Monday, January 3, 2011

MOBY-DICK, Page 503

Title: "Away! What possesses thee to this? Make a life-buoy of the coffin, and no more."

7.75 inches by 10.75 inches
ink, marker and watercolor paint on found paper
December 22, 2010

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6 comments:

  1. TitusJanuary 3, 2011 at 12:41 PM

    I love the tatoo-y organic-ness of this one.

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  2. WinstonJanuary 3, 2011 at 6:02 PM

    I'm impressed how you can tell you're looking at the ocean even there's no ocean drawn here, just skulls. And the flowers that grow from the folly of the dead (in the ocean!) look back the bones they've spouted from.

    Also, this looks like an album cover for some of the best heavy metal ever played. I don't even like heavy metal, but I want to hear this.

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  3. WOPettitJanuary 3, 2011 at 10:54 PM

    I have always loved the coffin.... the inanimate object in the novel that just keeps on giving.... Nicely done!

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  4. Matt KishJanuary 4, 2011 at 9:01 AM

    Titus, this one was great fun to do. It was a slippery piece, changing a few times as I drew it, but it did finally come out quite nicely after some wrestling.

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  5. Matt KishJanuary 4, 2011 at 9:05 AM

    Winston, thank you, those are very kind comments indeed. As I alluded to in the prior comment, this one changed a bit as I worked on it but I am pleased to read that what I had hoped for (showing that ocean without actually drawing an ocean, and that contrast between the dead skulls and bones and the living flowers growing from them) actually did show in the final piece.
    The heavy metal comment was just wonderful, one of the best comments I have ever received. My childhood, my teen years and even some of my adult years were staring, endlessly, at album art from prog bands to metal bands. Any time someone compares my art to a heavy metal album I am deliriously happy.

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  6. Matt KishJanuary 4, 2011 at 9:07 AM

    Bill, thank you very much. The piece was originally just black and white but I knew it needed something more for the coffin to stand out. I showed it to my wife who suggested simply adding color to the coffin. I didn't want to do a flat brown so, thinking back on all of those trippy cartoons I watched in the 70s, I thought of doing this weird watercolor-y wash. It turned out well, giving the coffin a rather paradoxical lively appearance even though it is as stiff and unyielding as a corpse.

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