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Blog Writings

Work in Progress


I thought I’d share this with you all, my hypothetical readers. This is a special drawing on a piece of paper that’s 24′ x 20′ — this is much bigger than my usual drawings, which are just on generic computer paper. I was wondering if I had more room if it would provide the opportunity for more complicated images and so far I’m not disappointed. I also thought this image would be demonstrative of my ‘process’, in that you can still see all of the random lines, as well as the main image I highlighted with pen.

It took me three hours to draw, interpret, and highlight this image. The drawing just involved me putting down lines that felt right — and I might say, it felt nice to be able to make bigger sweeping lines. I’d like to get a piece of paper that’s like six foot by four foot. Oh man, that would be awesome. But I’m distracting myself! It took the bulk of my time to interpret this image, though. The big complicating factor here is that the mess of sprawling can be viewed in four different ways, which essentially gives you four different images. I have to decide which of the ways has the most promising or most distinct image and then highlight that.

Which also means that  for every image I make, there’s three that don’t get made. I know that with all of my high-tech gadgetry I could probably scan an image before I ‘interpret’ it, and then ‘interpret’ it in the four different ways — or even more, if I wanted to. But the thing is, it takes a certain kind of self-assuredness to do art, and dwelling on everything it could be and trying to cover all of the bases feels like the artistic equivalent of hanging on “Might have beens” and “maybes”. A person can become paralyzed if they become too obsessed with looking at all of their options. I guess you could say I see every individual mass of random lines as one “life”, and just as I do with the life I’ve been giving, I try to make the best of what I’ve given. Giving one sea of lines four lives is overkill when you think about how long and powerful just one can be.

As for the images I didn’t draw in this one, it probably would’ve looked mostly similar any which way I approached the drawing. There were all of these faces in the lines regardless of which way you classified ‘up’ and ‘down’ — and I’m pretty certain they were supposed to represent me. One direction had a weak image of me lying on my bed with my legs leaning against each other at the knee and coming at the viewer; another had two people with out stretched hands that fused into each other. Both of these weak images had random faces behind them. I decided I liked this one the best because the idea of one mane of flowing hair connecting to two or more people was an interesting one to me.

 

Categories
Abstract Art The Heroine Sequence

The Heroine Sequence, Pt. XII


The Heroine Sequence, Pt. XII
Alex Hinders, 2012.
Colored pencil and marker.

The “Evil” Sorcerer, the former apprentice of the Wizard, professed to have seen the error of his ways, and that he regretted all of his rash actions. When this didn’t sway her father’s opinion, the Princess threatened to run away to another kingdom with the Sorcerer if he didn’t approve their marriage. It was at about this point that the Heroine and the Wizard started to feel infinitely awkward; this domestic affair really wasn’t any of their business. They politely excused themselves in the midst of the battle.

The Heroine wanted to believe that love could conquor all but she was also fairly certain love was supposed to devoid of any literal or physical conquoring; The Wizard found the situation amusing, but offered no opinions. It was at this point the subject of when to part came up — they were both heading to the same port so they figured they would travel together until then. The Wizard wanted to hurry to the Demon’s Seal and see if he could repair the Seal while the Demon Lord rested. The Heroine was less sure of her next destination, but figured she should stop off at her home first.

Categories
Abstract Art The Heroine Sequence

The Heroine Sequence, Pt. XI

The Heroine Sequence, Pt. XI
Alex Hinders, 2012.
Colored pencil and marker.

The ousted king and his daughter returned to their kingdom as soon as word spread that the Demon Lord had bested and the Sorcerer had surrendered. With the crown returned, the king was fully back in power and started the process of rebuilding his kingdom — it hadn’t been seriously damaged during the seizure, but the land was in a disorganized chaos. The Wizard refused any gifts or treasure, saying he didn’t need anything more than he had; The Heroine asked for a modest amount of gold to fund her next adventure. In addition, the King granted both of them citizenship to his kingdom and the right to land ownership.

As for the Evil Sorcerer, he was originally to be executed, until the Princess intervened. It seemed that once she learned it was a sweeping romantic gesture to win her heart she found the whole notion so romantic that she demanded their immediate marriage. The re-crowned King was furious about this — why should he forgive the guy that overthrew his kingdom? And why would he want to let the scoundrel marry his daughter?

Categories
The Heroine Sequence

The Heroine Sequence, Pt. X

 

The Heroine Sequence, Pt. X
Alex Hinders, 2012.
Colored pencil and marker.

The Demon Lord changed form into a hulking monster with long and thick arms that each contained a deadly claw. The Heroine charged into battle while the Wizard fell back and drew some symbols on the floor. As the Wizard started casting a spell he explained that his magic wasn’t strong enough to hurt the Demon Lord — so he was casting a spell to negate the use of magic in the area. Once the spell was completed the Demon Lord would temporarily exist as a purely physical being and it would be up to the Heroine to finish him off in traditional combat.

The Demon Lord was stunned; he touched his body as if he was seeing it for the first time. Then he howled in rage and charged at the Heroine. Claw slashes were parried with sword and attempts to throw his weight against the Heroine were nimbly evaded. While his form was good for intimidation it seemed it was a poor choice for physical combat — all of that flesh exposed. The Heroine was able to land blow after blow on his monstrous flesh, leaving gashes across the body. Although the Demon Lord had no blood to bleed he could feel pain for the first time in his life.

The battle continued until the Demon Lord lay on the floor motionless; his great chest heaving up and down. Just as the Heroine drew her sword for the killing blow the Wizard was unable to sustain his spell any longer and the demon’s magical abilities returned to him. In an instant, the Demon Lord disappeared. The Wizard figured that the only logical place for him to go was back to where he was originally sealed away, as he was vulnerable and near death, thus needing a place to rest. It would probably take hundreds of years for the Demon Lord to recover.

For now, the battle was won, and the kingdom freed.

Categories
Abstract Art

Red Aether

Red Aether
Alex Hinders, 2011.
Colored pencil and pen.

This is the newest background for the site. I thought you might appreciate being able to get a good look at it — especially since most of it is covered up by the blog’s text box. I know it’s not quite as perky as the previous background, but I was starting to get tired of that one, and I want this blog to have a feeling of constant renewal to it; this is also the reason why I have the random header image system going on. I also kind of thought that the old one didn’t quite fit with the seasons anymore — it had such a Spring/Summer-y feel to it.

Categories
Abstract Art The Heroine Sequence

The Heroine Sequence, Pt. IX

The Heroine Sequence, Pt. IX.
Alex Hinders, 2012.
Colored pencil and marker.

Sitting upon his throne, the Evil Sorcerer looked like a hollow man, devoid of passion. After a long spell of staring into space he noticed he had visitors. They looked at him silently, the Heroine with her sword sheathed and the Wizard with his arms folded behind his back. The Evil Sorcerer, formerly The Wizard’s failed Apprentice, sighed, and told his story. All he had wanted to was impress the Princess  and his stubborn mind thought a show of force would demonstrate the depth of his passions. So he unsealed the Demon Lord in exchange for more power and a small army. The decision, it turned out, had been a poor one.

The Wizard had anticipated that the Demon Lord was involved with this — he knew that his former apprentice couldn’t take a kingdom by himself; he also sensed that the ancient seal had been broken. He had hoped the two events weren’t related. The Heroine shrugged and suggested that they just slay the Demon Lord and be done with it — but the Wizard said that the fiend’s powers far surpassed his own.

It was at this point the Demon Lord appeared, floating above them.

Categories
Abstract Art

Diamonds in My Blood

Diamonds in My Blood
Alex Hinders, 2012.
Colored pencil and markers.

Whatever meaning this drawing holds is beyond me. I chose the title because the woman’s skin kind of looks like diamond and it looks like she’s standing inside her own blood with little cells floating around. It also reminds me of a song lyric which I will now quote:

“If our cells are our destiny
I want to be free of biology.”
–Crash,
David Byrne

Categories
Abstract Art

Molecular Incohesion

 

Molecular Incohesion
Alex Hinders, 2012.
Colored pencil and marker.

I like bold outlines in my artworks and in my cartooning; there’s something visually quite pleasing about it. It ‘contains’ things. It boldly says, “The things within this boundary are all inter-related to one another and form a whole.” I noticed in the first decade of the 2000’s that a good deal of cartoons were tossing aside this black line and instead just letting the end of a certain color to be it’s own boundary point. It bothered me that in these cartoon worlds the boundaries between the background environment and objects, the characters, and all of the elements that made up the characters were getting blurred. While I could easily make the distinction myself without getting confused, that harsh distinction simply wasn’t there.

I bring this up because when I’m feeling philosophical I often like to think about how there’s no outline to the molecules that make ‘us’, and the rest of the universe. These molecules that make us — eventually they’re clashing side by side with the molecules that make up the air and the world around us and we’d be hard presed to pinpoint where that line is. That fine line is constantly changing, anyway, so it wouldn’t do us any good to point it out. In a larger and broader sense we sort of have that problem with the planet Earth itself — eventually our upper atmosphere thins out into into outer space.
Now I don’t pretend to be the first person to have thought of any of these things; people way smarter than me have explored this idea before. But it is something that shapes my view and my understanding of the universe. Looking at the universe through this lens is both comforting and unnerving. It is comforting in that it connects us with the rest of the universe and gives us a greater sense of self; it is unnerving in the sense that it almost robs us of our sense of individual being.

Regardless if it’s liberating or diminishing, this drawing has black outlines around the body and hair of an individual woman. Unfortunately, this woman’s molecules have come undone and are floating about here and there. In the negative space between the peices there are sub-outlines that define a block of color and further confuse things. Is she wearing a purple dress, or are her peices simply floating in a purple void? Does my use of outlines say something deeper about how my mind works? Who knows. Please Enjoy the pleasant confusion of disconnectedness in this drawing.

 

Categories
The Heroine Sequence

The Heroine Sequence, Pt. VIII


The Heroine Sequence, Pt. VIII
Alex Hinders, 2012.
Colored pencil and pen.

Upon approaching the Sorcerer’s castle the Heroine and the Wizard were greeted by the sight of a small group of mages in haphazard formation. The Heroine drew her sword and the Wizard sent off a few warning sparks and most of the lesser mages scattered; a few of the braver souls casted a few spells before fleeing. The Underling himself appeared when all of his troops had deserted himself and gave about an equal amount of effort before departing himself. With no more obstacles before them, the Heroine and the Wizard made their way for the throne room.

Categories
Abstract Art

Autumn Woman


Autumn Woman
Alex Hinders, 2012.
Colored pencil and pen.

The fall is my favorite time of the year — even if it precedes my least favorite time of the year, winter. All of a sudden the trees burst into brilliant shades of red, orange, yellow, and even pink — and then the color falls off of the trees and accumulates in piles below them. Beautiful. Last year I came across a series of trees that went in the order of the rainbow up to green; that’s 4/6ths of the visual spectrum as far as I’m concerned. (I don’t think Indigo needs to count as a distinct color. Sorry.) I wanted to experiment with a color scheme that would invoke this radiant feeling that Autumn gives off and this drawing of a woman standing next to a tree was the perfect opportunity.