Recently I had the occasion to attend a church business meeting. My, how I do not enjoy them. And this one lasted longer than most. I was starting to lose control. I began slouching, then hunching over, twisting this way and that, sitting up, yawning, and wished I had brought my book.
I had brought a pen for ballot-casting purposes, and it turned out to be a lifesaver. I had a sheaf of handouts, so I culled a piece of paper from the stack and attacked it with my pen.
And now you get to enjoy another one of my rare artistic masterpieces.
I’m not sure how to begin analyzing this work of art. I’m fairly confident, however, that the violence of the piece is the fruit of my frustration that night.
You’ll notice that one of the men fleeing from the impending carnage is labeled with the name “Justin.” One of the youth guys showed up that night with a shaved head, so I thought adding a bald dude was a nice touch. This shows how your current environment and surroundings influences your art.
Speaking of bald dudes, here’s a shot of him and his dubious companions after their hair-razing experience. My goodness, I do have a knack for photo-realism in my sketchings.
Notice the exquisitely complex shadings which enhance the perspectives and lend a certain elegance and mystique to the portrait. Shading techniques such as these contribute a varying scale of dimensions, bringing the subject to life in such a degree as to make it jump right off the canvas!
If you closely inspect the residential structure depicted in the illustration, you may notice that the contractor evidently threw away his level and plumbline when he built it. What does this say to you? To me, it speaks of hidden good in tragedy. There usually is some small measure of good to be found in unfortunate circumstance. For instance, judging by the leaning of the structure this may by now have been a rundown shack, a ramshackle cabin needing to be dozed anyway. Perhaps now the owner could collect insurance for its destruction.
Or the crookedness could just be an aspect that lent character and personality to the home. A sentimental idiosyncrasy that warmed the hearts of the residents. In that case, I don’t know what good could come from such misfortune.
The obvious Biblical theme in this masterpiece takes one by surprise, as it’s one that seems to be generally overlooked by today’s artists. There were giants in the land. There is a huge vacuum in this theme, just waiting to be filled.
All the sophisticated artistic techniques I used on this piece really have but one goal; to convey emotion. And I must admit with all humility that I knocked this one out of the park. There’s an underlying homespun warmness enveloping the aura of this drawing, despite the terror and panic that seem to predominate. The stately tree speaks of solidarity and steadfastness, the subjects in desperate motion speak of physical fitness, the giant speaks of domination and domineering overpowerment, the skewed structure speaks of laziness and shoddy workmanship and the worthwhileness of being diligent in quality craftsmanship, and so on. The list is endless.
But you can’t be over-analytical and reduce the interpretation of art to a science. It’s a matter of the heart — what does this work say to you? How does it move your inner being? There’s no denying the evocative emotion that it captures, so how does it move your spirit?
There’s an answer for everyone.
7 Responses
September 7th, 2006 at 8:48 am
I’m overwhelmed.
September 7th, 2006 at 11:27 am
You forgot the symbolism of the Nike swoosh on the shoe! Yes! there are giants in the land–the evil, greedy, domineering, overpowering corporate behemoths, motivated by a lust for power and money, demolishing all that is homespun and simple and good. But since you didn’t mention this, it means that on some subliminal level you allign yourself with the corporate thugs and don’t even realize it.
(hey, one of those bald dudes is my kid!)
September 7th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Hilarious !
And to think that on first glance at the sketch, I was SURE it was simply a wish. An expression of hidden emotion, if you will.
Like..”Wow ! I’m so bored, I actually wish a giant basketball player would come up here and crash this party with an imminent crushing step
… besides the church is badly in need of replacement anyway, and even still relies on wood for heating”.
Cute sketch though. Might oughta submit it as a candidate for one of those caption cards.
*Sympathy: “Sorry to hear of your loss…”
*Get Well: “Heard about your injury .. Get well soon”.
*Friendship: “Missing your big heartedness .. Come back soon”.
…and I’m sure there are many more (and much better) captions that would apply.
—-GM—-
September 8th, 2006 at 12:19 am
You are just multi-talented; what else can one say?
September 8th, 2006 at 12:57 am
Yes Brother, I think you did loose control as shown in the picture drawn in your great moment of deep frustration. While on one hand you expressed your fear of being overpowered as shown by a pair of fleet footed, one with hair, one not, fleeing mortals,going opposite directions, yet you display great wrath, ready to stomp on the weakest, frailest, victomized (his hair must have been shaved against his will)
disadvantaged (look at his house) and in need of government assistance, but yet you may really have found a new freedom by reading from a new ultra modern translation that says something like
“Whatever your foot findeth to do, do it heartly with all your Nike!”
I love you bro., John
September 8th, 2006 at 9:07 pm
Hey, Tom, I haven’t the time so lengthy and I’m-sure-so-fascinating a post. Maybe when I get back home.
Greetings from Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.
Mark
September 14th, 2006 at 1:44 am
I think it may be a modern translation of the biblical occurence of a “God smite”.