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"A Quick Sketch of..." is a new series of Interviews on different personalities from the Traditional Gallery. Some of them will be underviewed talents, and some (like our first featured deviant) will be some of the best-known and finest artists dA has to offer.
Quick Sketches give us the opportunity to capture an image of someone, a momentary view of their reality... Please welcome today's Sketched deviant: American painter, illustrator and musician kolaboy.
stigmatattoo What were you doing just now?
I was cutting firewood. I never really appreciated the difficult life of a lumberjack until I began cutting my own firewood.
stigmatattoo Do you plan your day ahead and if so, do you manage to stick to it?
I plan my day ahead insofar as I have the PM hours free to work on various projects. Fewer distractions in the nighttime.
stigmatattoo Is there something you have accomplished in your art you're specially proud of?
Yes. When I was 12 I took all my mom's metallic lipstick containers, arranged them in a cluster, and painted the various reflections and re-reflections. I think I learned more about painting from that self-imposed exercise than anything subsequent. And, you'll be happy to know that I never wore any of the lipstick.
stigmatattoo Is there something you want to do and haven't yet?
Is this painting specific? If so, I'd like to finish the Joan d'Arc series I started some time ago. The stumbling-block being that I can't bring myself to depict her death. It was a particularly horrible death...
Non-painting specific: to see the NASA New Horizons probe's photos of the planet (yes, I said planet) Pluto. I'd also like to own one of those carnival fortune telling machines, but I understand they tend to be on the pricey side.
stigmatattoo You mean those with an animatronic/automaton gypsy inside? There are some carved in wood...
Right. I've always loved automatons, even though as a child I was absolutely terrified of them. There are some older ones that are truly works of art. Unfortunately it seems the making of such things is becoming a lost art. I once dreamed that I stole the James Garfield automaton from Disney World... but I digress.
stigmatattoo Symbolism... Which are your favorite sources?
My childhood memories.
stigmatattoo Can you disclose some personal codes?
I suppose I could, but beyond a certain point it becomes meaningless. We all have our own set of dots that we spend our life connecting. Even if we all had the same dots, we would each connect them differently. I sometimes watch documentaries dealing with painters and their work, and "art historians" who claim to have decoded this or that in the painters oeuvre. I have to laugh because we are not even able to get into the head of a contemporary painter, or any individual for that matter, much less someone living and creating 300 years ago in a world that would be completely alien to us. The key to appreciating a work of art (for me) is channeling the response that it creates in myself into my own creative action. Beyond the broad surface subject, one can never know the intent, and even if we did, it may be so personal to the artist that it would have no relevance to any but he/she/it*, the creator.
*(The "it" would be Cezanne)
stigmatattoo Your work has been extensively commented on and offline. What is the most flattering thing someone have said about your art? What was the less flattering?
They're both the same, actually: "You're sick."
I'm flattered that some yokel without the slightest possibility of understanding anything would pry his hand off the joystick long enough to type a response to something I've done. In a sense, I've performed a public service. But then, after that initial flush of triumph, there is the less flattering aspect of being unloved. Ah, the whimsical world of art, aye?
stigmatattoo Tell me about Cowgirl in the Snow... I understand music runs in the family?
Well, thank you for asking.
Yes, both my brothers are involved in various musical endeavors. My dad teaches violin, and my mom was musically inclined as well.
Cowgirl in the Snow was initially intended to be an actual band with actual people, but seeing as how actual bands with actual people tend to want to perform, and I do not, we failed to have a meeting of minds. So it's just me and my guitars, keyboard, and a drum machine named Gerald. I guess the music could be described as power pop, or as someone once said "bubblegum with thumbtacks" (a good thing?). I've not recorded anything for about two years, so there's a backlog of songs that need tending. Unfortunately, I've found that I can't paint and do the musical activities at the same time. Right now, painting is in the foreground.
* You can listen to Cowgirl in the Snow here*
stigmatattoo Your favorite work from your Gallery? Why?
I think this one
Mainly because it came out of the blue and was completed in a 26 hour stretch. And they say that caffeine is bad for you....
stigmatattoo A favorite from dA? Why?
Because she's so sweet, beautiful and talented, of course.
Or did you perchance mean an artwork? Yikes, too many to name.
stigmatattoo I knew you'd say J4n3T... is she the model/inspiration on many of your paintings?
Inspiration, certainly
As per models, I haven't used a live model for ages, but it's comforting to know that I have a perfect one if I need one.
stigmatattoo Anything else you want to share?
I refuse to wear matching socks, under any circumstance. And by divine serendipitous coincidence I have no matching socks. Life's funny like that.
Quick Sketches give us the opportunity to capture an image of someone, a momentary view of their reality... Please welcome today's Sketched deviant: American painter, illustrator and musician kolaboy.
Mature Content
Mature Content
stigmatattoo What were you doing just now?
I was cutting firewood. I never really appreciated the difficult life of a lumberjack until I began cutting my own firewood.
stigmatattoo Do you plan your day ahead and if so, do you manage to stick to it?
I plan my day ahead insofar as I have the PM hours free to work on various projects. Fewer distractions in the nighttime.
stigmatattoo Is there something you have accomplished in your art you're specially proud of?
Yes. When I was 12 I took all my mom's metallic lipstick containers, arranged them in a cluster, and painted the various reflections and re-reflections. I think I learned more about painting from that self-imposed exercise than anything subsequent. And, you'll be happy to know that I never wore any of the lipstick.
stigmatattoo Is there something you want to do and haven't yet?
Is this painting specific? If so, I'd like to finish the Joan d'Arc series I started some time ago. The stumbling-block being that I can't bring myself to depict her death. It was a particularly horrible death...
Non-painting specific: to see the NASA New Horizons probe's photos of the planet (yes, I said planet) Pluto. I'd also like to own one of those carnival fortune telling machines, but I understand they tend to be on the pricey side.
stigmatattoo You mean those with an animatronic/automaton gypsy inside? There are some carved in wood...
Right. I've always loved automatons, even though as a child I was absolutely terrified of them. There are some older ones that are truly works of art. Unfortunately it seems the making of such things is becoming a lost art. I once dreamed that I stole the James Garfield automaton from Disney World... but I digress.
stigmatattoo Symbolism... Which are your favorite sources?
My childhood memories.
stigmatattoo Can you disclose some personal codes?
I suppose I could, but beyond a certain point it becomes meaningless. We all have our own set of dots that we spend our life connecting. Even if we all had the same dots, we would each connect them differently. I sometimes watch documentaries dealing with painters and their work, and "art historians" who claim to have decoded this or that in the painters oeuvre. I have to laugh because we are not even able to get into the head of a contemporary painter, or any individual for that matter, much less someone living and creating 300 years ago in a world that would be completely alien to us. The key to appreciating a work of art (for me) is channeling the response that it creates in myself into my own creative action. Beyond the broad surface subject, one can never know the intent, and even if we did, it may be so personal to the artist that it would have no relevance to any but he/she/it*, the creator.
*(The "it" would be Cezanne)
stigmatattoo Your work has been extensively commented on and offline. What is the most flattering thing someone have said about your art? What was the less flattering?
They're both the same, actually: "You're sick."
I'm flattered that some yokel without the slightest possibility of understanding anything would pry his hand off the joystick long enough to type a response to something I've done. In a sense, I've performed a public service. But then, after that initial flush of triumph, there is the less flattering aspect of being unloved. Ah, the whimsical world of art, aye?
stigmatattoo Tell me about Cowgirl in the Snow... I understand music runs in the family?
Well, thank you for asking.
Yes, both my brothers are involved in various musical endeavors. My dad teaches violin, and my mom was musically inclined as well.
Cowgirl in the Snow was initially intended to be an actual band with actual people, but seeing as how actual bands with actual people tend to want to perform, and I do not, we failed to have a meeting of minds. So it's just me and my guitars, keyboard, and a drum machine named Gerald. I guess the music could be described as power pop, or as someone once said "bubblegum with thumbtacks" (a good thing?). I've not recorded anything for about two years, so there's a backlog of songs that need tending. Unfortunately, I've found that I can't paint and do the musical activities at the same time. Right now, painting is in the foreground.
* You can listen to Cowgirl in the Snow here*
stigmatattoo Your favorite work from your Gallery? Why?
I think this one
Mainly because it came out of the blue and was completed in a 26 hour stretch. And they say that caffeine is bad for you....
stigmatattoo A favorite from dA? Why?
Because she's so sweet, beautiful and talented, of course.
Or did you perchance mean an artwork? Yikes, too many to name.
stigmatattoo I knew you'd say J4n3T... is she the model/inspiration on many of your paintings?
Inspiration, certainly
As per models, I haven't used a live model for ages, but it's comforting to know that I have a perfect one if I need one.
stigmatattoo Anything else you want to share?
I refuse to wear matching socks, under any circumstance. And by divine serendipitous coincidence I have no matching socks. Life's funny like that.
november spawned a monster
it's that time of the year again. find me on facebook.
:thumb58779612:
well, i least i have each other...
wishlistcoughwishlist
i'm alive
+thanks to everyone who left messages expressing their concern for my family and I, it's been a terrible experience, since we live in Concepcion (Chile) and we were hit directly by the 8.8 quake. however, our apartment building handled it well, we weren't near the coast so were not threathened by the Tsunami and after a scary week we're finally together & safe. the beautiful old house where my tattoo shop was housed didn't resist the violence of the earthquake: the whole front of the second story crumbled and fell, and will surely have to be demolished. the old family which lived there and rented the space will lose their house and workplace
november spawned a monster
+it's that time of the year again, boys and girls...
"Poor twisted child
So ugly, so ugly
Poor twisted child
Oh hug me, oh hug me
One November
Spawned a monster
In the shape of this child
Who must remain
A hostage to kindness
And the wheels underneath her
A hostage to the kindness
And the wheels underneath her
A symbol of where mad, mad lovers
Must pause and draw the line."
i don't expect to be back here yet. got to get my head cleared still... i lurk and troll, though ;)
lustre prints and L devwear plz, you know, just in case you get the urge :)
<3
d.+
chop my hat in half and related
+ as you've noticed, i've resigned from the Community Relations Team. there were many reasons for this decision, and none of them involve dArama, so if that's what you were looking for, here's the door what's the hurry :P
basically, it's real life stuff. it wasn't an easy decision, i've been a Gallery Director/Moderator since 2007 and i enjoyed (almost) every day of it. i just kept thinking things would get better or easier and i'd be able to catch up on things and do what i feel a GM should be doing (and what the Traditional Community deserves) but it just isn't happening right now. other recent events mean i'll be moving out from this apar
© 2009 - 2024 stigmatattoo
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-John Paul
-John Paul