“Inspiration exists, but it must find us working” - Pablo Picasso

Aptly stated. Once I had to create a series of art for a college painting class. If we didn’t know where to start, our professor told us to “just work” and it would come to us. Sure enough, we just started playing around and what was on the insides came out in the artwork. Likewise, I don’t always know exactly how my work should look down the nitty gritty details. Sometimes, the work will tell you what it wants to be.

In the artwork above, I’ve been playing with that motif for a while. That same motif may end up on chignon series later. In the artwork below the text, I was experimenting with making flesh tones and hair texture using oil pastels. I was going for a coy, over the shoulder gaze, and ended up with a somewhat grotesque face. The facial proportions and the mouth was unsatisfactory. I had to model the good ol’ over the shoulder pose in mirror, and it took a few tries to get the shoulders and back positioned correctly. I relished the whole process of drawing lines, erasing them, looking at the drawing from different angles, and then starting the whole process again. This drawing ultimately became a study.

The next piece (below the text) I worked on was meant to fit into my chignon series. I used an Asian cloud curl pattern for the hair this time. Interestingly enough,the same color configuration as the title piece. Colors overlap in a fan-like pattern.

The third artwork in progress, above, is a marriage of both artworks on the left. She, now unnamed, has the Asian cloud curl hair and the ol’ over the shoulder pose. At first, I was a little miffed about the Disney-esque quality of the facial proportions. Buy hey, its my style. Whether it be manga or another style, as long at it clearly expresses emotion and it connects to viewers - I’m grateful. If I finish this piece, it may be one of my signature pieces. It’ll be interesting to see which artworks viewers will respond to.

(reposted from previous blog)

Inspiration exists . . .