For me, drawing always begins with a story. Most of these stories remain shallow or conceptual, though several evolve, growing plots, characters, and conflict. Narrative ideas are conceived way before any sketches are, and work primarily as illustration outlines. Before I ever put pencil to paper, I dream up people and monsters, and the things they could be doing together or against one another. Sometimes I sit on these imaginings for weeks, before concreting the idea with a hesitant sketch. I've never published my stories alongside images for two main reasons: 1) I like people to guess the story and/or make up one; 2) I'm a bit embarrassed of them (whether it be their literary quality or subject). Someday, I'd like to step away from-or at least face-that fear and exhibit a collection of short stories paired with illustrations. Writing and drawing has been something I've loved and dabbled with since I was a kid. I hope to continue to combine words, narratives, and images throughout my career in both ink and clay. The Necromancer, 18 X 24 in.This large drawing was completed with various Micron pens (005-08 and a S brush) on Mixed Media Paper. It is the largest pen & ink drawing I've ever done, and ever want to do. As every artist usually says, the last 10% is the hardest to complete; while I was at the 90% mark, I still had several hours of work left that I was both uninterested in and frustrated with. I still could go back in for another 6 hours to fix linework, increase the contrast, and obtain the lighting effect I was shooting for, but sometimes you need a to have nothing to do with the piece for a while, so that you can justly judge it, then make alterations. Since I work best under stress (at least that what I tell myself), I planned to do this drawing within a 7 day period for a macabre gallery event. I soon regretted that decision, but I'd already committed to it. By the end, I'd probably put in 50+ hours of linework, revision, sketching, research, and all the other things that go with drawing. I usually am very happy with and excited about the first 50% of anything I'm doing. However, something happens within me during that second 50%. I rarely still contain that happiness and excitement during the latter half. In fact, I hate almost all of my artwork by the end, and the Necromancer is no different. I continuously think about all the things I could and should have done different, as well as pinpoint every flaw. And while it sits in a frame, that's all I can see. It takes about 3 months for these feelings of hatred and disappointment to subside, before I can more accurately determine whether or not I've made something good or worthwhile. Regardless, I put in a lot of valuable practice time with my Microns and stepped out of my comfortable 8.5x11 paper size. The Necromancer actually came about because of Dungeons and Dragons. My husband is obsessed with the game, and somehow I became the Dungeon Master (the person who runs, sets up the game/story/etc.) for our small group of friends- it is a very fun and creative game if you've never played before (in which case I'd suggest trying it out or watching Youtube videos of gameplay, or listening to my fav DnD podcast: The Adventure Zone). This means I spend a lot of time writing stories for the players. One type of character that comes up a lot in these types of games are necromancers- which are individuals obsessed with death, practice dark magic (like resurrection, zombie-stuff), and are typically of the evil alignment. I'm always drawn to dark subjects and things (I don't know why), so of course I have necromancers in my game. Currently, we're are playing a 'lawful good' group campaign, and I wanted to make one of the NPCs (a non-playable character controlled by me or the acting DM) the group befriended delve into dark magic and necrotic art. The setting is a mix of Classic Camelot/TV Series Merlin (which is amazing, watch it on Netflix) game, so the acting government sees all magic as evil and nonpermissible. So, I wanted these knights of the round table to have a moral dilemma along their journey, where a friend loses a loved one, is met by a few Necrotic Sages (which I based on owl/human skeleton hybrids and classic mage design), and is tempted to pay a hefty price to revitalize their lover. Spoiler alert, though, you should never make deals with demon-like entities; the lover is resurrected, but acts as a zombie, containing no soul. The new necromancer loses some humanity, becomes bitter, and must promise fealty to the sages in exchange for their gifts of power. If you're in the El Paso, TX area, stop by the Kaleidoscope Art Space- 2104 E Yandell Dr, El Paso, Texas 79903! I'll be exhibiting work there, as well as vending! Announcements
I'll soon be posting updates of a graphic novel I'm working on-a short collection of stories pertaining to cryptid mythology. Additionally, I'm working on setting up a way to record/edit drawing videos.
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As someone in love with history, I became introduced and immediately fascinated with genealogy five or six years ago. So, it is not surprising that the subject comes up in my art a lot.
I had always wondered what existed beyond the stories passed down through my family and told over holiday meals. I wanted to know what kind of people I came from, what they accomplished, and where they lived. I'd always hoped that I'd discover they were similar to me in some way. I searched for repetitions and connections in my "roots", and found several interesting stories and pieces of information that I could relate to. Yet, with most amateur ancestry-detective work, there comes a time when you have no more clues to go on. My research into my mother's ancestry, the Thompsons (father), Cooks (mother), and Greens (mother's mother) each left me in the late 1700s. My father's side, the Egertons (father), brought me back into the medieval ages-which was exciting. However, knowing only the names of those before us is a bit unfulfilling. I don't know very much about my ancestors apart from when they immigrated, where they lived, and what some of their occupations were. It is only human to look at the pieces of evidence you have, and speculate, give life. --- I created a piece last semester, "Abandoning the Origins", and wanted to do another piece about it. I thought it would be great to discover an ancestor that worked for an archaeologist, so that I could pose him discovering these relics. I also wanted to imagine that the piece was found broken (it was broken during a firing) and glued haphazardly back together, as a lot of old pieces were (as I was gluing it back together, I felt like an early archaeologist, as least). |
AuthorKristen Puckett Archives
August 2018
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