The Human Canvas - The Year in Review

2011...a quick recap. 


The longer version can be found through the tab up above (The Human Canvas II - 2011).

This started just a few days into January. Marci - Puryear, TN

The next three, 10 or 12 days later, Courtney - Redlands, CA

The following two were me, the next couple of days at KVCR, San Bernardino, CA

Alex...A-Rod - Riverside, CA. This may be February or March by now.

Sean, the next night - outside Pappy and Harriets, Pioneertown, CA.

Me. I was giving a talk, and kept glancing at my hand. Waiting...just waiting for someone to say, "what's that, a Sarah Palin reference?"...then I'd show 'em what was actually on my hand.

It worked!

Court - the only one to not be finished. Redlands, CA

Court - a footpath, the next evening.

In Istanbul, in early Spring, Heena, Ha, and Mehmet...

followed by Haida...

...then a wolf on Musa.

back from Turkey, and now it's July in Boulder...Court, a quick lunch, and a quick flashback to the canvas from January. More Butterflies.

Jade, waiting to take the mic - The Vault - Redlands, CA

Priya, just before going out for the evening - Redlands, CA

...and finally, taking us to December 28th, Kelie...IN for the evening...our house...Redlands, CA.

I'm typing this on December 31st. If nothing happens this evening...that's it for 2011! 

If you have a favorite...lemme know - down below. Which one? Why?

Thanks for being a part of this.

More next year.

David

The Human Canvas - NYC Bound!

Just a few days before New Years...December 28th, 2011. Kelie.


I feel honor-bound to mention that, while being titled NYC Bound, the below exercise has nothing whatsoever to do with New York City. Only that my latest canvas was about to fly out to New York, and she wanted to try out some tattoo ideas.

She had thought about a sperm whale, perhaps a buffalo (John Dunbar say tatonka)...maybe a couple of rather humorous pencils... 

...So of course with all that in mind, I went right to work on a half-sleeve of flowers. Really - this was a continuation of the previous experiment...

...where I employed a blending and fading technique...

...but this time - taking it further...still just Sharpie...

starting with some very rough, basic lines...

...which serve as more of a guide-edge...

...as opposed to strict borders.

Then it's a matter of coloring and blending - one by one...

...adding a bit of green for mountains and meadows...

...and some blue for the sky...

...as well as to "cap off" the inked area. Bring it down a bit further...

...and add some black...

...to define...

...and make it "pop".

Thank you Kelie. 

Last year around this time saw a really nice turn for The Human Canvas. I now go toward 2012 with some fresh ideas...

...and a LOT of enthusiasm.

This next pic is from the following morning. Some of it having rubbed off onto her shirt (advance warning having been given), it looks severely lightened.

HOWEVER - I see this as yet another color...shade...tone - SOMETHING different that I can't create with just the sharpies with an alcohol rub. At some point, I will most certainly be taking advantage of this process, giving touch-ups the next morning, while USING faded areas...rather than simply bemoaning degraded color.

Thanks again Kelie. And thank YOU...reading this now...for making time for me to draw on you next.

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.