Why You Should Take Pleasure In "Bad" Art

Do You Relate?

We cannot always choose our relationships.

A few years back I was in a heated discussion with a friend about the loyalty of friends and what it means. He was having trouble with connecting with people of whom he deeply regarded as friends and for some reason they were not reciprocating. 

I chose a neutral position, because we often cannot see all perspectives of someonelse's life.

When people choose or rather life circumstances choose for you to separate or distance you from a friend it should not always translate as ill-will. Forcing your will in the situation does eventually create ill-will.

Relationships work well when there are complimentary parts, not forced interactions.

Short Hand Of Truth

I have heard it said that in order for there to be the most truth in a piece of art, you have to extract the most details.  That is why fairytales, Bible stories, classic art, political cartoons, pop songs, dance moves, plays, and mainstream movies hold such sway over the culture. That is not to say that all of the above always maintain the integrity of their message, but that they are a superior form to delivering one in some form or fashion.

Sure the above piece is a ridiculous scenario. Most editorial or political or op-ed comics are. Whether it's Obama as a mere stick figure or Bush as a monkey, it is a short hand for getting the point across. Whenever necessary the artist must practice this short hand.

Some of the basic components of a visual short hand that I have discovered are as follows:
1. On objects and products leave out as many unnecessary details as possible
2. Choose recognizable objects
3. Create easy repeatable characters (made of simple shapes)
4. If you're working with text, make it short and to the point as much as possible
5. Compose, so that your eye follows the action
6. Keep your style secondary to the message
7. Focus on rendering accurate human expressions on your characters

As always, I encourage my readers to explore and find more ways to deliver the message with simplicity and directness. Let me know if you have some things that work for you. I will be glad to talk about it here.

Reference Your Imagination

Creative ideas swirl all around us every day, all day. This is true, but sometimes we do not have a reference point for a preexisting idea. Sometimes our personal experience is so limited that we have to refer to other sources to drive our picture-making or creative endeavor or even to solve one of life's wealth of problems.

Violin And Violinist Sketch click: Here

This task of conceptualizing is often time-consuming. There are many rabbit trails and often we can be so enraptured in this task that it takes away from time to solve the actual problem.


The important thing is that at the end of this time you can come to a conclusion that is based on reality and not on your mental image of it.



The hard lessons learned by understanding this result in a spirited piece of art and a growing visual vocabulary. Practicing understanding the mundane will pay off in dividends when under a deadline. This practice is grown through drawing multiple versions of a subject from multiple angles and sources. This has been my primary drive for mastering the quick-sketch and has been the foundation upon which I am building my inking skill.

Consider your discipline. Are you taking every possible measure to understand your subject? What techniques do you use to learn for the sake of the end result?

Negative Spaces

Mystery is negative space.

As an artist I thrive on mystery. I do not take for granted what I cannot see. What I can see, I understand that even at it's fundamental level I cannot perceive the substance or scene in its entirety. I am not God. The passage below reminds me of my limitations and always makes creating art into an awe-inspiring event:

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.- 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

As artists we exploit the principle of what is not seen defines what is seen as often as we possibly can. Follow the points below and you will understand how it works and how we think.

1. There is NO MYSTERY in virtual white space. A solid of any kind is not compelling. It has no weight or relevance by itself. This is something like walking through a pure whiteout after a snowstorm. Pure white, you would feel as if you were unable to go anywhere. A feeling of perpetual lack of direction.

2. There is NO MYSTERY in virtual black space. Have you ever been stuck in a dark room with no light available? It is as if you were paralyzed. You feel as if you were disconnected.Only the introduction light will move you toward mystery.

3. Two white boxes only show equality. There is NO CONFLICT. You need conflict in order create mystery. Mystery requires an unbalanced feeling. This is not possible without conflict.

4. CONFLICT alone is not enough to create mystery. Black against white definitely begins to create tension, but if it is balanced like stripes it does not finish the job.

5. SUSPENSE starts to get to mystery. Though it is clear that there is a struggle. Suspense can happen with equality still in mind. Therefore, artistically it is not that interesting. It lacks Power.

6. MYSTERY can be created in two different ways. When black dominates it is an overpowering type of mystery. Compelling like a pure dark room, but since one shard of light appears it can cause suspense and wonder. Wonder is probably the most essential ingredient in the recipe for Mystery. It captures our imaginations.

7. MYSTERY created where there is a shard of black in a sea of white causes us to think about resilience. A lone survivor or just loneliness can be derived. It is compelling with a sense of wonder that causes awe at the sight of  one lone element defying the system that surrounds it.




Now you see how we think about composition and what ramifications a sense of mystery carries. Perhaps it will cause you to view the greater picture when view art, nature, or humanity as a whole. Challenge yourself to push the limits of mystery. It will truly wrap others into the work you create.

I created these examples based on an ink piece that I did. Click on this link to see the full image: The Edge Of The Forest.

The High Knight

As the storyteller you have a great capacity to invent. Given a protagonist and a conflict a great deal of interesting topics can arise between the beginning and the end.

What fire sparks your imagination? What sort of peril would this knight save a fair damsel from? Would he fight dragons or does he just tell the narrator stories as he sits on the mantel on cold rainy nights?

Take a couple of minutes and view the full piece on my fine art site: "The High Knight". Fill your imagination with what if's. Let me know what you came up with.

V Is For Verone: Part 2

Instead of giving up he strived one more time to make eye contact with someone, anyone. There huddled in the inner ring was the prettiest little girl he had ever seen. She looked up and in the darkness her eyes sparkled. A spot of passion reflected from the meager fire. Her eyes read him from toe to head.

“There is a place for you by the fire.” She murmured, and then she opened up a her blanket to reveal a vest.

Then the circle broke for him to come through. As the boy reached the far end where a path formed, he went to sit next to her.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“I-I am Verone, a Romani like you.”

“Well then, this vest was meant for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see the 'V' stitched into the two portions in the front of the vest and the 'V's' making the Romani wheel on the back.”

“Yes.”

“I stitched this for my father last summer.”

“Why are you giving it to me? Where is he?”

“He died tragically a year ago, about this time.”Verone was dumbfounded. She smiled gingerly and gently handed it to him.

“His name was Viktor. And I am finished with my mourning just today at breakfast. I was told that I must find another man to fill his vest.”

“I am not a man. This vest is for a big man. Maybe better suited for a bear...I don't know.”

She giggled and then responded,“Do not worry Verone, you will one day grow into this.”

The fire died by early morning and the chill returned. Verone saw that the clan had already moved on and he was the only one left in the cave. The extra large vest was still around him. He was huddled into it. Today, the young thief had to reach his clan. He hastily jumped up with the vest still around him. He looked about the cave for anyone or any sign of the little girl, then Verone climbed back up through the crevice. He ran down the pass.

What would his future be, he thought? Then, he passed a small camp site. The hikers had their bag on mounted on a tree. Verone walked slowly up to the bag and grabbed some food out of it. The boy ate some of the bread and fruit and cold meat as he hurried to tell his family about his wonderful blessing.

V Is For Verone: Part 1

Who is Verone and where did he come from? And why does he have that "V" on his vest? In this two part story I present a little back story to "The Course".

As the cold winter wind broke through the mountains in some unnamed highlands of Eastern Europe a young gypsy thief ran and took refuge under the cliff. His clan had moved on a day ahead and he was seeking to survive.  Little did he know, there was a gypsy clan who had already taken refuge in the cave. He could smell the cooking stew, probably made from a mountain goat or some poor farmers stray cow.

The boy entered the narrow passage way under the overhang. There before him were several small families hunched together around several fires. They barely acknowledged him as he came down the crevice through an awkward rock path. The boy circled the first fire and no one made eye contact. They were concentrating too much on being warm or they just didn't care. He circled the second one and no one even moved. At the third fire the the boy was desperate. If he could not find solace here he would likely freeze to death if he tried to go on. Though, the stew smelled heavenly, he could endure the hunger. He had done that before. It was warmth and rest he longed for.

Title Of Story

Telling stories is a great tradition passed down from generation to generation and from age to age. It is a tradition so universal that pretty much every culture throughout history has maintained it in some form or another. The fact is, that it is one of the best ways to get your point across. Even the most analytical and heavy thinkers with the most scientific minds use it to demonstrate what theory they are trying to explain. Dry facts bore us to death. We might as well dismiss our humanity and plug ourselves directly into our favorite technology if facts are all we get. It is nearly impossible to comprehend something without a proper context. And if that context is not relayed with some accuracy or attention to detail, it also loses its potency.

One of the great things about my friend, Mark Thomas's art is that it has an affinity to give you all of the details you need and you can fill in the blanks about the story on your own. It is important to see art in a setting as opposed to viewing it second hand, because the live version of the art translates the heart and soul of its creator so much better.

On Mark's opening night I was privileged to have the opportunity to draw the very setting of the show. Often, these sporadic interpretations of reality are rough, but the point is not precision or even sobering reality. The message plainly rendered is that you get the mood and you recognize the primary details. So for any artist an opportunity like this presents itself as a practice in seeing and a remembrance of the experience.

Man And Wife

As I work on redoing page 1 of The Course I have to take my steps forward delicately. Perhaps for the seasoned comic book artist they do not sweat the small stuff. However, there must be caution when using strictly black inks. If I were to color this my line quality, though it needs to be clean and pristine would not require the full volume of values that I am trying to accomplish. To see the level of value harmony I am referring to look up artists such as Franklin Booth, Bernie Wrightson, Bryan Bolland, Alex Raymond, and Howard Pyle. These men created art that shows the great range of possibility with just black ink. As I try to emulate their level of quality I have to do so with the mind that this will be a finished piece of art, not just a line drawing for a comic book page.


This week I am going to start showing you some of The Course's characters and talking about their motivations and roles in the story.

Feseleg the Hungarian word for wife is what Teleki refers to "Emily" as. She is as sweet as a strawberry on a Spring day and as graceful as a swan. To find out more about her attributes follow this link:  Teleki's Wife.