Doing Some Painting Studies.

Was looking over my old posts and had a moment where I was like “Dang, I am actually a pretty good painter and this is a pretty cool painting.”

Only took four years distance from the actual creation of the piece to feel that way about it!   ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

“Pretty Bunny/Ugly Hare”

acrylic and stickers on canvas board, 14 x 18

PRINTS AVAILABLE

Something of a continuation on the theme of “fuck your fascist cuteness standards.”

Inspired by the Playboy Bunny as a restrictive concept of American female beauty, the different connotations of the words “bunny” and “hare,” and overhearing a pregnant woman discuss her fears that her unborn child would be born with a “hare lip,” because that had “just ruined” Joaquin Phoenix’s face.

Slightly dissatisfied with this painting, actually. I have a tendency to push shadows darker than I would like, and that happened in this piece. I want to develop an ability to work with paler palettes.

However, this is the first time that I’ve really tried mixing a more deliberately stylized look with traditional painting, and I am very pleased with how that turned out.

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tbh, I was kinda waiting for someone to point this out and yes, you’re absolutely right. Abuse doesn’t have to be physical, it can be emotional and/or verbal.

This comic came about because I‘d read several commentaries comparing Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin, specifically in regards to how they treat their daughters.

Almost everyone I know who takes the time to think critically about The Simpsons or Family Guy hones in on the fact that Peter physically and emotionally abuses Meg, whereas Homer is incompetent, neglectful, and absolutely does not understand Lisa -- but he loves her and he tries.

In the commentary about how Peter and Homer treat their daughters, I didn’t really see anyone bring up the physical/emotional abuse of their sons.

To lay it out there -- I loathe Family Guy. Fucking hate it.

I grew up watching The Simpsons and can have entire conversations purely through quoting the show. But as much as I love The Simpsons, I think the overall cultural attitude to corporal punishment (physical abuse) has changed enough that it’s time to retire the running “joke” of Homer choking Bart. It may have been a culturally acceptable joke ten years ago, but more and more research is showing seriously negative outcomes for kids that have experienced any form of physical punishment. We need to stop normalizing it.

As for King of the Hill, Hank and Peggy are hardly perfect parents and both have a tendency towards stifling Bobby’s more flamboyant and/or “feminine” behavior. But they both love Bobby; they have both, at different times during the show, been able to connect to Bobby through his various interests. While not perfect, they are a much healthier depiction of a family.

As a queer transgender dude who grew up in Texas and is totally unsuited for Southern concepts of masculinity, I have a real soft spot for King of the Hill and for Bobby. It’s a far more real and complex depiction of family, compared to the pointless cruelty of Family Guy or the lesser cruelties of The Simpsons.

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Clients’ names and personal information have been omitted to retain their privacy.

original illustration - fashion 3

available for $35

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I haven’t posted WIP pics in awhile because it drives me crazy when those get more interest than the finished pieces but I need to show off all my cool sketches.

Christina the Astonishing

13x14

acrylic

A gift for a therapist.

Christina the Astonishing was a woman in the 13th century who, around the age of 20, had a seizure so severe that friends and family thought she had died. During her funeral service, Christina levitated out of her grave, and up to the roof of the cathedral. When Christina came to land upon the church altar, she told the congregation that she had seen Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. In Heaven she asked for angels to return her to Earth so she might lead others to salvation.

Christina claimed she could sense the sins of others, and they pained her. To escape this, she levitated into the tops of high trees.

She is sometimes considered the patron saint of therapists, mental health workers, and the mentally ill.

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Well. I have now learned this particular matte medium is too opaque to be used undiluted. Unsure if I’ll continue on this, leave it and come back, or leave it entirely.

doing some painting

just some recent sketchbook pages

I think it’s valuable to see artists’ unfinished/process work. It helps to show the amount of work that goes into art-making, and it helps other artists to remember that not every thing you do is a finished product and that’s okay.

I still remember seeing Gustav Klimt’s sketches for the first time and how reassuring it was to see that he also scribbled over faces and figures when they didn’t work out lol.

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Reaching that point in working on a piece where I lose any sense of reality and my brain just chants "I AM A GENIUS I AM A GOD" over and over. Well, working in customer service until 11:30 pm will certainly beat down that overblown sense of confidence. Off to work!

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screenshot study of Lestat from IWTV, done with paint pens

On one hand, seeing an in-progress artwork can be a fascinating and enlightening experience. You can see the steps that the artist takes towards their final vision. You can take comfort in the fact that even the most wonderful piece of art was a scribbley piece of shit at some point. On the other had, OH MY FUCKING GOD DON'T LOOK AT MY SHAME I'M NOT DONE YET JESUS.