 Viva le kalabaw! Viva il kalesa!, Detail, 42.75 x 34.25" / 108.585 x 86.995 cm, Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Paper, 2016 “Cookie cutter people.” “Amoebas with hair.” “Why don’t they have fingers?” These are a few of things I’ve heard about my work over the long years I’ve depicted what I just call blobs in my art. I remember trying to, explain myself once or twice in a couple of those descriptions of your work that you put in the exhibit proposals you give to a gallery. But I guess I never, you know. Explained myself properly ^_^; On the cusp of my second exclusively online show, half of which comprises blobs, I thought now might be a good time to, ‘explain’ how and why I draw and paint this way. And since the other half comprises what I just call potatoes, which one might say evolved out of the blobs, I thought I might take the opportunity to explain those, too. Not that I feel I need to explain anything to anyone, of course. Just on the off chance anyone might be interested or even mildly curious, or something ^o^; Visual ShorthandAs a writer who’s had occasion to interview people for articles without any means of recording~ no, I don’t actually know shorthand XD But we all went to school at some point and know what it’s like to take notes in class. And, if I may, share something a wee bit personal here, growing up I had developed my own little pictograms which I used in my diaries and such and which I still use to some extent today.  These pictograms may have been the result of these ‘brown books’ we had back home. There was a book on ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and Cro-Magnon man, that kinda thing. So I was heavily into hieroglyphics and Egyptian mythology and cave paintings. It was just so much easier or quicker to draw a sun or a cow instead of write the word ‘sun’ or ‘cow’ (cuter too lol).  I guess it was because of that I started using blobs as sort of, way to depict my own cave paintings or tribal art and it kind of just became a habit. As I grew older, before I went to art school (but after I’d discovered comics ^o^) I started using the pictograms and the blobs for planning or making thumbs for my work. You know how when people like to jot things down in a notebook they keep handy? So they won’t forget an idea or some eureka moment or flash of brilliance that came to them in the shower (or close by XD)? It’s kind of like that with blobs, for me.
So the blobs in my notebook on the left were thumbs for the blobs on the right...
|
 Like I would draw this ^ |  When I actually mean this ^ |
I also sort of, liken or draw parallels between my blobs and 8-bit video games ^_^
 Like, your eyes see this ^ |  When your mind sees this ^ |
Incidentally, they say the video games today, since they’re so real (not that that’s a bad thing, of course), they leave very little to the imagination~ same goes for cartoons / animation.
Make of that what you will; in any case, as with the case of the time when someone (who was no mean artist herself) said a centaur I drew looked like an amoeba with hair~
Make of that what you will; in any case, as with the case of the time when someone (who was no mean artist herself) said a centaur I drew looked like an amoeba with hair~
 |  - 'CAN'T SAY I BLAME HER, THOUGH lol' |
~it didn’t take me long to figure out that just because something was so very clear to me, didn't mean it would be seen (or at least understood) exactly the same way by someone else.
Like not too long ago I was presenting Messages in the Ether to some people and I was pointing out the monsters in it and they were all, ‘Oh’, ‘I don’t see it’ ~ well, it was online (and at night) and maybe my lighting and all that… or maybe it was another case of amoebiasis ^^;
Like not too long ago I was presenting Messages in the Ether to some people and I was pointing out the monsters in it and they were all, ‘Oh’, ‘I don’t see it’ ~ well, it was online (and at night) and maybe my lighting and all that… or maybe it was another case of amoebiasis ^^;
Can you see an upside down avian and a sleeping dwarf and rabbit and...
Anyway I guess that’s why I had to learn-learn how to draw-draw XDDDDD And I’m still learning, even now, I guess until I die.
‘Final Thumbs’
Moonlight Parade, 30 x 43" / 76.2 x 109.22 cm, Watercolour on Paper, 2006
The thing is, one day, I kind of noticed how I liked my thumbs better than my final work ^_^; Or well, at least just as much as~ like I felt, sorry? That people wouldn’t see the thumbs as well as their comparatively more defined or detailed counterparts.
Before then it would never have occurred to me to show blobs in public. They were just for notebooks or scratch paper, you know? (Plus that whole, people will think I don’t know how to draw thing, I, confess.)
But I guess, what I liked about my blobs was their (for lack of a better word, really) purity. The, immediacy or zero lag time, if you will, between, fertilisation in my brain to coming out on paper (or wherever). Caught in the act, if you like. No hang ups over detail or accuracy, proportion or lighting or even colour or what.
And there was that whole 8-bit thing ~ the amoeba could be something (or rather someone) else in your head.
So~ why shouldn’t they be, you know. Framed and hung on a wall for people to see same as all the other jillamonsters? Equal rights and all ^^ (No seriously ~ just because they’re not rendered with fully formed feathers or scales or hair doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to exist, I guess. Blobs or potatoes or otherwise, they are all my children and I love them equally ^^)
Before then it would never have occurred to me to show blobs in public. They were just for notebooks or scratch paper, you know? (Plus that whole, people will think I don’t know how to draw thing, I, confess.)
But I guess, what I liked about my blobs was their (for lack of a better word, really) purity. The, immediacy or zero lag time, if you will, between, fertilisation in my brain to coming out on paper (or wherever). Caught in the act, if you like. No hang ups over detail or accuracy, proportion or lighting or even colour or what.
And there was that whole 8-bit thing ~ the amoeba could be something (or rather someone) else in your head.
So~ why shouldn’t they be, you know. Framed and hung on a wall for people to see same as all the other jillamonsters? Equal rights and all ^^ (No seriously ~ just because they’re not rendered with fully formed feathers or scales or hair doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to exist, I guess. Blobs or potatoes or otherwise, they are all my children and I love them equally ^^)
(And to heck and back and back again with what people might think, eh? (If they think I can’t draw… they’d be right ROFLMAO)
Equal Love
Okay, Mr Sunshine, 43 x 30.75" / 109.22 x 78.105 cm, Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Canvas, 2007
What I find interesting, or rather, what I discovered was that~ okay, so, my first blob show (which was actually my second, ever), I have a vague memory of saying something like, ‘Okay, I’ll just make short work of this and then move on’. (Even then, I was juggling Bruce Wayne and Batman lives.)
Well, I found out that even though they were ‘just blobs’ ~ they took just as much time and energy (and only heaven will ever know what else u_u|||) as my work that, isn’t, ‘just blobs’.
Surprise, surprise ~ but looking back, it shouldn’t have surprised me, really. If only because, all kids deserve to be loved equally and get the same kind and level of care and attention (even if you’re not, like, the favourite or something).
I definitely remember saying that again during my third show which involved blobs in acrylic and oil pastel on canvas (because I’m generally faster on canvas than I am on paper). I also definitely remember eating those words not long afterwards ^^;
Well, I found out that even though they were ‘just blobs’ ~ they took just as much time and energy (and only heaven will ever know what else u_u|||) as my work that, isn’t, ‘just blobs’.
Surprise, surprise ~ but looking back, it shouldn’t have surprised me, really. If only because, all kids deserve to be loved equally and get the same kind and level of care and attention (even if you’re not, like, the favourite or something).
I definitely remember saying that again during my third show which involved blobs in acrylic and oil pastel on canvas (because I’m generally faster on canvas than I am on paper). I also definitely remember eating those words not long afterwards ^^;
Free-flowing Expression
One of my first, if not the first blob paintings. Still *pure*. I miss it.
But see what, really, ‘drove’ me to ‘do blobs seriously’ was that purity I spoke of. And I saw in my mind’s eye all these, happy, rather shapeless beings, these monsters just dancing and swimming and floating and flowing across a wide expanse ~ just having fun, you know? Good, clean, brainless fun. Legit. That’s all. Nothing, profound about it. But probably x admittedly a tad escapist.
Like I didn’t want to think too hard and just enjoy it, you know?
One of the things I love best about watercolours (or probably the thing I love so much about watercolours like if watercolours was a guy I’d marry him, like that) is watching it, watching the colours swim across a space and into each other ~ making clouds and feathers ~ and other colours while they were at it.
You know that thing in Black Cauldron when the three O’s were asking for a summer’s day in exchange for the Crochan? And how Eilonwy said she wouldn’t give up the memory of one of her summer’s days for anything. I wouldn’t give up a single one of my memories or experiences of watching watercolours dance.
It’s like the colours paint themselves, really <3 I just happen to be holding a brush and looking on as they do ^o^*
(Big) blobs let me do that the way no other monster of mine or any, technique in my woefully limited repertoire (short of non-rep) (which isn’t, my thing, really) lets me do. It’s incredibly (and inexplicably) addicting and I like to, you know, indulge myself whenever I can ^^;
Like I didn’t want to think too hard and just enjoy it, you know?
One of the things I love best about watercolours (or probably the thing I love so much about watercolours like if watercolours was a guy I’d marry him, like that) is watching it, watching the colours swim across a space and into each other ~ making clouds and feathers ~ and other colours while they were at it.
You know that thing in Black Cauldron when the three O’s were asking for a summer’s day in exchange for the Crochan? And how Eilonwy said she wouldn’t give up the memory of one of her summer’s days for anything. I wouldn’t give up a single one of my memories or experiences of watching watercolours dance.
It’s like the colours paint themselves, really <3 I just happen to be holding a brush and looking on as they do ^o^*
(Big) blobs let me do that the way no other monster of mine or any, technique in my woefully limited repertoire (short of non-rep) (which isn’t, my thing, really) lets me do. It’s incredibly (and inexplicably) addicting and I like to, you know, indulge myself whenever I can ^^;
Enter the Taters
Horsefest, 42.75 x 30" / 108.585 x 76.2 cm, Acrylic and Watercolour Pencil on Paper, 2017
Maybe saying the potatoes ‘evolved’ out of the blobs was not accurate; devolved might have been closer to the mark. And that maybe the artist who said my blobs were ‘cookie cutter’ might have seen (just gingerbread men LOL), I don’t know. Can’t say. I can only speak for myself when I say it was probably around this time I started seeing~ imperfections.
I don’t know~ maybe it’s part of that thing, that compulsion I have to lift tiny hairs and such off my canvas~ you know, that fall off the brush? I can’t stand those tiny hairs~ like I will bend over backwards x move heaven and earth x ruin a perfectly rendered area to expunge said hair.
So much for purity, I know ~ I started obsessing with things like how ‘perfectly rounded’ or shaped an arm or a leg was and even the placement (and size!) of the eyes ~ and of teeth (believe it). I know it probably doesn’t show, but, seriously. I stressed ~ and still stress, I’m afraid~ over these things. Still do.
From there I kind of, started wanting to be able to articulate, certain movements or actions or positions more accurately. And that’s about when the potato seeds were sown.
They take their name from a popular children’s toy that came out when I was, uh, a child:
I don’t know~ maybe it’s part of that thing, that compulsion I have to lift tiny hairs and such off my canvas~ you know, that fall off the brush? I can’t stand those tiny hairs~ like I will bend over backwards x move heaven and earth x ruin a perfectly rendered area to expunge said hair.
So much for purity, I know ~ I started obsessing with things like how ‘perfectly rounded’ or shaped an arm or a leg was and even the placement (and size!) of the eyes ~ and of teeth (believe it). I know it probably doesn’t show, but, seriously. I stressed ~ and still stress, I’m afraid~ over these things. Still do.
From there I kind of, started wanting to be able to articulate, certain movements or actions or positions more accurately. And that’s about when the potato seeds were sown.
They take their name from a popular children’s toy that came out when I was, uh, a child:
That you, Dad? XD
When I did ‘I love it when you smile, I love it when you run’, for instance, I had originally wanted to do it in potatoes rather than blobs. See, I knew I was *painting parkour* and I thought the modular construction of potatoes was better suited to *capturing the monsters in action* or depicting the various, dynamic movements of the traceurs and traceuses.
But the gallery wanted blobs so that decided that ^^;
Expedited Population
JillA's BrillAs, 44.5 x 18" / 113.03 x 45.72 cm, Acrylic on Paper, 2017
Potatoes also, I confess, came about in response to my need to, um, *produce things quickly* (//blushes for shame). Whenever I had to um, populate*, a relatively large piece of paper (I think I have yet to do any potatoes on canvas) with relatively articulated people (monsters are people) in the least possible time.
See, like M. Patate, the potatoes are modular ~ or at least, that’s how I look at them. You have a base (either a whole potato or a wedge) and you have detachable, adaptable parts, i.e. heads, hands, feet…
See, like M. Patate, the potatoes are modular ~ or at least, that’s how I look at them. You have a base (either a whole potato or a wedge) and you have detachable, adaptable parts, i.e. heads, hands, feet…
Three potatoes and a wedge
‘Building monsters’ with modules rather facilitated the assembly of the parts, I felt. And the parts allowed me a certain flexibility I couldn’t quite get from the blobs unless I made them skinnier. (In which case they were less like blobs, although I have made relatively skinny blobs before when they were purer, i.e. before I started *obsessing*).
The other, advantage of doing potatoes, or rather, what particularly appeals to me about them is how I like to put stripes on the connectors (i.e. arms, legs, necks and tails). I know I’ve spoken about how I don’t know why I have a thing for stripes; maybe it’s because I find them soothing or something ~ but doing potatoes allows me to indulge this, fixation in more depth.
The other, advantage of doing potatoes, or rather, what particularly appeals to me about them is how I like to put stripes on the connectors (i.e. arms, legs, necks and tails). I know I’ve spoken about how I don’t know why I have a thing for stripes; maybe it’s because I find them soothing or something ~ but doing potatoes allows me to indulge this, fixation in more depth.
 I have put stripes on blobs... |  ...but somehow it’s not the same ^^; |
Suited to the Occasion
A-Whee, 43 x 30.75" / 109.22 x 78.105 cm, Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Canvas, 2007
If you’ve been so kind as to take a look at my portfolio as a whole, you’ll see I don’t always render my monsters in blobs or potatoes. What leads me to choose them is a matter of circumstance, and the primary circumstance would be the concept or the idea I’m trying to convey. I’ll do blobs or taters if the concept would be better expressed through them. If not, I’ll use something else.
Blobs lending themselves very well to my, visualisation (sorry, parlance from the current Bruce Wayne job) of music and movement is something I’ve explored in past exhibits. Using acrylic and oil pastel for blobs, for me, also serve to heighten that, childlike abandon or playfulness I sometimes want to express if, that was what I was going for.
And, if you haven’t already noticed, I love rendering crowds in blobs and potatoes, not only because they *multiply like rabbits* ^^ But also because, I suppose, I like, *multiplying happies x good vibes*, too (or whatever vibes I happen to have at the time). (Although I have done solo or small groups of blobs as well (not sure about *serious* potatoes ^^; )
Blobs lending themselves very well to my, visualisation (sorry, parlance from the current Bruce Wayne job) of music and movement is something I’ve explored in past exhibits. Using acrylic and oil pastel for blobs, for me, also serve to heighten that, childlike abandon or playfulness I sometimes want to express if, that was what I was going for.
And, if you haven’t already noticed, I love rendering crowds in blobs and potatoes, not only because they *multiply like rabbits* ^^ But also because, I suppose, I like, *multiplying happies x good vibes*, too (or whatever vibes I happen to have at the time). (Although I have done solo or small groups of blobs as well (not sure about *serious* potatoes ^^; )
Supersolofragilisticexpialidocious~
But um, I’ve also noticed that I tend to do blobs as a reaction, maybe, to, say, a prolonged period of doing~ I’m not going to say ‘more serious’ work because I take all my work seriously, blobs or not. More detailed work, let’s put it like that. Like I just want to cut loose or take break from all the knives and the science (yes, often there’s a heckuvalotta research involved).
That, in turn, leads me to how I sometimes end up using blobs (and potatoes, too) as a form of therapy, I guess. I think that might be why, not all the blobs are, toothy. I don’t know.
Point being, I don’t do blobs or potatoes for kicks, or, something. I do have, reasons ^^;
Although yeah, sometimes people just straight up ask for blobs and you know me~ Little Miss People Pleaser (remember the parkour painting ^^;) eheheh
That, in turn, leads me to how I sometimes end up using blobs (and potatoes, too) as a form of therapy, I guess. I think that might be why, not all the blobs are, toothy. I don’t know.
Point being, I don’t do blobs or potatoes for kicks, or, something. I do have, reasons ^^;
Although yeah, sometimes people just straight up ask for blobs and you know me~ Little Miss People Pleaser (remember the parkour painting ^^;) eheheh
Lost Purity
I so regret not having this piece anymore or a better photo of it, as this, I think was the first 4 x 3-footer blobs I've ever done. It's full of the horseys I love so much and doesn't get any *purer* than that.
Lately (or longer than that, actually) I’ve felt that I’d like to, go back to the time when my *blobs were purer* ~before I started obsessing and growing potatoes. When I didn’t care about how *perfectly rounded* the people parts were or how *pika pika* the smiles ^o^. When I hadn’t starting doing research (!) for the blobs and taters the way I was for my more detailed work 0_o;
Incidentally, it’s actually kind of hard for me, sometimes, to edit or pare a figure down to its bare essentials, to abstract only what makes it identifiable or recognisable ~ to turn it into a blob. So sometimes research bites me in the derriere too, that way. Kinda silly, really. (Or, not wanting to think, I had recourse to a reference, which made me think anyway about how to abstract it LOL)
In any case I wanted to go back to when I was just letting the blobs flow out of my brain and letting the colours, ‘swim around’ XD.
And why shouldn’t I be able to do that with the taters, too? The shorthand, 8-bit principle was the same; they just had modules, that’s all ^^;
Incidentally, it’s actually kind of hard for me, sometimes, to edit or pare a figure down to its bare essentials, to abstract only what makes it identifiable or recognisable ~ to turn it into a blob. So sometimes research bites me in the derriere too, that way. Kinda silly, really. (Or, not wanting to think, I had recourse to a reference, which made me think anyway about how to abstract it LOL)
In any case I wanted to go back to when I was just letting the blobs flow out of my brain and letting the colours, ‘swim around’ XD.
And why shouldn’t I be able to do that with the taters, too? The shorthand, 8-bit principle was the same; they just had modules, that’s all ^^;
I did do research for this new batch of potatoes ~ not very *pure*, I grant...
Anyway, that’s what I tried to do for the pieces I was, by the grace of God (Deogratias!) able to complete for my latest series. (Operative word: try.) I really tried to *not obsess* and to just, you know. Let `em out there ^^; And, in spite of everything, to have fun!
To be super as in Kal-El (who never lies) honest? I don’t think I was entirely successful at this. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, obsess (i.e. tweak, adjust, (over) plan and tweak again) over one or more of these pieces. The beauty (if I may make so very, extremely bold) of blobs is their relative effortlessness. (Or at least, they should look as though they didn’t take any (as much?) effort!)
But I suppose hoping to undo literal years of ingrained habit in a handful of months was too much to hope for. In any case, it simply means I must just (ironically) work harder and try to do better next time (if there is one, God willing).
So in the meantime, I hope you’ll be able to catch Reverie when it goes online around this time next month~ yes, it’s online, so you’ll be able to visit no matter where you are in the world ^_^ / Sign up for jillanews so you’ll be one of the first to know when it’s live, or check me out on Instagram to see my newest blobs and taters in progress. Hope to see you there ^^;
To be super as in Kal-El (who never lies) honest? I don’t think I was entirely successful at this. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, obsess (i.e. tweak, adjust, (over) plan and tweak again) over one or more of these pieces. The beauty (if I may make so very, extremely bold) of blobs is their relative effortlessness. (Or at least, they should look as though they didn’t take any (as much?) effort!)
But I suppose hoping to undo literal years of ingrained habit in a handful of months was too much to hope for. In any case, it simply means I must just (ironically) work harder and try to do better next time (if there is one, God willing).
So in the meantime, I hope you’ll be able to catch Reverie when it goes online around this time next month~ yes, it’s online, so you’ll be able to visit no matter where you are in the world ^_^ / Sign up for jillanews so you’ll be one of the first to know when it’s live, or check me out on Instagram to see my newest blobs and taters in progress. Hope to see you there ^^;
* Interested in any of my pieces in this post? ^_^;
Drop me a line to let me know
and I'll let you know if it's still available,
or how soon I can make something similar just for you.
Drop me a line to let me know
and I'll let you know if it's still available,
or how soon I can make something similar just for you.
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