Neighbours, China Dolls and Tennis Socks ........

We have had new neighbours for about three weeks. 

They have a dog. 

The dog doesn't bark in the normal doggy kind of way. Instead it 'yips'. 

For the first few days the dog 'yipped' all day and half way into the night. 

On the third night it woke me up at two oclock.

Then it woke me up at three.

When it woke me up at four I lay awake for an hour deciding what I would do.

By the time I climbed out of bed at half past six I had decided that if the neighbours didn't get rid of the dog I would either: 

1) sue them, or

2) kidnap the dog, gag it with some of my old tennis socks then dump it down a mine shaft.

Of course as a kind hearted intelligent man I didn't do any of these things - after all someone might see me, or worse, recognize my tennis socks when they finally found the body.

Instead red eyed and saggy cheeked, I went and politely knocked on the neighbour's door the next morning.

But that's another story - needless to say the dead rat in this  image is a metaphor for something deep in my psyche. 

Did you know that rats belong to the genus Rattus? And the black rat is known as Rattus Rattus? Who ever said that scientists don't have imagination, eh?

About this image? It's for IF's "Silent".  As you can see it works on three different levels. The top level, the middle level, and surprisingly enough, the bottom level. I think the justification for the paradigm, is found in the imposition of the persona of the rat, mirrored of course both symbolically and metaphorically by the metallic finish on the horn, which, in some ways, the horn itself is an iconic archetype of both the horn of plenty - representing harvest, lust, and loud noises - and the God of Thunder, Thor, who had an amazing lisp, and a way with his tools. I haven't even touched on the flower patterns which came with a book of Japanese patterns, on their own DVD which was marked, Copyright, nothing in this DVD can be reproduced, I mean I ask you? How can they sell you a DVD of patterns that you can't use....? I think that's why I gave them green nipples, which to be perfectly honest, was an accident, but I thought, gee if that sicko sadistic Surrealist guy can do amputee doll sexual innuendo, the least I can do is give my dolls green nipples.....

Okay, sorry about that.I just felt like raving as the kid next door has started playing with his electric car outside my window. The car goess zzzzzzzzzzzzsiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip, ssssssssssssdfagggggg, gggggggwwwwwww wwwippppppp every five seconds. The kid goes YOOOOOOWAAAAZAA and kind of gurgles occasionally in excitement. He sounds a little like a baboon in the last throws of a tumultuous orgasmic terminal pancreatisis.

I hope his mother poisons him accidently before I have to use my tennis socks on him. I know which would be the worse fate.

Err, just kidding. Actually my neighbors are quiet, well mannered and a joy to speak with.

The genesis of this image.

 Recently I went to our national gallery and saw an old book of photographs of dolls by Hans Belmer. Very surreal. A quick search on google gives me a lot of pseudo erotic bondage type photos so beware. This  is one of the photos in the book I saw. I didn't realise it was meant to be erotic till I saw it in the context of his other work. I just thought it was weird.... in fact maybe I shouldn't have bought it up.... but I think his work evokes an emotive response and so is worth examining for this aspect alone.

Thank you for those people who wished me well with my books. That means very much to me thank you. There was a small mention of one of my artists' books in the paper on Saturday - which is also very exciting! 

Meanwhile prayers for Jack Foster's wife who has been very ill recently. You can wish him well at Jacktoons if you like.

Jack's a good bloke and a very funny guy and I'm sure he'd appreciate your prayers more than you imagine.

Caged: How the Wizard Jack O'Kent Imprisonned the Devil

THE THEORY OF THREES

Well, I have this theory.

The theory of threes.

It's an illustration theory where I suggest that a good illustration, to keep our interest, must reward further scrutiny.

Basically it means that, in an illustration we need more than two main elements..

As an example of two main elements :  we could have a boy on a bike (one element) and a girl and her friends watching him (the other element). In the case of the above illustrations in this post we have a "wizard" sitting on a chair holding a wand  (one element). The other element is the devil in the cage. NB: The temple walls and furniture are not elements. They are there to set the mood and to give us a background.

The third element in any good illustration (according to the "theory of threes") must be more subtle and not catch our eye at first. This third 'thing' is what rewards our curiosity and enhances our pleasure (the pleasure of discovery).

There can be more than one 'third element 'of course -as there is in the above illustrations. But ideally one of them is a dominant. It might be dominant for lots of reasons. It might be phyiscally separated from the main element grouping, it can represent a different action, or even be a different colour.

Confused? Yes? Well so am I. But that's okay.

I was  trained in a scientific regime. Consequently I like to kill imaginary butterflies and pin them in imaginary boxes so I can analyse them and give them imaginary names. I also like to analyse illustrations. (Maybe I should get a job?)

Meanwhile  - recently I have discovered through Roberta Baird's work that that 'third element" is even better if it contains a sub-plot. Ideally the subplot will underline the main plot.

Plot? Plot? Arrgh.

Well, consider it this way.

Consider that, in any image with two main illustration elements, the realtion between those elements make the main plot (how they interact, what is their relationship, who is dominant, what is their body posture etc).

Yet the third (or more) element provides a subplot - (in Roberta's illustration we have a cat and a 'dead' mouse).

A good suplot gives us 'thickness', it adds character and it adds backstory. A good subplot puts the parsely on the salad, the thyme in the sauce, the sparkley coriander seed thingos on the illustration icing. It also mimics or underlines the main plot.

But  wait! That's not all!

A subplot (and plot) indicates a temporal presence to the illustration - that is, it suggests a 'before' and 'after' to the instant frozen by the illustration - much like Degas' cut off figures indicate a world beyond the picture frame.

"What?" I hear you whisper.

Plot? Subplot? It's not Shakespeare .... it's just an illustration.

Am I mad?

Yes of course.

Is anyone still reading?

Maybe.

Buts it worth thinking about?

Yes I think it is.

Especially if you subscribe to the theory that an illustration, by definition, illuminates a text; and that a plot is, according to E.M. Forster (Passage To India), a series of causal events.

And if you need further evidence, seek out Bosch's work, or Breughel's. Look for the main plot (eg Good Verus Evil), then seek out the subplots. You'll find them aplenty.

So what's this have to do with my illustration for this week's Illustration Friday Prompt "Caged."?

Good question. But we'll get to that.

I was out in the surf today thinking about this theory of threes and realised that 'threes' pop up in all sorts of places.

Humans like to think in threes. We like to sort chaos into threes. Three is an easy number to grasp. It rolls off the tongue better than 'seven' - the other popular number (eg seven ways to get fit by not doing any exercise)

Yet 'threes' can also be difficult.

In Christianity we have the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit/Ghost - which sort of confuses laymen, little children and most other people.

With women we have the conflicting concept of Harlot, Mother, Virgin - which confuses most men (bless our souls) and some women.

With men we have the Renassiance man, the Warmongerer, the Thief.

And, stepping up to the next level, in 'mankind' collectively we have another the concept of three. That of Beast, Human, and Spiritual.

That is, we have all three things within us.

All within us. Yet most of the time we supress the Beast animal - well at least I do.

Animal is pagan. Animal is dirty. Animal gets you arrested.

As human beings we try to hide the fact that our food goes in one end, and out the other. As humans we cloth ourselves, we act civilised and do not covet our neighbour's wives - not in public anyway.

As spiritual beings we tell oursevles not to worry that our animal body dies, because our souls will live on. As spiritual beings we believe in God because God creates order out of chaos. God gives us a beginning. He gives us and end. And if we are lucky he gives us other things.

When I taught Sunday School we had a litle ditty. It went something like "Envy, jealousy, malice and pride. These must never in our hearts abide." Which of course, at its most base means - forget you are Beast, keep your emotions intact and be good. (And I admit, as a good Christian, to have suffered from none of these things - even when the bitch across the road bought a brand new Red Austin Martin two door with doube cam exhausts and a rear muffler.....)

Ahem. Where was I?

And so finally we come to the illustrations.

The caged devil, is of course metaphorically Pan, a Greek God famed not only for his sexual process, but his ... err sexual prowess. His prowess was such that he was said to be even able to impregnate Male Goats.... ahem again, very handy I am sure on those cold Mediterranean nights.

Pan, as well as having his pan flute in hand, is often depicted with a 'phallus', just in case the observer didn't know who he was. His friends were Satyrs, Satyresses, Faunesses and Bachinesses. Which in the case of the latter three (and possibly the first) made the aforementioned phallus a handy addition to his wardrobe.

So, Pan or no Pan, phallus or no phallus, what is the illustration actually about?

Well you know who the Devil in the cage is, even though I have taken the civilised Human way out, and not shown him up to 'advantage'.

The chap on the left, you might not recognise as the Wizard Jack O’Kent, who, in the fifteenth century was featured in many folktales in Herefordshire and Gwent (England) for his ability to outwit the Devil.

So Jack O'Kent is depicted here as having caged the Devil.

Yet there is something afoot.

The cage is full of holes, the devil does not seemd worried (he seems gleeful in fact), and Jack O"Kent, poor fellow, doesn't realise that the whole Cage is in fact a metaphor, in that the Devil Demon Pan represents the animal side that he (Jack) is trying to surpress.

Animal supression? Sure why not? But Jack, like most human beings, doesn't realise that it will never work.


The moment Jack's back is turned Pan will leap demonically from his cage to wreak his wicked will upon young ladies, sheperdess, shepards, goats, satyresses and any other poor creature that happens to stray into his path.

Not that I am saying that Jack O'Kent had those tendencies. I'm led to believe he was a fine upstanding wizard who seduced only the wives of rich people, poor people and middling people (just kidding Jack!)

Oh? And the subplot?

Well it would be unfair of me to tell you, because you wouldn'y have the joy of discovering it yourself.

Mind you, I might have forgotten to put one in.

Thankyou for clicking for big!

I'm sorry this post is so long. I was going to tell you why the Devil has horns. But that will have to wait for another time.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last work. I'll be back tomorrow and thank you properly.

Jack in The Box for President!! (Artificial)

Please note: What follows is not my opinion about blogging, bloggers, or blog land. The opinions expressed here are soley those held by the characters of the story. The characters are actually artificial and fictional. My personal feelings are, on the whole, at the opposite extreme.

 

Once upon a time in the Land Of Blog, lived a Jack in the Box named 'Jack'.

Now Jack, by his nature, had a few problems.

Not only did he have both Short Man's Syndrome and No Legs Syndrome, he also suffered from that peculiar and rare disease called Nothing at All below the Hips Syndrome.

Consequently Jack on springing up out of his box first thing in the morning always felt slightly inadequate.

So one Saturday night, while under the influence of nicotiana tabacum , he decided to do something about it.

He decided he was going to be President of All of The Land of Blog.

This fact he confided to his wind-up friend Union Jack the next morning. At the time Union was painting his face with Woad and getting ready not to go to church.  He was named Union Jack because he had two glass eyes imprinted with the English Flag.

"But why?" asked Union Jack. "There's nothing here in The Land of Blog, just a lot of bloggers. It's all, umm, artificial."

Jack in the Box looked down into his friends red and white eyes. "Well why not?" .
"What good would it do you?" asked Union Jack.

"I'd feel,... I'd feel good."

"But it would be an 'artificial' feel good."

"Let me ask you a question then," said Jack in the Box.

Union Jack stuck out his chest. "Fire away."

"What do you want to do when you grow up?"
"Hmmph," said  Union Jack. He pointed at the spring in Jack's box. "It's all about you not having anything, you know, down there."

"Oh, it is not!" said Jack in the Box and crossed his arms.

But his friend Union Jack knew differently.

Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick, Jack Be Calderwuggenbum.

"Why call me Jack?" thought Jack be Nimble, Jack Be quick.
Why not call me Reginald.
Or Brian or Arnold or Cediric or Calderwuggenbum?
Why call me Jack? The whole planet is covered in Jacks.
Jack and Jill. Jack Sprat. Jack the Giant Killer.
Jack and the Bean stalk. Jack and this and Jack and that. Union Jack. Everyone was Jack.

Little Jack Horner.
Jack in the box.
The House That Jack Built.
Little Jack Jingle, Jack-a-Dandy, Jack Rowland, Jack Tar, and Black Jack Davy.
The list went on.
All losers.
Murderers.
Thieves and Buccan-ears. (except for Jack Foster who has small ears and is a good bloke)

And on. 
Even in French - Frere Jacques. And one called Frost:  "Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about! He's after your fingers and toes!"
So many, many Jacks!

Finally, frustrated and fabulously confused, our Jack, nimble and quick, sat down in a huff.
He was tempted to sit in the corner.....
But, not wanting a demarcation dispute, decided not to.


Meanwhile, a few feet away, the small red flame of the candlestick flickered toward him, beckoning.
Jack looked out of the corner of his eye, peered at the candle and it's flame.
"I won't do it," he said aloud to the candle. "Once I've jumped over you ..... well, it's all over, isn't it?

The candle flickered back accusingly.
"And then what?" Jack said.
"And then what?" the candle seemed to ask.
"Hmmph, "said Jack. "They'll print me out on some cheap paper,  stick me in another Mother Goose, give me some silly cute face, spread my skinny legs over the candle as if I am an olympic vaulter vaulting over a cage full of lions.
"The first kid to see it will go giggle giggle gargar goop and then most likely puke some half masticated Johnson's Baby Food on the page so it sticks together and the next time it's open  they'll rip me in two. Riiippppp, just like that."

End of Jack!

Jack waved his hand around in agitation.
His waved it around. And around. Faster and faster.
But his hand froze in mid air as the candle flickered a little and began to sputter.
Jack's mouth opened wide.
The candle had never done that before.
The candle sputtered again.
Jack's eyes popped in disbelief.
For an instant he took in the candles' bright light.
For an instant he felt the warmth of it's friendly, flickering, faithful, fancy, fickle, felicitious, finicky, feeble, facetious, floribund, fibrillatingly fragile flame.

Then, without any warning, and with the eensey wheensy smallest of noises, the candle blinked out.
Blink.
Blank.
The world went black.
Jack blinked once.
He blinked twice.
He opened his eyes. He shut them.
But no matter what he did, the candle didn't come back.
The candle was dark, the candle was black.
The whole world was black.

Jack sat in the dark for a long time, looking towards the candle.
He sat there all night.
And in the morning, when the sun came up, the world was still black.
Still he sat there.
He sat there all day. And the next day, and for the next. And for the next.
He sat there waiting. And waiting.

Vellapulla - the Witch's House

Hello. Just getting over the flu.

Firstly apologies for not getting back to the comments section yet.

Thankyou to everyone who commented.

Secondly" apologies for not getting to your blogs - yet.

Been taking those wonderfull cold and flu t ablets that send you off the planet. :)

Hehehehehehe -errgh.

You want to know what Mars looks like from close? I can tell you.....!

But seriously in Oz we call it "sickasadog." I think I have been hallucinating for two days - and when I woke up this morn' these images were on my hard-drive.

So what's this about? Hmm.

Did you know there is a style of architecture called Storybook Architecture?

No, either did I. But whoever has been on my machine for the last two days has been looking it up.

About the images above this text  - the top image is rendered at 30 cm by something at 360 DPi and ended up being 1.8 gigs after all the layering. The boy is composited in.

The third image is made by playing with the threshold filter.

The images are alll  basically experiments in style.

The last three images are the bare 3d renders without post processing showing the overview of the model -which is made from several commercial models I ransacked and distorted to my own evil desires.

There's and old well and a celtic cross that I need to take advantage of------ the devil on my left shoulder tells me it could be an uncomfortable experience.

And the boy? (see below this text) He could be any of five Jacks* - or one Hansell.

One thing is for sure - he is "uptonogood." Those rabbits should watch out.

And the witch who owns the house - that could be Fuamnach?

thankyou again for your time

be back again tommorow

honest!

PS: have you seen Denise Scaramai's work? Stylisticaly very interesting and worth a look. 500 plus followers can't be wrong :)

And good to see Daniel Powers posting again.

*Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack Be Nimble, Jack the Giant Killer, Jack and Jill, Jack Sprat could at no fat.....