Scott

Are Genius and Madness Related? Contemporary Answers to an Ancient Question

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“The idea that creativity and psychopathology are somehow linked goes way back to antiquity–to the time of Aristotle. Centuries later, this belief was developed and expanded by various psychiatrists, psychoanalysts and psychologists. For instance, Cesare Lombroso, M.D., argued toward the end of the 19th century that genius and madness were closely connected manifestations of an underlying degenerative neurological disorder. To be sure, this idea has not gone without challenge. On the contrary, humanistic psychologists were inclined to associate creativity with mental health. Nevertheless, the prevailing view appears to be that psychopathology and creativity are positively associated.”

I’m fine, really.

There was a time I worked almost exclusively in graphite; something about the simplicity appealed to me. While I’ve taken it up again in my fine arts, black and white illustration jobs haven’t come my way in while. This one is for Cicada magazine, which is Cricket for older kids. The story is set in the forest, but there is no specific time or place.

It’s a strange story. The boy is an awful hunter and fisherman and a supposed drain on his tribe. The Almighty Spirit of the Forest seems to think it’s his job to take him out. He finds an old she-bear, possesses her body and mind, and sets out to kill the young warrior.

This is the original sketch. The editors liked it, but the boy’s proportions are a little odd and his neck ornament is too big for a warrior who has not yet proven himself.

Here is the final for the first illustration. The boy’s proportions are in check, and the neckwear is appropriate for someone lacking that killer instinct.

Back to the story… Unfortunately for the Spirit of the Forest, the she-bear he picked—out of all the bears in the woods—is half blind and has a bad paw, among other ailments. So, the young boy warrior kills the old she-bear and becomes a man-warrior. Of course the Spirit guy is almighty and removes himself from the bear as she ascends into bear heaven. Ooops, sorry! Cut and run.

Finished art. The only changes were the kid’s legs needed to be more sprawled out and to make sure the bear was in the water.

The moral of the story is that, if you are weak and can’t hunt or fish, you should be killed by a possessed bear.

The drawings were done using a mechanical pencil with 2H lead on 11″ x 14″ smooth bristol. I used a blending stick to soften it up and an ebony pencil for the darker areas.

I’m finally caught up with the projects that came my way. The new agent did her part and sent me more work than I could handle. It’s been a while since I had so many deadlines converge, and the end result was a mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Since it’s my website, I’m only going to share the good parts.

This is Hannah, an 8-year-old girl and the youngest of a large family. The theme is all about hand-me-downs, so she’s supposed to be wearing a mishmash of clothes.

This sketch is created directly on 11″ x 14″ bristol, using my now patented draw/erase/draw/erase (repeat) technique. The editors liked this one, except it had to look like she was sweating.

The first step I take is to fill everything with color using acrylic paint. A good coat of acrylic paint will cover up most of the sketch lines and get me started. This was a 32-page book, so consistency is always an issue. I decide here what colors to mix for her hair and face, and then I treat it like a coloring book. I may put in a little detail, but my main concern is to get a coat of acrylic color everywhere on the page to prepare for the next step.

After the first coat of acrylic, I use gouache. The acrylic forms a permanent and waterproof base for the gouache to sit on. Since it reconsitutes, I can move it and slide it around on top of the acrylic until I get just what I want. If I don’t like it, I can wipe it down and start over, leaving just the acrylic underpainting.

Using a mix of ultramarine blue and raw umber, I outline everything and put in the dark shadows. I do this with the entire stack of illustrations. Then I go back through the stack, and using just clean water I smooth out the blue/brown line and blend it in to create the shadows.

Here is the final. I’ve applied more skin color and details in the hair, shaded the clothing, and made her a bit more solid. I’ve also gone back in with acrylic paint to touch up some spots that needed to be solid, as well as used some titanium white and lamp black to make things “pop.”

The story is ultimately about magic shoes, so I’ve also added the sparkle effect using both acrylic paint and prismacolor.

The sketches came back from the publisher, and I’m working on finishing those up in the next few days. It’s been a real scramble. It took me several months to finish the illustrations for The Three Armadillys Tuff and even more than that to finish the Ring Bear. I see it as a challenge to come up with a style and technique I can produce efficiently. I’ve scanned in a few illustrations as I work and will post in the next week or so.

In the meantime, here is a quick painting I did for the Fringe Festival. She will be on display during business hours at the offices of DC Economic Partnership (1495 F Street NW) from 7/17 – 7/30.

Girl in a Room Series
#1: Alice Changes the Light Bulb
acrylic and gouache
30″ x 60″
SOLD!

The premise is that Alice was institutionalized after returning from Wonderland and is there to this day, pining after Tweedle Dee and obsessing about being mad. It could also be a metaphor for living here in DC, but you didn’t hear that from me.

If you click the image or here, you can see her writings a bit more clearly.