Mixed Media - Blog Posts
Comfort
A4
Collage - various papers and bottle top
Cherry blossom pool
A4
Ink pen and tippex on laser jet print
mer
A2
Exquisite corpse collage, acrylic, oil pastel
smth like «if they broke your house down draw a new one»
“November the 5th”
“Remember, remember, the 5th of November the Gunpowder treason and plot. I see no reason why the Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.”
Susan Leopold, Classroom, 2022, mixed media construction, digital print mounted on Plexiglas, electrical lighting, LED light bulb and wood, 18 x 12 x 10 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Harris Gallery.
Susan Leopold's series "School(s)" expresses the cultural and pedagogical zeitgeist of the past several years. You can read about her intimate sculptures of school interiors and their connection to the many facets of the educational environment in the Artfully Learning post "School(s)" ; and also listen to a conversation between Susan and I on the Artfully Learning Audio Series Episode 1: School(s).
Il n'y a plus de mystères, il n'y a que des inconnues
There are no more mysteries, there are only unknowns
Artist: @juliettebelmonte (Instagram)
Juliette Belmonte
Oil with mixed media
30" x 48"
The bats of Pokémon through the eyes of a bat nerd (who also used no references so they're a tiny bit iffy)
Forgot to bring my tablet so I'm playing with dad's rainbow markers and pens. I kinda dig it actually but my phone cannot take proper photos of them lol
Nerdy stuff about design choices and lots of bat facts under the cut if you're interested in that!
Zubat is mainly modelled after Vespertillionidae and Natalidae species, inheriting both families' pointy faces and dense fur that often covers their eyes, making them appear blind (except zubat actually is blind). Their wings are broad, more akin to a Megadermatidae species, which was just a choice based off of the original design. Broader wings allow for increased manoeuvrability at the cost of speed in real species. Their legs are long and spindly, another trait borrowed from Natalidae.
Golbat still has zubat's woolly fur to keep its rounded appearance but has narrower wings as well as stumpy ears and a large mouth, all traits gleaned from free-tailed bats, the latter a trait specifically of the genus Otomops. They really do look like that sometimes yes. Its large feet are borrowed from the fish-eating myotis (Myotis vivesi) who frankly has even bigger feet than this guy. Bats are wacky lol
Crobat has a mostly furred face similar to Pteropid, Rhinolophid or Phyllostomid bats. Its ears are more fantasy and not modelled after any existing species. I had hairy-tailed bats of the genus Lasiurus on the mind while interpreting the little tufts on its bum, here they're meant to be fluff hanging off the uropatagium. It has very narrow wings similar to Molossid bats, and it fits for such a speedy Pkmn! (Fun fact: a Molossid bat was the fastest recorded vertical flight of any animal)
Woobat is inspired by Desmodus species, more commonly known as vampire bats. While their cousins the Honduran white bat (Ectophylla albus) is more commonly the interpretation, I chose Desmodus instead for its flat, heart-shaped noses and similar dental structure. The excess in fur is more attributed to the same families as in zubat, but with some more Lasiurine influence.
Swoobat's choice in inspiration was pretty obvious to me at first: the heart-nosed bat (Cardioderma cor)! The furred face and ears joined at the base is indeed inspired by Megadermatid bats but otherwise it has probably the most mixed influences of all these designs. I once again took the flat, heart-shaped nose from Desmodus species like I did with its pre-evo, and then its tail was adapted from Rhinopoma species (fittingly known as mouse-tailed bats!) as well as Molossid (free-tailed) bats. From an entirely nerdy perspective swoobat is easily my favorite, it really highlights a lot of chiropteran diversity whether intentional or not.
Noibat has joined ears like swoobat, inherited from Megadermatid bats (and sometimes Molossids) and is the first to have an actual nose-leaf, partially influenced by trident bats of the genus Asellia. I was kind of imagining that the bare patch between the tufts of black fur were present because they housed scent glands like in Emballonurid (sac-winged) bats who have similar bald patches. (I don't know a ton about Emballonurid bats unfortunately, so I'm not sure whether this is a family-wide occurrence or attributed to certain genii, lol. If anybody knows feel free to tell! I think some Molossids have scent glands too so heck throw them in as well)
Noivern is easily the most fantastical of the bunch, more dragon than bat, but it wouldn't feel right not to include him. He's got the same design choices on the face that its pre-evolution has (joined ears and nose-leaf) but otherwise doesn't have any more specific influences in batty terms. However, I turned the tragus into that little protrusion under the ear of the original design which I thought was kind of clever ;)
Ahsoka!
All-grown-up Rebel Ahsoka! (Aka, another bout of productive procrastination to put off writing a tricky chapter. What else is new?)
This was supposed to be just a rough study type of sketch in pencil, but then it was going well, and really, why stop at rough sketch if it's going well?
Sketched in pencil, outlined in 01 Pigma micron pen (except the facial features, where I used 005), colored in Ahsoka with Crayola Supertips that somehow aren't dried up after I-don't-even-know-how-many years, then shaded her and filled in the background with Prismacolor pencils. (Ever so many thanks to my artsy mom, who suggested the pencil-over-marker technique!) My Prismacolors have been through the wars (aka 4 moves and a clumsy adolescent owner), and it's quite evident every time I sharpen one, only to have the tip fall out.
Drawing Ahsoka was interesting, because although I used a reference from the Clone Wars show, it wasn't quite in the position I wanted, so I had to take weird selfies of me holding a water bottle in lieu of a lightsaber in order to get the arms right. But, hey, it worked!
I considered leaving it at the middle image, just a finished figure on a white ground, but decided that a background provided context and made the picture feel more alive.