Last january 10th was my dad's 75th birthday. I thought I'd surprise him with a painting I did of him, when he was 25. Hey, it's not perfect, but I put enough care and detail to make sure I could recognize him everytime I saw the painting. I'm glad I did this - my dad has had this incredible life, and I think this small trinket of appreciation is the least I could do to honor him
while he's still alive.
His life could be this incredible movie. To shortly tell you about it, Paul Claude was born in 1932. He used to be a christian priest in Haiti until he was taken prisoner by Duvalier at Fort Mercredi, along with other priest prisoners, who were killed. He was exiled to France. He then traveled for quite a few years across France, Germany, Austria, (probably more) and Rome - where he went to university (4 years at the Vatican, in Latin only). Later on in his life he came to Quebec City, where he met my mother. He then defroked to marry her, and they had me a year later. In 1985 he was diagnosed with a brain tumor the size of a fist. It took over 2 years and 12 brain surgeries to get rid of it - it was still done by hand at the time. This left him paralyzed on his entire right side. The man who had two doctor's degrees in Egyptology and Theology, spoke 7 languages including latin and greek, teached philosphy in college and researched for the Nag Hammadi library, barely could speak his native language (french) anymore. The doctors had said he would never walk again, and would have a difficult time re-integrating society. My mother helped him a lot through the whole ordeal, visiting him everyday at the hospital while raising me alone and doing all she could to get more money.
Well, with an iron will and much support from caring people and us, he decided he would walk again, and so he did. He learned to speak well again, so well that he even took back his place as philosophy professor, and researcher. He later retired and since then has developped the hobby of drawing, with his left hand (he used to be a rightie), doing portraits with a style of his own. I'm working on creating this web gallery for him, so he can sell his drawings on there. I'll show some on here later on.
Until now, he's had a total of 12 brain operations, and 7 post-operation fix-up surgeries, over a total of 20 years or so. My mom has been with him all the way. So have I.
Needless to say, my parents are my heroes.
Only 25, and his whole life ahead of him.
|
Tuesday, October 31, 2006 by
David Claude
, under
adkrispies,
ads,
advertising,
art,
artist,
creative,
illustration,
mark ryden,
painting
Mark Ryden is more than a genius painter. Mark Ryden is a period in art. You have classicism, neo-classicism, impressionism, cubism, abstraction, surrealism, Mark Ryden, pop art, dadaism, and whatever else. That's how it is, friends.
Mark Ryden has this carefully crafted and balanced universe inside his mind, which he is currently mapping, painting by painting. He deftly mingles with themes of the beautifully macabre, the childish, the absurd, the grotesque and the fragile, in the same delicate way that a swiss maître horloger would craft the elaborate machinery of a miniature clock.
Each scene, each character he creates, is part of an odd story that one could never tell - yet a story nonetheless. When looking at his paintings, you cannot do anything but admire each of the incoporated elements: whether it's joy, fear, sadness, the stark austère pause of a bleeding child inside a 1800's portrait or a strange animal crying in a little girl's hand in a wistful countryside scene -- for a few minutes there, Mark Ryden owns you.
Here's an excerpt from Mark Ryden's website : "Upon first glance Ryden’s work seems to mirror the Surrealists’ fascination with the subconscious and collective memories. However, Ryden transcends the initial Surrealists’ strategies by consciously choosing subject matter loaded with cultural connotation. His dewy vixens, cuddly plush pets, alchemical symbols, religious emblems, primordial landscapes and slabs of meat challenge his audience not necessarily with their own oddity but with the introduction of their soothing cultural familiarity into unsettling circumstances. Viewers are initially drawn in by the comforting beauty of Ryden’s pop-culture references, then challenged by their circumstances, and finally transported to the artist’s final intent – a world where creatures speak from a place of childlike honesty about the state of mankind and our relationships with ourselves, each other and our past."
Mark Ryden has produced some album covers for the Red Hot Chili Peppers ("One Hot Minute") and Michael Jackson ("Dangerous"), and even has a theme CD, appropriate for the contemplation of his "blood" series, or something like that (Music For Mark Ryden's Blood, on Amazon).
If you want to buy a great book about Ryden, I recommend The Art Of Mark Ryden: Anima Mundi, available on Amazon.
|
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 by
David Claude
, under
adkrispies,
ads,
advertising,
corel,
gadgets,
painter,
painting,
software,
tech
For those of you less familiar with art creation software, Corel's Painter series are pieces of software whose purpose is to help you digitally create art that has the look and finish of real drawing and painting media, such as oil, conté crayons, watercolors, pastels or ink.
Of course, it won't create your art for you -- it sure is no replacement for raw talent. But nevertheless it's a great tool for professionals and amateurs alike, and you can spend hours fiddling with it.
The latest version in the Painter series is Painter IX.5. You can get a free 30-day trial on Corel's website.
I recently got it for myself, and I just started toying around with it yesterday evening. I created this little painting (gouache on canvas) in less than 2 hours.
Better yet, if you have the chance to get yourself a Wacom Drawing Pad (I've been using one for over 10 years now - if you don't know what it is, check out http://www.wacom.com/), you get incredible stylus control and flexibility over the tools available in painter, for this natural look you want. Try it yourself !
|
Tuesday, September 19, 2006 by
David Claude
, under
adkrispies,
ads,
advertising,
agency,
drew flaherty,
illustration,
inspiration tuesdays,
painting
Funky, powerfully explicit and vibrant colors, images filled with life and almost vibrating elements, social statements and opinionated imagery - sometimes just feelings, sometimes more figurative - and masterpieces you could see gracing the inside of any self-respecting bar in Shibuya, Tokyo - this describes (in surface) the art of Drew Flaherty.
Drew points to this link in his F.A.Q. : Lucid Dreaming - this state of dreaming while knowing you are dreaming - which I found to be most interesting. I take it he inspires himself from lucid dreams (funny, because I had one last night...crazy how we are all connected somehow) to create his highly expressive art - and it truly pays off. I like how he mingles with different media, and how his creations are easy on the eyes, and absorb you inside different little universes.
Drew is available for hire, and he sure is a name I'll keep in my little black book. Check out Drew's website here.
|
