Attempts

I have a camera, I occasionally use it to feel like I have skills.

1940's style portrait, loves it. Oh the 20's and 40's glamor !

very warhol-like editing.

Love the vintage-feel.

(Favorite walk around shoes and favorite book, the possibilities are endless).

The much delayed return of the absentminded human.

A-level exams are motherfuckers from hell. Excuse the language, it just feels pointless - in terms of graphics and art, 18 hour exams each ? NOTHANKS. In all honesty, timed art is not art at all. You can't put a limit or boundary on it because the whole point of art is, it being limitless. Enough with the whining. Getting down to fun work : (Graphics) I've got to make illustrations (can be single medium or mixed media) for John Steinbeck's novel "The grapes of wrath", which is all about the great depression (oh what a joyful topic I chose). Anyway, I researched about the previous promotional material for the novel and the monotony of the designs acted like top-notch sleeping pills and knocked me out.

Point being, I wanted to give it a more modern perspective, and here are some of the options I came up with:

1) starting off with a manual pencil sketch of a rather frustrated and comically boggled looking man (background done in photoshop with basic- grey schemed colors - in an attempt to keep the B&W going...know what I mean homies? (eww. pretend I never said that).

 2)The second one below, is a color version of the first one, it's very incomplete though, but just giving you a rough idea of a different version. The coloring was done in photoshop, and needs more highlights and shadows in terms the of skin tone and the flesh tint needs hints of grey and peachy-flesh.

3) This one below is a manual fine-liner drawing  of a rather attractive old man. (anyone feeling the sarcasm?) But anyway. Then scanned into photoshop and the text inside was added. The text is basically my favorite quotes from the book that define the character and give an effective feel of the book. (font used - typewrite font, absolute love for that font.) ps- sorry for the shit quality, it was a screenshot, I dint have time to save it, and e-mail it to myself, since I very smartly dont carry my pen-drive to a graphics class. EVERYFUCKINGTIME.

4) The multiple options below couldn't be of a lower quality.  Sorry again, pen drives and me aren't on good terms. Anyhoo, they're options for possible poster illustrations. Variety is a horrible horrible thing, I can never choose, it's what I ask other people to do.

5) Poster 1 (numbers 5-7 consist of photography by Sumer Mehta) The useless doodles around are my work (how hardworking of me). BUT. I.SWEAR.IT.TOOK.TIME. (Like an hour, but an hour's still an hour.) Anyway, these illustrations below are mixed media, photography + doodles. Whatever the world says, whatever the examiners say, doodles are awesome, so BITE ME.

Now lastly, little note to people who try using my work. DON'T. I'll bite your heads off. (Don't see why anyone would want to, considering they look like...well.. that^). Anyway, got my point across :) xx

The politics of sexist imagery

ORTHODOXY

Equality between women and men has been and still is an endless debate. Sexism has ruled from the mid-20 century, and some people will claim that it is still to be found on several places in society. It is true that today’s advertisements are not exactly showing equality, but they are not as blunt and forward as the vintage ones.

The rage that the vintage adverts evoke is due to the content and the imagery, the vision of looking at women as physically weak, submissive, ignorant and inferior beings is what has created so much controversy over the years. This rather up front vision is evident through out all the adverts via the use of powerful language/ dialogue or by the boldness of the image itself.

These vintage ads are blatantly sexist and stereotypical in terms of categorizing a ‘woman’s role’, which is considered cooking and looking beautiful, being useful in terms of being a home maker and arm candy. Treating women as objects of an inferior nature and that have specific jobs is what is portrayed. The effect these adverts have had on the daily life is disturbing, the media moulds society and vice versa; hence these adverts have a great psychological effect and con people into thinking a certain way. They have led to the dreams and career prospects of many women during that time period being crushed and a stereotypical life layout being placed before them to follow. Their aspirations were crushed to the ground, which is where they belonged ?

Don’t answer that; it was a rhetorical question, heavily dripping with sarcasm ! Also, a common feature in all these adverts is the importance of a woman’s physical appearance. The way it is made so prominent actually made me throw up inside my mouth. I find it rather repulsive that the intentions are so very boldly presented and the photography is so direct and degrading. What people don't realize (or maybe realize and look over it as a small/non-important issue) is that the way the media portrays a woman, affects thousands of women around the world. The way a stereotypical image is built, that only a beautiful and slim woman is useful, literally destroys the women who are plus sized. The way the women are portrayed in turn results in healthy bodied women being looked down upon. Which I find atrocious, everyone should be allowed to feel good about their body. And media has built the stereotype, skinny is beautiful. Every day, there is a woman who wakes up unhappy with her body, because even the woman herself has been tuned into thinking that being thin is being beautiful. This is one way media has impacted society, and because of this one thing, there are girls all around the world being anorexic and bulimic, and there are cases when it has caused death (anorexia). The media has a heavier impact on society than we can ever imagine. It is a key factor that develops a societies ideology.

The quotes on adverts for clothes such as “If a woman wants more excitement in her life, she can wear it” – the not-so-subtle message is rather discourteous and implies that women have bland and monotonous lives. The pragmatics (the subtext) in these adverts is used as a prime way to convey the meaning. The lexical choices made by these advertising companies are horrifying to an extent and moreover humiliating. The use of words such as "simple" (The mini automatic. For simple driving) is rather demeaning, and portrays the image of a woman as being incompetent to drive. The stereotype adapted by the vintage media helped further build up the stereotype woman with driving disabilities. This stereotype woman may have been one woman, but not all, and for the media to target a wider audience of women all around the world using lexis that are "dumbed-down" to make it "simpler" for us, is what is infuriating. The word 'simple' has negative connotations of being intelligible and uncomplicated, therefore pragmatically implying that women are inept to grasp/learn/drive and hence need the functions of the car to be made 'simpler' for their level of understanding. The quotes in these adverts are definitely dripping with underlying meaning, but what is even more pragmatical is the imagery. These adverts heavily rely on graphology, for example: (PEP Vitamins advert) shows a woman holding a duster and leaning into the arms of a man who is holding her sturdily and strongly. This implies that a woman is weak without her man, and "so the harder a wife works the cuter she looks". The look on the woman's face depicts gladness and she is looking up to the man, which in the literal sense, means the woman looks up to her man! The pragmatics in the graphology is a key aspect to the functioning of these adverts. Graphological horrors of the past are here on display, and the most appalling imagery award goes to Advert number 4 (leggs), the graphology (including the sizing and layout) and the dreadful image have Misogynist written all over it big, bold, bright red. Although it does do a good job of catching ones eye and then wishing they never laid eyes upon such ingloriousness.The degrading image of a mans foot on a womans head is supposed to be a "reality check" for the women(of the generation of the advert), if the adverts were aiming for a reality check or a better campaign by trying to imply the inferiority of women to the male supremacy then I'd be glad to announce that they failed. All of these adverts have a recurring theme of women being inferior and use the support of the strong pillars of lexis and imagery to hold up that theme.

The Van Heusen Tie advertisement uses the quote "Show her it's a mans world" over an image of a man sitting on his bed content in the morning, with a woman on her knees by the bedside bringing him tea in bed. The graphology is focusing mainly on the image, and the image has a prominent message. The body language of the woman, the posture and the action portray a world where the women are lower than the men, intellectually and physically (imagery). These evident yet trying to be subtle messages are the language of the media, and frankly they remind me of the voice of the J.L Austin. A quote by the philospher would help you fathom the reason better: " Men are the norm, and women are seen just as departing from the norm". This evidently shows the start of the moulding of the society's ideology of men being the "standard" and women just a branch that tries to achieve the same stature as them. 

Dale Spender’s book Man Made Language (1985) is another example of the hypothetical belif , that offers an intriguing thesis that, like other forms of culture, men have controlled language. This hypothesis is what builds/ had helped build this ideology of male dominance and reign over the world. Feminists have often raised this issue in the past, and it has been casually dismissed off to discuss 'serious' political issues. Since language is a powerful tool to construct reality with, women are seen as inferior and deviant. This 'inferior-female' status down the years has led women to see themselves in negative colors and has created a set ideology for the society around them. An ideology builds the thought and the future of a society and is responsible for its actions.

In conclusion, this blog post was an analysis of sexist vintage adverts, and a walk down the memory lane to appreciate how far we as a society have come. The adverts today are rarely sexist and look at women as independent individuals and looking back at the vintage ones, I only feel glad that times have changed. Yet, it is still important to remember that the 'sexist impressions' over the years became 'natural' and 'common sense' and turned into part of the psyche of a society. Language is a highly political phenomenon and far from being a passive tool of communication. It is actively involved in the construction of social reality, hence new media should use this tool with caution and care. An image paired with language (a simple graphological layout) as a means to get a message across, is a far more dangerous weapon than assumed or known to be.

I am. I am. I am.

It's pretty fucking cold outside, and everything's a shade of grey. It's one of those days. It's been one of those days since quiet a few days now. You know why I buy vintage comics and the batman fugitive collection ? (Because, yes the graphics are pretty awesome and I am possibly a nerd) but mainly because i simply feel safe with the company of fictional superheroes because I don't see any heroes in real life. Not trying to be a sour puss, but it's just one of the grey days.

Overwhelming. Isn't it ? when you have more feelings and imagination than common sense. I'm a crooked tree. (refer to quote by Tom Waits).

Infuriating news: A 98 year-old German woman named Irena Sendler recently died(2008). During WWII, Irena worked in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist. Irena smuggled Jewish children out; infants in the bottom of the tool box she carried and older children in a burlap sack she carried in the back of her truck. She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered the kids’ and infants’ noises. Irena managed to smuggle out and save 2500 children. She eventually was caught, and the Nazis broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar buried under a tree in her backyard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived and reunited some of the families. Most had been killed. She helped those children get placement into foster family homes or adopted.

Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. Al Gore won - for a fucking slide show on Global Warming.

3 words. FUCK YOU CRITIQUES.

this is why one must never let one's work be judged by 'critiques', no matter how brilliant, or how fucking noble it is (ode to Irena), they're all a bunch of money hungry dogs. Just sayin'.

Lately, everyones got a solid opinion about how my life should play out ahead. I let those words fly over my head like pointless birds. Cause, (imagine) if you end up leading a boring miserable life, because you listened to your mother, father, or priest or the guy on the television telling you to get your shit together, then you very well fucking deserve it.

There's way too much at stake to let anyone else make decisions for you. To let anyone change the way you would approach a situation. It's too much to ask, too much to do. Because if you fuck up, you still end up having to pay for it . If I fuck up, at least I shall do so due to my own decisions.

" But somewhere I'll survive,
to make you feel alive,
so you could all reload,
your dreams and all your hopes.

I had too many lives,
 I did it to survive,
so I killed myself today " - second life replay.(soundtrack of our lives)

(inspired writing of the day)

I frown all the time,
these creases these lines,
 they mark a thought, all day long I think of things,
 I will grow insane if I can't stop and pacify,
 guidance assistance, I will never seek,
I frown upon the world today.

I wish I could see like you,
 maybe it wouldn't be spiraling downwards then,
 are you any good ? are you here to stay ?
 share your vision like a visionary, be of some assistance, wont you.

Everyone's looking for some place safe,
some one to feel safe with,
the creases mark my face,
the thought of the spirals, leaves me unsafe.
 I can't find a safe place to be,
spiraling in limbo.
 Here I am.
             - Tan( Me) 22.2.2011 (relax, its just a fucking grey day)

pictures of the day:

we all pretend. a lot.

Damn straight. Only after being subconscious are you truly conscious.

still from The great dictator- gotta love chaplin there.

Share a little.

there is a giant hippo on my head at all times, i named it 'useless thoughts'.

“”

The last, but the most important picture, (thats the art work there) mediums used- illustration board, ink and water and fine liners. Point being, the legendary Sylvia Plath said " I may never be happy, but tonight I am content ".  Pushes you a step closer to being happy. Which is the ultimate goal. I'd rather be happy listening to duran duran/ Gus black/rolling stones sitting on the sidewalk than sit pointlessly with misery engulfing me in a mansion.

One last thing. " I took a deep breath and listened to the bray of my heart: I am. I am. I am." - Ode to Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, 1963.

Doodlezania - The homeland.

Apologies for the delay. But I'm a bit of a couch potato on vacation. (Insert a puppy dog face here). I'm pretty floored by the Gutenbergs. Just got my copy, lets just say, that that copy made my smile reach my brain- in a very literal way. If you don’t know about the Gutenbergs its a magazine devoted to ‘illustrators and their surroundings’, a cross between studio culture and doodles.It's lovely to read the interviews with illustrators about their working lives, and some really exciting work is showcased too. Subscribe! you won’t regret it !

Another really amazing illustration magazine is Varoom. The 21st Century has chosen illustration to be its defining art form, and Varoom is the perfect platform. The award-winning contemporary illustration magazine, relaunchs this summer with a fantastic new design and expanded editorial content. It correctly documents, reports, analyzes and showcases new illustrative talent. It also has leading illustrators drop their comments on contemporary work of illustration in modern society as well as have their own work featured. Varoom has been one of my personal favourites, to have your work published in either of these (or my other illustrative favourites) is a personal goal :D

Varoom covers.

The magazines feature works of artists such as Matthew Rose, who did a really famous junk piece illustration in 2008. With all the current news of doom and gloom, what better way to celebrate the seemingly imminent apocalypse with this print by Matthew Rose entitled The End of the World? It's based on an original collage (Junk-2008) which juxtaposes pop art style images found on the street or in junk stores to create a confusing and disturbing, but also fascinating, piece.

Junk print, 2008.

End of the world print.

Below are the few illustrations/doodles I've been doing in my spare time- hint hint : loner child, all time is spare time.

doodle print.

doodle print that i re-drew on a bag that I stitched and made from scratch. Yes, I do take pride in knowing how to stitch up a bag, considering that 3 days ago, i couldn't even thread the needle right.

serge

random doodle again.

chracter design in my pocket book.

Next post would include pictures from my school magazine, and the cover, which was illustrated and designed by me. And also, the illustrative elements inside. Cannot wait for the next post ! yaaayy !!

Pictures of the day-

Nothing depicts spirit as perfectly as this picture does. The pure joy it gives me ! Its got a deeper, more significant meaning than just what the eyes see. Spirit and hope, and a glint of joy. Perfect blend.

When people fail, dead people help. Love yah C-blud. (Yes, me and Charlotte Brontë are tight) xx

Poster on my wall in my hostel room :)

 P.S- Merry christmas everyone, hope you all had a lovely time ! xxxxxxx