Now that I’m back in Austin, I started going back to AVAA for Life Drawing. It’s scary how lack of practice affects you. I haven’t posted any of the latest drawings to The MKX® Photo Central in a while, but I will and you will see what I mean. But that’s a different topic.
Last week the model scheduled was running late, so the coordinator asked for volunteers to pose. The idea is that different people would pose for twenty minutes at a time. I went first.
One of the resulting pieces of art were especially impressive, even more so considering it was made in only twenty minutes! Here is my portrait by local artist Melissa Grimes. Feast your eyes:
“He’s a loathsome offensive brute, yet I can’t look away”
This portrait of South African president Jacob Zuma by Brett Murray has triggered a scandal and even marches. It’s based on this portrait of Lenin but it also shows his penis. I think it’s cool and if anyone ever decides to paint me in this style with my package exposed, I’m all for it. Especially if they make my package that big.
More info on CNN, where – heaven forbid they show an abstract three color painting of a dick and offend a puritan reader – the painting is censored.
Interesting thing I learned today: Not only was Claude Monet a super-painter, but he actually had a super power: The ability to see ultraviolet light. How? In 1923 he had the lenses in his eyes surgically removed due to severe cataracts. Without the lenses filtering out UV light, he could see it. This is known as aphakia.
Here’s a comparison of two paintings he did of lilies. One before and one after he acquired his super power (source).
E.A.S.T. was held on the second and third weekends of November. My attendance this time was not as intensive as previous years due to travel and visits. It was still very enjoyable.
Here are three tips for those of you attending next year:
The event is HUGE. Use the map to plan what you want to see. Time spent researching ahead of time pays off while touring.
The quality of the art is all over the place. It goes from junk to masterpieces. Again, research well to save you some time and disappointment.
Talk to the artists. They have interesting things to say, and they love to talk about what they do. You will never annoy an artist by asking him about his work.
Surprisingly, people in town don’t know about E.A.S.T. despite it’s colossal size. Spread the word and bring some friends!
I was in Monterrey, Mexico all of last week. On Sunday, October 17th, the Nuevo León government held the Festival Bella Vía (website not updated for 2010) in the Macroplaza.
According to the brochure, a tradition started in the Lazio region back in the XVI century in which artists painted on the ground their works of art. So this is what was going on here: artists were copying very well known works of art on the ground using chalk. Very neat. Check out the photos below (click on the thumbnail for the full size picture). See if you can recognize any of them…
Art City Austin is an event organized by Art Alliance Austin. I had heard of it but attended this year for the first time on April 24th. They close off about five blocks in Austin’s 2nd Street District downtown and 190 artists, many local, but most (all?) national set up a booth where they show off their goods. Lots of very good painting, some very impressive metal work, sculpture, glass, etc.
Read more for more details, photos, and the ever important description of the food available.
Don’t forget that this coming Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd is your last chance to go to the East Austin Studio Tour, in my humble opinion one of the city’s best yearly events and best kept secrets (people just don’t know about it!). Over 150 art studios open their doors for you to visit, all of them located in the eastern part of the city. I bet you didn’t know there were so many!
The exhibitions cover just about any kind of plastic art you can think off: pottery, sculptutre, photography, painting, metal works, etc. going from “even I can do that” to “that should be in a museum”.
Yes, I’m very scared about tomorrow’s game. In order to mentally prepare I made this quick sketch. Recognize him? Write down your best guess in the comments section.
