Summer Dance Rev 1

Ok so here we go after a day of rebuilding my pc im back up and running.

This one i think im going take it bit further but here is the sketch so far...

Sketch

Im starting this sketch more regularly.

here is tonights effort.....

been a while since ive done anything digital so its going to take a while to get back into it....

Alex Ross... Alien or artist?

In one thousand years post humanities self-destruction, a time capsule will be found by a group of Extra Terrestrials. These aliens will not be little white men with black eyes… Instead, they will more than likely be of a similar appearance to us.
I personally, have never been of the belief that aliens continually watch over our planet, repeatedly abducting certain individuals through guerilla tactics for invasive surgery procedures.
No…
I’ve seen my own fair share of anal probes and though I don’t completely agree with the adage, you’ve seen one anal probe you’ve seen them all, it’s not entirely a departure from the truth. Your average Shabba, Chewslacca or 7of11 would simply not be into that.
Upon returning to the mother ship, our inquisitive friends open the capsule and discover a selection of strange images depicting mankind as they know it, donning strange costumes and flying in the air, unconstrained by gravity and other in-numerous laws of physics.
They speculate upon our extinction being related to these iconic goliaths dominating man’s prior existence… perhaps placing all kinds of surviving geographical evidence in supporting harmony of this mythological belief.
They will refer to the keeper of man’s history, as the Ross…
He will be recognised as both guardian and oracle, with all signs of recorded written evidence being strangely absent from the time capsule as to not ruin the illusion of our supposed past.
Now… Back to Ross, Alien or artist?
I don’t refer to Ross as an alien because he looks like an extra from that most ancient of racially conscious sci-fi series; ‘Alien Nation’. I don’t make this fantastical assumption because he is a uniquely talented visionary who’s abilities transcend the boundaries of mere mortal men. I have no belief in the idea that he can outrun a speeding locomotive, or that there is any possibility he might be capable of manipulating molecules utilising his massive ring.
The reason Alex Ross is an alien, is this:
Ross is the one comicker who’s unique ability at taking elements of fine art and crossing them with sequential illustration are widely accepted as kosha by all sides of the creative spectrum…
Before Alex Ross, few people within the elite of the art fraternity, viewed Graphic novels as anything less than pop culture, devoid of subtlety. Ross, whether it is as a nomad or merely an immigrant can pass through genres and art with the same impunity as the Man of Steel he continually renders time and time again. He is an alien, in that he can be placed in multiple forums of artistic discussion.

Whilst attending senior school, I realised that only three souls were blessed with true artistic talent. All of us loved comic books and frequently would be found habitually illustrating future perfect representations of ourselves… Okay, the last symptom was mine alone… along with a propensity for depicting buxom future Mrs Trowers… religious images and visions. Yes… I hallucinate… but I try to keep it to myself. My own proclamations of self aggrandizement go a long way towards embossing the workings of a delusional mind.
The weird thing… is that back in those dark days… we were judged not on our ability, which was considerably superior to the other people at our school (teachers not excluded)… We weren’t even judged regarding our depth of imagination and thought processes… We were marked and graded almost purely on the sheer abundance or quantity of the work produced. When someone produced a visually accurate observed drawing, they were doing what came naturally… When someone produced a dozen frenzied stickmen that bore no real relation to the subject, they were considered visionaries.
Within my relatively large A-level art class was a slightly peculiar odd-ball, who for legacious-ness’s sake we shall call ‘Gideon’… Having zero talent, but a passion for mess making and an ongoing sponsorship deal with ‘Scotch’ (the cellutape manufacturer), a sketchbook campaign that put Indonesia’s recent forestry culling policies to shame took shape.
Through a quest accruing more and more pandered success, ‘Gideon’ managed to pose a true psychological threat to those students with genuine ability…
The modernistic-loving leaders of my art department adored this pretender to the throne and ‘Gideon’ was taken to their bosom, quicker than a ping-pong ball to a gogo-girl. He managed to outstrip two of my colleagues in regard to his marks and I could never shake the immense feelings of dissatisfaction I felt, for someone devoid of any real technical ability. Life teaches people enough about the benefits of mediocrity as it is, but to stick it on a pedestal pre-life… Well, there is definitely something very sordid in this state of Denmark.
Alex Ross’s well-publicised existence at this time would have made life easier for us classical Joe’s. In modern Britain, where situations of art-puritan-persecution still seem to arise… where the modern renaissance man is criticized for bringing to fruition, figurative scenes of iconic romanticism… Well… today, he need merely site Alex Ross as inspiration and all those unheard prayers of the past are amazingly answered…
Yes, yes… I know it’s not that straightforward and said artists will still have to give some bullshit art house reason to appease those sterner of he-art moderators, but at least there is someone for these pupils to fall back on… someone on the frontline of modern illustration who has stayed true to the inner child within each Marvel, DC or Image comic book fan.
I’m not surmising that the current technical art crisis, is due to a global brainwashing by people with inferior talent, becoming the subjects lecturers and educators… That the modern art debacle, is a repeating cycle of both jealousy and liberalism born from individual commercial failure… that it promotes the creation of false idols and fake stars and chastises true creative visionaries.
It is more a case of talented individuals being handicapped by what is judged as unearned inherent skill, in the eyes of their assigned mentors... thus leading to an individual loss of interest through external apathy and negative encouragement.
Frankly, the majority of artists don’t wish to teach art perse, neither do they want to be critics. Many instead wish to elucidate ideas, theories, concepts… solve problems and put them on display in a form that is viewer interactive. I'm not going as far as declaring; “those that can’t… teach or comment,” but it is a fact that many talented artists end up whoring themselves to commercial art agents and instead enter the streetwalking world of freelancing.
Concept art, animation, design and advertising attract the ambitious creative… and due to clients often dictating the terms of a finished piece and not some stuffy post-modern disciple, the conclusion is generally something far more representative. If Alex Ross were given creative control over the look or feel of a superhero movie, you would never see a Koonzean 40ft flower sculpture of a dog attempting to take over the World… It would more than likely be some kind of awesome robotic colossus or some other immense titan… Thank God for such mercies.
Within the commercial art field, enormous technical ability reigns supreme… More often than not, the level of skill required is so formidable, that it escapes notice. Rome in Ridley Scott’s; 'Gladiator' is a fine example of just how far the commercial artist has come. The Battlefields of Snyder’s; '300', act as further testament. In these examples, technical skill and imagination are combined into roving believable environments that are nonetheless fake. If you truly believe a Sistine Chapel mural is not possible today, look no further than Linda Bergkvist or Phil Hale… maybe even the Ross, when you consider just how prolific he is.
Though I love the guys work and buy his books, I can’t help but feel a little angry with Alex-ander for not being born earlier... very angry... enraged even...
Anyway… Lets talk about the man’s known history and his work.
Nelson Alexander Ross was born on Jan 22nd, 1970 in Portland, Oregon… He grew up in Lubbock, Texas, under the watchful eyes of his mother, illustrator Lynette C Ross and his Father a minister…
Ross loved comics and if all his press is to be believed, dedicated his childhood towards realising this dream through consistent practice. In his book; Mythology, we are given the impression that he lived a fairly lonely childhood, and that his link to fantasy literature gave him an escape, few other things in life offered… Though I am not a Christian, nor a follower of any faith other than my own, I was brought up loving the Bible… Whether true or false, the concept of a force for good, a force for bad, a saviour who sacrifices himself for the good of all, a Samson, a Goliath, amongst a myriad of other characters, was my precursor to loving comic books and fantastical tales.
Though his mother obviously has some direct link to her son’s creative side, a minister father with a strong belief in God must be a contributing factor to Ross’s wonderfully tender exploration of extraordinary things. Though I have no doubt that this great artist has no irrational belief in a real Superman on this plane of existence, he wants to believe in possibilities and it shows in every thunderous image or composition he creates...
In 1987, he moved to Chicago to attend the American Academy of Art. Though living in a completely different country, I remember my Teacher showing me a brochure on this institution and the kind of work produced here. Parts of America’s education system are trawled through the mud in many forums and blogs, but in this case, I am genuinely jealous for not having had access to such a facility. The wealth of talent I saw in one brochure inspired me for at least one or two years. Not long by many people’s standards, but for one with the attention span of an irascible toddler, this remains a personal record.

Comic influences of the Ross include; George Perrez, Bernie Wrightson and Neal Adams, who’s inspiration regarding facial expressions can be found in the majority of the artists work… however his meticulous painting style can be traced rather more easily to the paintings of Norman Rockwell.
Ross allegedly attributes some of his most famous superhero work, from sources as diverse as Queen’s second album (Queen II). The album cover shows the band member’s ghostly visages lit from beneath on a black background. In some of his most famous compositions, Ross group’s figures together upon a similar black background, highlighting each characters portrait, with some unseen spotlight from beneath their chin levels… In the case of Kingdom Come, the front cover that went on sale, adopted this technique and remains today one of the greatest and most iconic illustrations within comic book history.

Ross is capable of rendering myth as possible truth. He gives his audience something to believe in when he illustrates DC’s Superman or the multitude of other heroes within his catalogue of commissions. Ever since the eighties, when Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Shwarzenegger set a precedent for super-men as muscle-bound stoics, comic books subscribed to a formula of overly muscular heroes with overly buxom heroines. In the case of Alex Ross, his visions of these extraordinary individuals are based on a more practical formula. Superman might be a large being, but that did not mean that he also had to have the same kind of muscle tone a male bodybuilder might have. The strength of the character was not based around what was humanly possible… the idea of Superman is that he is mythological… that his physical power and abilities come from everything alien and not human. With this being the case, Ross’s characterisation of Superman concentrates on balance. His Kal-el has not got some overly small head, protruding from a set of overly large, defined shoulders. His Son of Krypton, has a well proportioned head sitting comfortably atop a large well proportioned body. His countenance projects power and will.

Batman is a dilemma in my view. Being a traditionalist and a most stubborn one at that. Ross is criticised sometimes for having enormous integrity to his own beliefs on how a character should look. If Superman in the comics has long hair… Ross will still only paint him with short locks or what he deems appropriate. The publisher has to either like it or go elsewhere. In the Green Lanterns case, Ross only likes illustrating the original Hal Jordan Green Lantern... He ossifies to change in the face of comic book plot twists, preferring to always utilize the classical representations of such characters.

Now… Batman… What can I say? If you like the light grey costume, do not read on. I have always believed that this awful garb gave the caped crusader a somewhat drably camp vibe... a vibe I would like to forget about along with the 1960's Adam West incarnation. I wouldn’t mind Batman being gay… Like an ancient Shogun of Japan I think it is perfectly plausible to ignore sexual orientation when looking for heroes and villains… but camp? No… Nope… Not at all. I don't think Batarangs, stun grenades are the mark of a fetishist, but instead fall more in line with the well equipped, urban clean-up specialist.
It would be easy for me to cut to pieces, Ross’s version of Batman… if it weren’t for one or two things. Some of the angles he uses when cultivating a Dark Knight piece, border on the beautiful… and his version of Bruce Wayne, scars and all… Well… This is my most cherished example of comic excellence. Joe Staton produced a rendering of a scarred Bruce in an early Batman comic, where a future Batman marries a future Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman). Ross took this on board and produced his own depiction of a scarred Bruce Wayne. There is an awkwardness shown about the man out of the suit, over the being we often see inside it. If you have ever read Jack London’s; ‘Sea Wolf’, I urge you to do so again. Wolf Larson, the main character within the book is depicted in a scene where he removes his shirt. A formidable character, he is described as being shaped by the harshest of environments into an individual of immense power and indomitable will. Scarred, muscular and without physical weaknesses, he is feared by those that surround him. Ross in his portrayal of Batman, and the situations he surrounds him with, managed to paint a similar picture of a dauntless … an idea of impossibilities being possible with the will to follow through.

DC COMICS

ALEX ROSS

Written by Ross Trower.

VISITING TATE BRITAIN (PART 1)

The Tate Britain (situated in Millbank by the river Thames, on a former prison site), remains one of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious galleries. It represents (to individuals like myself), a spiritual fortress of solitude from which creative inspiration can be derived.

Formerly known as the National Gallery of British Art, it opened it’s doors to the world in 1897. Designed by Sydney R J Smith for an 1893, ‘commence construction date’, the Tate Britain, as it has been known since March 2000, underwent several dramatic extensions to it’s main building.
Additional designers included American, James Russell Pope who envisioned the Tate Brit’s Central Sculpture gallery, situated around 1937, and James Stirling who constructed the Clore gallery (Home to William Turner’s masterworks), in 1985.

The Tate Britain covers art from approximately 1500 AD to the present day and upon it’s hallowed walls, hang a collection of works that remain amongst my most firm favourites (in fact, most of these gems dangle from a single wall...)

This is either a sad comment on the masterpieces contained within, or is more likely a direct result of my own specific tastes in art conveniently enjoying a mutual wall. :)
Before I get into the specifics of my Tate visit, let me advise those individuals new to this scene about one of it’s many pitfalls. To the average human with a modest sense of direction, the typical gallery built circa 17-1900 AD, can be so impossibly hard to navigate effectively, that half way around, you expect a Minotaur to come charging out from a hidden passage to gore you where you stand. Even with the advent of digital maps and printed leaflets, you find no shortage of people scratching their heads, wondering where the hell that masterpiece (they saw all those years ago in a book, but have never seen in the flesh), resides.
Anyway, the points below are just a couple of handy hints to help you avoid such issues.
For those of you who know it all already, or like to plot the course of your recreational trips by the location of the stars, skip sections; 1-3.

1) Do not try to do the whole Gallery in one trip
It’s a common mistake to want to get too much art-spotting done in one day, and I was no different in planning my initial gallery visits.
A large proportion of people want to see as many paintings as they can on their initial forays, but in most gallery visits, this often leaves the viewer feeling exhausted and creatively drained. Instead, why not choose to do a few rooms on one day, think about what you’ve seen over an undisclosed amount of time, then return to that same outlet on a different occasion to suck up some more visual stimulus. Even better, why not plan a trip online ahead of your arrival and as a result, spend your physical trip probing only those masterworks you have already researched.
With some careful planning, you can find detailed information online regarding gallery showings, previews and specific art examples... Given the nature of individual taste, this is a good way of avoiding unnecessary boredom in exhibitions.

Point 2) Look out for tour guides and tag along.
No one likes to look like a novice in a room of experts...
Try to understand that despite it’s creators often being arguably amongst the more liberated left had side of the political and social spectrum, peoples perceptions of art are often swayed by cultural elitism.
It is rare to go into a gallery and find someone who actually knows anything poignant about a particular exhibit or artist. The appearance of such things, is regularly, merely a case of intellectual snobbery in operation. You can find more bluffer’s in an art gallery, than in Casino Royale and if you want to call them on it, do so... and have a laugh.
After wasting a few art trips, aimlessly wandering from piece to piece, I decided to make use of the educated guides most galleries have on hand. At the Tate Britain, their talks on the contained collection, provided in some cases unorthodox revelations. Time your trip accordingly and make use of these interesting orators.
The Tate Britain’s, tour facilities timetable is as follows:
<u>Monday - Friday:</u>
Time Talk/Tour
11.00 Art from 1500 to 1800
12.00 Art from 1800 to 1900
13.15 (Tuesdays only) Painting of the Month Talk
15.00 Art from 1900 to 2008
<u>
Saturdays and Sundays: </u>
Time Talk/Tour
12.00 Collection Highlights
14.30 (Saturdays only) Painting of the Month Talk
15.00 Collection highlights

Point 3) Take your time.....
Don’t be in a rush to challenge yourself... If inspired by a ‘work’, sit down and take a moment to examine it’s details.. Ask yourself a few questions about why this example might appeal to you.

Painting Review
Ok... enough digression... back to the topic at hand and my recent trip to the Tate Brit.
Whilst many sensible citizens rested their February bones by warm fires, this art fan-boy braved the trials of the city for a day-long serving of creatively-prepared thought-food...

February is not always a great art month, but this time round, it heralded a new exhibition at London’s classical art haven, under the guise; “The Return of the Gods: Neoclassical Sculpture in Britain.”
Located within it’s central hallways (the Duveen galleries), is a dedication to figurative sculpture from the 1700’s. I can’t remember what was here during my last excursion, but whatever it was, this was a welcome change to the original occupier. I really cant recommend this exhibition enough... the sculptures of psyche and the Three Graces alone, made this outing completely worthwhile.

After fully experiencing the pleasures of neo-classical sculpture and marvelling at the examples on offer, I proceeded to investigate the Tate’s other areas, to conclude whether my wall, as I’ve started calling it, has remained untainted in it’s general appeal.
Victorian Spectacle (Room 15... currently)

When getting back into art awhile ago, the Tate Britain was my first choice... I didn’t have a plan of attack as such, but wanted to see something that summed up my artistic passions in one hit... The two following pieces do just that and I am happy to announce, still reside in Room 15, the Victorian Spectacle.
I will never tire of looking at them.

Carnation Lily, Lily, Rose - John Singer Sargent 1856-1925

Sargent, remains one of my favourite artist of all time and this particular work of his; Carnation, Lily,Lily, Rose is a good example of why I hold him in such high esteem. The title of this piece came from the lyrics of a popular song composed by Joseph Mazzinghi.

The first thing that struck me about C,LL,R was the illumination of the ‘Chinese lanterns’.
Sargent seems to have managed to make the paint used on the lantern’s glow, shine beyond it’s boundaries. In my opinion, the use of light in this artwork (might arguably), never be surpassed in classical painting. The children (Dolly and Polly Barnard) seem enthralled by the task of lighting the lanterns, whilst the brightness of the flowers and the moody colours of the twilight-lit fauna, lend a strangely ethereal atmosphere to a wonderfully real scene.

As with all paintings, photography doesn’t do this ‘work’ justice and it needs to be viewed in the flesh... Knowing how surfaces create distortion, I can’t help but feel regret over never seeing this painting without it’s protective, glass case in place.

For more information on the painting and the artist I suggest the links below:

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/explore/large_img.jsp?workid=13109

http://www.jssgallery.org/Paintings/Carnation_Lily_Lily_Rose.htm

The Lady of Shalott - John William Waterhouse 1849-1917
 

‘The Lady of Shalott,’ is another fine example of superior painting. It depicts a scene taken from a poem by Lord Tennyson.

A young woman, forbidden by a curse to look directly at the world around her, is given the facility of sight through the use of a mirror. Falling in love with Sir Lancelot from afar she dooms herself by leaving her tower and sailing off to Camelot in search of him.
‘The Lady of Shallott’ is a fine example of Waterhouse’s work, and employs tiny details to create it’s message and narrative.

An example of this can be found in the form of the three candles. Two of the wicks are out and the third, seemingly caught by a gust of wind, lies on the brink of extinction. This is a clear reference to the imminent death of the lady as she sails upon unknown waters. The tapestry she wove during her imprisonment is also visible and is extremely detailed considering it’s modest size on the canvas.

Waterhouse’s brush work is beautiful and the finished piece is lovely.
Every time I revisit this piece, I believe it is possible to see something new.

For more information on the painting and the artist I suggest the links below:

wikipedia The_Lady_of_Shalott

http://www.pathguy.com/shalott.htm

http://www.jwwaterhouse.com/

I hope you liked reading this short article and that it inspires you to go and visit the gallery and the treasures contained therein yourself.

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/

Written by James Woodward

AFRO SAMURAI - CUTTING ITS WAY THROUGH ANIME

Series created by Takashi Okazaki and GONZO Studios

A man with no friends, only lives for revenge
Lives life on the edge, cut through a 1000 men
Blade swings with the force of a cyclone
Cut gristle and bone, pistol and chrome
Stand in my path, you are a dead man
I’ll cut the whole world in half for the number one headband
Quest of a lonely soul on a lonely road...

Whether you like RZA or not... and by RZA I refer to the rapper and not the Religious Zionists of America... the soundtrack accompanying Gonzo Studios masterpiece; Afro Samurai, is a beautiful enhancer to the gritty promise contained within this modern anime production.
I’m not saying that there is much of a story here... Quite frankly... narrative to Afro Samurai is like boot space to a Ferrari. What it supplies and it does supply in glorious, unyielding abundance is raw, atmospheric visual evisceration, that breathes energy into a very unorthodox future dystopia.

This is an art website, so I’m only supposed to comment on the visuals, but that could leave you; ‘the people’, feeling a little dry, and so, I have made this condensed summary of the films plotline below...
Afro Samurai charts the tale of a psychotic, afro-toting, katana-culling, jap-slap maestro on a self destructive quest to avenge the death of his like-minded psychologically unhinged father. Set in a strange, ‘possibly’ japanese landscape, Afro travels a lonely and solitary path, encountering and butchering an eclectic mix of enemies, former friends... meeting physical challenges beyond the average layman’s imagination... looking toward a final confrontation with his fathers brutal assassin, the warrior, strangely named; Justice... and ownership of the number one headband that all fighters in this unsophisticated world strangely covet.
With a huge following in almost every corner of the globe, Japanese animation is the current art movement of choice... though unlike the diversely coloured typical Anime offering, Afro uses an almost unorthodox japanese rendering style in how it delivers its tale. This is probably on account of the mixed influences behind it’s production.
Reaching out to children, who willingly dangle from it’s fishing line like a junior serial killer preys on insects... Japan’s obsession with physical art forms, violence and ethereal beauty manage to entice the slightly older viewers... not to mention the disturbed.
Afro Samurai is an adult offering subscribing to the more base desires of the typical Anime fan. It is hyper violent, it does contain some mild sexual content and it indeed does draw upon the parental advisory inspirations of Wu Tan Clan nostalgia. It’s the kind of film that you would feel uncomfortable watching with your mum around, but could enjoy with your mates... though a mum who had poor eyesight and hearing might prove acceptable...
Afro, our hero, is an artistic enigma... as a character shrouded in death dealing and ruthlessness, he seems quite out of place with his look... Depicted with the weight and stability of someone who could snap in a heavy wind, or under the weight of just a slightly larger afro, he gracefully glides about the screen in animation that paws from ‘relaxingly sluggish’ to ‘oh-shit, what did I just miss’ speed.
The images it conjures during it’s five episode run are wonderfully focused. The characters are rendered with clarity on softly painted backgrounds and are peculiarly not hindered by the use of monochromatic colours.
The visuals act in a way that only helps create tension and confusion when tension and confusion seem necessary to the storytelling.
The sequential illustration aspects of Afro Samurai are nicely paced, with them only becoming a distraction when the viewer is taken upon vague and unexpected plot twists... The inclusion of strange Afro-Japano-American Evangelical preachers springs quickly to mind, though these new monks of the future like busty babes with full lips... so you forgive the minutes that have been drawn upon, to just see where things are going.
The nice thing about Afro Samurai is that you never feel as though the story is that important. I could not watch this film more than twice, but I could watch certain scenes within it’s duration over and over again.
I originally watched this film, not in the pursuit of this short style review, but because it was being hyped mildly in the Anime community as a gore fest of titanic proportions... a new breed of Anime with broad ethnic origins.
Whether it’s advertising, comics or superhero merchandise, the smell of anime-style can be found anywhere... and with multi cultural studios producing commercial works like Afro, who can blame us.

Review by Ross Trower