Welcome back to Artist’s Corner, the bit of my blog in which I try to pass off rudimentary doodles as art.
For the last few weeks I’ve been posting the same kind of sub-standard drawings as was my way when I first started doing this back in 2017.
But these days I have a collaborative partner in the form of my almost-two-year-old daughter who has kindly embellished my drawings with her own artistic interpretations.
And the results have been astonishing. I mean they’re still quite bad drawings and the scribblings of a toddler do little to redeem them, but it has resulted in some of the most entertaining ‘comments sections’ I’ve ever seen on this blog.
So, people of the blogosphere, you are once again encouraged to channel your own inner art critics and share your pretentious gibberish in the comments section below as you take in the power and majesty of ‘Snake’.
It was originally going to be a frog. That’s what Little Proclaims ‘commissioned’. But when I started drawing the head, I felt that it looked more like a snake. So I finished off the drawing as if I’d meant to draw a snake all along.
Little Proclaims didn’t seem to mind…
James Proclaims! 
Could this be, or at some level ‘represent’ a snake shedding it’s skin?
If it is, the undeniable panic in the eyes says that it’s probably the snake’s first time to do this.
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It could well represent exactly that at ‘some level’. Admittedly not a level I’ve ever visited but I rarely get out of my office on the ‘superficial level’ these days…
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I can just feel this comments section about to lite up over the next few hours and days.
Get ready folks for some of the rip roarin’-ist entertainment since, well… SNAKES ON A PLANE (2006)?
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That snake has a somewhat worried look. As well he might, with an orange felt tip coming towards his eyeballs at speed, doubtless held with the ‘stabbing grip’ and brandished with some enthusiasm.
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The ‘stabbing grip’ is the current methodology of choice…
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The snake has the confused expression of one who has just read one of my blogs, while the unfocused colourful lines represent the unfocused blog content!
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Au contraire, I think the snake enjoyed the brief reference to Adam and Eve in your last post. Brought back some happy memories…
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Opalescent colours of subtle tones are suddenly juxtaposed to bright opaque primary patches expertly placed to jolt the senses. A shock to the senses that draws us in for a closer look, only to be rewarded by the more quiet changes in mood effected by masterly use of soft lines that lull us back to a sense of security.
This work brings back memories of childhood from the depths of forgotten images but the levity does not detract from the sheer visual eloquence that is the hallmark of this artist.
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Someone has upped their game this week!
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One can palpably feel the indecision of the artist in this work. What could have started life as a chipmunk, morphed into a snake, albeit there are hints of a tadpole intent on maturity as a frog. The indecision is reflected in the bold shading which leads to a whole new perspective in the foreground. Not, I fear, a contender for this year’s Turner prize!
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Personally I think it’s still got a shot, but art is so subjective…
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I can see that much of the color is where the body of the frog might have been if you had followed your collaborator’s instructions more closely. I am sure there is an unconscious and subliminal message in that. The choice of dark orange as the predominant color indicates a high level of distrust. I think what this piece is saying is either that it is a subconscious plea for help with getting a frog on Little Proclaims’ part or it’s the work of an almost two-year old with a marker.
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It could be a little of both…
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Looks to me like Little Proclaims has been channeling her inner Turner and drawn her version of the Fighting Temeraire. Your addition would then be a zephyr, with cheeks full of air to blow out the ship’s fire. I have half a degree in Art History, to go with my half brain, so I probably don’t know what I’m talking about 😊
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You’re easily the most qualified person here…
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Then I feel sorry for everyone else…
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Might Professor Pretenshuz-Upstick weigh in? ‘Snake’ leads one down the mythical route;
There are touches of Quetzalcoatl overlaid with traces of a nascent Kermit, the whole rendered with a primitive Grandma Moses gusto. The colour palette has the aqua shade endemic to the South American locus, the earth tones indicating the circular motif of birth, life and a return to the earth, thence to be reborn, phoenix like!
Ones eyes are drawn again and again to the eyes of the creature, there to see the bafflement expressed by the outsider lost in the harsh reality of an uncaring cold-blooded world. Man, Myth and Magic metamorphosed into a divinely perverse Dr Moreauean creature, cast adrift, a mutant discarded DNA Dolly mixture.
Art serving as warning against unethical DNA manipulation if I’ve ever seen one. Exhilarating and chilling. I fear I’m going to have to lie down now.
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The bar was high this week but you appear to have just vaulted it
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Art student Mr Gumby looked at it and said ‘My Brain hurts.’ it’s all in the beholders ars- ahem, eye.
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As predicted, this comments banquet has definitely not dissapointed, serving up some absolute gems so far. I never stop marveling at how a select few blogs – this one included – can be so entertaining and yet still free to read.
If James Proclaims ever introduced the dreaded Paywall, I reckon I’d be one of the first to sign up and actually pay for content. Of course if that ever happened, I’d be looking for some type of Platinum Subscription that included free bonuses like copies of signed originals and whatnot by Little Proclaims, first editions of THE COLLECTED WORKS OF JAMES EXPLAINS and maybe even throw in first-look previews of any forthcoming titles in James’s highly popular spoof novel series.
Not too much to ask really – if you’re paying for it.
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Rest assured, if I ever have the temerity to try and charge anyone for this, there will be signed T-shirts for everyone!
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If a frog, a snake, and the Mona Lisa had an orgy, your image would be the result.
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And if that isn’t the definition of art then I don’t know what is…
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The rationality of the snake moves silently into our subconscious, finding a peaceful haven in the darkest reaches of our mind. The oversized head suggests, on a subliminal level, the outsized emphasis which we put on rational thought. Meanwhile the tail, small and fading away in the distance, brings into sharp focus the incredible lack of balance which we find in modern society. The portrayal of the snake forces us to confront our own deepest prejudices, and come face to face with who we really are. The brown and blue lines which are drawn on the figure represent the Earth and the sky, suggesting a social remedy which literally grounds us, and finds us more in touch with nature. The purple is a stunning rebuke of the opulence which surrounds western life.
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I feel quite emotional now
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I may not know art but I know what I like! And I like this–Michelangelo doesn’t even come close!
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I can only assume you mean the ninja turtle…
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Clearly I am unqualified to comment, for I simply see a startled sperm cell, terrified at the thought of the next incoming pen mark. Apologies and next time I promise to keep my thoughts to myself (maybe).
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I definitely feel the tone has been lowered…
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Yeah, it was definitely a lights up after last call at the bar kind of comment. Sorry about that.
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I’m not sure which of you was in charge of the coloured pens, but they definitely drew the better snake 😉
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Credit where credit’s due
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