Another Day, Trekking On...

Last night, I had some friends who were kind enough to pose for me so that I could get some references for my art. I was able to get a couple women and men of different body types so that I can match a body to a writer. Today, I will probably put the images on my computer and begin to mix and match them to get the results I desire. The hardest part of taking these images is that it's taboo according to Western culture. Even though I can look at it from the point of view as an artist, I still can't deviate my mind from the fact that I just took seductive images of my friends and I plan to keep them on my computer. Perhaps in a sense this illustrates my twisted mind. It definitely pushes me from my comfort zone, which makes me believe that this project is even better for me to do.

Steven, who graduated two years ago, came in today to present his own art capstone. He has a degree in Graphic Design, so the actual project did not entirely pertain to me. I listened more to the process and how he talked about managing his time. I think I should have a few of the pieces done by Winter Break, so that I have less to do in the spring. I'm thinking by the end of Winter Break (so about January) I should have four if not five of the images finished. This is about half, since I've decided to do nine portraits of the following people:

William Shakespeare
Emily Dickinson
Lord Byron (sexiest man alive in the 19th c.)
Jane Austen
Edgar Allen Poe
Aphra Behn (one of the first female writers in the 16th c.)
Charles Dickens
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (wrote Frankenstein)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (He wrote Rime of the Ancient Mariner and is a part of my English capstone)



Most people recognize these names, except for perhaps Behn and Coleridge, but don't know their faces. I feel it's necessary to do a few people don't know not only to illustrate my own knowledge and understanding of literature, but to also inspire them to read one of their pieces. Behn wrote Ooronoko, which was about slavery. It was extremely controversial at the time because it involved issues that weren't even considered at the end of the 16th century. Coleridge has written many journals on writing and the use of imagination in literature, delving into the issues of the mind.

Handsome folks, aren't they? This is only the beginning! I'm extremely excited to start working on this project, and feel the mix of literature, fire, and fighting against the taboo makes everything about this my sort of style.