Reaching Rock Bottom: a solid foundation for personal and artistic growth!

 
As I have been quite consumed by the move to the new studio and the set up of a whole new workplace, I unfortunately have had very little time to update this Witty Art Blog. But the good thing is, I have also recovered and in a way more or less rediscovered a bunch of older work I created throughout 2015 and 2016 most of them either sketches in first stages or just plain unfinished works.

So, I kind of went through them again, sorting them out and filing and, where and when needed, adding the final touches. Often it was the not so simple case of a bit of finetuning, while with others I decided to leave them just as they were. For some, only the titles were lacking - but the process of naming my work can also be a difficult and challenging one.

But, managed well, I think. Either way, here are a couple of these recovered works of Witty Art, most of them drawings made with a combination of graphite pencil, charcoal and/or conté crayon. I do like the contrast between the fine pencil lines and the velvety robustness of the charcoal, interacting with the harsher tones of the conté crayons.

This combination of materials provides for very strong images, powerful but with a touch of tenderness to it. Edgy and raw, yet strangely soothing. Well, I like to think so, at least. 

So, I updated them on this page: Witty Singles, Part 2, together with a whole batch of other Witty Art, most of them created in the late fall and winter of 2016.

And to be honest, when I look at this particular page and compare to them to the Singles I made in the period 2013-2014, I am quite proud. For I can see my work has definitely grown, as whereas at the time I was forced to give up my home and my workplace, I was so afraid that losing a proper place to work would limit or even stop me from developing myself as an artist.

That fear was real. I had been there before. And I remember so clearly, whatever happened, I would not let that happen all over again. Not this time. So, with the support of my dear loved ones, I kept on creating Witty Art. With a simpe fineliner or a fountain pen, in a notebook, which prompted the birth of my artbook ''My Life In Limbo'' (which I am STILL working on, more on that again SOON). Later, I rediscovered the pleasure of pencil drawing and materials such as charcoal, pastels and conté crayons and so on.

And when finally I got to work with ink again, I could feel that my work had been enriched by, in fact, I had feared most. That reaching rock bottom would leave me wasted and worn out and unable to create and be myself for a long, LONG time. 

Turns out, I was wrong. So wrong. In fact, I can say that reaching this all time low point in my life, helped me to become myself in many more ways than I ever could've imagined before.

In fact, Rock Bottom proved to be a solid foundation of some kind, at least! 

The Return of the Horned Beasts and a look at some Witty Art Inspirations

Recently, I created a whole bunch of new Witty Art. It's often that during those drawing sprees, affectionaly known as attacks of the Gotta Draw-virus, new characters manifest themselves in my work. And sometimes, old familiar ones reappear, sometimes having undergone some kind of make-over as their apperance has changed, due to a constantly developing signature style, the use of materials, the paper or canvas selected, etc. And sometimes just because, well, they can. 

A long, LONG time ago, while still studying at the arts academy, I developed a strong fascination for bulls, goats, deers, capricorns, any kind of horned animal or with some kind of antlers, big or small. It's hard to pinpoint where exactly the fascination comes from, but it's not an uncommon image in the history of art. We only have to think of the prehistoric rock art, also known under the more scientific name of Petroglyphs: drawings or carvings on rock, made by a member of a prehistoric people. 

When I first read about these drawings as a young child, I was immediately captivated by the boldness and directness of these images. So strong, so effective, not a trace of doubt, the artist then intuitively knew what he (or she?) had to do, where to start carving each line; and where and when to stop. Made with the most basic of tools and materials, and without having the luxury of being able to work by proper daylight, whilst working in a deep dark cave. It's that spirit of boldness and directness I try to strive for, to achieve in my own drawings - probably the fuel for my lifelong fascination for pen en ink and a strong desire to scratch and scrape on the surface of the paper, as if I were indeed carving into rock. Well, perpaps one day, I should - but that's for later. 

Another one of my earlier influences was the work of Israeli sculptor and painter Menashe Kadishman (1932-2015), who, in his youth, worked as a shepherd on Kibbutz Ma'ayan Baruch. According to Wikipedia, 'This experience with nature, sheep and shepherding had a significant impact on his later artistic work and career. The first major appearance of sheep in his work was in the 1978 Venice Biennale, where Kadishman presented a flock of colored live sheep as living art.^[4] In 1995, he began painting portraits of sheep by the hundreds, and even thousands, each one different from the next. These instantly-recognizable sheep portraits soon became his artistic "trademark'''

'The Sacrifice of Isaac' by Mensahe Kadeshman (1985-1987)

I remember that I visited a bookstore here in Rotterdam and found myself in the art books section, which was not unusual, although I seldom bought one as they were (and still are) bloody expensive. But, a small booklet caught my eye. On the front it had a picture of the massive iron cast sculpture of a ram's head. The image got to me and I was hooked. Hooked on the powerful image of this horned animal's head. Turns out, it was one of the many huge iron sculptures from his series 'The Sacrifice of Isaac' (approximately 1985-1987), which adresses the violence of society and the destructive forces within the so-called civilized world. It made a huge impression on me and I remember, I spent a great deal of  my time working out how to draw sheep's faces and bull's heads. More so, I remember the frustration of the result being a far cry from how I imagined it to be (sorry, no pictures available, and even if I had them, I doubt I'd show them here).

That was a long time ago. I moved out of the arts, and then, after a long time, got back into them. But up till recently, no sign of the Horned Ones. Not a single trace. Up till a couple of weeks ago. There they were, making their appearance, out of no where. And I can tell you, their presence was as powerful as it was back then. And this time, no struggling on how to draw them, capturing them turned out to be whole lot easier now. Perhaps the Horned Beasts are a bit tamer this time? Or is it only make believe and are they fooling me and being as illusive as ever. Well, only time will tell as I am determined to follow their call and explore their presence and see where they will guide me and my work.