13 February 2011

Sunshine

Traces of a recent lomographic expedition.


Up next: the 15 shots of Ilford XP2 that have been sitting in my SLR for the last nine months.

08 February 2011

Eskimo

An ink study of my older brother. Somewhere cold in the early '80s.


Apologies -- this blog has been on life support for a little while now. Hopefully this post will be the first of many more (and consistent) installments.

08 January 2011

The Rough Side Of The Mountain

The following stills are taken from an audiovisual installation called Topologies, crafted by the London-based Quayola. It's well worth checking out his planar shapeshifting videos, which strangely remind me of the indie gaming sensation Minecraft.







I'd love to incorporate some abstract elements into the piece I'm currently working on -- an illustration for an upcoming exhibition based around the theme of the brain -- but it's definitely something that lies outside my comfort zone. We'll see how things turn out.

07 January 2011

Vision Quest

A dreamy behind-the-scenes look at the construction of a Barry McGee exhibition. Is he using Windsor Newton series 7 brushes?

Barry McGee - TRANSFER SP Brasil from Antonio de Paula Ternura on Vimeo.

Last night I dreamt that someone took $70 worth of recently purchased BFK Rives and crumpled it into a crude parcel. A subconcious reminder of both my upcoming exhibition deadlines and artistic unproductivity.

18 December 2010

But You Can't Be Both

The trailer for Terrence Malick's upcoming film, The Tree of Life.




"We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, Jack, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world’s way of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth."


It's interesting to see a different take on the themes and ideas that have recently informed my own work. I'm not necessarily a huge Malick fan (loved The Thin Red Line, yawned my way through The New World) but he is a visually amazing director. That upside down shot of the boys' dancing shadows is hypnotic.

The film also strongly reminds me of Mitch Albom's novel, For One More Day.

28 November 2010

Awe

Just another stunning painting from the masterpiece factory that is James Jean.


As deep of a slump as I feel like I'm in, seeing work like this makes me want to reach for a brush.

27 November 2010

The Pebble And The Magnet

Below is a piece that was (fairly) recently entered into a regional drawing prize. Working both on paper and in black and white was such a refreshing change of pace after all this painting. It reminds me that I originally entered art school with the intent of focusing on graphic illustration.


Beggars In The House Of Justice, 59.4 x 84.1 cm
Ink on Rives BFK
Illustrated October 2010

I recently completed my final semester with mixed feelings about the way the experience ended. In many ways, it was an abrupt regression after a a year and a half of progressive improvement, and I'm sufficiently discouraged by my final product that I don't want to post any images of those paintings.

Having made the immediate leap from art school to a full-time office job, I find myself increasingly distanced from my art-making practice. I am haunted by the words of a visiting artist whose primary advice was not to get bogged down in a "real job".