fuzzy skeletonians and the greater whole

     Just wanted to share what I've been doing lately with my fuzzy skellies.  Here's a quick work in progress .gif I threw together of the fuzzy fella I completed last night.  One of the many I plan to have ready for my OPG in the fall.

     This whole idea was born out of a combination of seeing what ROUBLE RUST often does on her art blog and the desire to share with you what I see when I'm creating these guys (or any of my creations for that matter).  It's just lines on paper and some watercolor paint, of course.  All these steps are what I see when I look at the finished product.  When my works are freshly completed what you're seeing above is what often keeps me from seeing the greater whole.  I get the individual parts stuck in my head and it takes time for them to finally combine in my mind, allowing me to finally see what I've ultimately created.

     Anyway, just thought this little glimpse into my process and methodology might be interesting.

hot and cold

     I've been diggin' on these red and orange backgrounds lately.  Or perhaps they are just a product of my hatred of summer.  Can you fucking believe it's summer already?  THE YEAR IS ALREADY HALF OVER!  Where does the time go?  Oi, no matter.  At least the best half of the year is ahead of us now.  We'll get to see the demise of summer, the rise of fall and finally the sweet, sweet cooling of my molecules that winter brings.  I love the cold.  If it never got above 50 degrees again I would be just pleased as punch.  Just need to keep my head down and get through this heat as best I can.  Stay cool, peeps.

soulless technique and blame

     Here's some crap from early college.  Mainly concentrating on technique more than content, although it seems I was partial to black lines on white paper form an early age.  I remember being very proud of this at the time.  I even made a couple more versions with different colors and textures and matted them all nicely on some black card stock with the careful use of spray adhesive.  My narcissistic young self admired these works and thought them fit for framing at the time.

     But now...  Now, I kinda hate them.  I look at the above image and what I see is all the excitement and raw content of the Sharpie craze and nose bleed trapped inside a kind of soulless technique.  I know I was young and still learning but I can't help but hate this.  I fucking hate it.  Those straight lines and unimaginative use of still life objects.  Sure the contour lines on the leaves are nicely done but there's absolutely no self-discovery going on here at all.  Funny...  this isn't the first time I've been way too hard on myself for crimes committed in college.  I know now that I needed help and encouragement at the time but I still have trouble fighting the impulse to blame myself.

Fuzzy Skeletonian Drawing & Giveaway!

Once upon a time there was a Fuzzy Skeletonian looking for a good home.

Then there was a hat with the names of very kind, generous, attractive people.
Finally, there was a winner!  Who's the lucky individual?  Check your email today for the news!

     In all seriousness, folks, Stacia and I really appreciate your generosity.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  And for more pictures of hats, cats and little slips of paper, check out Stacia's drawing.

dad or murder?

     This one reminds me of my dad for some reason.  I think it's the hair, except my dad's hair was curly and not at all coarse or spiky.  Also, my dad only had one eye and it wasn't in the habit of bleeding profusely.  So maybe this isn't my dad.  Maybe it's the partially decomposed corpse of the guy I killed back in April.  I think I like the sound of that the best.

     Tired ramblings aside, this is my latest greatest effort with my brush markers.  I do love using messy, impulsive technique.  Very fun and satisfying.  Hey, thanks for stopping by and have a good weekend!

Fuzzy Skeletonian Extreme Mega-Raffle!

     Stacia over at She Blogged By Night is currently holding a fundraising raffle for her BBFF (and my most recent follower) Ivan.  Not a week goes by in our household when I don't hear humorous news via Stacia from Ivan's corner of the world.  He's a great guy and practically a member of the family.  Stacia is offering a $20 Amazon gift card in her raffle.  For my raffle I will be offering the following original art giveaway:



Actual size 5.5" x 7.5" on 90lb. watercolor paper and more detailed than what the scan shows.
     Each raffle ticket is $1.00 (i.e. 5 bucks = 5 tickets).  Just make your donation below or on my sidebar.  All donations made on my blog will be credited to my PayPal account so we can keep the raffle items separate.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Please keep in mind there are two raffles going on here with two different prizes.  Please make sure you are entering the correct raffle.  If you wish to enter both raffles it will require a minimum donation of $2.00 ($1.00 for each raffle) and a note stating you wish to be in both raffles.  If you're feeling generous please include further instructions as to how you want your donation divided between the two raffles.  Also, both raffles will end on the 15th.

     When my raffle is over all monies will be transferred to Ivan's PayPal account.  Now, if you'd feel more comfortable making your donation directly to Ivan's account please do so on his blog (left sidebar) but make sure you clearly communicate that you're entering the Fuzzy Skeletonian giveaway otherwise you'll be entered into the Amazon Gift Card raffle.  Lastly, if you win my raffle you will have to supply me with a street address I can mail your prize to.  Please email me if you have any questions.


[BUTTON REMOVED, DRAWING WILL STILL BE HELD]
     So toss a few bucks Ivan's way and help the man continue his insightful and entertaining perspectives into The Thrilling Days of Yesteryear!!

logo man and the pain of college

     Recently got the courage up to go through the two old beat up portfolios of crap I saved from college.  Mostly messy charcoal drawings and the like.  No two ways about it, college was messy.  Amidst the flimsy, torn charcoal drawings I came across this little bit of brush work from one of my classes.  We were working with an India ink wash or some shit an this was one of my little doodles.  If you don't know already "Vincent Stemkin" is my pseudonym and what you see above are my real initials.  Dang, just look at that shit.  So young and positive and fullo ambition.  Egotistical dreams of greatness...

     Man, this is difficult.  I'll stop here and let my ambitious little logo sit and gel, hopefully finding a place for itself in the latest chapter of my artistic life.

BEARS... IN... SPAAAAAACE!!!

     Can Uwe Boll direct his way out of a wet paper sack?  Do the mentally impaired make good zombies?  Can Lou Ferrigno throw a bear into orbit?  The answers to these questions and more will all be revealed during the Netflix Instant Bad Movie Twitterthon!  I've officially got the weekend free and I will be geeking it up this Saturday night with my bestest net buddies as we all try to endure a marathon of some hand-picked, rust-proof, quality-free movies!  And the best part is:  YOU'RE INVITED!!

     So cancel that hot date, skip out on that sex and drugs party, sell those tickets to the theater.  Instead grab yourself some booze, energy drinks, lots o' pizza and log on to The Internet and embrace the goodness of bad movies.  You know you want to!