"Walker, Walker, Walker!"

If you could simply say "Walker, Walker, Walker!" in order to make Governor Walker go away, would you?  I'm sure a lot of people would love to do that. But it's not possible - unless you exist within the fantasy world of the movie Beetlejuice where that sort of thing is possible.  That's where the idea for my latest project came from.  I had a random thought about the movie Beetlejuice so I went with it, had a good laugh and then decided to shed a creepy, comical light onto the situation in Wisconsin with Governor Walker's Budget Bill. 

I had a lot of fun with this project.  The first half of the piece was amazing and the second half was a little more confusing.  The first half was composed of me swirling colors around for the background.  I completely listened to my instincts in order to create an interesting and trippy background for Beetlejuice's head to float along with.  The second half, where I added Beetlejuice's head, was harder because I had to aesthetically make everything come together.  After much thought, I've decided that due to lack of emotional connection to this piece, I had a hard time deciding was would be best.  Going from my last piece to this one was a bit difficult for me also.  My last piece, "Let Out," was so personal and satisfying that I imagine it hard to move onto any piece after that.  This piece was fun, creepy and pretty much only created to satisfy the subject requirements set forth by my teacher.  I really enjoyed it but there's a big difference between enjoying something and affectionately feeling intimately close with something.

p.s.  It looks way better in person.  There are a lot of colors and details my camera wasn't able to pick up on due to the lighting in the room and the size of the piece.  

"Walker, Walker, Walker!"  - Acrylic, Chalk Pastel, Charcoal on paper

Walker/Wisconsin Project

The next project for Drawing III has been started and the idea is...the current situation in Wisconsin with Governor Walker.  Interesting and dramatic for sure.  I know that a lot of people are really upset about this and I completely understand their anger/frustration.  The situation is not/will not be good for a lot of people because of Walker's bill.  I see people protesting, I hear them talking about it and I am deeply sad for them but for myself, I'm not overly upset.  I know the situation is bad and I know that in a year or two, we're all probably going to feel the effects of this bill in a really bad way. 

Overall, there are two things that keep going through my head when I think about this situation.  First, if this bill is passed and put into practice, what will the situation be like for our state, the families and the world in 5 to 10 years?  What are the repercussions of this bill?  Is it really worth it?  To me, it's highly likely that we do something now and not feel the real effects of it until it's too late.  Second, I am very weary of anything the government does.  I don't believe a word they say and I wouldn't trust them to use my toilet.  I'm really never surprised when I hear things like this about the government. 

So yeah, I wish this wasn't happening.  It seems as if there's a lot of injustice going on right now.  But because I don't feel too extremely connected with the situation, I wish to make light of the situation, because I can.  I haven't done a funny piece in a while.  The day that we received the assignment, I had Beetlejuice on the brain.  I'm not sure why.  In the movie, when Beetlejuice's name is repeated 3 times, he either gets bigger or he gets smaller.  My first thought was, "I bet a ton of people in Wisconsin would love to say 'Walker, Walker, Walker' and just make him disappear".  From there, I've thought and come up with some sketches.  To be continued...