expeditions along the edge of the knife – the cut-paper art of Patrick Gannon
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Not all phobias are personal. Fear can be social; a contagion passed down and around. “The Monkey King” was designed as a kind of visual fable. I’ve had Aesop on my mind lately. Fortunately, the concept also fits this weeks Illustration Friday.
For the first time, I was able to document the step-by-step process in making this piece, from first scribble to finish. I’m hoping to post the pics up soon. Everyone should know how to build a monkey.
He’s an elephant! He’s a robot! He’s a watering can!
He’s also only ¥100 (about 86¢US as of right now; although I’ve always found the ¥100 = $1.00 rule to be a fairly safe bet. It all balances out over time). We picked him up a few months ago from the 100 Yen shop when we decided that our backyard needing some color (green) in the form of plants. When I say backyard, I refer to the 3 foot by 8 foot rectangle of concrete and hard earth. Just enough room to hang out the laundry, keep a few flowers, and provide a little bit of earth for the local fauna to romp on. We’re luckier than most Tokyoites in that respect.
We were fortunate to get MechaZo-san when we did. He sold out shortly after. That’s because he’s kawaii, you see. Cute. Kawaii is one of the central pillars of modern Japanese civilization. Nearly every box, bag or package you pick up has a cartoon character on it somewhere. Half the time, the products are in the shape of a character themselves. Even my National Health Insurance Instruction booklet is set up as a comic. This is a good thing, because even thought I don’t know the kanji (squiggly alphabet character) for food poisoning or lycanthropy, I can sure follow along with the pictures. Stomach cramping and hairy palms have never seemed so adorable. Nor has watering the plants.
“How to Build a God”
Step 1: Pick your Deity. There are plenty to choose from in a multitude of pantheons. Human gods, animal gods, demigods, and all manner of Lovecraftian beasties. Of course, if you can have one assigned to you, as in the case of “Loki and the Apples of the Gods” a Norse tale as retold by Christy Lenzi for CRICKET magazine, that’s even easier.
Step 2: Define your basic imagery. Zeus liked the lightning. Poseidon the water. For Loki, this story demanded the creepy crawly spider. Dig in those long, spidery fingers and keep those eyes peeled for anything that numbers eight.
Step 3: Start scribbling.
Step 4: Step back, take a good look, and realize that the God you drew looks suspiciously like your younger brother. Who, incidentally, is pretty chock full of mischief himself.
This was one off my first sketches for Loki, and he was bound to evolve before being cut and glued, but the resemblance to my brother remains. I think that is entirely appropriate, and I doubt he’ll be too upset by being turned into a God.
UPDATE:
Glenn (my younger brother) just sent me this photo to accompany the Loki sketch above. Any resemblance is strictly a trick of the artist’s subconscious. Mind you, Loki rarely wore shades, but I have no doubt he would have rocked the Rainbow Bridge on that snowboard.
I grew up on farm. I still wake up in the middle of the night, cold sweat running down my face, trying to wish the visions of cows out of my mind.
But this week’s Illustration Friday topic is “farm” so I wiped my brow, wrestled down my childhood (bovine) demons, and started in on this piece. “The Carrot Thief”, an odd critter, was a common garden-pillaging pest. I did mention that the farm was in New Jersey, didn’t I?
This is the second 木はがき (kihagaki: ki=wood, hagaki=postcard), I’ve done, and I really like the way the cut-paper works with the wood texture. I’m also pretty sure this is my best carrot ever.
Big thanks to everyone for the great comments last week!
If you’re a Koi who decides to go for a walk, It’s probably a good idea to take along a water source you can trust. What could be safer than your very own raincloud?
The topic is pretty much the only thing safe with this Illustration Friday piece. This is the first time I’ve worked with the cut-paper on wood. This is a 木はがき – a postcard made of wood, about 10×15 cm. Which also makes this one of the smallest pieces that I’ve ever done. It was the texture of the wood, suggesting rain, which gave me the idea for the concept. Besides, drawing koi is practically a contractual obligation for living in Japan.
For a farm boy, I spent an inordinate amount of time inside reading. The first real (non-picture) book I can remember devouring was a beautifully illustrated, highly-edited collection of Greek mythology. Over the years, my appetite for myth and fables has grown with me. I’m always looking for the tales of ancient cultures and new twists on old stories.
August graced me with not one, but two different projects built on mythology. “Loki and the Apples of the Gods” a Norse tale as retold by Christy Lenzi for CRICKET magazine is the first of those. It will be appearing in the November 2006 issue, which, I believe, is to be spider-centric.
This piece is the first of four illustrations for the story, which I’m told incorporates a few interesting ideas associating Loki with the spider (see this link ) For me that meant the chance to work spider imagery into the characters and Norse designs. I managed to resist having Loki do Spiderman’s webslinging hand guesture. It was hard.
It’s a great read and well worth checking out. Working with the Norse knots and tracery (of which not nearly enough remain) was unbelievably cool too.
When I said that it might be a little quiet around these parts, I didn’t actually expect this site to become its own little ghost town. I’m back now, and boy, do I have things to say.
The good news, of course, is that I’ve been busy. Very, very busy. During the past two weeks I’ve stockpiled enough work and experience to yammer on about for quite some time. I’ll be back tomorrow to start on some of the details, but here’s a quick and completely unorganized jumble of hints to my vanished weeks and the immediate future:
Apples, Spiders, Celtic squiggles, Stomach flu and/or food poisoning, Yakatabune, Ancient Gods, Scorpions, Sleep deprivation, Mythology, Books, Prints, and Giant birds.
