"Owlthulhu"
16" x 20"
Mixed Media on Aquabord
2012
TattooLaPalooza was back in June, so this post is a little behind. None the less, I had a blast there and the above image is a product of the recent studies I did with other art(ist) styles--namely Ashley Wood and Ukiyo-e--and I'm proud of what came out.
It seems I get a really good energy from working around other artists. Jeff Dekal, even though he is soft-spoken at these events, gave me some sound advice. I was working on sketched of owls and ideas as I hadn't decided on what I wanted to do. He came over and said, "You can prepare, but sometimes, you just have to just go for it". Simple enough, yes, but as I sat at the precipice of design and fear as it was live art being done with people walking by, it was the right thing I needed to hear to just get to work.
I even tried something new with the pallet knife for the moon coloring. The bars were an accidental measure to compensate for making the circle and owl so far to the left, but it invariably lent itself to the overall geometry and balance of the piece.
I'm happy of this amalgamation of the Sacred and the mythological with a touch of the Horrific. Glaucus, the Owl of Athena, combined with the symbolism of the moon (read: circle and outer space) and the addition of the Lovecraftian tentacled face meet in an interesting intersection. I loved watching the reactions from the people walking by who were attracted at first to the owl, and the moon, and the general appearance, but were then intrigued and even repulsed by the realization of that bit of green near its mouth...
Attraction and repulsion.
Accidental as it were, it worked out very well. My next piece is of a bear.
