Firebird

The Firebird

In ancient Egypt the firebird was called Bennu and was born from the fire of a holy tree in the temple of Ra. Some other names given to Bennu include “He Who Came Into Being by Himself,” “The Ascending One,” and my personal favorite “Lord of Jubilees.” In appearance Bennu resembled a large Heron

In Persian mythology the firebird is called Huma (or Homa) and flies endlessly over the desert causing burning winds and sandstorms wherever he travels (in some versions of his story Huma lacks legs). His touch is considered auspicious and it is said that even seeing its shadow can guarantee you a long happy life. Like all Firebird myths the Huma consumes itself every 100 years or so. It is reborn from its ashes to start its journey over the desert all over again.

In Russian folklore the Firebird is often the subject of a quest a great hero must embark upon to win a princess. The descriptions of it often compare it to a peacock that glows with a light like fire. Its feathers are priceless and its song can either lull you to sleep or predict your death (depending on the fairy tale)

Perhaps most famously Greek folklore (which was originally adapted from a Phoenician myth) describles the Firebird (or Phoenix) as a spirit of fire that can live for almost 1000 years before it burns and is born again from its own charred remains. Descriptions of it range from it being gold or scarlet to purple blue and green.

There are many many different styles and variations of the Firebird. which has appeared in literature and art as far away as China. Its power of rebirth and rejuvenation is something that people today still use as a symbol for rising strong out of adversity.

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this mornings people

drawing club Moulin Rouge

Stacey Jack as the Lautrec can can girl

Sketchcrawl happened

We met at the Natural History Museum.  Sketchcrawl is every 3 months on the Saturday around the world.  Artists from all walks of life and backgrounds get together and draw all day.  It's great.  See all the awesome at sketchcrawl.com

this mornings observations

Brown paper faces

another scene that never worked

I don't think I ever posted a ton of this work.  This never made it.  The whole idea got scrapped.  So here it is.

John Tucker as Rooster Cogburn from True Grit figure drawings

The most famous jowls in the art community in my opinion.   The rest of the artists should be on the site soon LINK

observations this fine day

observations

Sara Streeter as Maleficent the “Mistress of All Evil”

A lesson learned this morning

I told myself that I was going to be more "open" , a loose term that meant many things to me at the time.  An individual tested me and my new mantra the day I got back from vacation.  A young black man with a hard exterior but a warmth inside approached and started up a conversation while I was drawing last week.  He was timid and asked for guidance on his art, he had drifted and gotten away from it like so many do.  I gave him my card and said meet me next week at this coffee shop.
He was early this morning.
We sat, he asked about structure in a drawing and life in general.  He went to jail, loves a woman with his child who doesn't love him back, has people that owe him money walk by us during the talk, a small bottle of rage inside, and a calm and relaxed demeanor. 
 I talked about getting the entire form, working big to small, seeing everything before knocking in all that detail.  He spoke about his life up til now was like trying to draw the eyeball and not seeing the head.  "Don't get discouraged, art isn't about here and now but a journey"  I see he understands and this conversation has become very important to me.  We talk about cycles, getting out of your comfort zone, and asking for help when you need it.  I rarely ask for help when I need it (something to work on).  We talk about hard times and keeping your head above water.  He had help in jail on his drawings and wants to continue.  "God gave me a chance" He believes in structure, he wants to meet next week with his art to show me.  He likes drawing Tupac and the ladies of XXL.  Art is his way of quieting his world, making sense of the nonsensical, and therapeutic.
I couldn't agree with him more.

I write this now to make sense of this experience myself.  Looking past what I saw the first moment I met him, I learned more then I thought I would.  I still have work to do on myself.  He said some great things and I hope art treats him well.

Here are some of the things he said to me

"When you keep running in circles you can go so fast that you run into yourself, or the wrong people, still doesn't mean you went anywhere."

"To us poor people, buying air Jordans and a nice coat, it's all just costumes.  It's not real.  that's all fake.  Success is helping others, getting past where you are and help others get there."

"Wisdom minus action equals nothing"

An individual moment I had to record and definitely a lesson learned this morning.

thanks

a quick breakdown of the painting process

2dbean painting tutorial from brett bean on Vimeo.

The High school me

Did a quick 2 hour painting of me in High School.  I'm trying to figure out how to make the video work on the screen.  A  short video of the entire painting to come as soon as I can figure it out.

Epimeliad

The Epimeliads (or Epimelides) hail from a group of numerous and extremely diverse greek creatures known as nymphs. Nymphs are nature spirits that are connected to a certain creature, place, or even element. They can often be found in valleys, forest groves or beside quiet lakes or streams acting as the guardians of the animals and plants around them.

The Epimeliads , like most nymphs, are depicted as beautiful young women. They are a type of nymph known as the Dryad and are specifically the protectors of apple trees and sheep. When in the form of a young woman the Epimeliad's hair is reportedly pure white, like apple blossoms or lambs wool. They are extremely shy, and have the ability to shape shift quickly from human to apple tree when mortals are close, making a glimpse of them a rarity.

Special FX!!!!

Along with all the cool stuff I get to do on Marvel Superhero Squad I got the opportunity to work with Jeff Selbig the FX guru on some ideas