Rotty Blog

Alice & Ruthie

I don’t think I’ve ever posted this image here on the blog so, even though this one goes back a couple of years I’m gonna do it.

The illustration was based on a story my mom used to tell about riding on the handlebars of her sister’s bicycle.

Oh, and what happens when you brake.

I guess it wasn’t pretty.

This would be those few seconds before that dreadful bicycle-braking incident when life was still all smiles and “weeeeee” for everyone involved.

Dear Mr. Burton,

I’ve found myself in a desperate rut, the likes of which you’ve managed to retrieve me from in the past, and I’m hoping you will be available again sometime soon.

January a year ago, I made a trek to the Museum of Modern Art, specifically to view your work on display there. I bought a membership just so I wouldn’t have to stand in line with all the other saps who had to wait to get in.

The rooms that housed your exhibit were terribly crowded; I’m sure we were well beyond the building’s fire code. Sardines, as it were. But I managed to see everything, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything that might later turn out to be something I would have liked to have seen.

After I squeezed my way through all the rooms I took a breather. I bought some stuff. I ate some stuff and, in spite of the sardine thing, I decided I needed to get myself back in the middle of that exhibit.

So I did.

This time I knew exactly what I needed to see again, so I jumped out of the line that snaked around the rooms and headed straight for the drawings.

The drawings, as you know, were watercolor outlined in pen, so there was really nothing out of the ordinary there. Using the media in that way was nothing new, and had never been a source of inspiration for me. So that couldn’t really have been the attraction.

Why was I still there? Why couldn’t I take my eyes off these images? Why were these images so much better than what I conjured in my own sketchbooks?

I think what sucked me back into those rooms and set my sparks flying was that unrestrained childlike imagination. How does an artist allow himself to let everything fly out the window like that? The caricatures were well beyond caricatures. Arms and legs and tails and horns and whatever other body parts that could conceivably be conceived as a body part were attached to shapes that weren’t really bodies until simulated body parts had been attached.

But you knew that.

Stripes and checkerboards and spirals and dipping horizons added to my acute sense of instability, and all I could do was stand in front of them and try to soak in as much as my little brain could soak in, in the hopes that some day that freedom would spew out in my own work.

On the train ride home I drew. Over the next few months I drew some more. I was inspired and ready to take on my own sketchbook demons and wrestle them into something I could proudly show the world.

Things seep away over time, however. It’s been another year, and I seem to have lost that thing. That permission you had given me to create outrageousnous. Those weird images that had been crisscrossing around in my head. And, ultimately, the hope that somewhere down the line it would all be worth it.

Dear Tim (do you mind if I call you Tim?), please send me a sign. Something. Anything. Something to get me back on track. Something to help me find my monsters. I’m afraid right now they’re lost, and I’m also afraid they’re scared. And hungry. I know I am. I desperately need to bring them home.

Please help me bring them back home.

Signed,

Nora

P.S. Thank you kindly for allowing my family to give me your art book last Christmas and I’m eagerly awaiting your and Danny’s CD box set, as my Alice in Wonderland soundtrack is quite possibly wearing thin.

Well, my skateboard’s gone. He was a good little dude, but we always knew he’d have to leave someday.

So it’s up to you guys now, and here’s what you need to do:

1. Check out the Montana Skatepark Association‘s site to see what they’re about.
2. Read about last year’s On Deck charity auction and exhibit.
3. Watch for this year’s skateboards to be uploaded to their site in April.
4. If you’re anywhere near Missoula, Montana on May 6, take a look at their First Friday Art Walk.
5. While you’re at Missoula’s First Friday Art Walk, take a peek inside The Brink gallery where you’ll find all the skateboards on display.
6. Find The Rots‘ board and take lots of photos.
7. Send those photos to me: nora@the-rots.com.
8. On May 21, bid for your favorite skateboard at the live auction.
9. Pat yourself on the back for supporting free, public skateparks and the arts.

That’s it! Great job

May have finished my skateboard painting up today, except for the varnish. I’ll take a look at him again tomorrow and see what he says.

Another productive day in the studio.

I got some work done on Reg’s shirt and then added his goatee. Still need to do some tweaking on both and then work more on his shoes, but he’s getting there.

Another day in the studio working on my deck for the Montana Skatepark Association‘s On Deck VI charity auction and exhibit.

Today I started with a little underpainting on Reg’s pants.

And then I painting both his pants and hair (which turned out to be the same rusty color).

Here’s a close-up of his hair.

On this next part you’ll have to use your imagination until I can get back in the studio. The shirt and shoes are only underpainted at this point, and they just happen to be that same rusty color from his pants and hair. I know right now he looks B-O-R-I-N-G (like, “What were you thinking?” kind of boring), but I promise he’ll be a little more colorful next time I post.

You can click on any of the images to see them biggie-sized.

I’ve finally broke down and worked on some Camul merchandise.

First up: Postcards

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. That I did it for Michelle. Well, I’ll have you know, I totally did.

So, Michelle, here you go.

To-Do:
1. Run for three miles (36° outside-double bonus)
2. Eat brunch @ Ruthie’s
3. Let Ruthie do the dishes
4. Work extra hard in the studio

Worked a bit on my board for the Montana Skatepark Association‘s “On Deck” charity auction and exhibit.

First, I painted a rough outline of the image on the board (above) and did some paint mixing. He says his name is Reg by the way (and pleased to meet you, thanks). I used Alizarin Crimson for the sketch, if you’re keeping score.

Then the background painting. Not sure yet how finished this part is, so I’ll paint Reg first and then decide what else I need to do with the blue (Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Utrecht Unbleached Titanium, Payne’s Gray and Titanium White).

Probably add some clouds in the mix later on.

While I was online this morning, I did a little surfing around the gallery on the Montana Skatepark Association site from On Deck V (last year’s), and I got an unexpected punch in the gut. One of the decks from last year was painted and doodled similarly to what I had planned on doing on mine.

Ouch.

This one isn’t happening.

I sort of had to take a step back to square one, but not so much. I had an idea of what I wanted to do from the beginning, but then got sidetracked when I saw my sketchbook page with all the doodles. I get sidetracked easily. I could still use that very first idea as a backup, even though I hadn’t done any sketches for it.

So I went back to the studio this afternoon, sanded the wood fill down from yesterday, and started coating the board with gesso. While the first coat was drying, I played with some new color mixtures for a background. When I first thought about this idea, I couldn’t see it with any other background other than purple. Not sure why. I don’t really use purple, but there you go.

The new mixtures are a combination of Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Payne’s Gray (which is bluer and grayer than the swatch in the link shows), Utrecht Unbleached Titanium (different than Liquitex) and Titanium White.

I’ll be painting the little guy on the bottom left, with a replacement foot from the sketch to the right.

While the second coat of gesso was drying I started playing with some sketches of that original idea. At first I was going to do the skeleton version (on the upper right), but I played around with the little guy on the bottom left, and now have decided to use him for my final painting.

Three coats of gesso, and it’s ready to paint.

One more coat of gesso, and I’m as far as I can go until it’s dry.

I was invited to participate in On Deck VI, a charity auction for the Montana Skateboard Association.

The organization sends out rejected skateboards to artists around the country (and even Canada) to do with as we please. We’ll have a month to finish our ideas and get the boards back to Montana where images of the boards will be uploaded and the auction process will begin. On May 6, and for two weeks after, the boards will be viewed (in person) at The Brink Gallery. And then on Saturday, May 21, they’ll be auctioned off live, with the proceeds going toward building and maintaining free, public skateparks across Montana.

I’m honored and excited to say the least.

FedEx dropped off my board today, and I was psyched to get started. So I did.


(I’ll be painting the back.)

The first thing I had to do was get this puppy sanded. Boring, sorry. It took about an hour to get the thin finish on the board removed.

The next thing was filling in some holes. Since the boards won’t be used for skateboarding anymore, some of the holes won’t be necessary. I’m using the existing holes on the opposite end for the hanging hardware, so those holes won’t get filled in.

While the wood filler was drying, I tested out a combination of paint and markers to see what would look best. I’m settling on gesso first, then a base coat of Liquitex Unbleached Titanium and sponging a combination of Cerulean Blue, Unbleached Titanium and Titanium White. Once that dries, I’ll use Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens to draw an all-over doodle design, something like this: