Animation detail, and other influences.

So, to clarify my last post and add other influences, I'll post another link:

http://bombsfall.blogspot.com/2011/09/post-mortem-murph.html

Scott's blog is worth reading through, but definitely watch the video (and make sure you have your audio on). If you watch, but don't read, he created this as a music video. The band sent him the song and said, "Do whatever you want with it," and this is what he came up with. Scott has been a particularly strong influence because he blogs about his dry seasons as an artist. He writes about spending ten years making art that was either bad or imitated other artists. He worked through that time and eventually developed his "voice." In addition to that, he has developed a strong sense of design, and you can watch it grow in some of his blogs where he posts old work. This is encouraging for me because I'm coming out of a period of two years where everything I've made has essentially "died in my arms." Forced ideas, trite imagery, and momentous amounts of frustration.

That being said, I really appreciate both ends of the "emotional" spectrum in the art world, and find myself attracted both to lighthearted and serious subject matter. The serious subject matter is what I tend to focus on, and what you all will most likely see during critiques. Kathe Kollwitz is an incredibly strong influence for me. She was a German printmaker, painter, and sculptor who lived through WW1 and WW2, and most of her work is a reflection of suffering and poverty during war. She was dismissed as a "propaganda artist" during her time because of what she chose as her subject matter. Since many of her prints were woodcuts, I thought it would be an appropriate influence for our first project.

This past year has been a year of tragedies for my friends. A house burned down that six of my friends were living in, and they lost everything. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but I never realized how incredibly traumatic fires are. Their attitude has been a huge source of inspiration for me, and you can read more about it on the link. A married couple I know is losing their three year old son to cancer, and another friend of mine was assaulted. I am witnessing a great deal of injustice and suffering, and it really bothers me. Their mindset is amazing. I am always blown away by what we as human beings have the capacity to endure throughout our lives.

A more lighthearted influence is the band Anathallo. They did a song called "Kasa No Hone (The Umbrella's Bones)" which the tattoo on my right arm is based on. The song is worth listening to. I have never experienced a show as intense as theirs. As musicians their craft is amazing, and their concepts are extremely interesting. Their album Floating World is a mixture of the Psalms and Japanese peasant songs and stories.