Figures and Morality Reviewed

This from the past, August '04... worth looking at again...


Perhaps the most troubling aspect, when dealing with figures in a work, is whether or not to clothe them... most artists do not, as said, think in terms of the fact that whatever is included within a work is, by the fact that it is included, of fundamental importance... by the same token, what is NOT included is also making a statement of fundamental importance - the fact that it is not considered of major importance... clothing, even for an artist, is generally regarded as a norm... yet the fact that a naturalness - nudity - is being covered, is making a statement regarding one's relationship with the universe...as Rand pointed out, 'Art is not the means of literal transcription... this is the difference between a work of Art and a news story or a photograph.'... as such, what is shown in a work of Art pertains to one's fundamental view of a person's relationship to reality - which is why so many artists use the nude in their works, to establish the sense of universality, that what is shown pertains to all time... to a rational person, there is no problem - what is pro-human is to the good; what glorifies and/or accentuates human qualities is to the good [and a person's sexuality is very certainly a human quality] [and the first step towards showing that is portraying the naked figure]... the difficulty, then, lies in confronting the culture, which is, in many respects, in am anti-human viewing of one's self - thanks to the religions within it... because this has been the dominant - indeed, for most, the ONLY known code - there is difficulty in being able to mount a cognitive defense against it for most artists... even more confounding is being able to express sexuality of humans in a work - indeed, one would have less problems showing a bull mounting a cow than to humans lovemaking - and oddly enough, easier to show lovemaking than to showing explicit sexual arousal... in common parlance, this is called pornography - in fact, it is a religious attack on the sexual nature of human beings, and it is in knowing the nature and proper purpose of Art, and the rational ethics behind that purpose, that there can be a defense against this anti-human ranting...

Rite - 16

For the most part, the open ground and shoot are done... now, on with the rest of the snowy ground... then the rest of the trees...

Rite - 15

More additional work on the snow... and on the ground around the shoot...

Rite - 14

And back to the snowy ground, along with the open bare ground around the figure - as well as beginning the shoot...

Rite - 13

Back to more trees...

Rite - 12

As said, am on the shadows of some of the trees... and am getting this very lightness by holding the pen, a Staedtler .05, against another finger which hits the board just before the pen does, thus letting the tip just barely touch, and a finer dot achieved...

Rite - 11

Tho there are more tree trunks yet to do [they run from the third from the left to the end of the board, plus a couple more singles on the left], am going to turn to doing some of the snowy ground, working out from the base of some of the trunks, up to near the Mother Earth figure, where bare ground will be... then will return to finish the trunks...

Rite - 10

Rite - 9

In addition to the trunks, have begin secondary stippling of the figure - here seen in the face and neck and upper right arm and breast...

Rite... 8

Slowly working my way across the forest...

Rite - 7

As said, am now in the process of foresting the background...

Rite - 6

This is how it looks on the full board... and the close-up shows the two step means of doing the trunks - first getting the major details and shading, then going over with a fine stipple to tone the rest...

Rite - 5

Now that the head has been done, the trees commence... there is more refinement to do, but it will wait until all the rest is in... note that this version of the figure has her in orgasmic mode, which is the rite - the means of fertilizing Spring... this will be more apparent when the wet bare ground and shoot is rendered...

Rite - 4

Almost done with the figure - just the head to do... refinement will come later, when the trees and snow are laid in... as one might notice in this WIP, this figure is not just a nude, but a naked woman - that is, her sexuality is very present... properly, this is as it should always be, for such is how humans are born, naked and it is our naturalness which as humans we should proudly carry thru our lives - and if to some this is somehow a so-called obscenity, those are the ones who suffer moral degeneracy, not just in their [bottom line here] hatred of the human, but in their gall of seeking to force that to others... this is not a light matter - it has already been claimed against "First the Sand...", where the hairy pubes of the woman bent over making sand castles are clearly shown [tho no more so than any other part of her body in such a position]... for sure, tho, I will not let dog mentality dictate my art....

Rite - 3

A wee more done... stippling is slow in that there needs for me many breaks - the hand aches easily, and the eyes cease to focus after a time [tho looking away a bit helps in that]...

Rite... 2

Been a wee slow with the rendering, this being the xmas season and much business elsewhere, but some work has begun on the actual rendering... the Staedtler pens make much finer stippling than the Microns, so is better, tho slower... as is noted, I render not just nudes, but naked, as that is how humans are, and I glory in their full natural sexual/sensual beauty... those who are offended by such are, as such, anti-human and to the extend those chose to seek curtailment of showing the full naturalness - they are immoral... also, to be expected, this is not the usual view of 'mother nature', tho it certainly does justice to the rite of spring motif...

"Rite of Spring"

Have decided to begin showing works in progress, as much to keep aesthetic matters more at hand as to enliven this blog, allowing more focus on issues where needed to be seen... this hs the preliminary sketch... originally it was to be a large rendering, on the order of 48"x96", but events of one kind or another have caused it to be reconsidered such that now it is to be done on a 32"x40" scale... all in stipple, with the shoot being in color... the original idea was to have the figure colored, too - chocolate - and indeed it may end up as an overlayering when the work is otherwise done... only the figure, btw, has been transferred to the board - the trees here will just be as guides, and this whole section here will comprise the upper right of the board, with the fore trees forming a line leftward to the edge... and a distant cityscape will be seen behind this, with a snow ledge between them...

"Phoenix"

A slightly different turn of view - but still one of glorifying life and humanity [as humans are as much a part of nature as any other living organism]... contrary to some, this rendering does not glorify the anti-man eco-freak view... note the distant city is not one of decay, but of growth...

"Curmudgeon"

One of several metaphoric take-offs of Mother Lode, this is on the same hill but on the other side, where part of the Mother is seen above at the top... a gnarly tree, chopped yet deeply rooted, still makes its way to blooming... some have even seen it as a woman coming to form as enlightment, so there is definitely diversed views on its metaphoric implications...

On "Important"

From Rand -

"Important" - in its essential meaning, as distinguished from its more limited and superficial uses - is a metaphysical term. It pertains to that aspect of metaphysics which serves as a bridge between metaphysics and ethics: to a fundamental view of man's nature. That view involves the answers to such questions as whether the universe is knowable or not, whether man has the power of choice or not, whether he can achieve his goals in life or not. The answers to such questions are "metaphysical value-judgments", since they form the base of ethics.