Just a quick post, sticking my head up from the drowning waters. I feel so ashamed I have not given you guys a good beer review... in months! I promise, one is coming soon. If the workload keeps up at this pace, my works won't even be intelligible. Is that a word?
Here is a step by step process of a recent painting. I thought I'd show the slow progression into color. It's a matter of translucent layers, shifting back and forth between meaty color and fortifying tonal structure. This following image is with oils and acrylic, instead of my normal watercolor and acrylic. The fumes dull the studio aggression.
Tomorrow, April 5th, 2007, my seventh picture book Gallop O' Gallop will jolt from the starting gate and onto the shelves in a bookstore near you! Written by Sandra Alonzo and published by Dial Book for Young Readers, I hope this book finds a special place in your own personal library. Reach way back, to the days you'd run around with your friends pretending you were Swift Wind from She-Ra and neighing furiously through the playground... shoot... that was just me, wasn't it. Uuugh, well regardless we all love horses and the beauty and strength they embody. I am postitive the poems collected in this book will inspire your own inner Swift Wind!
Here's a picture my dad took way back when I first started to ride. This was taken shortly after years of daily heckling to let me take lessons. Look at that fine horsemanship! Now, years out of practice, I doubt I can even put a foot in the stirrup. Still won't stop my new dream vacation of Mongolia on horseback!
Through the filter of friends, Anne-Marie showed me this link the other night and I was thrilled! Not only did I find a new band to collect albumns from, but I got remotivated to bust my hump on my own animation goal and Shybird Studio. The simply drawn characters are so sweet and the simple camera pan transcends all of those mundane adjectives. Malajube is an indie rock band based in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The band has two albums out on Dare to Care Records.
A group of high school friends from Sorel, Quebec, the band made itself known in 2004 with the release of its first album, Le Compte complet. Critics welcomed the disc with positive reviews, which allowed the group to become instantly famous in the Québécois music scene. Several of its songs, such as "Le Métronome" and "La Valérie", were prominent mainstays on several Québec radio stations. For the production of the album, the group turned to Martin Pelland from fellow Montreal band The Dears.
On October 17, 2006, Malajube released their CD Trompe-l’œil in the U.S. They also participated in the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City on November 2, 2006. Visit the band's website to learn more.
So, back from France... very sad, but still looking forward to spring. NOT looking forward to the amount of work that is here. I have been motoring away for the ninth picture book, entiteld Hush, Little Dragon (Harry N. Abrams). I am using the oil medium instead of the watercolor now, and it's giving me a much softer look... I think I like it? There have been so many paintings in the last few weeks that I don't know what's what anymore. There she goes! "Would you like some cheese with that whine?"
Also here is another spread from Brand New Baby Blues... near completion... 2.5 years later.
I particularily like the peepee snowball throwing dance.
For those of you wondering, who is this Claude guy and why does Kelly hate light bulbs, here's your answer!!
The son of an Italian mother and a French father, Claude François was born in Egypt, where his father, Aimé François, was working as a shipping traffic controller on the Suez Canal. In 1951 the job took the family to the city of Port Tawfik on the Red Sea. Claude François' mother was very musical and had her son take piano and violin lessons. On his own, the boy learned to play the drums. As a result of the 1956 Suez Crisis, the family returned to live in Monaco, where they struggled financially after Claude's father fell ill and could not work. A young Claude found a job as a bank clerk and at night earned extra money playing drums with an orchestra at the luxury hotels along the French Riviera. With a good but untested singing voice, he was offered a chance to sing at a hotel in the fashionable Mediterranean resort town of Juan-les-Pins. His show was well received and eventually he began to perform at the glamorous night-clubs along the Côte d'Azur. While working the clubs, he met Janet Woolcoot, an English dancer whom he married in 1960.
Ambitious, Claude François moved to Paris, where there were many more opportunities to pursue his career. At the time, American Rock and Roll was taking hold in France and he took a job as part of a singing group in order to make a living. With the goal of eventually making it as a solo act, he paid the cost to record a 45rpm. Trying to capitalize on the American dance craze "The Twist", Claude François recorded a song titled "Nabout Twist" that proved a resounding failure. Undaunted, in 1962 he recorded a cover version in French of an Everly Brothers song, "Made to Love" (aka Girls Girls Girls). Written by Phil Everly, it had been only a minor hit in America, but Claude François' rendition titled "Belles Belles Belles" rocked to the top of the French charts, selling close to two million copies and making him an overnight star.
A dedicated professional, Claude François worked hard to achieve success producing a string of massively popular hit songs and touring constantly. With the onslaught of Beatlemania, he covered their hits in French, adjusted the hair style a little and kept his success moving ahead. But his talent extended beyond copying the works others had made famous, and he wrote songs for himself and displayed a melodic voice doing romantic ballads.
In 1966, François created a complete new stage act using four female dancers as backup. Named "Les Clodettes," the sexy girls danced in the background while François did his own energetic work center stage. In a return to the Paris Olympia he added eight musicians and a full orchestra to his backup dancers, putting on a spectacular show that filled every seat in the large theater and left fans standing in the street for lack of tickets.
Divorced from his wife, in 1967 he began a relationship with France Gall, another famous French singer. Their affair was short lived and he soon met Isabelle Forêt, with whom he had two sons in two years. Flushed with enormous success and confidence, he established his own record company. In 1968, he and Jacques Revaux wrote a song in French called Comme d'habitude, which became a hit in francophone countries. Canadian singing star Paul Anka reworked it for the English-speaking public into the now legendary hit most famously sung by Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra as "My Way". Although Claude François continued his successful formula of adapting English and American rock and roll hits for the French market, by the 1970s the market had changed and the disco craze that swept North America took root in France. For the versatile François, this was not a problem. He simply re-invented himself as the king of French disco, recording "La plus belle des choses," a French version of a Bee Gees hit record.
He worked non-stop, touring across Europe, Africa and at major venues in Quebec in Canada. However, his workload caught up with him in 1971 when he collapsed on stage from exhaustion. After a brief period off, he returned to the recording studios, releasing several best-selling hits throughout the early 1970s. He expanded from owning his own record company to acquiring a celebrity magazine and a modeling agency. Although driven to achieve financial success, in 1974 he organized a concert to raise funds for a charity for handicapped children and the following year he participated in a Paris concert to raise funds for medical research. By the mid-1970s he was single again, dating several well-known European stars. He continued to perform while overseeing his numerous business interests. In 1975, while in London, he narrowly escaped death when an IRA bomb exploded and two years later a fan tried to shoot him. In 1977 and 1978, more than 15 years after his first hit record, he was still topping the musical charts with multi-million sales from hits such as "Alexandrie Alexandra" and performing to large audiences.
After working in Switzerland, on Saturday, March 11, 1978 he returned to his Paris apartment in order to appear the next day on "Rendez-vous du Dimanche" with TV host Michel Drucker. His demise was caused by his obsession with cleanliness and order. He was accidentally electrocuted when he tried to fix a broken light bulb while standing in a filled bathtub. At only 39 years of age, his early death brought a wave of public sympathy for a national French star.
Another previous piece created because of the ever increasing wireless world. I love to look back and remember the rotary phones. Perhaps one day, the next generation will reminisce about actual wires!
Around noon everyday, I settle in to work and to watch my favorite game show. I do like Millionare, but Attention à la Marche is head to head. The reason? Les Potes (translates as "buddies")! They are these crazy CGI dancing blobs that are so rediculous, I can't stop laughing. Basically, it's a guessing game, kind of like Family Fued in the States, where they typically poll people and ask the four contestants what they think is the right percentage. Some of the questions are really easy, so a bit harder. Why I like it, is that they show the question written and then also say it and talk about it. Putting my visual learning skills to work. Oh ok, it's the blobby Potes! At the end, I quite haven't figured it out. The four contestant eventually lose deux potes, making them sit out for the rest of the game. The person who makes the closest guesses to the answers keeps their potes and head on to the final round, where they are asked a series of questions. The last question has four tv screens and they have to pick the correct number, where an amount of money they won lies behind the correct answer. The slow-motion shot of their reactions is just icing on the cake.
So Attention à la Marche, thank you... or should I say mercy buckets! There are more beer reviews coming up, too, so stay tuned!
This is a sketch that a friend had requested for a special little lady. now, it's a little mushy for my taste, but it's what was desired. Going off my theme of sad girls and water, this is a coquettish girl with frozen water... maybe it's similar? She should be sad and then it would make me happy. But don't listen to me.
After living here in Paris for a month, I'd like to say I am happily acclimated. The langauge is still tricky, but through watching gameshows and documentaries, I feel I am picking up on certain words faster than before. Speaking it... I am still worse than a 2 year old. It's mildly amusing! I've been working alot these last few weeks, which has forced me indoors. The weather being so nice today, I decided to give myself a bit of a break to go with Lily to discover my neighborhood. It's so nice. My favorite buildings are the older ones, with small windows and balconies, made with wood frame and stucco. So pretty. I want to start drawing them ALOT. The flowers are really coming out here now, with even the magnolia trees starting to bloom. Small daisies sprinkly the small grass greens as well.
Habits I really want to keep when it's time for me to head home: -Walking -Using canvas bags when shopping instead of plastic -no more drinking 2 liters of Diet Coke a day -take time off on the weekends
Things I will enjoy when back home: -Grossly long showers, where I can take 2 steps left and right and not be assaulted by a shower curtain -My mum -My Mama (the cat)
So, the spray I got, made by Talens didn't quite have the result I was hoping for. I bought two types. One Picture Varnish Glossy for Oil Colour and the other Acrylic/Oil Colour. It works the same as Crystal Clear over watercolor, but when trying to use either over the oil layer, disaster!! So, my search continues for a Crystal Clear source, but I will have to continue with the watercolor techinique. I've had some very helpful people give some guidance on supplies here in Paris, but the spray remains elllllllusive.
The BHV proved to be a great source for art supplies... and everything else that I would like to buy! My new favorite store, thanks for the recommendation Maral et Antoine! I almost dropped 100 euro in the children's book department. I only wanted a lightbulb and those tempting books almost broke my budget. There is something substantially different about the illustrative look in european childrens market. I can't nail exactly what it is, but I like it... ALOT. Enough that it makes me want to bust the hump more and show some stuff to these publishers. I have some summer plans for a better portfolio though, so perhaps we'll wait.
I did some sketching this weekend after visiting some of the city's cimetries... but the scanner is misbehaving. I hope to have it up and running tomorrow. Sheesh! It might be time for me to bite the bullet and get myself my own laptop. We'll see.
In the meantime, here's my new setup. Still hunched over, but enjoying the bustling street below.
Here's another oldie, and I appologize yet again. Things are still stock piled, but I promise to create some new paintings!! This little number is from the land of the rising sun... the red rising sun.
Well, things are going along smoothly, for the most part. I took off two concecutive weekends, something I haven't done is potentially years. It feels a bit weird, but I am getting to like it! Mostly just getting used to the neighborhood and some creepy window displays. This number here was in the Antique Market at the Louvre. Some funny stuff in there, but I'd basically have to sell most of my family members to afford anything.
Also here is the first sketch for the third season of Shakespeare on the Sounds poster for Comedy of Errors. But, as I type the sketch is headed in a different direction. I hope to be painting this by weeks end, and finished early next week. YIKES
And just to keep you posted, I still freeze like a deer when people talk to me in french. I feel like a slow motor starting in the wintertime. Pauvre bête.
Oh my gosh, it's been forever since I've written and I appologize. The weeks after the holidays were out of control busy, so I am now just getting a chance to write. I'm finally in France and finally settling in. Phew! Somethings I have to share with you if you ever plan to make a move to a foreign country:
1.) Companies don't like to ship aerosols. Imagine that. I've taken shaving cream on planes, but ooooooh no, you cannot take any art supplies. Crystal Clear is beyond essential in my painting process so I've had to find where it is sold in Europe. It basically ISN'T! So I found some watch polishing company in Switzerland who said they would ground ship it to my address, but that was over 2 weeks ago... and no crystal clear. I found an alternative though at Crea in the Saint Sulpice area, and it's called Picture Varnish Glossy. I'll keep you posted on it's results.
2.) French customs makes me laugh again. So, landing in Charles de Gaule with Lily... I had all my papers ready to show customs. You know, the papers I spent over $200 getting and over 2 months planning for. So I ask the agent about who I show them to... his face was amazing. It was a cross between, "Please go away" and "Who the hell cares about a little dog". So needless to say I laughed and walked on through. I still was paranoid and went to the baggage agent. She said the SAME thing. I am now super paranoid that Lily will not be allowed back into the states. I've called the USDA and they were equally as rude, saying they had no idea and they only dealt with exports. *sigh*. I've also contact the US Emabassy here, but no word back from them either. Next up to contact... the French Embassy. If they come and break down my door at 3am and steal my dog... learn from my mistake and just shut your mouth. I've told Lily that if they detain her, I'll start a fund and hire the best lawyers.
3.) Prepare for the smallest bathrooms and showers when you are here. I love that this place is VERY space conscious and actually has minimal waste regarding trash, but you have to draw the line when your shower is a maximum of 14" in diameter. But you know what? It's not so bad after day one.
Other than that, I am finally settling in and have a bunch of projects I am working on. The third poster for Shakespeare on the Sound is next and I will be sure to post pictures of it's progress. Sorry for the lapse in writing, I pormise to keep up and keep sampling some brews! I had one that had a pelican on it, but I forget it's name. Darn it... I'll just have to enjoy another one to remember!
