I usually make my drawings/paintings very intuitively without much thinking at all, but when it comes to painting on objects like this beautiful handcrafted skateboard, I tend to have trouble deciding what to do. so it was a bit of a challenge when peter gave me about half an hour to paint this brandnew already waxed deck to see if the paint would stick to the finishing coat…
so much fun !!
thanks once more to @nebel.skateboards !!
stay tuned, more thought-through decks coming soooooon !
blissterious stoke today, crippeling self-doubt tomorrow. art is hard. nevermind! who cares? just scribble on, dear friend ! (this applies to most of life of course.)
This one is full of things to analyze! Very rich imagery.
I am seeing 11 points of interest so far. Looking at all of them will give a good starting point for analysis.
This is an initial review of
lookin for the lost gift by Marcus Bartos, @ravingindian. There may be some typos.
An alien bug (8)reaches out from the gift box (9), similar to a jack-in-the-box. There are a number of variables to consider here. Was the gift something the main character received, then lost? And did the alien bug take the place of the original gift? Or was the alien bug the original gift, which had been lost, under the table? Or was the gift something the main character intended to give to someone else, but then lost? Also of note, the shadow of the alien bug gives hints of a devil, a demon.
The shadows (10) of the alien bug and the main character also have some interplay. That suggests another level of subconscious depth. There are also shadows on the table (1). The floor (11) gives hints of the sky and specifically the times of dawn, the time when the sun is rising, and dusk, the time when the sun is setting. So there is an element of waking up, but also falling asleep. The blue also gives a slight sense of a pool of water, which can have meanings of reflecting…thinking or getting a reflection of one'self. The umbrella (5) or is it a lamp with a lightbulb?…also says we are talking about something kind of private, the illumination of the inner world, with various levels of light and darkness required to see/not see certain specific things about one'self. So all this adds up to personal insights into the main character’s levels of awareness about themself. One more thing about the floor (11) is that it is somewhat rounded, giving a hint of the global, Earth, the world. In that sense, there is the notion that an individual’s insights into themselves can be helpful when trying to figure out the outside world around them, but is there a warning that not everything works the same outside as it does inside? There are different rules and dynamics. One more thing about the umbrella/lamp (5) is that it is also kind of at the top of a pyramid, which is on top of the world.
The illuminated corner of the table (6) with the empty glass…or is it full?…and the plate with the almost smiling foods: "I am eating, consuming, sensing, experiencing. This is giving me some perhaps surface level emotions, but there are possibly more complex, “darker” things going on below the surface…in the subconscious mind/body. Due to the distorted perspectives in the line work, the main character appears to be almost lifting the table up, knocking the table over (2) while looking for the lost gift. Looking into the subconscious mind can disturb one’s normal conscious mind-flow and social interactions sometimes.
Does the main character even see the little monster alien bug reaching out? If so, the character does not seem too surprised or scared by it. This gives a sense that the character accepts that there are things going on under the surface that could be unsettling, anxiety inducing, but the main character is not exhibiting signs of those types of emotions. Instead the facial expression of the hairless baby-face / genderless, sexless adult human face seems dutifully inspecting.
Now…more questions arise
Was ignorance about the subconscious mind the lost gift, in an ignorance is bliss sort of way? The ability of the conscious and subconscious minds to interact more easily to get things done, to get through the day without crises of confusion popping up every few thoughts, every few feelings? This is all speculation on my part, but these are the kinds of things that are coming up in my mind while trying to figure out this image. Also of note are the patterns (3 and 4) on the main characters clothing. The saying “to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve” means to let one’s feelings show, perhaps too much, in dealings with others. The hearts are on the main body of the main character, which is interesting because it seems to say, they have to have some feelings. They are human, but also there are what appear to be snowflakes, on their sleeves, signalling a need to keep people at a distance for practical reasons.
The reptilian part of the brain is said to be the oldest part of the brain, evolutionarily speaking. The reptilian brain is selfish and wants protection, power, and pleasure. It doesn’t care much about others, unless it is thinking how to use others. The main character has a tail (7). The tail looks somewhat reptilian, but also somewhat rodent-like.
Self-image, self confidence, social identity. Relationships with others. Relationship with the self. Understanding the self in order to function better with the self and with others. One’s own wants and needs. Societal pressures. The societal demands on the individual. The individual’s demands on society. The subconscious. The conscious.
