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This past week I saw the documentary "Jodorowsky's Dune," which is about the filmmaker's failed attempt to make that movie in the mid-70s. Partly the reason it failed was that Hollywood wasn't willing to let it be made. Then and just like today, the non-creative types run the industry. It was inspiring to see his creative method, the lengths he went through to get the actors (John Carradine! Salvador Dali! Orson Welles! Mick Jagger!) and artists (Moebius! HR Giger! Pink Floyd!), and in particular to me, that he did this at the same age I am now, so I find that encouraging. I feel that I have so much more art to create in this lifetime.

Also this past week somebody I know filmed me for this project they're doing on artists and their thoughts and methods. If it isn't too embarrassing to look at when it's done I'm sure I'll post something here. It was pretty stream of consciousness as far as questions went, although one sticks with me that I hadn't given too much thought too before. In asking about what I choose to depict in my art, I generally lean towards the imaginary, as far from reality as can be, or just over the edge. I never really thought much about it, just like I don't think about doing this at all, it's just what I feel compelled to do, which is why when I have long spells of nothing it's quite distressing.

I also said that I'm always seeking out new ideas (or unearthing old ones in sketchbooks), so I believe that part of my 2014 project, to finish one artwork a month, has something to do with that, as my current one is a pin-up type (digital) painting and that's not my usual subject matter.

As said last week, I took a shot from my photoshoot from last August and decided to use that as the basis for it. I think that the original is good on its own but has more unwanted background elements than I care to spend time erasing.

I was originally going to try doing it in Painter but that program doesn't seem to be working with my computer anymore, so it seems that an OS X upgrade is ever more inevitable in my future. These new tools are fantastic until they don't work. A pencil only needs to get resharpened. So back to trusty old Photoshop. Some re-learning of what the tools do and still getting used to using a tablet to do it, but I think it's started out well. At my current pace I should be done in time, although I anticipate taking longer on the face, if only to make sure it comes out right. I'm not tracing the photo per se, but it is on a lower layer for reference. I show it here so you can see what I've done so far, but not just a floating torso. That'd be just weird.