Thursday, April 15, 2010

O Evangelho segundo José Saramago




Some weeks ago, I've read the last page of "O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo", by José Saramago.

Sometime is good to be naive and ignorant: I'm 28, and this is my first Saramago book. I knew his fame, but I never red one of his book. So, here come the pure, unexpected joy of being dragged into this narration, complex until the utmost simplicity, as hard as a stony path in Galilee.

And above all a man, his flesh, his blood, his fear, his doubt, his feeling of being a man and at the same time being what other people (and God) want him to be.

José Saramago is funny, harsh, is many things.

He's a great writer for sure.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

L'Aquila



Il 6 Aprile di un anno fa, poco dopo le 3:30, L'Aquila veniva devastata da un terremoto.

Runner


Run for your life, or for anything you want.

Pastel on Arches paper. Detail.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Regionali 2010




Poker di uomini e topi, in occasione delle recenti elezioni.

Se siete della Lega: congratulazioni.

Se siete del PDL: attenti a quelli qui sopra.

Se siete dell'IDV: congratulazioni.

Se siete del PD: l'ambulatorio è da quella parte.

Se siete del Movimento 5 Stelle: Bingo!

Se siete dell'UDC: leggete uno o più commenti qua sopra, a seconda dell'alleanza che avete scelto.

Bersani ha detto: "Non è una vittoria, ma non chiamiamola sconfitta". Qualsiasi cosa voglia dire.

Mi soffermerei su un commento di Berlusconi. Il premier, coerentemente con la recente evoluzione 'sentimentale' della sua campagna, ha dichiarato che "l'amore ha vinto sull'invidia e sull'odio, gli elettori ci hanno dato ragione".
Di recente questa parola, "amore", a cui generalmente si associano sensazioni positive, getta su di me una cupa inquietudine, ogni volta che la sento uscir fuori dal tubo catodico.

Prendendo atto del ritorno di illustri cadaveri (Quintiliano e il divino Aristofane, che Talia l'abbia in gloria), l'amore non può e non deve declinarsi in politica.

Un politico viene eletto per avviare riforme, per rimettere in sesto l'economia, a livello locale per sistemare una strada, organizzare gli ospedali. Un politico viene eletto per necessità, non per amore.
Amore e odio non sono categorie nuove in ambito politico: Hitler proclamava l'odio per gli ebrei, Fidel Castro è amato (con alti e bassi) dai cubani. Due esempi per mostrare le deviazioni della politica, nel momento in cui sconfinano nel sentimentalismo.

Se io amo un politico, riuscirò a scavalcare questo sentimento personale nel momento in cui il politico inizierà a sbagliare, ad agire pericolosamente? Avrò la capacità di "punirlo" democraticamente, con il mio voto contrario?

In cabina elettorale, all'amore preferisco una ragionata prudenza.


Pastels, again and again



Another piece for the Art showcase.

Goya, anyone?

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Going italian




Il mio primo post in italiano, ora non ho più scuse in caso di errori.

Perché il cambio di lingua? Perché con questo post inauguro un progetto a cui sto lavorando.

I tempi in italia sono drammatici e urgenti, nessuno può sottrarsi ad una riflessione sulla nostra situazione politica, economica e sociale. Ognuno di noi ha il dovere di farlo, con i mezzi che ritiene opportuni e consoni alla propria persona.

Io disegno, e dirò la mia con delle vignette, che ho ribattezzato "Uomini e Topi". Il rimando a Steinbeck e Burns è debole, più forte quello a Disney e Spiegelman: il topo è ormai un segno linguistico complesso, sia per la sua lunga carriera nella Storia che in quella altrettanto ricca nella letteratura e nella cultura popolare, da Esopo ai bestiari medievali fino a Topolino e Maus.

Al topo, maestro nell'arte di arrangiarsi, vero surfista dei tempi in cui vive, spetta il compito di osservare e commentare le vicende del nostro paese. Non garantisco risate, solo riflessioni in armonia con il mio umore.

Vignette italiane e post italiani, per dire la mia sul paese nel quale vivo.

P.S.: riguardo il tema di questa prima vignetta, rivendico con soddisfazione di essere stato uno dei sostenitori di Raiperunanotte con il mio contributo di 2.50 €.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Work in progress - Art Exhibition


Long time no see.

If nothing changes, on April 24 I'll be part of an Art Exhibition in Cagliari. More info coming soon!

Here some details of my pastel pieces. Still working on 'em.

Bye!




Monday, February 22, 2010

Pastel test #2


This is a drawing I did just to work with pastels. It needs some major adjustments, and I'm still working on it. I basically opened a magazine and took a picture as reference.

It may happen I'll be part of an art showcase in my town in a couple of months, so I'm working on some color techniques and ideas. I'm pretty excited about it, let's see how it goes!

Art Gallery


Hi there!

This is a watercolor sketch I did yesterday in the park of my town. The building you see is an Art Gallery. A nice art gallery, by the way: I visited it some time ago, you should go, if live nearby.

It all began with a warm, sunny day, but after a couple of minutes of drawing, both my girlfriend and I were ice cold.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Schoolism stuff


So long Schoolism class of digital painting.

I've handle to the teacher my last one, waiting for the critique.

Here's some random stuff I did. Original ideas and drawings by Bobby Chiu.



Sunday, January 17, 2010

Avatar yourself


The revolution of Cinema, according to James Cameron, goes through blue guys living in the forest. I guess he never heard of Smurfs.

Man, I'm going creative on this movie.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Bus & square sketches






Yesterday evening I took the bus to meet my girlfriend downtown. Finally I had the chance to do some life sketching.

The first image, and the old man from image two are people I sketched on the bus. I sketched the walking people when I sat down on a bench in Piazza del Carmine, a square of my town.

There I played a little game, called "Sketch a Lady or a Guy in One Minute Catching the Details that Really Define Her or Him". Yep, the name of the game needs some editing, but it was cool and helpful. When drawing, its always useful to ask yourself some question, before messin' around with your pencil: "what shape do I see?", "what is that makes my subject pop out?" and so on. Then you figure out what really defines your subject, and concentrate on those elements.

When I saw the lady you see in picture two, she was kinda posh in her walk, she had an hourglass-like shape, and a huge fur in her jacket hood. So i focused on those elements.

The guy on the left in image three was tall and happy-go-lucky, and so forth. If you want to draw quickly and more efficiently, you have to figure out what you need and need not to put in your work.

I managed to doodle until my butt went ice cold, then I had to stop.





Bear with me



Couple of days ago I was working hard, for many hours. When I noticed that my computer was beginning to smoke I realized it was the moment for a little break, so I powered it down for a while.

Then I took a Xerox paper and started doodling. It came out a bear. I love drawing animals, I'm quite sure I have more beast sketches to post, somewhere.

When the bear sketch was done I took my pastels. Bad idea, Xerox paper cannot handle pastels. Sure enough it ended up a mess. I tried to fix it with Painter, but I should have left just the pencil sketch.

It's raining.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Who are you calling a Befana?

The fact today it's Befana day is purely coincidental.

Yesterday I had a nice dinner with my friends. It was a night of celebration, big announcement and good food!

Our dear Michela got the job she was looking for, and with many exciting news to come, we presented her with the little painting you see, and a bouquet which had been dressed with pyjama by the owner of the flower boutique. God knows why...

Cheers!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

First painting of 2010


This Xmas I received some art supplies, quite an easy way to make me happy. A big sketchbook, a sketch kit (pencils, blenders, graphite), and a beautiful box packed with coloured charcoals.

I had to try them, so here is my first painting of 2010, which is also my first charcoal and pencil painting. Hope to improve with this technique, i really love the rich, textured colour given by charcoals!

By the way, the image shows The Basilica di Nostra Signora di Bonaria, a great church of my town consecrated to Saint Mary.