My Art Cave

So posts on this site have been pretty sparse for the past couple months. A big part of that has been due to this project I've been pouring all my extra time into. I ask you, how can an artist create anything in a room that makes him want to vomit? My home office had been a nursery for the previous owners, and what a mess they made of it. I'm talking blue sponge paint and wallpaper trim level damage here. So I worked up a design plan and have made it my mission to transform the revolting nursery into an art office that I could actually spend more than five minutes in without wanting to drive a screwdriver into my eye sockets. It's still got a little work left to go, but the centerpiece of the room is finally ready for unveiling. Witness the transformation:

Ugh, this is what I had to start with. What's with the 5 foot high chair rail? Honestly, the things people inflict on children.

Here's the completed design. It's supposed to represent my journey from the structure of the daily world into a creative zone in which I have total freedom. And yes, that's my brain in the middle.

After ripping off half the wall with the wallpaper, chair rail, and book shelf removal, I had to retexture everything before putting down the cream base coat and penciling in the design.

So close and yet so far. The cityscape proved to be a complete pain, which only reinforced my decision not to use any straight lines in the rest of the design.

Ignore the clutter on the desk and floor. Here is the wall as it stands today; a tribute to extended adolescence.

Bleepity bloopity, it's a big scary robot sending radio messages from his head!

And look! A Godzilla-like creature emerging from the sea of my subconscious!

Here the straight lines and oppressive structure of the city melt into a river, bamboo, and a curly tree. Very Zen.

Finally, here's the comparison to the first picture (which, funnily enough, you can see in the computer screen on the desk). Eventually I'll find a place for all that junk lying about, but I still have plans for the wall in front of my workspace. So for the moment, the office will have to stay in a sort of limbo state. Until I can complete the design on the other wall, finish out the cleanup on the main wall and slap some posters and bookshelves up, I've at least got a space that I can stand to be in to do my work. And that's good enough for now.

Greg White Illustration