Untitled

Comment

Comment by Michael John McLaughlin on September 19, 2012 at 7:04pm

I dont know if I put my response to the kind Curator Comments but:  I've been out of school for awhile so it's very exciting and inspiring to get creative feedback. Those B/W drawings derived some of their immediacy and directness due to their being drawn on an ipad with my finger. As we artists all know, that can force us in a positive way to get away from the fussiness we might fall into with a more comfortable and familiar medium. I hope to post more soon. Good Luck all!

Comment by Resident Curator on September 18, 2012 at 9:57pm

Curator’s Comment:  

 

While the full color illustrations in your portfolio are very sophisticated and polished, I actually prefer the black and white drawings for their direct bodily expression.  There’s an excited agitation throughout the contour lines, creating palpable tension and visual interest. While the sweeping gestures enhance the volumetric form of the captive figure in this particular work, the prickly speech bubble provides a discordant and intriguing focal point.  The following portrait (burp!) is amusing in its crude caption, but the value pattern is actually quite developed and nuanced with lighter gray tonalities.  The face seems to be formed from alternating squiggles and ink wash- developing into a specific character rather than a quaint or idealized persona.  Lastly, Scan 12 (Shed the Stigma) seems more in line with your Cubist handling of angular figures.  But the anxiety and pressure created by the hulking arched figure on top creates a visual dynamic that more than makes up for its lack of color.  The psychological weight of the figure may actually be enhanced by the achromatic values- vaguely reminiscent of book illustrations from the 1940’s.  I can’t quite place it, but its authoritarian posture is timeless.