Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Hostage


"Hostage", ink on paper, 30cm (w) x 21cm (H)

I'm just wondering if this little fella was caught thieving like his
red sister. It seemed like the ribbon maker was holding him for ransom!

The drawing was done to fit a project requirement: blue color. While I'm still contemplating if I should enter the art project, I'm using the guideline as a prompt to create drawing.


Before deciding to give drawing a go, I don't really pay much attention to color. But after reading and viewing artists' work, I knew I need to spend more time to study the use of color.


Well, when I started to work on this blue project, I thought it was going to be easy. I planned to use different shades of blue for the ribbons. Problems arrived when my hidden personal preference got in the way.


I realized that I can't stand baby blue. It brought back memory of my mum's obsession about this color when my baby brother was born. Mum would drag me to the shop and bought all the baby blue color wool to make jumpers for him. Everything my baby brother wore when he was an infant was in baby blue. AAAHHH! It drove me nuts!


Then came my discomfort towards navy blue. I spent my entire teenage years wearing navy blue school jackets. I swore that I wouldn't wear anymore navy blue for at least a couple of life time. ;)


I won't say the blues you see in the drawing are the one I like. They're the one I have the least resistance. It is also a reflection of my inability to do ink color mixing at this stage. :(


The scan was unable to show the tiny pale green dots which I placed in the middle of the little fella. At the moment it showed almost all white. Maybe I should consider to make the pale green into a deeper green. The same pale green dots also didn't show up obvious in the actual drawing. The viewer(s) need to get up and be personal to enjoy it. Come to think of it, I quite like the idea about a drawing which gives different perspective to the viewers.


As usual, I'd love to know what you think of this drawing. Thanks!

23 comments:

EVA said...

Hi Hybrid J

Another wonderful star fish! They are both so charming!

I love the contrast between his dots and ribbons!

You can enter hm into a blue art project? How exciting!

I look forward to seeing more!

Anonymous said...

Hi Hybrid J

I like the starfish and the flowing, wrapping, intertwining ribbon! It's like they're in a dance together! Funny how you feel about blue. Maybe this blue starfish can help you with some new associations! Very cool!

Barbara/myth maker said...

Reminds me of the Dylan song "Tangled up in Blue". :)

linda said...

Your work is so beautiful - so delicate! I think it's nice that you explored a color and found out your preferences...pretty cool color exploration exercise!

forward tumble said...

wow! It's brilliant! Very, very good, I like it a lot.

I see you're a nanowrimo, too! Nice to meet a fellow writer.

Glad to have found you, looking forward to watching your creative art.

Ines

Amy said...

The first thing I felt when I saw this was struggle, trapped, wiggling to be released. The little caught fella pleads "let me go..." And then I felt the ribbon was a desperate being, begging to hold onto the little fella, needing to wrap itself around him. Amazing to get all that from a beautifully simple drawing. I like it.

Lois0607 said...

I love this drawing too. Very very nice

Unknown said...

I really like the simple, clean lines, and all the white space. When I first looked at the picture, (I wasn't wearing my glasses yet) I thought it was a 3d fiber sculpture. Do you ever reinterpret the same idea in 2d and 3d?

WrightStuff said...

Ah... there's me thinking you hadn't posted a picture in a while and...

Love this one too - so quirky with its own personality. They are a bunch of rascals those starfish aren't they!

Really great!

ELLIE said...

I absolutely love your pen and ink drawings - so fantasy like - I love it - what kind of paper do you use and is the same paper that is on those little easels? I really like it all!!
thanks so much for stopping by - I so appreciate it!!

Beverley Baird said...

I love the idea of struggle and tension in your artwork. I like the blues - but then I like blue - any shade!
Thanks for stopping by - I love hearing from you.
Take care.

Julie said...

I love the flow and movement and such beautiful blues. I adore starfish.

Leah said...

It's interesting what our associations with color are, isn't it?

Love your drawing! the ribbons are fantastic!

Chapter Forty said...

Fluid motion here, you have captured the ribbon's movement well. I dont sense your dislike of Blue in this though.

Hybrid J said...

Hi Everyone,

A heartfelt thank you for your encouraging comments. You gals rock! :)

aimee said...

it's a lovely blue and it looks like rippling water! so pretty!

Unknown said...

It's a nice piece. Fits the title. Re "...like the idea about a drawing which gives different perspective to the viewers", I think all art does that anyway...

Leone said...

I left a comment here the other day but it is not showing up. I love the quirckiness of this piece, everything you do is so unusual and unique. I look forward to the next piece.

Marie Young (Marie Young Creative) said...

Thank you for the words of encouragement you left on my blog. It is always nice to meet new people in the virtual world.

I love this piece and your thought process on why you chose the shade of blue. I have strong feelings toward blue as well. I just celebrated my 10 year anniversary at Penn State University today. I use a lot of blue at work!

M.M.E. said...

I love the rhythm of this piece. I completely know how you feel about the need to study color. I've neglected it for far too long. I really like the idea behind your piece, and the symbolism of the star fish and the ribbons. I can't wait to see what you create next.

Veena said...

I too love the struggle and tension in your work. You create such beauty out of struggle!

Angie said...

Hi HybridJ, glad you like my SoulDiva she was fun to make, felting feels very freeing to me.
Your drawing of the ribbons is beautiful, it seems the streamers have movement, and you have captured the tones quite well.(I love blue, particularly teals, acquas, and torquoise)
Also you are most welcome, I only give honest comments about what I see, your work has progressed in such a short time, the sky is the limit :) Angie ox

Julia Christie said...

First time visitor...I love your technique! Looking forward to enjoying more of your work.

Smiles