as i move to the next stage of decorating my torso (it's finally the color i want it to be - funnily enough, based on leftover paint from my beloved blue room), i find myself turning to saul steinberg. a jew who fled europe in the years leading to WWII, he became the quintessential new yorker and was, for years, a cartoonist at the new yorker.
i'm drawn to his simple lines, his use of rubber stamps, his clever fingerprints, his small topographies and the way in which he mixes styles. especially that last bit.
i do like to draw and mostly i draw plants and feathers, but also buildings - barns and houses. i had a couple of steinberg's books from the library a couple of months ago and i snapped these iPhone shots of the things i wanted to save.
there's something about me and inspiration and i never know when i will actually use it, but i am a compulsive collector of things which inspire. but, if you've been coming around here any length of time, or follow any of my 119 pinterest boards, you know that.
i love this passport photo steinberg made with his own fingerprints. a passport is an identifying document, and what could be more identifying than a fingerprint. it's genius.
this seems to have been made of spilled ink - i love the notion that something artistic and beautiful can come of a mistake and i imagine being able to use that on my torso somewhere.
here's some of that mixed style i was referring to - all within one piece. the man in the middle is my favorite. people aren't really something that i draw much, but i'd like to try something like that.
i love the way these small, disparate drawings are connected by ladders and stairs, it has an autobiographical ring to it that i think will be perfect on my torso.
and a collection of meaningful objects - this is the kind of thing i draw in my art journals - just collections of the random things which are lying around the house.
and this use of rubber stamps in an unexpected fashion just speaks to me. i guess i'd better get to work.
what/who is inspiring you?
2 comments:
Attributed to John Lennon - tho I don't know for certain he said it, but once, when asked what music he listened to, he replied, "My own".
I've thought about that comment for many years - and while I ascribe to it as an over-riding philosophy, I also believe it's nearly impossible to not be drawn in by other people's work.
As always, the magic is, what you do with inspiration...
I love the last one - ad the use of stamps in a different way! Thanks for sharing these!
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