This piece was inspired by the Flemish mannerist style and the work of NJ artist Jay Adler. Mannerism encompasses a lot if different styles from the 15th century ranging from true realism to foreshadowed figures that look quite odd in certain positions. The flems contorted figures in an extreme way which broke away from the traditional realism of the times. They were innovators during a time when people were set in their ways especially in the arts. This is the type of of art I enjoy. Thought provoking wildness that breaks rules..

(Why am I not a graffiti artist?)

The artwork of Jay Adler is a great example of this. He is known in the art world as a surf artist. He paints images of surfers, beautiful waves, and scenery. This subject matter rarely diverts from this ideal, but a recent painting tells a different story. He continued to corrupt the Vitruvian Man's attributes by stylizing body parts like a funny caricature while entertaining the idea if love. His painting is of two figures; a man and a women. They are holding each other as their limbs stretch further and further around each other as if to get the strongest and tightest hold possible.. A bond.. Physical and chemical.

My creation is drawn in a very similar style but my subject is very different. I drew a basic outline and pushed the limits of each attribute to form an interesting fluid shape for each body part. I made the mistake of outlining my sketch with microns before I was completely satisfied with an idea which came back to bit me in the you know what. Near her nipples, you can see a harsh outline of a layer of hair I wanted to omit from the drawing but instead, I accidentally outlined. Unfortunately, color pencils could not hide this and I knew this before attempting to. I was positive that I didn't want this area accented and I just decided to leave it as is. I'm hoping to apply paint, oil markers, or an opaque medium to conceal these lines later but for now, and before I ruin it any further, I will leave it be.
A couple days later...
So I tried using a razor blade to shave off the areas with the unwanted marker and it lessened the blow a bit. I also used Sharpie poster paint markers to conceal the lines even more but the glossy texture created by the colored pencils negated much of this attempt. For what it is, I think it's hidden pretty well and it's not so much of an eye sore now, although it still bothers me.. A lot. Overall, it was a fun little project that distracted me from some mandate portion of my life so thanks Art.

After winning the nationwide munny contest for AB I received an email from the marketing department asking me if it would be okay to obtain usage rights on my design to be published on "how to demonstrations" and ads regarding these sculptures. I was ecstatic and agreed. The gentleman also asked if I would be interested in designing a 20" Munny which AB would pay me to do and of course I agreed to this also. He went on to say that there are two other "world renown artists" creating 20" munnies which will be given away as prizes near the end of November to which mine will accompany and be "raffled" as well.  That sounds awesome!

I stared at this sculpture for a long while before I could actually cut, paint, design, or even touch him for that matter.  He seemed extremely monumental compared to the small 7" munny which scared and excited me simultaneously.  I decided to start at his base by cutting away areas of his stomach.  My original 2-D design, located near the bottom of this post, called for a blunt opening with a painted surface much like wood paneling or veneer mouldings.  As I started transferring my 2-D design to this 3-D sculpture, things began to change.  I decided to make the positive space resemble a picked white fence to contradict the visual and emotional feel of an urban area.  As I cut away areas, with an utility knife, I noticed that the upper portion of the chest took the form of a human rib cage which birthed my idea to make it all about the birds.

The bird cage lead me to believe that I would eventually put bars inside the opening and fill it with candy that people cannot get in honor of Halloween.  At this point, I was going to title my work, " No Treats for Tricks!"  Unfortunately this did not happen.  I could not figure out a way to fabricate the bars strong enough to survive a UPS man's hands all the way to Texas, and I did not want to buy a bird cage just for the small elevating door.. boo.  Oh well..  moving on.

The first pictures below were taken after my first session with the munny.  I spent about seven hours completely dedicated and involved with thinking, cutting, and painting that I never documented each process.  I adapted the bricks idea from my smaller munny mentioned above and I decided to make him an entire building in honor of the ten year anniversary of 911. RIP  The bricks were painted using a one-point perspective to convey depth and the idea of a possible explosion or erosion.  This hole would eventually be the perfect place for my bird's nest's candy dish!?            




The Shrinky Dinks have arrived!!  I obtained $40 worth of crystal clear so hopefully you will see more of this product in other pieces I do in the future. First, I cut 5" x 7" rectangles.  I used a utility knife to create scratches and breaks in the plastic to resemble broken glass.  I used alcohol inks to transparently weather both sides of the windows by direct application prior to or post shrinking.  I actually recorded a video of this so I will add that soon.  They really do shrink somewhere around three times its original size.  I layered two pieces together to create two window panes, allowing me to illustrate different broken layers shown in the photo on the right.  Here is where the alcohol inks came in handy by transparently dying the 'glass' yellow to look dirty, old, and gross.  I really like the effect they achieved.

Tags. Munny took the shape of a plain and boring building uninterrupted by the rattles of skilled craftsmen.  I am no graffiti artist but I really do appreciate the art form.  It is amazing what some people can do with a spray can and a set of caps.  I never tagged illegally but I did have a very large window in my backyard that my buddy Steve and I used to hit up.  I enjoy spray painting but it's just so messy.  This was a relatively clean water-based expression.  I develpoed small tags and characters to enhance my idea of an urban building. I wrote things like, "Adult Human" to poke fun on kidrobot .  Other words: R.Senal, Sick, Tweet, Graphiti, Memo, etc.  I started running out of ideas and transplanted older drawings and art I have completed in the past such as my self portrait pumpkin carving, stick figure guy, etc. It was a cool paint down memory lane.  That's a lie.  It was a cool
'drawing' down memory lane.
I used a product that I was unfamiliar with which is always fun, frustrating, and most of all "out of the box.".  The tags and graf art were all created by chalk inks.  They are non-toxic, food safe, and most importantly acid-free felt tip marker that produce super vibrant colors to attract the eyes.  The pigment seems to jump off of any surface you put them.. and they go on anything!  This is why places like Starbucks or Trader Joe's use these markers for their signage.  They are very similar to poster markers since they are water-based and can be used on a variety of non-porous surfaces such as glass, plastic, or metal.  In the back of  my mind, I was very weary of what would happen to this medium during the varnishing process but I chugged along and pretended to forget about it.



After using the white chalk ink marker to touch up the mourter between the bricks, I varnished the entire project in matte acrylic spray; minus the bird n hay. I also taped off the body and head to gloss the blue area (cracked egg/cracked sky/cracked glass.. "lightning"<--fighting word)


Munny Goes Electric?
I totally forgot that I had incorporated a light in my original design.  Anyway, I checked Home Depot during my last trip for a motion activated, battery powered light that I could fit inside munny for the candy dish idea.  As people tried to corral the candy through the jail cell style bars, which were never added) a LED light work turn on to startle them.  I gave up until the last minute. After I finished him, took pictures, and put him in the box to ship I noticed a ceramic turtle on my girlfriend's sister's headboard that seconds as a night light.  It has been under my nose the whole time.  This version was a 7W bulb that did get hot to the touch.  I was worried about the foam in munny's head starting a fire so I went to Home Depot again to ask some questions.  I found the same wire set up but replaced the 7W bulb with a 0.25W LED that stays cool no matter how long you run it.  I tested the bulb when I got home for an hour to make sure.