And then there were 8.

If you haven't heard of him, Google Ralph Steadman. He's an 80-something Britiah dude who worked a lot with Hunter S. Thompson back in the day, but was a pretty talented political cartoonist in his own right.

He didn't isolate himself to a single style, but he is certainly most known for this ink splatter aesthetic.

I've loved his work for years, but didn't know a lot about the guy himself. I was expecting him to be this dark, brooding, weird fellow. Turns out, he seems like the nicest guy ever. Quick to crack a joke, strolls around his studio strumming on a ukulele, has a wife, kids, dogs, a cute little English house in Kent.

I probably watched almost every YouTube video where he's been interviewed. And a couple of times, the question comes up: "Ralph, your illustrations are so dark. But you don't seem like a very dark person." And, matter-of-factly, he doles out some iteration of the same answer: "All the darkness just comes out onto the paper."

That struck me a little while back. I had a bottle of India ink lying around for whatever reason, so I took a piece of printer paper, and started splattering. And then, I drew around splattering. Extracting something real and organic out of what began as chaos.

And boy. I felt better. The valve had been turned, and some of the steam got out. So I invested more supplies, as per a couple of posts back. And last night, I said have a space that couldn't really be ruined by any random chunks of pigment, and started splattering.

Here are the 8. Each one born of chaos. And over the next days, and Weeks, I'll use these splotches as the base point. Creativity lies in the limitations, so the theme? "Self Representation." What will they end up looking like? What other colors will I use, if any? Heck, what orientation will I decide to go with when I start on each one? I have not the foggiest idea. That's part of the fun of it.

Then? I'm thinking they'll end up on Etsy. 🙂 I literally have NO clue if anyone will actually want to buy the damned things, but they'll be there. Maybe something will strike a chord. Isn't that what art is all about?

In the meanwhile, I'll keep you updated as to the progress. But it's nice to have a visual outlet.