When creative people get bored

[layla]

As some of you know, I'm the supervisor in the layout department of a nameless* newspaper.
*But not really hard to figure out, if you know where I live.

The advertising industry takes a nosedive in January, with half the people in town having spent all their advertising dollars on pre-Christmas sales, and the other half taking their annual "Let's get out of town while it's -40" vacations. In every single year I've worked in the newspaper industry, going on 7 years this winter, it's always the same ... after an insanely busy November and December, the layout/advertising department spends the month of January sitting around coming up with things to do.

We have these three-sided boxes that prop up our computer monitors (basically a box turned on its side ... the 4th side is open so you can put things in it). One of my employees brought in acrylic paints to paint hers, and kindly brought enough for the entire department.


General view of the box.


The first side I painted ... I slowly worked my way around the box from there.


Unfortunately all the pictures I took of this side turned out blurry due to inadequate lighting. The quote is from Matt (Life in Hell) Groening: "Love is like a snowmobile racing across the tundra. Then it flips over, trapping you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."

Comments

[trishalynn.livejournal.com]

That's beautiful. God, I wish I could paint like you.

w00!

[vogelein.livejournal.com]

Lurrrrve it.

I suck for not getting back with you sooner, but Freebird, she is GAWGEOUS.

Janer

[arcana-j.livejournal.com]

It's beeeauteeeful!

[jeepersjournal.livejournal.com]

Wow! I love that icescape :) The serpent's a nice toch too

[jkcarrier.livejournal.com]

Wow!

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Be careful what you wish for. ^_^ Usually I have dismal results when I try to paint. Somehow it worked out this time.

Re: w00!

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!

The first pages were done with Photoshop, but on the next ones, I decided to try monochrome painting ... insipired by your work on V. Only not nearly as well executed. I worked on the first of these last night and enjoyed it immensely, though I think my painting skills have a long, *long* way to go.

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you very much.

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Heh ... the serpent really throws people off (the "normal" people at work). They look at it and think it's just a winterscape, and then they see the sea monster and do a double take.

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

^_^

[goraina.livejournal.com]

that's so neat, layla! but tell me you don't have to paint it back to boring regular when your schedule goes back to "insanely busy"...

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

No, no ... we can keep them that way. ^_^

Probably if we painted something ... questionable ... it wouldn't be allowed, but I don't think anybody cares. My boss liked it.

[(Anonymous)]

Wow.

That's really cool, Layla. Really Roger-Dean-ish. (I think that's his name--the guy who painted all those Yes album covers?) Except, of course, with ice weasels. Everything's better with ice weasels. :-D

When physicists get bored, we solve differential equations. :-/

Rob

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Not familiar with Roger Dean, but I did a Google image search -- nice art! It reminds me a lot of Roger Matthews (another record/book cover illustrator from the same era; I have some books of his art) only with softer colors and somewhat less spiky designs.

... Aha, Google tells me that Dean came first, and Matthews learned (some say "copied") from him ... that's why it looks so similar; the style is damn near identical except Matthews' art looks a bit more industrial.