Every so often (ok, most of the time), I come across a piece that I wouldn’t have necessarily placed with a certain artist.  Though J.M.W. Turner’s technique is certainly evident here, the tone of the piece isn’t one I expected.

This is Turner’s Death on a Pale Horse (1825-1830, 24″ x 30″, oil on canvas), and it immediately grabbed my attention when I was scrolling through images. I thought it definitely looked like a Turner piece, but the idea of death and of such a morbid, dark view didn’t really match up with what I’ve seen of Turner’s work in the past.

What I like about this image is actually the opposite of what I normally would go for: details. This is a work of abstract techniques, very loose in interpretation.  Yet, there is a certain amount of detail in it, just enough to give you an idea of what the piece is trying to convey. Normally I love the intricate details in a work, but here that detail would ruin the impact.

By leaving things loose, by having even a loose and vague color palette, Turner gives you an unsettling feeling before you even see that death has come. The loose colors of green and yellow, of bright life, give way to the harsh reds and darkness (literally) coming before you.

What might be the most striking is the character of death itself. This isn’t the rider on horseback, swiping lives as he (or she I suppose) swoops down from the heavens.  This is a twisted, horrifying vision of death. Contorted on the horse, twisted at unnatural angles, at first giving the idea that perhaps death itself has been ended.

But Turner’s vision won’t let you go there, and it’s the tiniest of details that lets you know what’s happening.  Death’s hand, grasping from out of the darkness, says it all.  This is the final act, and nothing in the light can save you.

Opinions?

Every so often, I try to go back and look at my sketches and pick the ones that don’t seem so horrifyingly bad that I can’t show everyone else.  Here’s another round of those sketches, and I think it’s a good exercise to post them and let the world see how an artist works on pieces that aren’t finalized.

These following images are not cleaned up, not correct in many respects, and really represent my art at it’s most free.  No story behind them, no idea really of where they are going, just free flowing exercises in trying whatever comes to mind at that moment.

I think that’s important for an artist, and even for any creative person.  Just throw it out there, with no plan and no heading, and see where the ship takes you.  It might be practice, it might be plans for a new piece.  Hell, it might even be catharsis.  As long as it’s a free expression, of letting your brain finish it’s own story.

Now, just to be clear, looking through my sketchbook is probably like looking at madness right in the eye.  Some of the sketches are more realistic, some are of characters or creations, and sometimes it’s even of cartoon characters and smart ass comments.  Below is a pretty good look at what the average page looks like.

Someone late last week asked if I’d be getting to any conventions this year (other than my work-related convention in November in Hartford, CT).  It turns out that, despite having a new house, I do have the money to hit a couple of upcoming cons.

Not pictured: me! He escapes getting his picture taken again!

The first con is actually coming up soon, Killercon in Las Vegas in September (www.killercon.org).  I’ll be getting in there on Thursday the 17th and staying though Sunday evening.  There are quite a few people I know going, so it’ll be great to catch up and maybe even talk to some new folks about doing art for them (attention new folks: I am ready to do art for you).

I’m also tentatively making plans to be at VisionCon in Springfield, Missouri in January (www.visioncon.net).  I was there last year and had a fantastic time, and I’m so far planning on getting back there for even more fun. For me it was kind of funny last year, I went to work on a project with author Mike Oliveri, and the whole event ended up being one of the big highlights of this year.

Having really only been to a handful of cons (Necon, Hypericon, one night of Horrorfind and the aforementioned VisionCon) I’m still practically a newbie, but so far they are a lot of fun. Meeting friends, making new ones, talking shop with publishers, you just can’t beat it.

Next stop: new business cards, or at least adding to them.  I kind of like the current ones, and they tend to turn heads for some reason when folks grab one.

Ok, so it’s been a little while since the last one of these art blogs. I’ll see if I can’t post a few more of them, and without the 4 months between them.

Above is Ivan Aivazovsky and Ilya Repin’s Pushkin’s Farewell to the Sea (1887, Oil on canvas), one that caught my eye when I was looking for the new piece.  Probably because it reminds me a bit of one of my favorite pieces, Caspar David Friedrich’s Wanderer Above a Sea of Mist (here).

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a great deal about Alexander Pushkin, the man in the piece. I know that he was a great Russian poet, and lived a wilder life similar to Byron.  Unfortunately, other than that, I’m light on information.

I think though that this piece can stand without the knowledge of who Pushkin was, and the life that he led.  It stands on it’s own, both as a indication of Pushkin’s life and as a simpler story of a man at the crossroads.

First, on the composition and palette.  I think that Aivazovsky and Repin (who I’ve talked about before) have a great sense of what they want to accomplish together. You don’t get the sense that Repin worked on the man, and Aivazovsky the landscape (which is how it was according to several sites), but that the piece is of a common hand.

The darkness of Pushkin’s clothes bring you right to him, with the lighter shades of the sky, the darker ocean and the angle of the rocks all bringing you back to him. What’s interesting (and well done) is how Aivazovsky and Repin frame the darker colors within the light, and also, in return, the light shades of Pushkin’s face within. It brings you right to the emotional spot in the piece, but doesn’t force you there as the neutral tones of the overall piece soften the blow.

What I like to is the emotion of Pushkin, the ambiguity of his look and feel. He’s not neutral in his emotion, but his portrayal can be seen in different ways.  Is saying a sad, forlorn goodbye to what he loves? Is it a sarcastic goodbye, to follow a new path? Is it an unsure step? Aivazovsky and Repin leave that to the viewer, a way to involve the user in the painting and not simply show you a scene.

Aivazovsky and Repin give you a sense that Pushkin, having come down to the rough sea on the rough rocks, has lived an untamed, wild life. Yet, in Pushkin’s calmness to the scene we see that he’s already lived that life, and he’s deciding where it goes from here.

The viewer too is left with an inquisitive sense of it all too, to explore where Pushkin has been and where he’s going.  That’s what a great piece of art can do, to inspire those who see it to make their own path.

Opinions?

An interesting discussion came up today (both online and in real life) about what music drives our particular passions.   I decided to go through my iTunes library and really see which tracks influence my art, or at least which tracks really drive me in certain directions with the type and style of work I’m doing.

My iTunes library isn’t what you’d call huge, but it’s at least pretty big. So I’ll start this with only the movie soundtracks I have.  I listen to quite a few soundtracks regularly, as they can really help push me in new directions.  Here’s a starter list of some of my favorite tracks, and what they do for my work.

These aren’t really in any order either.

Drop Zone - “Too Many Notes-Not Enough Rests”
Hans Zimmer

Zimmer shows up on this list a lot because, frankly, I love his music.  He offers up so many different styles, and yet has a consistent beauty to them.  In this case, “Too Many Notes-Not Enough Rests” is about the the fastest song I have of it’s kind.  It’s a driving song, and if I’m ever drawing (painting, sketching, etc., we’ll just call it drawing) scenes that need to be fast and with a lot of energy, this one is perfect.

The Fountain - “Death Is The Road To Awe”
Clint Mansell, Mogwai and the Kronos Quartet

This is one of those songs that really makes me want to be a better artist.  When it comes up on this track, I look again at my art and think, “is this timeless?” It’s not, none of my art is.  But this makes me want to create the very best work I can, as if the gods are watching. It drives you as you listen, without distracting you from your goal.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events – “The Letter That Never Came”
Thomas Newman

Something I strive for in my work is a sense of emotion, a sense that I’m not just showing you a bunch of fancy lines, but a scene in the life of the characters I’ve drawn.  “The Letter That Never Came” makes me stop when it comes on, a pause in the drawing action if you will.  There’s an emotion to the song that I can bring into my work, one that reminds me (as the song seems to say) that no matter how dark it is, there has to be some light at the end.

The Rock – “Hummel Gets The Rockets”
Hans Zimmer

Again with the Zimmer. This track is a different feel altogether from Drop Zone, in that it feels so heavy, so serious.  There’s a strong darkness to it, but also a big size.  Like a big, dark, gothic landscape coming to take it all over. But the last half of the track is faster, very driving.  A shock into action, which helps with some pieces.

Tears of the sun – “The Jablonsky variations – Cameroon border post”
Hans Zimmer/Steve Jablonsky”

This track has such an immediacy to it, such a sense of action and yet a real darkness. I use it best on scenes where there is or has been some great action, and this is what’s about to happen or it’s the aftermath.  With the African voices throughout it gives it a sense of personal action, a real question of whether the charaters will make it or not. Which makes sense considering the context in the film (this music covers the final battle/rush to the border).

The Shawshank Redemption – “So Was Red”
Thomas Newman

When this track comes along, it’s always a reminder of what the character of Red says at this point (and the whole last ten minutes too): “Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’ “. It’s always a reminder that I’m lucky enough to get to do art for the fine folks of the world, and that’s the best thing I can think of doing. It also reminds me that if I’m willing to put whatever it is I’m working on out there it better be the best I can do.

There are lots of other tracks that really make an impact on what I do, tracks that help me define what it is I’m trying to create and what I want the world to see.  Here are few other tracks you might try with your own work.  Apologies if it’s Zimmer-heavy.

Hans Zimmer

Backdraft- “Show Me Your Firetruck“
Beyond Rangoon- “Waters Of Irrawaddy“
Black Hawk Down- “Gortoz A Ran – J’Attends“
Black Rain- “Charlie Loses His Head“
The Da Vinci Code- “Che Valiers De Sangreal“
Gladiator- “Barbarian Horde“
Gladiator- “Now We Are Free”
King Arthur- “Woad To Ruin“
The Peacemaker- “Devoe’s Revenge“
The Power Of One- “Mother Africa Reprise”
The Rock- “Rocket Away“
Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimerron- “Run Free“
The Thin Red Line- “Journey To The Line“
Batman Begins- “Molossus”
The Dark Knight – “Why So Serious?”
Crimson Tide – “1SQ”

Javier Navarrete

Pan’s Labyrinth- “Long, Long Time Ago“

Trevor Jones

The Last Of The Mohicans- “Elk Hunt“
The Last Of The Mohicans – “Promentory“

This fall, one of Brian Keene’s new books, Scratch, will be coming out from Cemetery Dance Publications.  Having done the artwork for the book, I decided to do a promotional “layer-by-layer” video for YouTube.  The video is for the endpapers of the new book, both are based on a snippet of “mythological” information about the monster of the story.

The video builds the two pieces gradually, revealing each layer until they are complete.  As always, let me know what you think.

Away we go…

Addendum:

I probably should’ve put a little more information about the project in this particular post, so here it goes.

The art in the video, for Brian Keene’s Scratch, is featured in the endpapers of the book. The idea is taken from a fragment of the snake’s mythology, mentioned in the book as one of the characters is explaining the snake’s history. The art itself is the same scene from two different angles, of a devastating attack by Scratch.

As far as technique, with this art the pieces are built as individual layers digitally, gradually building layer on layer over the whole piece. Though the layers don’t necessarily pop up onscreen in the same order that I created them, they do represent well how I tend to jump around a bit on things. Doing individual pieces on separate layers does give me the advantage of changing my mind, and quietly (or even completely) altering the location of a piece to make it work better.

The trick was working the idea (and the perspective) to show the same scene interestingly from the two angles. Often something looks great from one direction, yet uninteresting from another. I spent a fair amount of time going back and forth between the two, tweaking the angles and locations to get it just right.

Despite my disastrous first attempt to get prints of an art piece many years, I still get the occasional question from folks who want to buy a print of my work.  So, I thought I’d ask if any of the below pieces would be good print choices.

Take a look at the ones below, and please let me know through my Twitter account which images you might be inclined to purchase (if any).  If you see any in my galleries that might be better as prints, let me know that if you’d rather. I’m still looking at a few online print shop choices, so we’ll see how it goes.

Leave your remarks at http://twitter.com/rdickerson.  Thanks!

In The Wrong World

Fetal Position

passing of guests

Rabbitfield

Asylum Days | Unpublished

the alpha omega | Night Visions 12, cover

the remaining few | Midnight Street #10, cover

Dark Harvest | cover, Undaunted Press