Studio tricktop

It's time for a change...

2013-05-30T21:45:00.001-07:00

It's time, my friends, for a change.

It's been a interesting time, but it's at the point where I have to grow past what I can do here.

So, I'm building a new playground.

Www.studiotricktop.com

Now, I'm still going to keep the old blog up, but this is going to be my last update.

Over there you'll be able to see more art, more writing, more....everything.

I hope to see you there.

Oh, and pardon the mess. I'm just moving in.

Ciao.

Beer, Nachos and models... Drink n' draw genius

2013-02-25T18:35:00.002-08:00

OK, it’s difficult to get a model sometimes.

I have a friend or two who’s willing, but then we get into scheduling conflicts, space issues, lighting issues, no one serving beer, burgers or nachos, lack of creative wardrobe, no pasties and inevitably I forget the timer.

So, sometime in the future, I’m going to go back in time and whisper the right thing to the right person, and they are going to create Drink n’ draw.

It’s a thing that happens once a month at a bar in town, Mr. Tramps (oohhh SOOOOOO many bad puns there) where they have a model or two pose for anywhere between a minute up to 40, along with wait staff zipping around making sure you have the beer and food you need…

Seriously… Genius.

Our two models are performers with Black Widow Burleque in Austin. Check them out!

Zaftigg VonBonBon (serious) started us off and Ginger Snaps ended the night.

OK, fine.

Don’t say I never gave ya anything.

Black Widow Burlesque at the HighBall from Chad Treanor on Vimeo.

but, since I couldn't find a way to post my sketches from it, here ya go.. …

um, in my defense, the first few pages are 1 min or 5 min sketches…

I got betta…

Still alive

2013-02-16T18:27:00.000-08:00

... but just barely.

I've been working and working and working....

a friend of mine, Jess, has offered to model for me. It's helping a lot! I should have some stuff to show soon.

Oh, and this happened.

which is good! Didn't sell anything, but it started some good ripples.

Oh, and the children's book....

yea, that's a whole new post....

Soon, I promise!

Oh, hi, didn't see you there....

2012-12-16T12:40:00.001-08:00

Hi,

Just thought I would check in.

The holidays are picking up, which is always fun fun.

The show was a success, and I also had stuff in a charity auction right afterwards. I'm pretty sure everything sold in the auction.

I've been experimenting with a bit of a different style.

These are a bit bigger than some of the others I've done in the past, which totally works for me.

I just need to get a handheld scanner. I want to scan these and get a good solid digital copy for online print sales.

Fine Art America has been selling a lot of Venkman 2 and Trooper 1 lately. I'm hoping that Trooper 5 will get as much buzz.

I'm working on a few other projects too... Just keeping busy.

I don't have a show or anything lined up right now, which I'm kind of ok with. I want to focus a bit on my figure drawing and working on pieces like those above. The fanboy stuff is good, but sometimes you need some true, non derivative art. Sort of like a pallet cleanser.

Oh, and I'm planning a bit of a revamp for 2013.

I have two blogs, five or six sites I sell prints on, no real gallery options, or means for people to buy originals if they are interested. All of these are scattered across multiple sites.

So, for 2013, I'm going to consolidate it all down to one site. So I'm building a website and moving the blogs over to it.

Should be fun.... I hope...

Merry Christmas!

Troopers

2012-12-09T20:52:00.001-08:00

It started with the Occupy movement.

Which started with the housing crisis, the War in Iraq, the War in Afghanistan, the IT boom and bust, trickle-down economics and the bush era tax cuts. It started with the distance between the middle class and the ultra-rich.

It started with, continues with and will probably end with men in suits.

The faceless, the nameless men in suits, looking at numbers and not realizing they are people, dreams and hope.

When the world is quantifiable, when it is made up of profit and loss statements, of statistics, then it’s easy to lose morality, a sense of right and wrong.

It’s easy to take over a world of numbers than of people.

Which brings me back to the storm troopers.

Not the Star wars ones, though I use their image.

The German Storm troopers, and in a way the Star Wars version, were a invasion force. They were trained to infiltrate, take cover, command and control. Typically these were faceless solders, their faces covered by gas masks, approaching out of the haze, and taking strategic targets.

The faceless, merciless solder, the storm trooper.

Of course Lucas would use the name for his white, faceless solders in Star wars.

And I use them again, as faceless, merciless solders. This time though, the trenches are office cubicles, the bullets numbers and the weapons far more effective.

I wanted to capture that concept of the faceless man in a suit.

To buy a print or Trooper 1, click here.

To buy a print of Trooper 2, click here.

Ok, I tried to upload another in the series, but either my free range internet didn't like me or the file was just way too cool for their servers or something, so here's a link.

To buy a print of Trooper 3, click here.

Back to work.

2012-12-02T21:39:00.001-08:00

Hi, well it’s been a bit since I posted last. If you want to know what happened, well, here’s a link to a post on my other blog explaining it all.

Owww.

Tonight though, I got back to work on a few pieces and I thought I would share.

wow.... I've got a show..... wow

2012-11-04T15:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, Ok, I’m exhausted

I’m pooped, undercaffinated, and well, not quite, but close to experiencing one of those nice afterglows.

I have a show.

Wow.

I haven’t had stuff in a show in years. Like, YEARS!!!

There are children who were born after my last show who are shopping for collages now.

The last time I had stuff on display, ANYWHERE, was in the fall of 1997.

15 years without having stuff on the wall.

Wow.

Fifteen years…. And now, art.

Not a little bit.

I filled a room.

A big room.

A very very big room with art.

And have stuff in two contests.

Stuff on the walls is in two contests.

I have stuff on the walls.

Wow.

Ok, yep, I’m a blathering idiot.

But, Stuff

Walls

Wow

Ok. So, specs… that’s right, there are facts, true and otherwise attached to this.

The show is at Flightpath coffeehouse on Duval.

Here’s their fun and friendly website for their fun and friendly people in a fun and friendly way.

http://www.flightpathcoffeehouse.com/

I know they are fun and friendly people because they are tolerating my stuff.

Really, tolerating.

If you go to their website and see pictures of that big yellow room… I filled that room… over 50 pieces.

I set up a "Let's nail Something" party to hang everything.

I've got some great friends. They tolerated the blathering idiot I was. I can't possibly thank them enough.

OVER FIFTY!!!!!

In Four months.

I remember back in highschool, the prospect fo putting together 40 pieces for a AP portfolio was daunting, and I had four years to do it in.

I did MORE IN FOUR MONTHS!!!!!!

Yes, I rock. I rock hard.

Also, Art connectors (www.artconnectors.org) is my agent, and put it together. They like me, I like them… all kinds of fun.

Oh, and here’s a FUCK TON OF PICS!!!!

(it’s my blog and I can cuss if I want to)

In the words of Eddie Izzard: fuck off. (not really)

OK, I’m exhausted. I’ve been wired for too long.

I did over 50 pieces in four months, AND MOVED!

I tired.

I think I’m going to spend the next few months working on my skills. I’m going to fill a sketchbook by January 1^st with ideas, sketches, and just practice.

Psst… models… J

So, there probably won’t be any “new” pieces for a bit, not until I get myself back to where I want to be.

In high school I was a better inker than I am now. I can and will get that back.

It’s a journey. I've been running full tilt boggie for four months.

It’s time to strut for a while.

I've got a show.

Wow.

Just remember....

2012-09-13T21:01:00.001-07:00

Earn your laughlines!
Go out
Live
Enjoy life
Don't take yourself seriousely
Appreciate those that do
But....
Smiles are infectious, start a plauge.

Basics: part three Art is…

2012-09-13T10:57:00.003-07:00

Art is the experience, more than the piece.

Going back to my definition “Art is a representation of an idea that elicits an emotional response in the viewer”, the moment it becomes art is not when it’s hanging on the wall, but when you interact with it.

Experiencing art is not a passive experience. Hopefully, the interaction changes you a little, and the new you is projected back on to the art in how you perceive it.

The art changes because your perception of it changes.

It’s the mark of good art, that you see something new every time you look at it.

Last night as I was taking out my trash I saw a woman working on a large piece on the sidewalk. She was in the mind state of a artist, channeling her emotions out onto the piece that she was drawing with a coal briquette. She was attacking the piece, trying to get the shape she needed.

Each time she attacked her piece, she changed the shape of it. By adding new elements, she changed the meaning of it. Each moment, it was a different expression of her emotional state, as her emotions changed, as she processed what had happened, it was reflective in the piece.

By the time she was done, it had lost a lot of form, water being used to blend and smooth out shading, and in the end, it was barely recognizable as the piece I saw when she started.

She was no longer in the same mind state she was in when she started and it was reflective in the work.

By now, I’m sure it’s gone.

Great art is about the experience at the moment of viewing, whether it’s the first or 500^th time.

Next, I think it’s time for language lessons… not of art terms, but more on the visual language…

Audrey, round 2...

2012-09-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

Art is filled with near misses.

The first series I did on Audrey Hepburn didn’t grab what I was hoping for, but it did come with something that I liked, so I posted it.

But I still wasn’t satisfied… and really, it’s all about my satisfaction.

So, I went back and tried again.

Now, between set one and set two…. Well, I went to the Blanton.

The Blanton is a art museum on the UT campus. Yes, I hate to break it to you, I live in Texas. It’s Austin, so it’s not as bad as it could have been, but still, Texas.

The Blanton is doing a big exhibit on Western art… which I’m not a fan of, but it still has a good exhibit on modern art.

An exhibit which I admit might have influenced this round, hopefully for the better.

Let me know what you think!

Audrey 5

Buy prints of Audrey 5

Audrey 6

Buy prints of Audrey 6

Audrey 7

Buy prints of Audrey 7

Basics: part 2 Intellectual versus emotional art

2012-09-09T15:10:00.001-07:00

Some art isn’t designed to create an emotional response, or at least, not right away.

A emotional, visceral response happens very quickly. For strong emotions, you feel them before you really know why you are feeling them. Something triggers the emotional response before your mind can logically process what the stimulus was.

It’s like the difference between Alternating current and Direct current.

Direct current is a constant flow of electricity. It moves like bumper to bumper traffic on a highway, for much the same reason. The electricity is bogged down.

Alternating current puts space between the bursts of electricity. The electricity moves faster and can go farther than direct current since it’s not bogged down.

Emotions are like alternating current, Logic is direct.

You can have an instant, emotional reaction to something, positive or negative, and then the logic comes in and says why.

Ok, J, you explained the different between emotional and logical reactions, why does this matter?

For something to be art, it has to elicit an emotional response.

However a lot of art is designed to illustrate a logic concept. How is it still art, if art requires a emotional response?

Let’s take The son of man by Rene Magritte

This is a great example of an art piece that uses basic, non-visceral imagery to create a logical concept. The logical concept in turn creates the emotional response.

Basically, the painting doesn’t move me, however the concept moves me.

The creation of that emotional response is typically referred to as ‘connecting’ with the piece, btw.

When people talk about an art piece being “too cerebral”, they mean it is too logical and difficult to convey the concept needed for the emotional connection.

Now, keep in mind that a scientific paper can convey a logical concept, but not one that has emotional context. The few that do are sometimes referred to as works of art.

Now, writers, by definition are also artists, since if they are a good writer, then they have been able to illicit an emotional response from the reader.

Whether it is a direct emotional response, or one through the logical examination of a idea, as long as there is an emotional response, then the piece can be considered art.

Of course, that requires being able to communicate with your audience…..

Basics: part 1, defining art

2012-09-08T10:50:00.001-07:00

One of the things about doing art is, well figuring out what art is.

To me it’s simple.

Art is a representation of an idea that elicits an emotional response in the viewer.

Which really just means I’ve been around attorney’s too long.

To put it simply, if you don’t feel anything, it isn’t art. To you.

Makes things dam subjective doesn’t it.

Well, so is Art.

I tell people that, if you like it, then it’s art.

If you hate it, well, it could be art for someone else.

That’s the thing about art… pretty much anything can be art.

Everyone makes fun of that scene in American beauty, where he had filmed a bag being tossed around by the wind.

Yep…. Art.

So what makes good art…

The complexity and the depth of the emotional reaction

Art is as much about the person viewing it as the piece itself. The more it can draw out of the viewer, the stronger a piece it is.

Porn is art: it creates an emotional reaction from the viewer.

Is it great art: No, not really. It usually brings out one emotion. It’s a strong one, but still, only one. Unless that one also brings out a lot of others like guilt, shame ect… but that has more to do with the persons reaction to their reaction than to the piece itself.

Is what I do art….

Well, I like to think so. I don’t know about it being great art though.

I have some difficulty communicating complex emotions in real life, much less in art.

Update:

So, I went back and thought about it, and of course, I thought "I could be wrong"

This is how I usually start out trying to prove something, it's just my process.

So, I checked around and found this piece on About.com. His definition seems a little too... empty.

ART is form and content

I seem to remember something like this when I took art history in collage. (yes, I actually did some study, once)

what I don't like about this definition is that it's a... well, it's too broad. to a physicist, this is practically the definition of matter. No wait, I think this is the definition of mater.

Ok, so I figured I would try a normal dictionary..

the quality, production, expression, or realm, according toaesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

Ok, this is a little closer to what I said, except instead of beauty, appealing or of more than ordinary significance, I just said that it needs to illicit a emotional response.

How is this a significant change? Well, that's easy. Art can be designed to PISS YOU OFF! It can be ugly, shocking, traumatic, intense and still be art, just not according to their definition. Well, unless you put them under 'more than ordinary significance', but I've had shits that fit that category

No, seriously, the movement moved me.

OK, I'm gonna keep on with my definition. It'll help bring things together I think than 'more than ordinary significance'.

Audrey

2012-09-03T13:00:00.001-07:00

OK, have you ever heard of a movie, that you know your friends like, that everyone like’s but you just haven’t gotten around to watching yet?

Of course you have.

No one has enough time to watch all the movies that are out there. We pick and choose the ones that we want, we watch the ones that our friends watch, we watch the ones that look cool on TV, and sometimes we go exploring.

Well. Somehow, in my years of being a TV and Movie buff, I had missed Audrey Hepburn.

A friend of mine is a Audrey Hepburn fan. She had mentioned it a few times, asked me to track down images for her desktop, and would gush (I do mean gush) about Audrey hepburn.

Audrey Hepburn = Breakfast at Tiffany’s

So, I really didn’t know much about Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I remember this reference from Sandman.

Then I saw it in the store on DVD for like 5 bucks.

I saw it, and then I got it.

There is a energy, a innocent mirth that she brought to the screen, and enevitably, everyone fell in love with. That kind of energy hasn’t been on screen in a while.

So, after the Bill Murray’s I wanted to try someone new.

And had just finished watching Roman Holiday.

So, I tracked down this image of Audrey.. and here you go.

Audrey Hepburn series 1

I think I’ll go back and revisit Audrey a few times.

Capturing her energy in a piece is absolutly a challenge… one I’m going to go back to time and again.

Venkman

2012-08-27T19:36:00.002-07:00

The chaos theatre is now open.

It’s 4:00 in the morning,

I’m in my underwear and can’t sleep ( I know, overshare, but I’ve been sick, on drugs and my sleep schedule is a bit wonky…)

OK, here’s the thing I really like about Art. It’s really, make it up as you go along, do it yourself kind of mess.

Like the Venkman’s.

I had a simple idea, sort of.

Really, a couple of different trains of thought going in different directions that hit a communal point at the same time. I don’t think they actually crossed, but all hit the same point, at about the same time, existed in the same space, but didn’t exist in the same space as the others…

So…. Basically, to understand my thinking process, you have to filter it through either quantum mechanics or string theory, whichever fits your fancy.

So, back to Venkman, Banksy and Ghostbuster’s 3.

Didn’t I mention the other two?

So, before I started on the Venkman’s, I was doing a few pieces on transparency sheets. You remember these, right? Clear, plastic, used with overhead projectors? Well, years and years ago, I had an idea of using them to do a variation of animation cells. A friend of mine back in high school used to make money creating animation cells for animes and selling them at conventions as original art. I sort of learned how from her. I got a package of transparencies when my mom liquidated her office and I got a lot of the old office supplies.

So, about this time, I started looking at Banksy’s work. If you don’t know who he is, look him up. I’m still discovering him. When I looked at his stuff, I saw that, at least to me, they were based on photographs. What he could be doing was taking photographs, making his stencils from them, and then doing his pieces. Easy! Instead of doing them on public, I could replicate the idea with transparency’s. Do the subject on the transparency, then take a photo for the background and combine them as one image.

So, then subject matter, Bill Murray.

I’m a Ghostbuster’s fan. I watched the movies, The animated series, the Slimer cartoons, and what I could catch of Extreme Ghostbusters. I’ve got all that’s out on DVD, as well as the Filmation Ghost busters TV show from 75 and their animated series. I had some of the toys as a kid and would love to have some of the replicas out now. I’ve been following the rumors of the 3^rd movie for a while. The only hang up has been Bill Murray. He doesn’t want to do it, or at least doesn’t want to do the physical stuff in it, so he’s been killing the project.

Which got me to thinking…. What would peter Venkman be doing, without the Ghostbusters…. Or, more importantly, where would he be.

So, the Bill Murray series has had me putting a image of him as Peter Venkman in different places.

Interesting how it comes together…..

Check them out here!

Now, Audry Hepburn though…..

a funny thing happened on my way to the studio

2012-08-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

Hi,

So, welcome to the chaos theatre, bla bla bla....

I just wanted to give you aheads up on what's going on here.

I'm changing the format of things around a bit. Instead of having posts popping up, I'm creating pages. Each page will be dedicated to a series, and will have updates with new art.

But, I'll still pop up with a blog post every now and then with new creative ideas, new shows and other coolness.

So, while you are waiting on the edge of your seat for the latest bit from me, please feel free to check out the pages.

I kind of think they are cool....

ta ta.

J.

Happiness

2012-08-02T18:51:00.001-07:00

You
are
responsible
for
your
own
happiness
and
no one else

Falling

2012-08-02T18:43:00.001-07:00

We all fall.

It’s how we learn.

It’s how we grow, it’s how we change.

We fall apart, and rebuild, we fall down, and pick ourselves back up.

We always fall. It’s the only way we can grow.

Below is a series of pieces I've started on the concept of falling.

Soon, you will be able to link to a store where you can buy prints.