Fetish - Marc Scheff

I confess, I've had some creative block this week, thus the late post. I have been turning to exercise, walks, and a well-timed call with my mentor to clear out the cobwebs.

This piece is, again, doing double-duty. It is a fetish, in that I seem to have one about painting women and wolves. It is also a very small (5.75 square) piece for the Mail Me Art project.

Down the Mountain

5.75x5.75"

acrylic and pen on envelope

Love Story - Marc Scheff

This week, again I'm doing double, or quadruple duty.

I read this story, "Magnets" by Thais Miller from Nautilus mag, about a love through time, like a mini Cloud Atlas. It seemed like a fun one to take apart. I also decided to do it on a 5.75" square postcard, so I can use it for the Mail Me Art project. Then my friend, DJ 80 Bugg emailed me about her new album, Escape to Mount Cyanide. The imagery I had in mind fit, so I did this up and it will be included with her new CD. I also kept the original drawing intact to put up for sale on my private collectors list.

"Escape to Mount Cyanide"

acrylic, ink, pen, pencil, on a very small postcard

Marc Scheff - #nofilter

This week I have a commission and it is love-themed. My client wanted a portrait of his girlfriend, who loves plants, nature, trees, and mushrooms (the non-illegal kind).

My interpretation of #nofilter is literally showing you the process of my acrylic work, without the filter of a sexy presentation or cleaned-up digitally-altered drawing.

This is stage 3 or 4, an ink drawing to guide my painting. The board surface is wood, which I sealed with a thin layer of matte medium to prevent ink bleeding. After this I will apply washes of color, and eventually details, and some more ink and gouache. And yes, I'll paint out that double right arm.

Artist Spotlight III

Tim Paul
http://www.timpaulillustrations.com/

Stacey Lee
http://www.oddplacement.com/

Richie Pope
http://richiepope.com/

Shanti Riggers
http://www.shantirittgers.com/

Angela Rizza
http://angelarizza.com/

Marc Scheff
http://www.marcscheff.com/

Kyle Smart
http://www.kylesmart.co.uk/

Lauren Saint-Onge
http://laurensaintonge.com/ 

Alice Stanne
http://www.alicestanne.com/

Kevin Jay Stanton
http://kevinjaystanton.com/

Erika Steiskal
http://www.erikasteiskal.com/

Joan Varitek
http://www.joanvaritek.com/

Jaime Zollars
http://jaimezollars.com/

Steen
http://steendraws.com/

Marc Scheff - Jaime Zollars

I met Jaime at ICON7 where her smile was only outshone by her incredible illustration work. For this final challenge, I did a take of Jaime as a member of her own Society of Seekers.

Big huge thanks to Kristina Carroll for pulling this month together. It was an honor to work alongside this talented group.

Marc Scheff - Love Song Shuffle

As I shuffled through my library, I kept thinking about one song that always touches me in its simple, bare, emotion.

"At my most beautiful, I count your eyelashes."

I also really love R.E.M. so that's me counting young Michael Stipe's eyelashes.

Proof that I love them, below.

Marc Scheff - Anything, but that

My values and integrity. I am a pretty flexible guy, but it will take a lot more than love to make me change thosef.

Marc Scheff - Mating Ritual

I admit a fascination with the visceral. Underneath all the flowers and poetry, there are mechanics. Muscles, tendons, saliva, nerve endings, unpretty things that hold up the curtains of our lives' theatre. Underneath, the oil of olay and botox and implants, or the natural beauties with faces the color of Spring afternoons, stately gentlemen, or good-time charlies. Underneath. I wonder what we are reaching for, when so often it's nothing, just us.

acrylic and pen on paper

Marc Scheff - Love Balloon

Continuing my bromance with another Tim Paul sketch. This is yesterday's post, which I tried to post from my phone, but the Blogger app doesn't let you resize images and Tim's head would be HUGE. We can't have that.

Marc Scheff - Odd Couple

Marc Scheff - Super Love

I realize I must have been inspired by Jeffrey's post. As mentioned in a previous post, I just bought some acrylics and am experimenting with this new (to me) media. Dry on dry, dry on wet, wet on wet, and some ink pens. And I love superheroes. So much, I even enjoyed the Fantastic Four, both movies.

Marc Scheff - Bitterness INC

Two weeks later, Choe flew back to San Francisco where I was throwing an underground party called Bitterness INC. I built a ten foot glowing heart in three dimensions to hang in the center of the warehouse, and Chloe brought her dancing shoes. I remember sitting inside the heart fixing something when Chloe appeared in the opening, smiled, and gave me a big kiss. I don't know when we said I love you, but I remember that moment as the beginning of falling in love.

Other notes: One of the guys who organized the scavenger hunt co-organized this event with me and is now one of our son's godfathers.

Further note: Chloe is six inches taller than me. This image makes sense, actually.

Marc Scheff - Long Distance Love

Chloe went back to Boston. She was a law student and I was the Creative Director at a t-shirt company in San Francisco. We both spent a lot of time on our computers. We said that the distance was to great to commit, but we sure committed a lot of time to instant messenger.

Marc Scheff - I left my heart in San Francisco

Vday Challenge, Day One

My wife and I went to college together, but never met there. We have all the same friends, but didn't run in the same circles, if that makes sense. We both moved to San Francisco, and she quickly sped back to New York. She came back to visit a lot, and years later we met and knew each other in our circle of friends.

Some of these friends organized a big scavenger hunt on a weekend she was visiting, and placed us on the same team. With our paper tickets in hand, we wandered the twistiest streets of the city searching for obscurities. We found them, but we also found each other.

Marc Scheff - Horrificionado Love

Man, do I love horror movies. When I was 14 I got a job at Out of Town News in Harvard Square. I cut papers (unloading) and sold them on street corners around the square. I worked in the back room mostly. I was 14, so they weren't psyched about me handling money all the time.

I went home every day and read books en route, usually something by Stephen King. I would get off a stop past my house so I could go to the video store and rent a few horror movies. My day started and ended early, so I had lots of time to take in every cult classic and every piece of garbage horror flick I could get my hands on. Have you seen all the Howling movies? You shouldn't, but I enjoyed every one.

On a rare day where I was working the outside register a man walks up and holy shnikeys did this guy look like my favorite author, Stephen King. He bought a NYT Book Review, a Harpers, and something else. Shy as I was, I managed to squeak out "Hey, you look a lot like Stephen King," to which he replied, "I am Stephen King." He was gracious enough to give me an autograph, and since I had nothing to write on, I pulled out a dollar from the reg and he signed that. That dollar is now framed in my basement along with a news clipping from the next week's Boston Globe where Mr King stated clearly that he just doesn't autographs at all, not for anyone.

Man, do I love horror movies.

Marc Scheff - a face only a mother could love

I am currently sitting in upstate New York. No computer. No sketchbook. Just my iPad and adonit jot touch. With -15 minutes left to post I tried a sketch with the app procreate. Maybe only I can love this, but I do see a lot of possibility with this medium.

Marc Scheff - Cherry Pie

The first tape I ever bought was Warrant's Cherry Pie. This album is still some of my favorite guilty-pleasure poppy hair-rock. Pure sex on roller skates. I remember listening to Mr. Rainmaker over and over and over, and singing along with all my pre-a-capalla-group might. Go ahead and have a listen.

Marc Scheff - Love is a Battlefield

I was in an a capella group in college. I know for a fact you can spell that with one 'p." We did a very intense medley of Pat Benetar's oeuvre. There was choreo. Points if you can find the video on YouTube.

She is the first thing I thought of to sketch for this one, squeezed between all-day meetings, class, and a new very fun project I hope to tell the internet about very soon.

Marc Scheff - Free Love

Did you know that when Timothy Leary died, he had his head cut off, cryogenically frozen, and shot into space? I know it's true because Tim told me.

Marc Scheff - Love at First sight

But will it last?