The Human Canvas - Dr. Who, Dr. Jha, and Da Sharpie!

Meet...The Professor.

Um...I don't always call her this.

Sometimes it's Dr. Jha. And she doesn't

always look like this. The above picture is

from a few nights after the Human Canvas

session we're talking about here.

We were getting ready to go

to a bit of an open house at University of Redlands.

 

 

This session,

about 25 minutes before we were set to leave,

was a bit of an experiment...again. 

 

An experiment in fine line...

...very basic design...

...and just a touch of color.

Something that can blended,

with just a light scrub of alcohol.

This a bit reminiscent of the session

referred to as "The Butterfly and the Big Bruise".

You can click HERE for a link, but here's

the (first) attempt at erasing that

inspired the name:

Yuck, right?

But look at it

again as a blending of color,

along with the creation of NEW color.

Colors you won't ordinarily get with even

your best array of Sharpies. You can CONTROL it...

...for a rather attractive look...

...especially when

you go back in with a bit of

black to re-define.

Done?

Well, after adding

a quick signature - as it were -

...and powdering it,
to give it a bit more of
an under-the-skin look...

...NOW we're done.

There were several people
at the open house that thought
this was a real tattoo.

Cool!

Thank you Priya. This was long over due.

And thank YOU for

making time for me to draw on you NEXT!

There are two tabs near the top of the page

which show all of the (documented) Human Canvas

sessions so far. Thanks for checking it out, for your

comments, and your encouragement. More soon.

I'm excited by this new method, and am quite

anxious to continue. The above session was

only the night before this writing.

The Human Canvas - Jade Bennett, Singer AND Canvas!

So...once again...I have yet to write about some recent interviews...Arlo Guthrie, Stanley Clarke (again), Shirley Jones and Marty Ingels. Some great performances and/or venues to talk about...Jules Day, Kulak's Woodshed, 5th street Jazz...so much more...

Meantime...The Human Canvas series picks up again. Of course it did. I had jusssst updated the tab for Human Canvas II -2011 to include everything to date.

So meet Jade.

Sunday nights often find me at The Vault. This is a place in Redlands which always has good drinks - and often has good, live music. Take for example...ohhh...Sunday nights.

That's The Hometown Get-Down - most Sunday nights, 7-11, at The Vault Martini Bar in Redlands, California. Just sayin'. 

Click HERE for a recent write-up.

Left to right: Gino Matteo, Trevor Monks, James Breker, and Quinton Hufferd. Most nights - IF you're lucky - Jade Bennett will sit in for a few tunes. 

Gino sure don' mind!

Jade is a vocalist who combines sultry, smokey-bar blues with just a bit of rasp and a whole lotta power! She's inked up, but does have SOME room left. Um, right. Her left arm is tatted up, but the right one was empty...I saw it as available.

I do this sometimes. Really. If you...you, reading this...if you ever find me staring, I'm (possibly) not being rude, per se...let's just say it's an art thing.

So this one was a bit of an experiment - again. I've played around with an Alice in Wonderland theme...but I always get it wrong. The THEMES are there...but the order of appearance is messed up.

Link HERE for a Human Canvas example.

But back to Jade. At some point in the near future, we're going to work on a much larger Alice in Wonderland piece. Tonight...at The Vault...a first stab at the Queen of Hearts.

Hadn't really decided...until just a moment before.

Which means I hadn't really TRIED to represent this character before.

Next time - several things to do differently. I like the idea of doing a session in a bar...club...party...whatever. HOWEVER - lights are low, and ya end up with lines that aren't quite as clean as they could be...some areas which aren't as solid...

For example - these next 3 pics came from a session in the middle of a disco during a  Dr. Who convention in Los Angeles (2010).

But I have to admit - I like the audience. This goes beyond mere narcissism. A bit, anyway. Anyone watching is a potential canvas. I need to have some "David Fleming Arts" business cards made up - though it can never hurt to keep handing out KVCR cards. Especially during fundraising times.

Having turned out WAY larger than originally intended, I added a bit to the bottom...

...and called it done.

We've talked about another shot at this. I KNOW I can do a better Queen of Hearts...and want to add a bunch more from Wonderland.

Thanks Jade. 'Til next time.

And to see the start of all these adventures, click HERE, or go to the tab for "The Human Canvas - the beginning" near the top of the page. The adventures continue with "The Human Canvas II - 2011", or with a click HERE.

Thanks.

The Human Canvas: The Butterfly Effect - Revisited

The Butterfly Effect. Revisited. I mean...literally. We were visiting - again. The first version (pictured below) came about as a bit of a suggested experiment.

Remember this'n? Well, HERE's a link. If you didn't take the provided link, here's a quick recap: Court, really (REALLY) into butterflies, was visiting in California, and was ready to be my next canvas. She said, "You've done a shoulder piece..."

"...You've done a back-piece...."

"...Even a drawn-in bra strap..."

"...How about a leg piece..."

"...And have it continue onto the other leg?"

Done. Check. Again, HERE'S a link for the whole thing, step-by-step.

My wife and I ran into Court in Boulder, Colorado recently. It was a really quick visit. JUST enough time to add a bit of reminisence to her shoulder.

Lunch was over. We went back to California...Court went back to Indiana.

Time to find another canvas. Well, the canvas is there...now it's just a matter of drawing on her. This'n MAY just depend on what may be appropriate to put on a professor before she walks into class.

Gino Matteo just got Q'd (and then some)!

Finally. A new post. A lot has happened - and I have lots to talk about. A recent interview with Shirley Jones and Marty Ingals - and the re-opening of their new park - which I attended. Some changes to Twain. Tommy Womack and some Government Cheese in the near future...


So - the latest live act to blow me away?
 

(((photo by Mike Ingram)))

I got a message from a friend about a new "residency" of sorts. A weekly gig at a Redlands watering hole, The Vault. The gig was to be called The Hometown Getdown featuring Gino Matteo. The name? Well, that's easy enought. Gino Matteo moved from East LA to Redlands recently. It's now his hometown. Every Sunday night at The Vault? A getdown.

(((photo by Mike Ingram)))

Near 30 years old, Gino's been fronting one band or another for some 15 years. Most recently, Gino Matteo and the Family Funk. Do the math real quick and you'll know that for quite some time, he's been playing with people well over his age. Over the years, Matteo played with - and/or opened for - some fantastic artists, played for thousands (and thousands) of people, and picked up a LOT of valuable experience.

He had lost touch with something though, and started to re-examine why he might be playing. He wanted to get back to playing...because it's fun. He wanted to play with some folks who, closer to his own age, he might be hanging out with anyway. He broke down the Family Funk...and started from scratch. He brought in James Breker on bass, and Trevor Monks on drums. He'd known both of these guys for quite some time - one of whom since adolescence. These three jammed...got tight...then Gino made one more call. That call was to Q. That is, Quinton Hufferd. 

(((photo by Mike Ingram)))

Originally from San Diego, Q is becoming (has become?) a name in the Inland Empire and Southern California. Q was a founding member of the 5th Street Jazz combo (which still plays - sans Q - in the alley next to Augie's Coffee Shop in Redlands). He was also one of the original members of Big Papa and the TCB. Without Q, they will definitely still be a band worth seeing. BUT- without Q - they will definitely be less interesting. Q is with a couple of other area bands (The Griff Hamlin Band, Yardsale), and also teaches blues piano online. Q is also the friend who alerted me to this gig.

(((note~ I really DON'T mean to slam Big Papa and the TCB with that statement. It's really meant to be more of a compliment to Q. I recently (mid-march 2013) tried to explain my statement to Chris Thayer (Big Papa). He stopped me. Seems to have understood. Big Papa and the TCB is still QUITE a wonderful band - and as stated earlier - WELL worth seeing. DF)))


But back to Gino. It's his name out front.

(((photo by Mike Ingram)))

The man knows his fretboard! And...he in no way relies on any familiar tropes. Each attack is an exploration. Whether exploring sound effects, playing out Amazing Grace with Harmonics (at the end of THIS video), or flying up, down...then up the neck again...you want to watch as well as listen. He CAN shred when he wants to...but doesn't rely soley ON it. Too many people pick up this ability - then do nothing but. Thankfully this isn't the case with Gino. There's just as much variety in style as there is in music.


But there IS a constant.


Soul. 


Not - say - the kind of thing ya get from James Brown or Aretha or somebody. More like...ohhhh...The Allman Brothers. Not the Ramblin' Man kinda thing, mind you. Think more in the lines of In Memory of Elizabeth Reed. Think of some of the offshoots in the Allman Brothers family tree. Derek Trucks...Gov't Mule....there you go. Think Soulshine. Now throw in a bit of Tom Waits, Joe Cocker, a bit of New Orleans with a taste of a Southern black gospel church (chuch). 


Oh yeah! How about the slowwwww, building instrumentals. The kind with the gradual intensity to knock you outta your socks. Think Stevie Ray...think Stan Kenton's band doing a Dave Barduhn arrangement of My Funny Valentine. Take this all a step further when Jade steps up for vocals.

(((photo by Mike Ingram)))

Now...when you see this band, it's a treat to stay to the end. Not that they've been going off of a set list all night - Gino calls them out AS they're starting - but at the end of the night, it gets really fun. Start with ANY tune...soon it drifts into Suzie Q...then Billie Jean...then, while trading licks with Q, some Christmas tune...all with the same funk-driven backbeat. 


They've promised to be an every Sunday thing - 7-11pm - at The Vault - in Redlands. BUT - I'd catch 'em while you can. These guys are a touring band. Mostly along the coast...up to the Bay area and back. Gino just happens to live in Redlands now. 


Which is good, 'cause I just couldn't see myself driving to East LA every Sunday night. 


Much less making it out.


Come back to this page soon. I'm sure I'll be editing, adding photos and more.

The Human Canvas - Here Be Wolves

My tooth is really killing me right now...been in and out of a daze...but I gotta get this one done. With this one more post, with just one more day in the month, I will have July as the month of Human Canvas Sessions from Turkey. I unexpectedly was able to do 5.


While I had been doing the first four at Arsah, Musa - who works there - had been quietly witnessing these sessions, or the results OF them. Turns out...he wanted a wolf. I kind of expected something kind of easy...a profile of a wolf, howling at the moon. Something like what's pictured above.

But...

...He had an image in mind.

It was on his cell phone...

...which kept disappearing after 15 seconds, due to the screen saver.

I sketched it out with a yellow highlighter to kind of get the general idea...

...and went from there.

This is where it became handy to have NOT had a black pen during the last session...

...but having hung onto the one we were able to find...

...giving me a couple different shades of black to play with.

And since Musa wanted THIS image of a wolf...

This allows me to do the whole howling at the moon, wolf-profile image on someone else...

...'cause at this point, I only have one more session to publish...

Before having run out of smiling participants.

Thank you Musa.

And to all at Arsah: Whether you work there, own the place, or just happen to have stopped in while being a tourist during late April - and let a complete stranger draw on you...

Thank You.