15 posts tagged “fashion”
Saturday May 31st, I will be attending the reception for "Ladies First" at DvA Gallery in Chicago. I'll have two paintings up, in addition to other artists like Nicole Steen, Emma Mount, Genevive Zacconi, Jennybird Alcantra, Lisa Petrucci, Sunny Buick and more. Come out and say hi! I was to have these two in the show...
I've started a series of low priced paintings, here is the first of it...
"Winter Wind, 11x14" price: $150.00 Sold.
Basically, I ordered a bunch of art board from a website and it was not what I was expecting. Not only does it turn oil paint into acrylic on contact, it is just difficult to use overall. Rather than waste a bunch of art board, I decided to do a series of quick paintings I could get done in a few days with no planning and just, you know, off the cuff so to speak.
Please email me if you are interested in owning this pretty gal.
Cordeleia of Kronin (1440 - 1504)
A carnival
performer since childhood, she was raised in a nomadic tribe known as
Brothers of the Serpent -- infamous for gambling, grave robbing, and
juggling. It was during her acrobatic horse riding at a festival that
she caught the eye of a wealthy architect and was sold to him by her
uncles. She had a small career as a courtesan to wealthy, but
politically unimportant men. While drunk on ginger ale at a ball, she
began to strip her clothes, and perform her acrobatic routine for the
guests. She was an overnight success; invited to perform in most
affluent homes of the day. She was no longer dependant on wealthy
partners, but became trapped into supporting relatives who squandered
her fortune. When her youth faded, she went back to her horse routine
performing for carnivals.
11x14" oil on canvas. She'll be for sale at Anxiety Gallery in Madison, WI for the "Tattoo Show" with a book signing by Mitch O'Connell.
My pal Shannon Okey has a new book out now with co-author Alexandra Underhill called AlterNation. Christ, how many books has Shannon done now? She's a machine I tell you.
A pair of cowboy boots painted by me make an appearance, and on a total vanity note, I even model...without make-up or washed hair! Scary. I don't think lip balm counts as make-up does it? Anyways...
AlterNation is designed to teach even the novice sewer how to design their own clothes by transforming thrift store finds.
There's some super cute projects in it. A perfect gift for the stitchy/crafty chick in your life.
My newest gal. I don't know what happened, but layers of different pink colors just kept getting laid down until it became outrageous...
Lady Delphine of Dogole (1596 - unknown )
Charming, delicate and imaginative, she was described by her brother, a
prominent Earl, as the richest and stupidest girl to ever hail from
Dogole. When the nuns gave up on her convent education and sent her
home, she stopped in a port town to shop and see the 'pretty ships'. It
was there that she met a pirate captain; not realizing she had been
kidnapped she then married him at sea and unwittingly, funded his crew
for years after being told they were freedom fighters. After the death
of her husband, she gained control of his fleet only to lose it in a
South Pacific storm during her expedition to find Candy Apple Island.
It is believed the sea chanty 'Ditzy Dame of Dogole' was inspired by
her.
I've also added the short biographies finally to the newer portraits on my website a while back: www.ArabellaProffer.com family trees and all that will come eventually...eventually.
Normally I make actual cards and send them out to people, but I think my pirate wench will have to do for this year...
My new chick and her pussy: "Lady Lenor of Terra" oil on canvas 11x14"
This was my second time ever painting a kitty, he turned out okay I think. Just wish the color and details could be better with these darn digital photos. Ah, sometimes I miss the bright red Run Lola Run hair I had throughout college.
I know a few people who wanted to take up figurative painting, they asked me how to start. I remembered an old interview in The New Yorker with John Currin, he said that sometimes you can learn more from bad artists than you can from good ones. From a pure technical standpoint, he is right! So, I've told people to start by simply copying what I consider empty, cheesy, but technically well produced paintings. Namely stuff such as Wyland, Thomas Kinkade or anything you would find in an art gallery in Laguna Beach for that matter. Of course I'm not saying copy it and pass it off as your own, but rather, learn from it and use it as pure study. I've taken this advice and started getting magazines such as The Artist's Magazine and International Artist. Totally not my bag, it is all features on artists that win a lot of regional competitions for still lifes and family portraits that make me want to puke; they cater to those only interested in Realism of Impressionist styles, but they do give good advice on materials and show process. I appreciate this aspect since I think I'm still a baby in progress in using oil paint for only 7 years now.
The issue of copying other well-known paintings and recognizable fashion photography has been getting to me lately. I won't name names here, but I'm quite annoyed because they think no one will notice. I am, granted, guilty of copying exactly 4 pieces where I may have changed the image by 30% or more, but my central figure or idea was totally ripped off from another source such as a fashion magazine or obscure painting. I sort of considered it learning and an homage all at once. I once copied two different Tamara de Lempicka paintings, combined them, changed the hair, pose and backgrounds and so forth. No one said anything. Maybe they were too polite too. My instructor at the time, Jim Shaw, totally called my bullshit though. I never did it again. Sure I copy from Vanity Fair or W Magazine in little bits, such as the position of a hand or the way fabric falls, but never an image or concept as a whole. Unfortunatly I've been seeing lots of copying by artists recently, not only of famous pieces (which they should know better), but of contemporaries. For those of you who think no one will notice if you copy Derek Hess, Ryan McGuinness, Shag, Darren Grealish, Attaboy or any number of poster, stencil and toy designers...check it: You Thought We Wouldn't Notice...
Not only am I really good with my art history, I also remember fashion imagery rather well. Well enough that I've had subscriptions to Vogue and W since the early 90s. I once saw a CD cover that totally copied a model from a shoot wearing a Galliano gown, only the artist changed the background and nothing more. He probably though no one would notice, but I did. Sure it was an image from a 1997 issue of Vogue, but I remembered it. Again, practice or an homage is one thing, but when you try to pass off copied work as your own you just look like you have no original ideas. Take for instance how the tables have turned in the recent case of photographer Steven Klein ripping off imagery from Jonathan Viner paintings for an issue of W Magazine, and didn't credit Viner. You can read about it on Viner's Myspace Blog. Mr. Klein must have gotten called out big time, he wants to pitch Viner for a feature as an apology of sorts.
Anyways, being inspired by or using a work as a practice piece is fine. Just don't be a douche and think you can get away with going any further. Not to name names again, but if you are a painter and you copy in ways where you try to change the original image by a small percent and pass it off as your own, someone will notice and just feel bad for you. Also it helps not to copy rather well-known images.
Like this dress...
This hand with this animal...
This entire central image (a popular one too)...
this expression and pose...
or the whole of this...
yeah, a lot of us are going to notice. We may not say anything to your face, but we will know....
This is "Beatrice, Duchess of Bruenza" 11x14 inches:
Here be a detail:
And other than that? I've been TAGGED! Hey at least it is only 10 items versus the usual 30. Ms. Ginley over at Erie Effusion tagged me, and in turn I'm tagging Toveb, Studio 524, and Mighty Joe: List the 10 things on your blog/journal/- ain't no one knows but is
kinda JUICY - or interesting - or you think is interesting - if you are
not a tagger, good for you.
1. I'm a population control advocate -- and pretty serious about it. I have been since I was a kid. The movie Zero Population Growth really freaked me out; on top of all the other post-apocalyptic movies that came out in the late 70s and up through the late 80s.
2. I did a car bomb (my first) in Cambridge MA with my husband, his then co-workers...and Tipper Gore! She chain smokes like crazy I tell you!
3. My grandma ran away to Arkansas recently to become a cult leader, or a commune leader, or something weird like that where I'm sure she controls the money end of things. The less I know in detail, the better I'm sure.
4. I really like guns, yet I've never fired one before. I just like 'em cuz they're purty I guess. I'm afraid if I finally do get to shoot off some rounds that I will like it -- a lot!
5. I have nightmares every single night. It has been going on 4 years now. It is quite annoying and stressful. I've gotten really good at killing zombies and gang bangers in them though.
6. I like going to the dentist and I love novocain shots. I'm not really a person who's "into pain" at all, but for some reason I like getting a needle in my gums way more than one in my arm at the doctor. I had a root canal once and said, "Is that all you got?" Supposed dental pain just doesn't bother me I guess.
7. I suck at drawing. I just do. But I can fudge it.
8. If I was a cop, I'd become a dirty cop in a matter of weeks. My tolerance of scumbags, freeloaders and the parasites of society is hardly there, if at all.
9. My dream car is a 1968 Pontiac GTO painted bright orange, with black flames on the sides. I also want a chain link steering wheel on that bad boy.
10. I was at the reception when my husband married his first wife. I was just a small kid, but was still bitter and jealous that he had been taken off the market.
Yikes, this makes me sad, she was such a kook and I loved her:
Isabella Blow, stylist, designer muse and former fashion director of
Tatler and London’s Sunday Times, died Sunday night. She was 48. Blow’s
husband, Detmar, is said to have told people that she died peacefully
in her sleep. Blow was recently diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer
and underwent surgery about two weeks ago. She was recovering at her
home in the English countryside. The exact cause of death could not be
learned.
