"Round" Illustration Friday Challenge Nov 25/2011

Inspired by the Illustration Friday quote:

"A character who is thought out is not born, he or she is contrived. a born character is round, a thought-out character is flat". - Rex Stout

A conflict between flat and round characters came to mind, and obviously, the strength is in being round.

Round, yes. Nothing in the quote said anything about being WELL rounded...

And yet literary tradition and its contradictions kept creeping in to my mind as I drew. What about Alice, and the flat card characters? Some wonderful flat paper characters in Spirited Away came to mind. Despite their obviously contrived and created origins, their presence is real - and threatening.

I'm drawing a blank at the moment, but I 'm sure there are many, many more.

"Vanity" Illustration Friday Nov 18, 2011

Inspired by the Illustration Friday quote:
"Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of the gentle people". - Garrison Keillor

I spent quite a while wondering where Keillor was going with this. Of course we would like to align ourselves with those gentle people whose campfires flicker in the gloom of elephantine shadows. Don't we always want to be seen as the kinder, gentler alternative - especially when vanity and greed are on the other side of the scale? On the other hand, pointing to ourselves and nodding with approbation is not necessarily a pleasant trait either. I decided to leave the equation alone and focus instead on elephantine vanity and greed.

Driving down the road I began to wonder what vanity and greed might be cloaking? Unattractive in themselves, they seemed in my mind to have a protective aura, to be a creation of how we wish to be seen, a concern with appearances. As though, through vanity, we were heaping ourselves under a substantial vestment or coat, heavy with embroidery and encrusted with gems, or the more modern alternative: fur. And yet, underneath, our malnourished selves hide an emaciated nature, a stingy spirit, an ungenerous inner self. We can stagger under the weight and be seen as substantial, but the rich covering only communicates to those outside. Inside, we are starving.

Swallowed up - November 2/2011

Swallowed up by coursework these days, hard to keep afloat, manage the household, much less draw for myself.

I have great ideas for I.F. challenges, but sleep takes precedence. Soon, I promise myself, and : next week.

Meanwhile the need to make images takes over now and again while I should be paying attention in class. Been this way for decades. Hope everyone else is inspired, and finding time to create.

And of course, comments here are much appreciated, inspiring in themselves. I find time to put things up in various categories on Facebook as well, comments, responses, ideas there all very welcome.