Alright, this shit is growing on me.

http://www.blakroc.com/

Oh my god, they even have a Blakroc Chevy Camaro.

On an impulse I decided to leave school on Thanksgiving break early, primarily due to my rapidly worsening health (both mental and physical…). I’m not sure if it was the right decision, as I’m missing three more classes and already long to see my friends again, but I am now home and there is nothing to do about it. So now I’m staying up late scraping big flakes off a block of mozzarella cheese, listening to Entrance and messing around with india ink. My sleep schedule is beyond fucked. 

I haven’t really drawn, painted, or done ANYTHING besides taken photos lately, and since I’m considering declaring a studio art major, I figured I should at least create something. While observing and attempting to critique Konstantin as he works on his home study (thing?) for Cooper Union, I found my own confidence in my creative abilities very hard to locate. He is so gifted at drawing things straight out of his head, and I feel incapable of doing anything close to that…I want my imagination back.

I painted this elephant with the purpose of merely refreshing any remaining abilities. I guess it could be called a study. My interest in painting animals removed from any context has not been shed since senior year of high school. All I want to do is create a zoo of animals to tack up on the walls of my dorm room. I’m not sure why I’m so interested in doing this, but this summer I conceived of some weird theory about trying to capture animal features from a purely semiological standpoint, portraying them by emphasizing only characteristics used for identification. Field guides paint animals in a way that communicates their appearance in the most useful way possible, also tacking on a collection of terms to help classify the animals’ features within a system constructed completely by humans. Yes, I’m going to say it–we’ve learned to commodify the animal, too. I think implanting this format into the context of fine arts, which is certainly not supposed to serve a function, creates an interesting effect.

I don’t think that’s what happened with this elephant. I really just wanted to see if I could develop a comfortable style with india ink, which I’ve found is one of the peskiest mediums EVAR. I used a pencil and a small brush to get it on the paper. 

Tomorrow, I’ll do an alligator.

(left) Erik Madigan Heck, (right) Andrew Zuckerman.

Heck shot this for Lanvin in summer 2008, I think.

I wish men were like this in real life.

Northeast Kingdom, Vermont. 10/09

not hungry, but still I swipe–

the deece, my downfall.

I mean, kinda great, right? 

Juergen Teller gets too much attention–his shit is easy.

Double gradient and stuff. Made a glossy print today–this photo’s much cooler on paper.