Redartz: This afternoon I was wrapping some Christmas presents. So what does that have to do with our topic? Well, for an artist / professional picture framer, my gift wrapping skills leave much to be desired. I can execute a painting or drawing with some success, but I can't fold gift wrap neatly around a box to save my life. Which got me to thinking, just what are my various weaknesses and vulnerabilities?
Everyone knows about Superman and Kryptonite, or Green Lantern and the color yellow (which always seemed a bit too convenient for his foes).
Marvel heroes also have their failings and vulnerabilities, perhaps less obvious but still extant. Where would Peter Parker be without crippling guilt? So there are some obvious examples. You can guess where this is headed.
What other vulnerabilities can you think of in the comics world? They might be physical, or mental, or magical (again, Superman- if someone came up with magic Kryptonite he'd be truly sunk). After all, its' those chinks in the armor that make a hero heroic, after all- without risk, there's not really any sacrifice.
Ah, but what about us? As this is the Holiday Season, we all are surrounded by temptations, distractions, and challenges even more than we normally face during the year. So as we consider our four color friends' weaknesses, let's consider ours as well.
As for me, I mentioned my wrapping difficulties. Certainly not a crippling affliction, but it provides annual amusement and frustration for my wife ("How can you not wrap a present neatly?!?" ). By the way, I tried to use just about every available form of punctuation in that last sentence...
You just saw another of my weaknesses- a tendency to wander off point mentally. Which seems to be getting worse as the years go by. Focus, Red, focus. So what else 'gets' to me? I'm notoriously tempted by sweets, chocolate will draw me like the moth to a bug light. Which, returning to the Holiday theme, becomes very challenging indeed. And all those Christmas cookies; Santa is lucky if I leave him any at all.
Aaaand, I always seem to cram too much of everything into too little time, usually to the detriment of all of it.. Bet some of you can say the same there. And so as to avoid cramming too much verbiage here, I'll turn the platform over to you now. What is your 'kryptonite', as it were? While thinking of comic heroes and their chinks, try to consider your own. What about you brings a knowing smile and eye roll from your 'significant other'? We're all breathlessly waiting to hear...
Oh, and at the risk of appearing self-indulgent, here is an example of one of my paintings, ink and watercolor.. My thanks for your indulgence...
22 comments:
You're an artist Red? Do you have a link to somewhere where we n see your work?
Hiya,
A long time ago when I was working shop at the college Theater Dept, the head of the shop and the stage designer had a great saying. If the script called for something specific and recognizable that we couldn't get our hands on we would fashion a substitute. Said substitute up close was, usually, readily apparent to be a forgery. But Gene Wilson, in his wisdom, could look at something and tell instantly if the audience would be able to perceive our handiwork and give his blessing to our efforts in a very simple yet profound utterance.
"Close enough for theater."
Words that actually apply to a lot of different things in life. Nothing is perfect but can be good enough. And I've managed to follow this mantra in many aspects save one.
You would not believe the number of drawings I have managed to &^%$#* - up by not knowing where to stop. I still find it difficult but, at least with computers, I can save a copy before giving in to the urge for the perfection.
Seeya,
pfgavigan
Dangermash- I've been intending to set up a site for my art, but so far I've either a. had no luck or b. failed to figure out how to do so. Take your pick! But in the meantime, I added an image above of one of my more recent paintings. Thanks for asking!
PFG- "Close enough for theater". Excellent; I love that. And your tendency to overwork a piece is understandable to anyone who ever took pencil to paper. For what it's worth, all the examples of your work I've seen have been quite enjoyable...
Like the artwork, Red. Those lines look like hairs. Abstract landscapes are definitely a liberating experience, Do I detect the use of inktense pencils in the blue and purple mountainside?
I ended up putting my artwork on a blog on blogspot like BITBA, artisticactuary,blogspot.com. It's not a website where people can click on add to basket and order directly - they have to contact me instead. But then again it's free. And I can tell the stories behind the artwork, which helps me develop by writing down lessons learned, and throw in the odd post about books and materials and things.
Dangermash- Many thanks. I generally work with Derwent watercolor pencils, as well as liquid colors and India ink.
I'll be checking out your artistic blog. Your thoughts on art and process would be most interesting!
Golly, Red--
Do I know what the painting is? Nope (clearly abstract, of course--). Do I love it? Yup-! Besides being a visually-engaging, lovely Rorschach-artwork all its own, it would (no kidding) make a GREAT background theme for a desktop/homescreen. THIS could be your FORTUNE! (I'd use it myself, except I already have the artwork of another artist amongst us fulfilling that role-- PFG's "INCREDIBLE ESKIMO BAR". . . )
And PFG/Red, you guys are stepping directly into my world with the "Close enough for theater" discussion. Hoo-boy. Over the years, though, I've tended to drop that specific phrase, as it invariably leads to an ever-decreasing bar when it comes to maintaining standards, although the original thinking is correct. "What can the audience actually see" is the spirit of that standard-- and that can be applied with a LOT more practicality. And it gives you a standard to work with when a designer or director starts getting hopelessly obsessed with a minute visual detail that will never be seen by anyone nearer than 15 feet away. (I once had a designer thoroughly chew me out because an ornamental channel in some wall panels was 3.5 /16ths of an inch wide, rather than 1/4"-- my crew and I stood there with our mouths agape. . . ).
Another designer once wanted me to spend $800 on tin-ceiling panels that, it turned out, were obstructed from every single audience member's sightline. This was a HUGE argument---
Gnrgh--! Pushin' my buttons, it does!
(Maybe THAT'S my kryptonite??)
HB
“Close enough for theatre” is a phrase I bet James Cameron doesn’t believe in. I read that he spent a fortune on getting dinner plates that had the exact pattern as the ones on the actual Titanic, from the original manufacturer. HUNDREDS of them. Most of them just fell off shelves and shattered when the ship set began to tilt. No cheap “stunt plates” for Mr. Cameron. Insane!
As for personal weaknesses, I have a few. I think I must have an addictive nature, because I have always struggled with self-control. I spent much of the early 80s in a foggy cannabis-induced stupor. For a few years there I was living like Kevin Smith, stoned practically 24 / 7. I was just getting to the point where I wasn’t really enjoying it anymore when I met my future wife, who was (and still is) vehemently anti-drug, so it was fairly easy to give it up. It amuses me sometimes that I could just walk into any dispensary now and buy as much recreational pot as I wanted to, perfectly legally. But the last time I took a hit off a joint (about ten years ago) it was SO much more potent than the stuff we used to smoke back in the day, i did not enjoy the sensation AT ALL — it pretty much ended my fascination with that particular substance. I just thank my lucky stars that I never really enjoyed any of the other recreational drugs I tried in my early twenties.
I was a chain smoker (tobacco) for almost forty years, and finally managed to quit for good four years ago. So far, I’m pretty sure it’s gonna stick this time. I do still get the cravings occasionally (and I DREAM about smoking at least a few nights a week!) but they go away really quickly. I can even enjoy the smell of other people’s tobacco smoke without freaking out and NEEDING to have one. So, I’m grateful I’ve finally kicked that habit. (Knock wood)
But then of course, after giving up cigarettes, I fell into the classic pattern of replacing one bad habit with another : SNACKS. Oh boy. Thanks to discovering Oreos with chocolate cream centers, I put on twenty pounds in about a month. An entire package would barely last me two days. Oh! And then I got into the STOOOOOPID habit of stopping at a donut shop on the way home from work and treating myself to an apple fritter as a reward for getting through another day without cigarettes.
I did eventually come to my senses and went cold turkey on cookies and donuts, but the weight stayed on. Eating fast food five days a week and not getting enough exercise (as in ZERO exercise) had a lot to do with it. Since the COVID lockdowns, I’ve managed to lose some weight, just by having more sensible homemade lunches every day — a smallish cold cut sandwich and a big-ass plate of fresh veggies instead of Popeyes fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy or Double Cheeseburger with a side of jumbo fries Monday thru Friday. I won’t lie tho, I’ve been TOTALLY jonesing for some fast food these past few months — it’s gonna be a real challenge when the COVID restrictions are lifted.
b.t.
Back to t(e original subject, my biggest weakness is that I can be a bit condescending at times.
That means I talk down to people.
Nice painting Red.
My achilles heel has been not knowing what I want to do in life. I suspect that only a tiny % do. I suspect they have most of the money / fame in the world too, lol.
Umm.... if someone smoked weed back in the 70s and is going to try it now, be very careful. One puff is it.
HB- thanks for the kind words! Hmmmmm, backgrounds...well, I did some theatrical sets back in the day...
Which, coincidentally, also affirms your comments about the perils of theatrical detailing. A quarter inch panel channel? Oy.
B.t.- congrats on your battle with temptation! You're certainly not the only one that hears the siren song of junk food. Yours truly, guilty as charged.
Charlie- your praise is most appreciated! As for your Achilles heel, you also are not alone. Sometimes deciding what to do with your day is challenging enough, let alone a lifetime!
Hiya,
I guess I wasn't the only person at this blog who paid for college by painting sets.
Gene Wilson, a wonderful teacher, designer and person, wasn't beyond letting someone put themselves into a world of hurt if he thought it would serve an important purpose.
Case in Point; A very talented student, I think this person went pro, wanted to design EVERYTHING for a production of the Gillette 'Sherlock Holmes'. Her renderings were fantastic, costumes, props, sets, even lighting. And precise, oh so precise.
Now Gene had had actual influence in the design of our theater, and his practicality resonated thru out. But his single greatest achievement was to have our set shop with direct access to the main stage with very large and high doors so our sets could be wheeled directly into place.
Now normally I would be sweating on this production handling the painting for at least one, maybe two sets. Instead I was doing the practical props that the actors would actually handle. The designer had specific notes on everything, usually with images, and I was to follow them. No discussion.
So Gene handled the painting, supervising then finishing. But the designer had to work on one set and Gene gave her the 'Trap' act, which she set in a Victorian factory composed of bricks.
Lots of bricks. Oh so many bricks. And she was very specific on how they had to look.
So Gene built the set with some very high flats, specially reinforced flats that he informed her were designed to support the method of roughing them to produce the effect of all those bricks. A combination of a single brick mold, Elmer's Glue, and a mountain of sawdust.
Yes, she literally made every brick by hand by pressing about a quarter inch of wood slurry into a mold.
Later I asked Gene why he didn't tell her about the several other methods that I could think of to accomplish a similar, if not as exact, effect.
"She didn't ask," was his response. How was she ever to learn that there were easier methods to do something if she never learned to question her own assumptions.
Close enough for theater.
Seeya,
pfgavigan
I must admit I have a weakness for alcohol - I know this because I tried giving up alcohol a few years ago but failed. So I settled for cutting back my consumption instead (including not drinking at all on two days per week) which has been successful.
But I definitely DON'T have a weakness for chocolate. Christmas is one of the rare times that I eat chocolate and even at Christmas my consumption is limited. Every year I buy the same chocolate Santa figurine - I say "Santa" but he is produced by Lindt, a Swiss company, so the figure is really a European-style Saint Nicholas rather than the more familiar American-style Santa Claus. Anyway, the chocolate figurine stands 6 inches tall and is wrapped in foil so he looks like St. Nicholas - I buy one every year around late November and put it on display in my kitchen until Christmas Eve (at which point it gets eaten obviously).
I've also bought a triangular-shaped tin of Toblerone pieces. In case you don't know, Toblerone is a triangle-shaped chocolate bar (also Swiss) which has been popular in the UK for decades. I must admit I only bought the tin because of its' unusual shape and its' festive design. But that tin of Toblerone chunks won't be opened until New Year's Eve at the earliest - and that's my extent of chocolate consumption this Christmas!
Red, I agree with HB that your painting looks like those designs for homescreens which are built into new tablets, phones etc. I recently bought a new Chromebook laptop which includes a huge choice of homescreens including similar abstract designs. But I chose a rather splendid photo of the Northern Lights.
By the way, on the subject of vulnerabilities in comics characters - one that springs to mind is Doctor Doom's fear that anybody should see the face beneath his mask.
PFG--- Ohhhh your poor friend-! I. . . can't say that I agree with Mr. Wilson's method/reasoning, in this case. Unless he did afterward debrief her on what other options she might have considered. . . and that she SHOULD look for time-saving options for such a labor-intensive project as this. 'Cause, oh boy, that transition from Academic/college theater to (invariably) small (and even shoe-string) professional theater is MURDER for rookie techs and scenics if they haven't been prepped for that step-down, where labor budgets are firm and efficient short-cuts are expected. And you have to gently let them know that, no, we won't be hand-crafting eleven thousand bricks for this street-scene. . . because it would eat up the labor budget for the next three seasons. . . (and then they look so crushed, and it's the beginning of that unavoidable theater-tech cynicism that we ALL develop. . . ) (Note: the rise of affordable 4x8 sheets of "brick" masonite sheets has been a scenic god-send---)
But dude-- we have certainly had our hands deep into the same world! You are completely speaking my professional language with your reminiscing, here!
Colin J-- those Lindt chocolate Santas are SO FLIPPIN' GOOD!! They were rather a holiday centerpiece at the upscale department stores that used to be so popular (Woodward & Lothrop; Hecht's), but have since folded. And man, Toblerone bars are dangerous, 'cause it's just about impossible to NOT eat to much of them. My wife got me started with them, like, 35 years ago--- and I was captured.
So--- with Personal Kryptonite, I would probably move it out of the realm of things I love or enjoy to the point of it being a fault (chocolate, spaghetti, old television shows, etc), and move it more literally into the realm of things that could be problematic, or even take me out of commission entirely. In my youth, there is no doubt that an example of the former was my relentless, girl-crazy skirt-chasing. High school through college. PERPETUALLY flirting and in pursuit-- radar always dialed up to 110%. It was, frankly, just ridiculous. Sitcom-worthy material. I was an inconstant, untrustworthy doof. . . completely oblivious to the fact that I was EXACTLY the kind of guy that I would warn my female friends away from. It took getting into grad school and meeting HBWife for those scales to fall away from my eyes with neck-snapping suddenness. I had long, LONG overstayed my residency in the land of gleeful hormonal surrender. . .
Since then, a much more truly Kryptonitic weakness, which literally saps my strength and ability to think and function, is extreme heat & humidity. I am a cold-weather guy, no question. If gets to even just 80 degrees, but with high humidity, I am a sweaty, fogged-out, panting puddle of humanity. The ironic thing is that I've lived in the DC area for 35+ years now. . . and this region is basically a converted swamp basin. There are times in the summer when New Orleans will be making the news for its extreme, oppressive muggy forecasts. . . and no one seems to notice that ours is somehow identical or WORSE (!!). If I suck it up and go mow the yard, say, I come back in after two hours looking like I built the Bridge Over the River Kwai. . . If Dr Doom challenged me to an early August battle at our local community center athletic field, I'd just hand him the keys to the town, and call it even. . .
HB
HB, how often do you get a white Christmas? I know that those presidential inaugurations in Washington DC sometimes take place in bitterly cold weather and Reagan's second inauguration in 1985 had to be held indoors because of a snowstorm outside so does it snow regularly at Christmas where you live? In this country Christmas cards always show scenes of snowy landscapes but it rarely snows here thanks to the effects of the Gulf Stream which is warm water from the Gulf of Mexico flowing northwards to Europe and especially affecting the British Isles (Great Britain and Ireland). The Gulf Stream mostly keeps our winters milder than they should be, considering our northerly latitude - I live on the same latitude as southern Canada but I hardly ever see snow (except for rare occasions when a wintry blast blows in from Russia).
Same question to Red or anybody else - how often do you get a white Christmas where you live?
Colin,
There's snow on the ground as I type in SE Michigan. It seems to be about 50/50 lately if we get snow on Christmas.
Hero vulnerability- Wonder Man had that self doubt in the early days after coming back, that may cause him to hesitate during battle.
p.s. Red, nice thought provoking painting.
Killraven, I'm very envious of your snow. All we get here is rain - yesterday the rain was horrendous but it's drier today thankfully.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas - but a dry Christmas will be acceptable :)
Hiya,
Hey HB, you figured out Gene's strategy. Let people do something the hard way at least once then, in the reviews ask the student what might have worked the same but for less effort. I think it was a pretty effective teaching tool for most people. But since the first words out of my mouth when faced with any sort of task is usually, "Is there an easier way how to do this," it was one he never had to use for me.
Don't feel too sorry for the designer. This was her graduate project and the results, plus Gene's recommendation, got her into the Yale program.
Hey Colin, I live in an area of the country that can go either way. This year it looks likely that we will have a fairly green Christmas. Since I'm in the shipping industry I can live with this. What I'm having problems with is that damned Amazon logo. I'm seeing it in my dreams.
Seeya,
pfgavigan
PFG and HB- ah, so many initials! Love the theater discussion; fascinating hearing the inner workings of the stage. As for my set decorating career, the main memory involves great nervousness at having to hang panels from about 20 feet above the stage. Still gives me the sweats.
Killraven- thanks; appreciate your comment about the painting. This is much better than the scathing critiques we had back in art school! And regarding Colin's question, I too envy your snow Mr. K. Here in Louisville we haven't had more than a dusting of snow in the last several years, and none on Christmas. Makes me miss living up north when we got serious snow; the Blizzard of '78 was wonderful in my teenage eyes...
I am LOVING how we just ran all over the place with tangents this week! Free-wheelers, that's us. . .
Killraven & Colin J-- Here on the north side of the DC area (Maryland) we'll have a white Christmas maybe once every four or five years. Our heavier snowfalls usually come later--- though there's a good chance we'll see one this time around it looks like! And Colin J-- Reagan's 2nd inauguration that you mentioned? HBWife (who at the time was brand new HBGirlfriend) & I were living in a dorm at Trinity College in DC at the time, and decided on a whim- the night before- to take the Metro down to the Mall as an inexpensive day-date. That morning, it was 10 degrees below zero (F), with blasting winds that made it feel -25 degrees. Record-breaking cold for the region. Foolish youths that we were, we didn't check the news to see if the program had changed. We got our frozen selves all the way down to the Smithsonian station (wind blasting all the way down into the underground tunnels), and as we exited saw sandwich boards declaring the Inaugural festivities canceled. Some of the museums were trying to close. . . except there were too many people trying to take refuge from the cold, so they couldn't throw them out. Many Metro stations closed down as well (the trains have a terrible time in extreme cold). Not. . . a fun date, albeit a memorable one.
PFG-- Wow, she got into Yale's design program? That's very impressive! Some of the school's programs have a mixed rep (long-term) for turning out artists & designers who can be. . . problematic. . . to work with. But the caliber of artistry never seems to be in question. And I've recently had a great time working with a designer who retired from Yale's faculty just a couple of years ago. (It's kind of weird to be wrangling over design compromises with someone who has literally written textbooks--)
Red-- The fact that you got yourself up there to do those panels puts you WELL ahead of the majority of humanity. I have a big problem with heights myself. . . which somehow drives me to going up a ladder whenever called upon, simply to keep that fear from controlling me. I salute you-!
HB
Colin, as HB, I (others?) could tell you, depending on where you live along a great lake means like "normal" snow fall or annual blizzards, lol.
The Chinook winds come from northwest (out of Canada) to southeast and blow over the great lakes. If you live on the east or south east side of Lake Michigan you clobbered with snow b/c the winds pick up moisture as they blow over the lake and dump it on places like South Bend, Indiana and Kalamazoo, Michigan and Buffalo, New York.
But in spring, these winds pick up the above-freezing temperatures of the great lakes and blow over the land, tending to keep that land from frosting in the spring. This allows for abundant crops of cherries, apples, (even abricots) in Michigan b/c the blossoms don't die from spring frosts.
And there is Charlie's short course on Great Lake Micro Climates, lol.
Thanks for the informative replies :)
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