You can’t always say what you want

The RaspBerry

I suppose one way or another we are all waiting for a phone call, text message or email and for one reason or another we all have the phone calls, text messages and emails that we can’t or won’t do.

In these days where most people can use various communication devices to send images, I wanted to produce an image that people could send, when they can’t say what they want.

With the Turner Contemporary opening in Margate, where a lot of the art on display is and will be Modern, contemporary and some of it is and will be conceptual art, I wanted also to form some sort of link for the local people, many of whom have contributed towards the cost of this gallery, where they could see some sort of point in the this sort of thing.

If art is anything it has to be about conveying something that can’t be conveyed in words. There is also a sense in which art has to justify itself, show it has some point or purpose, this was easy in the days before photography, but now aspects of art can seem pointless.

The idea here was to produce an item, artwork if you like, that was in a sense both useless and useful and also to explain its purpose clearly.

More pictures of The RaspBerry at http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/raspberry as far as copyright goes help yourselves to the images, no need to ascribe them to me or anything like that.

I did a couple of posts recently with drawings of Tracy Emin and David Cameron in them, that illustrate just how powerful a communication tool art still is. 

In both cases my posts with them were on the first page of Google today here are the screenshots 

I think it fair to say that with Google finding about 43,400,000 webpages for the search phrase David Cameron, without the art aspect my post wouldn’t have featured in the top ten.


Very little in art is entirely original, artists look at other artists work and this influences and inspires what they produce, the primary inspiration for The RaspBerry is a work by the artist Conroy Maddox called Onanistic Typewriter  you can always Google it if you want to know what I mean.


I produced a work called Onanistic Netbook here it is

Art tends to inspire reaction in other artists and two artists I was talking to and photographing this week Andrea Francke and Mary Ikoniadou added further inspiration.

I will do a post about their work and their recent appearance in Broadstairs at a later date, here are a couple of pictures I took of them at the weekend.     

A question that has been floating around here in Thanet since The Turner Contemporary opened is, what is art? And a question that has been put to people in the past is, are you an artist?

There are different answers here of course, one chap quizzed in this way drew freehand a perfect circle another a perfect straight line. No one really seems to have come up with the goods, when it comes to expressing the answer verbally.  

For me being able to draw a picture of someone that is recognisably that person, seems a reasonable qualification. 

Another indicator is putting something one has produced in front of someone who has qualified academically as an artist and having the something pronounced “good” or “OK” in terms of art, this is also something that would suggest one is an artist.

I stopped producing art in any form about forty years ago, mainly because of the trouble it caused, now I have started again and have run a few of the results through some of these criteria.

One problem is that once one starts again it isn’t easy to stop. 

Now we come to one of my concerns about The Turner Contemporary, which is are they pulling off what they hope to achieve, this isn’t quite as simple as are they getting the visitor numbers now?

What I mean here is, in the terms of the parameters of what they hoped to achieve, at the moment an exhibition of contemporary art, is what they are displaying good, average or bad.

Looked at as it were in the way readers of this blog have looked at the various bits of art that I have put there recently, does it work? This is quite easily explained in terms of the pencil sketches of Tracy Emin and David Cameron, regardless of whether you think they were good or bad, if they have changed your visual perception of these people slightly, then they have done what I set out to achieve.

I have only one only one tangible way of measuring the public’s genuine interest in what the gallery is doing and that is by looking at the viewing counters on the various videos they have published online.

The gallery published a video embedded in their website yesterday and since then it has had only 87 viewings I did the same thing with some videos on this blog on Sunday, within 24 hours they had all had several hundred viewings.

Now sitting through four or five minutes of video to the end so that the counter clocks your viewing suggests a genuine interest in the content of the video and my concern is that the genuine interest isn’t as much as it should be.             

Have I ever drawn you?

While traveling around the US and Canada while promoting my book in 2007, I got the joyous opportunity (for me, at least) to draw many people who dropped by my table/booth. Some of you were sketched on the inside of your book in San Diego, some got a quick sketch in Toronto... no matter when or where it happened, I'd love to use these drawings in an upcoming project!

If I have drawn you this year, scan it at 300 dpi or higher and email it to me at:

blog AT joebluhm DOT com

I have a project for some of the images, and would love to have as many as I can to choose from. I look forward to your emails!

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Getting Mail

I often get emails from artists asking about caricature, illustration, exaggeration, or my book. Often, they are the same questions or similar questions. They're not bad questions at all- quite the contrary. Usually very good inquiries come in, and I've decided it would be good to share them with anyone who may visit this blog. I may go back to some archived emails and post them here.

I'll start with the email that I received today, spawning this choice. It's from a chap named Peter who recently purchased my book, REJECTS, and had some questions about live caricature:

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Q: Do you always start with a real loose rough, like you show in your book, and then move to a fresh piece of paper? And also, you seem to work from the inside out, beginning with the left eye...Is this true?

A: I do typically start with a rough sketch. A good practice is to let your EYES do that, and don't let it be a tool until you know how to properly do it quickly. Many people start doing this, but they essentially draw the caricature twice, and it ends up being very simple and boring. I use this sketch only when I want an interesting composition, when I want to do something extreme, exaggerated or bold, but don't want to sacrifice too much time. The "pre-sketch" (as I call it) actually will save me time, when used properly. It can be seen as a bad habit, but can be a good one when used infrequently and at the right times.

I don't like the "inside out vs. outside in" argument, and I'd say that I typically start with what seems to anchor the drawing. If it's a pair of glasses, if it's a big nose or the eyes, then yes... but drawing from the outside-in usually limits your capabilities and can cause an improper placement of features and spacial relationships. When starting with the facial features, you can eyeball the spacial relationships and place the 'outline' of the face better. This is my opinion, and has more to do with exaggeration and choices than speed or convenience of habit.

The most important thing to remember is to draw UNIQUE lines each time, and don't just change the size and positioning of the same lines. When drawing live, a lot of artists find a "generic stamp" that they find works. They can quickly sketch this face in just a couple minutes, and it is easy to appropriate spacial relationships to fit the person in front of you... with the right hair and other elements (glasses, earrings, etc) you can fool anyone into thinking it's "them", when it's not really a unique drawing. Each face is unique, and the biggest mission of a caricaturists should be to pay that respect to the individual, and NOT to fix them nor to focus on the common elements of all faces.

I hope this helps. Keep sketching, and write any time.

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NCN Convention and Digital Media

I'm sitting in the NUGGET hotel in Sparks, NV (near Reno) a day after the final awards banquet for the National Caricaturist Network Convention and Annual Competition. What an event! There is nothing that compares to this convention, and a week full of drawing, painting and sculpting is never enough! I highly suggest you take a peek at caricature.org and join the NCN, as well as plan on attending the next convention for the best time of your life as an artist, if you appreciate the art of caricature at all.

I was also lucky enough to pick up a caricature sculpture of myself, completed by artist/sculptor/illustrator David O'Keefe. What a magnificent piece of art... and a bit creepy!

Lastly, I've received an email from artist JC Reyes, asking a few questions about digital painting for his thesis report. Here are his questions and by brief answers. I realize that I am not a great writer and have fairly simple views on this topic, but if it helps anyone, it's worth sharing:

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Q: "What do you think are the advantages of using digital illustration softwares like Adobe Photoshop in making caricatures?"

A: There are several advantages in using digital software to create paintings and illustrations. I feel the biggest advantage has to do with time and cost. When being commissioned to do an illustration, a project can be turned around in far less time than doing traditional media, because one does not have the burden of materials, prep and cleanup. Many different effects, textures and approaches can be achieved with the same program (ie: Photoshop, Painter, Sketchbook Pro, etc), rather than purchasing costly materials for each project, style or medium.

It is also easy to make large and substantial changes to an image when working digitally, and many different versions of a piece can be created quickly, without redoing a piece multiple times. This, again, is an advantage for an illustrator when a client or art director feels the need to see different color themes or elements in a piece. It is easy to experiment and find what "works" in each piece of art, when you have the option to "undo" changes, as well as work with layers.

Q: "What are the difference of using traditional media from digital?"

A: The differences are very simple. Using traditional media is very important in keeping up an artist's skills, as well as calligraphy. Putting lines or brush strokes on a board, paper or canvas will keep your muscle memory and ability to work in a speedy and comfortable manner. This is mostly lost when working digitally. The invention of tablets such as the Wacom Cintiq are blurring these lines, however you still may not experience the texture and drag that traditional media can offer. For example, using acrylic paint on a canvas has a distinct and unique "feel." This feel is not experienced when working on a digital tablet surface. There is also the problem of not having a true "original" piece of art. A digital file is nothing more than 1s and 0s in a particular order. While the image is created, the artist does not have a one-of-a-kind physical object to hold afterwards.

Recently, the ease of reproducing original art on board, paper and canvas has caused an increase of marketing in the "print" world, and artists and dealers can sell many copies of one original piece of art. This can be done with digital paintings, so the validity of selling work is now becoming more clear and interesting.

Q: "Does it have great affect on your work?"

A: The biggest effect digital painting has on my work is by hurting it. With how easy and fast it is to create a digital painting, it becomes tempting to create most work in the computer. In doing this, I lose my feel for raw materials from time to time, and I'd rather be more loose and ready to paint or draw at any time. There is an advantage, however, and it has to do with versatility and speed, as mentioned above.

Q: "What are your other views on this topic?"

A: I feel digital painting is a great thing. The current state of art has led many jobs to rely on speed and versatility, and without this knowledge, I feel many artists are behind in the 'game.' Working in digital media is as important as learning to type (for artists) and is part of the current state of illustration and concept art/design. Without this knowledge and practice in an artist's portfolio, they are clearly behind in the technology, and it may hurt them. I also feel that any artist that works exclusively in digital media is limiting their exposure and possibilities. There is much more to talk about in this topic, and it is all very debatable. I feel the digital transition has much to do with technology and the digital wave of our time, and keeping up is possibly the most important choice in an artist's career.

Response to Anonymous

I've received a lot of comments on the "Mr. Anonymous" update, and I got some great emails. I'm putting one here because it's an interesting response and one that I agree with. His voice is quite unique (not an "inside-voice") and he gets to his point without messing around. I see it as a great response to "Mr. Anonymous." Here it is, a bit edited (for brevity). From artist Tony Cabral:


I know you invited folks to be "as sincere and open as they are quick and crass", but I find quick and crass to be short and to the point.

F*** that sh**.

I probably don't have to tell you that people just don't get what caricature is all about. Caricature isn't about picking on people or 'being an asshole' or finding fault. It's just the opposite; it's finding what makes people who they are. The best portraiture is closest to caricature, and the best caricature is a thousand times better than that.

I'm a fan and a great admirer of your work, ESPECIALLY the live stuff. The one thing what's-his-face got right was that you have "the gall to do this shit" in a live setting. More like guts; it takes guts to approach a subject the way you do that close in that amount of time. You've got an immense talent and a particular genius for this particular brand of observation. I'm a fan of Frank Caliendo for the same reason I'm a fan of yours... The best comedians do it with words, the best musicians do it with sound, you do it with line.

I spent a brief, almost ineffectual time doing live caricature when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I got sick of drawing people's babies and toddlers and watching adults chicken out of sitting down. Those that did would say things like, "Now, draw me pretty!" How about I draw you quiet, doofus... It's something I do these days for myself only, when the mood strikes. The fact that your particular voice is so strong and vibrant is something that I admire greatly. I'm really looking forward to getting my copy of "REJECTS", because it strikes me as a great testament to a great talent against the people who, one way or another, just don't get it.

The only other thing I can think to say is that the one thing that keeps me off the internet with my own blog or website or whatever is that I am very much aware that, for every person you want to reach, you're going to reach a handful who don't get it, don't like it, or just have nothing better to do than piss all over you. I have little to no patience for that. Good on ya for braving the storm.

Anyway, just keep doing what you're doing. For the rest of us... F*** that sh**.

From Nice Mr. Anonymous

Every so often I get an anonymous comment on this blog. It is rare, but it happens. The funny thing about it is that the comments from the anonymous posters are usually statements in line with something you'd read on eBaumsWorld or YouTube, commenting in a snarky manner after a sincere video. This is the most recent one:

"dude, I just found your stuff. It's hilarious. But, you're still an ass-hole. Your funny, but I can't believe someone would have the gall to do this shit."

-anonymous

Now before I give a serious response, let me tell you... I'm flattered. There are many times when people will say, "Oh, you're so mean!" after seeing a drawing or caricature, both live and in print. This is just as much a rush as skydiving, for an artist, but not an accurate critique of the scene.

First off, I realize that this comment isn't as cutting as some of my blog replies, but it still shows a lack of understanding and eloquence. This individual can feel free to email me if they'd like, if they'd prefer to understand the art of caricature a bit more. I'd love to let them in on it, and explain why I'm not an "ass-hole", but rather an advocate of original caricature and artwork. It's clear that they aren't all bad, as they say my work is hilarious and funny. It's not like it was that controversial either... the reader commented on THIS update!

I care a lot about "this shit", but so long as people hide behind "anonymous", individuals like this will never have the chance to communicate with real humans. I invite this reader and others to drop an email to me (blog AT joebluhm DOT com) and be as sincere and open as they are quick and crass. I'm not angry or upset at all; I'm fairly non-plussed (as Larry David would say), especially in the neglect to credit one's own words.

I have to reiterate- I'm not accusing this individual of being a jerk or anything; quite the contrary. From knowing people's reactions, this person undoubtedly likes what they see and is a decent human. I am just amused.