More Testing...

Much like acrylic mediums a year or two before, I had never really played with all the chemicals you can get to go with watercolor.  So, this test got a little damaged as I tried them out.  Specifically with the masking fluid.  Masking fluid, for those who don't know, is sort of like rubber cement and can be used to cover areas you want to keep free of paint.  It peels up with your thumb or eraser when you're done; however, you can't leave it on indefinitely, and with the wrong paper (which this was), it'll tear up the artwork when you try to take it off.  Like any medium on any project, this is what the testing is for. Like most of my gender, I tend to tear right into things without reading all the directions first.  Fortunately, I've at least learned to invest time in doing these tests so I can do this rash play, and figure out what I'm doing wrong without ruining the final project.

In the end, the paper was heavy enough that I was able to re-ink what got torn and with a few more layers of wash, I mostly managed to fudge it out.  Had I not liked the drawing, I likely wouldn't have bothered.  Even with a few rough spots, it turned out to be a decent piece.

Testing...Testing...1-2 1-2...

I'm afraid there hasn't been much time for sketching lately, as I've been in full finished piece mode for some time now.  But as I had to continue doing paint tests in preparations for the final pieces, I figured I'd share some more of the tests.

Now, I realize that doing watercolors and gouache (which I learned was once called bodycolor) over ink doesn't seem like it would call for much testing, but then you don't understand how long it's been since I've worked with watercolor.  The water-based disciplines sometimes get the short shrift because of their associations with crayons and kids, but to do them well takes patience and skill.

So, I started with a quick sketch of classic Hollywood star, Myrna Loy.  It's not totally accurate, and I realize the level of the eyes are a bit wonky....but didn't I say test above?

I chose to go for a teal/turquoise color of glazing.  The first couple I mixed, but as I felt it needed more greens or blues, I only added additional glazes of one or the other.  Myrna's hair was red and I figured that would be a great offset to the backdrop...and hey, I think I was right.  So there you are.

In case you were wondering what the finished piece from last week's post looked like.  I figured I'd include it with this post.  Using sepia as a base glaze helped get that muted tone that I'm going to be looking for in the final pieces.

Process Shots

Normally, I don't photograph works in progress.  Often it's because I'm not happy with what I've done by the time I'm done for the day up until the day I'm putting on the last strokes.  Other times it's to keep subjects from getting self-conscious, or clients from getting worried...not because I'm bad, but because not everyone gets the process.  Or, I might nail some spot that I love, but because the rest is underdeveloped, it doesn't feel right to document it.

But this time, I've got a commission, and it's requiring me to try something new...well, not entirely new since most people have played with watercolors as kids.  But over the years, working in acrylic and gouache, I've gotten used to direct painting, and watercolor is a whole other thing.  So I've been hitting up the web blogs and tutorials to get a grasp on how to achieve what I want, but let's face it, as with most creative endeavors, trial and error is the best way to learn.

Now what I'm shooting for is a sort of classic style in the school of Arthur Rackham or Edmund Dulac, two of the Victorian era's greatest illustrators.  Their works were typified by pen and ink drawings colored with washes of watercolor.  Dulac tended to be richer in color where Arthur had more of a washed out sepia look. I sort of plan to split the difference.  So, I made my drawing from an old photograph, and started by staining the paper (I chose 185 lb paper...which actually turned out to be too thin for all the washing I was doing, that was Lesson 1).  Then, I had to let it dry.  Now, I could get a hair dryer, but some feel it changes the tone of the paint and fortunately I had another small project to work on between glazes.

I wanted it dark, with a lot of contrast between the figure and the background.  I didn't bother with masking fluid and later just lifted the spillage with a brush and water. Also, a little color seeping helps to keep the the figure and background looking unified.  But I have to admit, I get bored and frustrated working this way.  I usually end up causing a lot of the bleeding myself because I keep wanting to jump into working other areas, but you can't add more of a water media next to a wet area and not expect to see the tendrils of color worming their way over.

And the thing about watercolor and washes is that you have to do tests or swatches because what it looks like fresh and wet isn't always what it looks like once it dries.  Some colors stay bright or seem brighter, others wash out really easily.  The one that seems most obvious, but is somehow easily forgotten, is that it's not likely to have much of that gloss (without mediums) that you may or may not like.  And so on.

Once I had the background down, I went back in to work the figure, but I still didn't directly paint any of the tones.  I'd wet an area, drop in the tone then give it some mild working with either a brush or small make-up sponge, or both.  The buckling of the paper caused some pooling that made for some matte effects in the thicker paint that I wasn't crazy about, but over all, she turned out ok.  However, my final pieces are going to be a helluva lot more complicated...haha...it might be another couple of tests until I can jump in.

Painting Water in Watercolor

No real series for this week.  In fact, this one should've been the wrap-up for last week.  This week's material are tests for a new project and commission I'm working on.  It's taken some getting used to to get back into watercolor after being so used to direct painting, either in acrylic or with the gouache.  Anyhow, that's what I'm doing...and the above is how it's going so far: not terrible...but not great either..

The Tides of Fashion

The second in a series of originals finds another strange bather in the surf.

The Tides of War...

It's a series of originals this week.  The sun, the surf and the strange have infiltrated my sketchbook this week. Enjoy!

A Bath in the Sun

A final look at the bathing beauties for this week...Have a good weekend...

Another time...Another seaside...

As the temperature continues to climb...our second lovely lady by the seaside.

By the Sea...

As it's summer, and things are apparently hot all over, though I'd do a series of bathing beauties this week.  The first is of one of those swimsuits that always had me wondering why there weren't more reports of drowning.

Death Laid an Egg

The final Screen Siren of the Sixties is Sweden's own Ewa Aulin.  Aulin, a teen beauty pageant winner, starred in a slate of European and American films.  She's perhaps best known for her lead role in...oh...I did it again, didn't I? More Terry Southern, I guess...she was the lead in the film adaptation of Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg's Candy (1967), which garnered her a nomination at the Golden Globes.  Personally, she first caught my eye in the surreal Italian thriller Death Laid an Egg (La Morte ha Fatto L'uovo, 1968) by Giulio Questi, director of the equally bizarre Spaghetti Western Django Kill...If You Live Shoot! (Se Sei Vivo Spara!, 1967).

A Very Grand Guy

Our Screen Siren of the Sixties series couldn't be complete without an appearance by Raquel Welch.  Welch, née Jo Raquel Tejada, had a string of bit parts before becoming a star with Fantastic Voyage in 1966, but she's probably best known for the endless reproductions as the cavewoman in the fur bikini from One Million Years B.C. (1966).  I'm partial to her (apart from the obvious reasons) for starring in two of my favorite comedies: Bedazzled (1967) and The Magic Christian (1969)...though I shouldn't say starred in The Magic Christian as she's one of a dozen hilarious cameos from the film from which I drew the above image.  My drawing of Terry Southern from a week or two back helped influence the choice.

Secret Agent Super Dragon

This weeks it's Screen Sirens of the Sixties, starting with Marisa Mell. Born in Austria as Marlies Theres Moitzi, Marisa was a sexy staple of the European genre cinema of the 60's and 70's.  She is perhaps best known for playing Diabolik's sultry squeeze Eva in Mario Bava's fantastic Danger: Diabolik! (1968). This quickie was from an onset photo...I'm particularly proud of the li'l black kitty she's holding.

Have a Good Funeral, My Friends! Sartana is Paying!

Our final Spagetti Western drawing for this week is a quiet moment out on the porch with Sartana, one of Euro-cinema's gunslinging legends.  The character originated with and was played four out of five times in the official canon by the great Gianni Garko (and once by smiling George Hilton...who's still not my favorite, but for whom my opinion has softened over time).  While he started out as a more standard hero, Sartana soon became a seemingly omniscient angel of vengeance as the films rolled out, and his arsenal of bizarre weaponry developed with him. (Some genre critics claim similarity to Bond, but I saw it more like the makeshift weaponry of the Lone Wolf and Cub series.)  Naturally, like Django, Sartana was also featured in a host of knock-offs and the usual character dub-jobs (ie. since all Spaghettis were shot without sound, when they dubbed in the voice, they'd just call the lead "Django" or "Sartana" whether they had any similarity to Nero or Garko or not).  If you can track them down, the series is an awfully good time...though don't save George's lone outing for last...stick with Garko.

WARLOCK: The Movie (1975)

This is my poster for a would-be Adam Warlock movie that I had hoped was going to be included in a Comic-con themed group art show.  I accidentally jumped the gun putting this together, and the event didn't happen.  Remember that Warlock test piece I put up a few weeks back?

The cosmic characters have long been some of my favorites in the Marvel Universe, particularly those penned by Jim Starlin.  Thanos is a fantastic villain (and apparently going to be in the next Avengers movie...). Adam makes for a bizarre hero with a cigar-chomping troll, Pip, as a best friend.  Then there's Drax the Destroyer, who was created to destroy Thanos, but I guess only recently, forty years after his creation.  And the deadly assassin Gamora, who, in her slinky fishnet outfit, was twenty years ahead of the superhero sexpots that would really begin to dominate in the 90's.

Now some may criticize me for lifting these poses and whatnot from others work...but in my mind, those old movie posters were made from set photos, so wouldn't the comics I was referencing be the same?  Anyhow, it certainly owes a debt to the aforementioned Starlin, Ron Marz, Al Milgrom, and many others who brought these cosmic stories to life.

"...But don't touch my coffin."

The second entry to Spaghetti Western Week is Franco Nero in perhaps his best known gunslinging role in Sergio Corbucci's Django (1966).  Perhaps one of the grimiest Westerns ever made, it opens with the hero dragging an old coffin through muck into a sad and seemingly abandoned town.  From there, it turns into a wild shootout between Django, the Mexican Bandits, and crazy Major Jackson who runs a personal army of klansmen.  Fans of Reservoir Dogs will perhaps appreciate the ear-slicing scene that was one of the elements that earned the film a banning in many countries.  Dark, violent, and enjoyable, it's one of the classics of the genre. (Side Note: In the Jamaican film, The Harder They Come (1972), it's a screening of Django that inspires Jimmy Cliff's later rampage.)

La Resa Dei Conti

With the sun shining bright and summer in full force, it's well nigh time for Spaghetti Western Week!

We kick things off with a drawing of Tomas Milian as Cuchillo. The character appeared in two films by Sergio Sollima: The Big Gundown (aka. La resa dei conti, 1966) and Run Man Run! (Corri uomo corri!, 1968).  Gundown is easily considered one of the tops of the genre (if you're gonna watch it, you gotta track down the uncut version), although all three of Sollima's westerns are very well regarded (Face to Face (Faccia a Faccia) 1967, is probably my personal favorite.).  I believe the above was drawn from a publicity still for Run Man Run!

Even Bad Wolves Can Be Good...

Our final musician this week is one Domingo Zamudio...better known as Sam the Sham of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.  Born in Dallas, Texas (1937), Sam took on his trademark loungey robe and turban and named his band the Pharaohs after Yul Brynner's character in The Ten Commandments.  In '65, the band had it's biggest hit with "Wooly Bully", which managed to climb the charts in an otherwise British Invasion dominated period.  And while "Wooly" remains a bar song classic, it was their other hit, "Li'l Red Riding Hood" that first captured my imagination.  On one hand, it's a sort of cute song full of innuendo...but on the other, Sam's method of growling out the lyrics (he adopted the moniker "Sham" as indicative of his vocal ability) along that fat bass line turns it in something creepy and almost otherworldly.

Cause Now You Set My Soul on Fire....

Our second musician for the weak is the fantastic LaVern Baker (1929-1997). A fantastic R&B singer with a string of hits through the 1950's and 60's, most might recognize LaVern for the fun and bouncy "Tweedle Dee". I first fell in love with her work when her single "Soul on Fire" was featured in Alan Parker's controversial horror-mystery Angel Heart.  Granted, that was the soundtrack for the over-the-top sex scene that reportedly got Lisa Bonet ousted from The Cosby Show. (Am I dating myself?)  Nevertheless it remains a sultry and steamy classic.  Enjoy.

We Interrupt This Broadcast...

I had forgotten that I had not posted my latest painting to my sites.  Obviously, with this post, I've remedied this gap in post related art communication.  I only wish the photo better communicated the details of the background...in all that murk, there is some, I swear.

A Candy-colored Clown They Call the Sandman...

Another week in music for this round of drawings, starting with the darkly spectacled, angelic-voiced Roy Orbison.  A favorite of my dad (Happy Father's Day, dad!), I've been listening to Roy's tunes since I was a lad.  Born in Vernon, Texas, Roy would first record for the legendary Sun Records before becoming a regular hit-maker in the 1960's.  Personal tragedy and difficulty adjusting to the changing sounds, Roy  faded from the limelight for much of the 70's and 80's before experiencing a revival as the 90's rolled around. After success with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne as the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys and a final hit album with Mystery Girl, Roy passed away in 1988 at only 52. Though the use of "In Dreams" as a favorite of the psychotic Frank Booth in David Lynch's Blue Velvet added a disturbing lilt to the song, it remains perhaps my favorite of Roy Orbison's catalog.

Another Weekend Oddity...

Nothing particular in mind, just goofing off on a placemat.

"The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish."

The final author of the week is literary wild man Terry Southern (1924-1995).  Born in Alvarado, Texas, Southern would serve in WWII, hit the Sorbonne on the G.I. Bill, become part of the both the Greenwich scene of the 50's as well as the Swinging Sixties in London before working as a prominent screenwriter in the 70's.  I first became aware of Terry as a screenwriter, particularly with Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964) (He also wrote the scripts for Easy Rider and Barbarella, among others.) The first book of Terry's that I tracked down was The Magic Christian (1959) due to my love of the uneven but wonderfully bizarre film of the same name, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr.  I've since read and seen the majority of this master satirist's work.

“Martyrs are needed to create incidents. Incidents are needed to create revolutions. Revolutions are needed to create progress.”

Our second author for this week is Chester Himes (1909-1984).  In academia, Himes is better recognized for his works concerning social and political issues for African Americans, but I came to know him for his series of detective novels featuring Coffin Ed and Gravedigger.  Depicting Harlem in the 1950's, the novels fit in the hard-boiled style but feature outlandish characters and situations that border on the cartoonish, while also delving into the same serious racial issues that Himes other books dealt with.  For Love of Imabelle (aka. A Rage in Harlem, 1957) and Cotton Comes to Harlem (1965) are perhaps the best known, though I enjoyed them all.  A note of caution, Himes' last Ed and Digger book, Plan B, is not the place to start. The novel was left unfinished and features an apocalyptic race revolution, not unlike Sam Greenlee's 1969 novel, The Spook Who Sat By the Door, that requires the context of the previous books.

"You got to look on the bright side, even if there ain't one."

This week's series is fellas you don't get to see all that often: authors.  I picked a few that I'm fond of who I don't really ever recall being displayed pictorially.

We kick things off with Samuel Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) whose Sam Spade became one of the most influential private detective characters in literature despite only being the protagonist of one novel, The Maltese Falcon (1930), and a couple of minor short stories.  My first run-in with Dashiell was Red Harvest, a gritty crime story of racketeers and corruption that featured the surly and stocky Continental Op.  The book was one of the progenitors of the "servant of two masters" plot-line that led to such films as Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961) and a Leone's Fistful of Dollars (1964).

Planet of the Vampires!!!

Apologies for the hiatus on updates, took a little vacation which happily took me off the grid for a bit.

Today's quickie is in honor of the release of Prometheus, Ridley Scott's prequel of sorts to his sci-fi classic Alien (1979).  As many critics have noted over the years, Scott's film appears to owe quite a debt of influence to Mario Bava's 1965 shocker in space, Planet of the Vampires (Terrore Nello Spazio).  Do an image search and you're sure to find comparisons between the giant skeletons on board the derelict ship of Bava's with the "space jockey" of Scott's, which appears to be a plot point in Prometheus.  Bava's film is simultaneously a throwback of sorts to earlier sci-fi films while also having an innovative and strange production design (such as the high-collared, black leather spacesuits worn by the cast).

A Man-God Reborn!!!

Our second cosmic character this week is the strange hero, Adam Warlock.  A long time favorite of mine, I believe I have all of his early appearances, save those first couple of Fantastic Four's where he debuted as...dun-dun-dunnnnn...HIM!  The Warlock persona was later created by another favorite character, the insanely inconsistently written High Evolutionary, in a series which led to Adam become the messiah of counter-Earth (an Earth on the other side of the sun that is in many ways our opposite) in a controversial story-line.  However, it was Jim Starlin's run on Warlock that drew me in as it picked up, in many ways, where Starlin had left off with Captain Marvel.  One of the most unabashedly bizarre books of the 70's, it would lead to the second great takedown of the mad Titan, Thanos...a storyline that would again climax twenty years later with the Infinity Gauntlet series.

This rendition of Adam in gouache was adapted from one of the early tales by Jim Starlin.

The Entire Universe Stands in Grave Peril

Late once again. Well, this week, I decided to tap into some comic book simplicity.  First up is the Mighty, Mad Titan, Thanos!  I've always had a soft spot for the cosmic heroes and villains, and few did them better than Jim Starlin. First appearing in Iron Man #55, Thanos became one of the premier event characters in Marvel comics.  Though more than a little overused these days, when this villain used to show up, it essentially meant that everything positive in the Marvel Universe was soon gonna have join up to stop him.  The aspect I enjoy most about this gristle chinned monster is that more than once he's joined the side of good to further his own means...and too my surprise, does not always pull the sneaky double-cross...

This sketch was adapted from an early Captain Marvel appearance by Starlin which I modified here and there to look more like the modern incarnation.

Aggrandizement of the Self

And breaking out the gouache ultimately only meant one thing: New Self-Portrait.  And if you're going to paint yourself again, it might as well be vaguely creepy...

V the Volcanic

This weeks entries start off late because of the more involved nature of the work...if there's a theme, I guess it's the Gouache.

A few months ago, I assisted filmmaker Seaton Lin make a round of the southwest chasing Morrissey's 2012 multi-continental tour to capture the performances of chanteuse Kristeen Young.  Kristeen's sets cannot nearly be captured nor conveyed by some shaky cell phone footage on YouTube (not that you can't still block everyone's view behind you with your smartphone waving around in the air to catch one).  An absorbing mixture of melody and intensity, I was fairly well convinced that I'd have to commit something to paper from the footage we gathered.  In any even, I would recommend catching her, with or without Moz (though always a consumate showman), if she burns through your town.

"I rob banks for a living. What do you do?"

My second vintage criminal is bank-robbin' bad boy, John Dillinger. Dillinger's audacity and colorful personality made him a stand out and public favorite in the same era as such notorious criminals as Bonnie and Clyde and George "Machine Gun Kelly" Barnes.  To me, Dillinger fits snugly between the "gentleman" thief and the Depression-era criminal who many people were overjoyed to see sticking up the very banks that were repossessing their homes and belongings.  Over the years, he's become a pop-culture staple being played in films a dozen different times, and has become more of a romantic figure than a violent criminal.  As I mentioned in my last post, this has always fascinated me about American culture, where we have this Old Testament sternness against crime but this glowing admiration for the guys and gals who made it look fun.

"Prohibiton has made nothing but trouble..."

For this shortened week, I decided to do a couple of vintage criminals from a stash of old photos I came across.  We'll start with Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone, known to some as "Scarface," and perhaps the best known of American gangsters, who came to prominence through smuggling and bootlegging liquor.  It's still a fascinating irony to me that the outlawing of liquors greatest achievement was to cement the foothold of organized crime in America (although, when you think about it, the suppression of one evil does often open the door for a larger one to move in).  Also, I'm equally fascinated by the contradiction by which Americans detest crime and criminals, and yet adores gangsters and outlaws...but more on that next tme.

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe!

Our final serial movie character for the week is the might Ming the Merciless from the Flash Gordon serials.  Ming was the imperial ruler of Mongo, a planet with disparate features that are similar to Earth. Flash and Ming were created by the great Alex Raymond, and whose use of the brush while inking was partly the inspiration for this series.  Buster Crabbe's iconic Flash battled Ming, played by Charles B. Middleton, in three different series of serials in the 30's. I think the Might Ming is more than appropriate as the closer to this series.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel!!!

Another serial movie hero inked with a brush.  This time it's the great Captain Marvel (who for years, as a kid, I thought was known by his magic word, "Shazam!") from the 1941 serial, The Adventures of Captain Marvel.  It was the first film adaptation of a superhero, which just edged out The Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940), which began life as a Superman adaptation.  Marvel was played by Tom Tyler...who, though I think still looks heroic in my depiction, I must admit that I lost him a bit in the inking.  Tune in next time for what will be the final and one of the greats of serial stardom...here...at the B-List Super Hero Role Call!!!!

Radar Men From the Moon!!

This week, I  thought I'd do up some of the serial movie heroes of the past...using just a brush to do the ink. We kick off with Commando Cody, star of 1952's Radar Men from the Moon and sequel series Commando Cody: Sky Marshall of the Universe (1953).  Cody's suit was also worn in the amazingly titled non-sequel Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952) which, incidentally featured a small part for a young Leonard Nimoy. We'll see you in TWO DAYS for another Thrilling Installment of ACTION and ADVENTURE!!!

Mrs.Ralph Curtis

Portrait the Third from this Second Round of Learning from the Masters: John Singer Sargent Edition.

Each of this week's drawings was taken from portraits created by the great John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).  Sargent, one of the best known American artists as well as one of the greatest portrait painters, was both commended and criticized for his ability to draw with a brush.  I settled for just trying to drew like he drew...only with a nib.

Mrs.Waldorf Astor

Portrait the Second from this Second Round of Learning from the Masters: John Singer Sargent Edition.

Each of this week's drawings was taken from portraits created by the great John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).  Sargent, one of the best known American artists as well as one of the greatest portrait painters, was both commended and criticized for his ability to draw with a brush.  I settled for just trying to drew like he drew...only with a nib.

Charles Stewart, Sixth Marquess of Londonderry

This week, we return to another round of Learning from the Masters.  Each of these drawings was taken from portraits created by the great John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).  Sargent, one of the best known American artists as well as one of the greatest portrait painters, was both commended and criticized for his ability to draw with a brush.  I settled for just trying to drew like he drew...only with a nib.

Last Night's Monstrosity...

Sorry for the brief inactivity this week...it's been a little kooky around here.  Before the week ends, just thought I'd toss what I doodled last night while socializing.  

The Revelation...

Sorry kids, I let it slip my mind that I had one more post to make this weekend concerning my less than beloved Roman Emperors series (sorry Commodus, maybe next round).  Our final entry is the painting I did of Titus Flavius Domitianus, better known as Domitian, twelfth emperor from 81-96 AD.  Domitian is another tricky one in terms of reputation, and this is what fascinated me about him.  Roman historians and Judeo-Christian tradition has him marked down as awful tyrant and persecutor, but modern scholarship has found that though he was no doubt an absolute autocrat, he was less the insane tyrant than another victim of posthumous slander.  In other words, he ticked off the Roman aristocracy and they're the ones that paid to get the histories written.  And yet, he was the one that banished John to Patmos where he wrote the New Testament's most infamous book, The Revelation.

This painting came about because of a conversation I had with the great Barron Storey at a show he participated in here in Los Angeles.  Barron, in addition to being a great artist and illustrator, was the professor to a great many of the artists and illustrators of whom I've been enamored of since my youth.  After a conversation about the French Revolution and a variety of historical topics, Barron asked if I ever included my studies in my work.  The answer was a timid "not really", but the question stuck in my mind.   Then I recalled my fascination with the conflicting points of view on Domitian, and felt I had struck upon something that begin to fill that gap.  So I searched for photos of the few remaining contemporary busts of Domitian, and pieced together a portrait. However, due to the conflicting views between past and present, I left the chips and cracks to the bust on his flesh, and the tarnish soiling his cuirass.

A Horse, A Horse...A Senate for My Horse...

Of course my final sketch of a less than beloved Roman emperor had to be Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, now better known as Caligula, who ruled from 37-41AD.  While he started out as a welcome relief to paranoia driven tyranny of his predecessor, Tiberius, we now know him for having upped the excess marker for royal living...at least we think we have, there are few surviving contemporary sources from his reign, and Romans had something of a habit of excessively denigrating the excess of those rulers they didn't care for. So whether he actually romped in the sack with his sisters or put his horse in public office, we may never know, but we do know that he made enough people to be murdered by his own guards.  The name Caligula means "little boot", a nickname he earned from his father Germanicus' soldiers who had him made an unofficial mascot and dressed him in a miniature uniform.

Either later today or this weekend, look for a post on my latest painting which also features a less than beloved Roman emperor.

A Nice Relaxing Bath...In Blood...

Today's less than beloved Roman emperor is one Lucius Septimius Bassianus, now better known as Caracalla.  Ruler from 198-217AD, Caracalla was known for four things: killing his co-ruler brother Geta, massacres and persecutions, eventually being assassinated while taking a leak on the side of the road, and the elaborate baths he had built that lasted until the 6th Century when they were destroyed by the more body image conscious* Ostrogoths.  The nickname of Caracalla referred to the style of Gallic cloak that he favored and would NOT have been a name you'd ever call this guy in person.

(*pure speculation on my part...)

...While Rome Burned...

To celebrate the piece I showed at the Hive Gallery over the weekend, which we'll get to some time this week, I thought a week of Roman emperors would be appropriate...particularly the ones with a less than stellar reputation.  We'll kick things off with Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, commonly referred to as Nero, who ruled the Roman Empire from 54 to 68 AD before committing suicide while on the run from rebel forces supporting Galba, the following emperor. A rule of tyranny and extravagance, when a great fire destroyed much of Rome, Nero himself was blamed, even though modern historians believe he wasn't in the city at the time and spearheaded organizing the forces that put it out.  To allay suspicion that he had started the blaze to clear land for his new palace, Nero blamed a relatively new religious "cult," The Christians, but his punishment went to such excess that it only worsened his reputation.  Also, he's the only emperor I've seen the rocked the weird neck-beard.

The Hive Gallery 7 Year Anniversary: Best of the Hive

Tomorrow night, I'll be a part of The Hive Gallery 7 Year Anniversary with my latest painting.  I'll be hanging out at the opening for at least a solid chunk of the night.  (Then I might have to slip over to the Titmouse show in Alhambra where several of my friends will be showing...).

"I take sounds and change them into words."

My final musician isn't quite the flamboyant icon he once was...but, in many senses, he's become a cornerstone of modern music (and one of the most frequent musical crossword answers, alongside Yoko Ono).  That of course is Brian Peter George St. Baptiste de la Salle Eno, or simply Brian Eno.  Eno has worked as a musician, a producer, a multimedia artist, and a technological innovator.  His professional music career began with his two album tenure with Roxy Music, after which, he went on to record a multitude of solo albums, collaborations with the likes of David Bowie, John Cale, and Robert Fripp, and has produced albums for The Talking Heads, Devo, and U2.

Ah, The Name is Bootsy, Baby...

Our second iconic musician funked things up...simply because I couldn't have done this week without doing the beloved Bootsy Collins.  William Earl Collins has been a major part of the funk universe playing with such acts as the J.B.'s, Parliament, Funkadelic, and his own Rubber Band in addition to lending his talents to many others.  Bootsy is easily identifiable by his Star Bass if not is outlandish wardrobe and veritable cavalcade of amazing glasses (I am a particular fan of the ones that look like a mini-boom box...).

If You Want Blood, You Got It...

This week were Back in Black with bad music puns and iconic musicians.  Kicking things off is the great Angus Young from AC/DC, which he and brother Malcolm formed the band in 1973.  After trying a number of different on-stage outfits, he adopted the schoolboy on the suggestion of his sister.  Now that we've got that down...Let There Be Rock!