thanks, you rock.

why give them paper when you can give them a rock?

the patience of a saint

wow. blog's been dry through november! work and the up-coming move preoccupying my brain... but here comes a long-winded ramble.

*****

i've long admired paint-by-number (PBN) paintings and have amassed a large collection of them (thrift-store bought, NOT painted by me). obviously they have a certain 2nd-hand/kitsch element that jives with my general aesthetic but i also really love the intricately combined areas of unblended colour. such nice shapes, such nice colour-schemes.

i've always imagined the paintings' painters toiling away and usually feel a little sad for them; adults colouring within the lines for endless hours instead of creating their own unique images, always - in my mind - banished to a cold corner of the basement whilst the more social family-members congregate upstairs.

but i'm not so sure about that impression anymore...

i've noticed, in collecting these things, that not all PBNs are created (or re-created) equally. i have a strong preference for specific colour-schemes and themes (mainly horses - which, in real life, i have no strong affection for) and even "style" (maybe "proficiency" is the better word - i usually only buy the works of superior craftspeople). in these choices, colour and theme, i guess i am sharing an aesthetic with the painter - presumably, they based their choice on similar criteria. (already they are becoming more "real" to me...)

today i attempted some PBNing and realized just how skilled some of those painters were and that i am truly the proud owner of some very fine pieces - masterpieces of the genre probably (oh how i wish they were signed)!

about a year ago i found a 2nd-hand, unpainted PBN. the paint pots were all dried out but i displayed the outline-y goodness in the house. recently, i decided i would "re-mix" it into a little typographic project (i will post it when it's finished) . today i started that project...

let me tell you, this shit is NOT for the faint-of-heart or impatient person (um - i'm both!).

what i post below here is 40 minutes of work and it looks horrible!! this project, i now realize, is not something i can crank out in a day and throw on the wall. it's gonna take a while and i'll have to limit myself to short work-sessions so i don't go batty! i'm not used to obeying lines that hold colour in one spot!

anyway, back to the PBNers and my changing impressions of them...

i realize now what strong technical skills they must have had to pull these things off so well: brush control, colour-mixing, project management, and the patience of a saint to boot! they had the skills to make quality "original" artwork so why did they choose to spend so many hours at PBNs?

i assume once you get used to doing them it gets less frustrating (it must or you wouldn't be able to do the huge ones) ... and that leads me to the conclusion that these very skilled people maybe used this hobby for relaxation. it was maybe even some form of meditation! i can't picture anyone of my T.V./internet generation having the attention-span to finish one of the big paintings i own! they must have found the process satisfying and felt proud when they finished them (i guess that's why they framed them)...

i've always treasured these pictures because of their looks but now i also appreciate them as receptacles of someone's effort, joy, dedication, and perseverance.

below are some of my larger PBNs.

i have seen another one of these "last suppers" in another thrift store and mine is far superior (though i still wish i had bought the other one - just for comparison). this is about 1 foot x 2.5 feet.

these two are both roughly 2 x 2.25 feet.

the ship is heavily varnished unfortunately.

the clouds are usually my favourite parts in any PBN. these both have great clouds.



(sorry about the flash in my photos - i don't have a great camera and i'm not a great photographer... this is not likely to change)

door jam # ?

(I forget what number i'm at with these "door jams" - there have been a few i didn't post...)

soundtrack:

Herman Dune - have you seen the moon

Herman Dune - glory of old

medium:

black sharpie on newsprint

concept:

i have a picture of charles and diana - for reasons unknown. it is positioned just behind some other items so that only charles' eyes are showing. they peer at me from across the room when i'm at the computer. they are peering now. i needed to procrastinate for a bit so i drew the prince. he is so easy to characturize that i can't help but think of him as silly-looking (if i think of him at all). so i was surprised while drawing - and actually considering him for the first time in my life - to find that he was a fairly nice looking guy. not "hot", but he looks fairly kind and gentle and i felt kind of sad for him - in the way that i feel mildly sad for all celebrity-figures who are born in to their celebrity and don't necessarily seek it. i don't think that sympathy comes through in the drawing - he looks slightly creepy - but i was just scribbling and not trying to convey feeling one way or the other...