The Illustrated News of Record

Everyday my local paper posts the 911 calls from the day before. Most of them are pretty ridiculous as there are a lot of senile old people and meth addicts around here with little to do but report their delusions to the only people who will listen, the fuzz. My friend Michelle, newbie to the area, found reading the News of Record to be one of the most amusing past times around and would post her favorites regularly to her facebook page. It wasn’t long before our resident genius and rabble rouser, Richard, suggested that we make something artful out of this. The conversation went something like this:

It went on a bit more, but that is all my screen could capture and I am sure you get the gist of it. So now you will find the doodles of all sorts of people illustrating the Tuolumne County News Of Record here at: newsofrecord.otherlode.com. Otherlode is a site that has yet to fully blossom, but this may be the first step. Check out the Illustrated News of Record as soon and as often as possible. It is filled with gems like this one by Joel Wilde:

Death in Le Style Mucha

Many people would argue that Alphonse Mucha is one of the most definitive artists of the art nouveau movement. Mucha was a Czech artist whose work for the Paris theatre gained him world wide notoriety. His bold yet beautiful illustration style held great influence over much of the art created in the early 1900s. His stylized floral patterns and intricate border elements are imitated by illustrators, printmakers & designers to this day. Although I didn’t know much of the artist until recently I have been a fan of his heavy outlined figures, bold color fills and ornate organic imagery. Take a peek at these images I found online:

Being a admirer of Mucha’s and modern day metal head I could not help but take great notice in the work of John Dyer Baizley. Baizley is an artist who’s work can be found on many of today’s prominent hardcore, grindcore and heavy metal albums including those of his own band Baroness. I bought a Pig Destroyer album on sight alone because of his work. To view his work is to gaze into beautiful death. It is as though Baizley has taken the essence of Mucha’s illustrations and threw them in a blender with the decaying corpses of prom queens. The similarities are obvious, but the differences are startling. Baizley does a fantastic job a nodding to Mucha while creating his own dark path to travel down. If you can’t quite imagine it take a look at these:

Artis Survey #7: Paris Raupach

(Domestic Spying)

(Gay Marriage)

(Capital Punishment)

Name: Paris Raupach

Location: San Francisco, CA

Medium(s): Watercolor, Digital

What do you consider yourself (artist/designer/other)? Artist/Illustrator/reluctant designer

Where can we see your work (place/publications/url)? www.parisraupach.com

When did you start gaining interest in artistic forms of expression? I’ve been drawing and creating art for as long as I can remember.

Who/What inspired your interest? I don’t know if I had a specific inspirational figure, but my parents always encouraged my artistic tendencies.

Where do you first remember being exposed to art? I remember having a baby sitter who always had us doing crafts… paper bag puppets and things like that. I always liked making things with my hands.

What is your day job? Custom picture framing

Why do you create? I have to… I’m driven to it. I’m naturally lazy so if it weren’t something that nagged at me all the time I probably wouldn’t bother.

Is there any recurring theme in your work? Yes. Politics almost always finds it’s way into my work.

What do you want from your work? Essh… what a question. Practically… employment, spiritually… I’d like to shock my audience into questioning their preconceived notions about a given subject.

What do you want viewers to take from your work? I would like people to ask themselves why they accept a particular belief as true. They may change their mind or reinforce what they already believed, but what I’m looking for is the act of questioning.

How often do you work on personal projects? These days… not so much. In a bit of a rut.

How often do you work on commissions or commercial work? These days…not so much. 😉 Not enough to quit the day job anyway. I’ll usually get a design job every couple months or so.

Does your art support you financially? Nope.

Do you feel preoccupied with your art, do you think about it often during the day and night and do you anticipate your next session? Yes. I constantly have new ideas. The difficulty is finding the time and motivation to work. Making art is not easy and can be heart breaking. Right now I’m having trouble getting started, but the ideas are always there.

What do you do in your spare time besides your art? Spare time? I guess walk the dog, or watch a good movie. I definitely spend too much time watching T.V. I am a news junky. I’m always reading political blogs or listening to talk radio.

Which musicians are you currently interested in? I’ve been rediscovering hip hop in my older years. Right now I’m really into Lupe Fiasco.

Are there any events you are looking forward to attending? I’m looking forward to going to the San Francisco Symphony. I’ve never been. It seems like something really classy to do.

How long do you generally take on a piece? I can put something together from concept to sketch to final painting within a day or two, but I usually spend a week or so on a painting.

Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of your art? Yep. Ended a six year relationship in part to pursue an art career. I also quit a pretty well paying job to go back to art school.

Do you work on multiple projects at once? Sometimes.

Do you have trouble parting with your finished work? Eh… not so much. I always photograph and often make prints of my work so I have a record. Plus my goal is to sell it, so it’s a good thing when a painting goes out the door and I have a check in my hand!