cartoonists' Society was presenting Frank with a lifetime achievement award when we arrived, so the man himself was there, in the flesh. He even gave my 7-month-old daughter the hairy eyeball when she let out a delighted squeal.

I got to see a lot of his legendary paintings, and they are really different in person than one might expect. The thick, knocked down texture of the mountain in "Snow Giants"; the textural contrast between the matte sky and the juicy foreground glazes in "Thuvia, Maid of Mars" and "Savage Pellucidar"; the texture of the Masonite showing through in "Neanderthal"; and the beautiful layering of color and texture that appears in all his work -- this is stuff you just can't see in a reproduction. And only the very best reproductions will be able to hint at the fluidity of his technique, which is so palpable when seen for real. If we hadn't been there with two 4-year-olds I could have stayed for hours (although my son did keep himself occupied for quite a while by reproducing paintings on his magnetic doodle pad.)

And what a thrill to see Frank in person. He's doing great by all accounts. My wife nudged me in there to say hello before we left. He was gracious and friendly (and maybe a little relieved to get a few moments away from the maniac who was shoving his mediocre work at him for critique.)

For those who are unaware, he turned 80 this year. He'd suffered a debilitating stroke in 1998, and has since been slowly teaching himself to paint left-handed. He had his first left-handed paintings up in the gallery, and the progression from the first to the second is mind-boggling. Now he's working on a third, based on an unused sketch from 1987 for a Death Dealer painting. I was told by one of his adherents that he's back to the skill level he had pre-stroke, which is nothing short of amazing. But if anyone could do it, it'd be Frank.

So who knows? Once baseball season ends, we might see a new Death Dealer painting!

P.S. I sound like a poseur calling him "Frank" -- like I know him personally or something -- but everybody does it!

]]> *Smolin http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/19834691/ http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/19834691/ Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:27:02 PDT [link] Basically, it's a life-drawing session. But instead of the usual nude model, it's burlesque showgirls doing the poses, in crazy sexy costumes. Plus there's alcohol. Madness.

]]> *Smolin http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/18618254/ http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/18618254/ Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:47:41 PDT
I used a new kind of paper last week because I liked the color, but I failed to account for the lattice-like texture, akin to a window screen. Definitely not something I'm used to. For the most part, I managed to bend it to my superior will, but it wasn't easy. I found myself really digging in and so lost a lot of fluidity.

Anyway, if you're reading this and haven't passed out from sheer drool-inducing boredom, I commend you.

]]> *Smolin http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/18454729/ http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/18454729/ Thu, 22 May 2008 20:58:49 PDT
It was a half-hour drive to get down there and a $12 admission fee, but all well worth it. Looking forward to making a regular go of it. I encourage anyone who seriously wants to pursue artistic endeavors to seek out a local life drawing session and get into it.

When I arrived, I was the only one who brought his own easel, so I felt like a complete dork. Big hat, no cattle? Yet while I didn't produce anything particularly inspired or mind-blowing, I got into a good rhythm and got some fluidity drawing from the shoulder and elbow rather than the wrist, and ended up feeling fairly confident without having to sneak a peek at anyone else's junk to compare. (Sorta like pissing at a public urinal... ) So I decided everyone could just suck my Julian: tough it out on the backs of chairs, chumps!

Seriously, the experience was really laid back and non-judgmental: everyone was just there to do their own thing. (Nor was I the oldest person present!) But it did feel a little odd to get together with a group of artists and not actually discuss the work. I'm so used to the academic critique routine that the lack of a post-session discussion of the work felt anti-climactic. No ego-bruises but no valuable opinions either.

]]> *Smolin http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/18416441/ http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/18416441/ Tue, 20 May 2008 14:20:16 PDT
]]> *Smolin http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/17064477/ http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/17064477/ Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:56:03 PST
So. I'm painting right now and instead of dicking around with layers and a scanned drawing and all that jazz, I went right in to the canvas, sketched down my subject in charcoal, and got down to laying in color without getting too fussy. I'm adjusting on the fly and allowing mistakes to happen, mostly correcting them rather than Undoing them. (Oh yeah: I'm talking about digital painting.) It's so visceral for me right now that it feels like the real deal.

The piece started as an image in my head just before falling asleep. Fortunately, the baby was fussing, so I got up with her, got her back to sleep, and stayed up for another hour or two drawing the sketch down in my sketchbook.

Well, just wanted to jot this down, mostly to change the journal entry on my front page.

Oh, and Dungen rocks. Check 'em out.

]]> *Smolin http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/16671479/ http://Smolin.deviantart.com/journal/16671479/ Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:06:18 PST
I'm using (Painter IX and my new Intuos3) and re-learning some of my older media (uhh, like pencils and stuff.) I guess I'll also post some of my crap here, once I've steeled myself for honest feedback. I mean, I'm in my late 30's and my skill set is that of an enthusiastic adolescent, so it's gonna be a long road....

]]> *Smolin