My Sacrifice for the Mayan Gods - Watch the Fire Burn

I wouldn't describe this act as a pagan ritual, but out of respect for and in honor of the end of the Mayan Calendar Cycle tomorrow, December 21, 2012 [which some believe to be our imminent apocalypse or (end of days)], I made a sacrifice for the Mayan Gods.

Should mankind live on after tomorrow, I hope my gift to the higher powers will bring us good fortune, peace, and good health.

Watch the fire burn, and on Saturday, hopefully we can all dance together. Oh, and by the way, the sirens were indeed kinda eerie...

Doodle of the Day - Dealing with Rejection

Ah, the inevitable rejection. It comes in all forms. Maybe I like to torment myself. Because I seek it out a lot.

To see older blog posts and other doodles, click HERE

Epiphany - Illustration for a Short Story

Epiphany is a story about impermanence, and it takes place on a different planet, in a different age. The main character is some form of a creature, perhaps beast-like, who faces an ambiguous yet surreal predicament. It is a short story by author, John Janda, who commissioned me to create this illustration...

Acrylic wash and graphite on paper, 14" x 11", 2012.

Thank you for reading about the paintings, sculptures, drawings, works in progress, reviews, Doodle of the Day, and other art by Los Angeles artist Lucas Aardvark Novak. To see older blog posts and other doodles, click HERE :)

Portrait of a Woman in Los Angeles

This portrait measures 36" x 32", oil on canvas. In painting it, even though the subject matter is a portrait of a woman, I am not interested in making it photorealistic. I am more interested in creating subtleties in color and texture, incorporating abstraction and a variety of both loose and tight brushwork. 

In the contemporary art world, there are a number of artists, critics, and academics who dismiss the idea of oil on canvas portraiture. To them, the idea is too old fashioned and antiquated. Some make the same declarations about the idea of painting. But I believe dismissing the idea itself is to mistakenly judge a work of art before it is even created.

Painting is not for the impatient, and with new media and technology now available to almost everyone, those who want a quick fix will glance over painting, unsatisfied. But the limitations of the painting medium must be accepted. Within those limitations, regardless of the subject matter, there are infinite possibilities. I believe painting remains one of the most complex forms of art for an individual artist.

Because it is such a complex game within a confined field, it is not the ideal medium for everyone. And because it has been a form of artistic expression since primitive times, the expectations are high, and only a few painters will be remembered. Those of us who wish to take a stab at that glory don't have a choice anyway, so it doesn't matter what anyone says in the end. We will paint nonetheless.

As society continues to evolve, so does art, and so does painting. Painting will always be alive to show us how people of the past viewed the world.

Thank you for reading about the paintings, sculptures, drawings, works in progress, reviews, Doodle of the Day, and other art by Los Angeles artist Lucas Aardvark Novak. To see older blog posts and other doodles, click HERE :)

Doodle of the Day - The Origin of Cool

I think I figured out why smoking is undeniably cool. It traces back to our roots...

Thank you for reading about the paintings, sculptures, drawings, works in progress, reviews, Doodle of the Day, and other art by Los Angeles artist Lucas Aardvark Novak. To see older blog posts and other doodles, click HERE :)

Your Drawers Need To Be Ironed

A quote I like by Banksy goes like this: "All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?" It appears many artists today have the misdirected notion that the ability to draw accurately is obsolete. They convince themselves that, since their art is not representational, they need not practice the art of drawing. They reassure themselves by looking at recent art auction prices of contemporary art, like Jeff Koons’s Tulips which sold for $30 million, or Gerhard Richter’s abstracts regularly selling around a similar price. It is easy for artists to be convinced by the spotlighted outliers of the art market, driven by wealthy businessmen who treat art as commodities (or as “poker chips”). Add that academics continue to declare that intellect, concept, and cognitive value are most important in a work of art, artists today quickly disregard the importance of being able to draw accurately. (The phrase "draw accurately" does not necessarily mean in a photorealistic style.) I believe all art must carry a certain high level of craftsmanship, and the ability to draw accurately is the backbone of the craft.

It is easy to forget that artists like Picasso and Richter have produced work which demonstrates their ability to draw exactly what they want.

So, I practice drawing regularly, either in the form of doodles or quick sketches. It’s like going to the gym. Certain skills need to be ironed out periodically. The following is an example of a sketch, about 18 inches tall, of a friend who agreed to sit for me for thirty minutes. A time pressured sketch of a live person is usually a challenge, as it requires a quick grasping of shapes and efficiency of strokes with the pencil...

By they way, one of the greatest masters of efficiency of strokes with the paint brush, Diego Velazquez, has a painting at the special exhibition on Caravaggio currently at LACMA: 

Along with Georges de La Tour:

Thank you for reading about the paintings, sculptures, drawings, works in progress, reviews, Doodle of the Day, and other art by Los Angeles artist Lucas Aardvark Novak. To see older blog posts and other doodles, click HERE :)