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Interview with Carlos Pérez Bucio

livingartroom — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:16:21 +0000

- Can you identify when you started drawing? How did you become a newspaper cartoonist?

At the age of six I realized I could draw better than my class-mates. I used to draw cartoons of T.V. characters. I really liked Hannah Barbera ones and also Marvel comics, but I mostly enjoyed Naranjo’s drawings, a political cartoonist. At that age I was very much surprised that only a few ink strokes could portray a person with shadows and volumes. More than becoming a painter, as a child I wanted to be able to draw as well as that gentleman. Then as a teenager I started to practice more often and tried to find my own style. I signed up for a workshop conducted by Helguera (La Jornada’s cartoonist) and during those years I really thought I would end up being a cartoonist. So as soon as I could, I approached the Excélsior newspaper cultural supplement, El Búho, which was directed by the writer René Avilés, who gave me my first break. I showed up with some caricatures of famous people and presto: I got my first assignment.

- What is your relationship with France? We can see people and characters in your paintings. Do the latter come completely from your imagination or do they have features of people you know and that you then distort in the images you create?

I lived six years in France. Not because of a scholarship, or an artistic residence, but a love story. My daughter was born there. I spent my first year as an undocumented resident, though it was not very difficult to subsequently normalize my status. I had to renew my resident permit yearly and I hated it. Being a Saint-Denis resident, I had to lineup with all the third-world misery, literally. After coexisting, day after day, with multiculturalism and diversity, even saints can lose their patience. I no longer buy humanist tolerance speeches. Because I lived very close to the ghettos I know that the peaceful coexistence of people with different languages and cultures in one space is impossible. I like to say: that explains why I became a Marxist-Lepenist. If Jean-Marie Le Pen were Mexican, he would support Juarez and even Zapata. So: Long live Le Pen, long live Juarez, and long live me. Since it’s so difficult to find such people, my friend Jairo Calixto Albarrán, of the Milenio newspaper, asked me to write articles about life in the ghettos, something nobody had ever attempted before. Existing reporters and journalists tend to write insipid things about foe example such and such café in Saint-Germain where the surrealists used to gather, or Sartre and Beauvoir and shit like that. No. I am interested in the filthy side of life. So it’s normal for my painting to be consequently filthy too. That’s why my characters turn out to be jokers, like in “Racaille”, a piece alluding directly to my experience in France but which is by no means exclusive to anecdotes (autobiographical notes should not restrain the universal vocation of a good piece of art). I have no trouble at all going from an academic drawing to a satirical one. In one painting you can find glimpses of reality through a real, recognizable character and at the same time fantasy nightmarish characters, many of which are constructed from friends’ traits.

- We know that you destroy several paintings before declaring one finished. Are the paintings you tear, first versions of the same image? In other words: when you start painting are you seeking an image, or is every attempt a different image that happens not to convince you, leading to destruction and a fresh start?

I don’t make sketches, nor do I take notes on the streets. The image is born in my head and I can spend several days composing it mentally until it’s perfect. I then draw it directly on the surface, with no previous studies or sketches and the results tend to be almost identical to what I had imagined. The problem is that many images disappoint me once finished. Or they even bore when it comes to working on them. Hence, the urge to destroy becomes unstoppable. I think that if a painting does not marvel me, it is not worthy of other people seeing it. So I butcher it and start something else, a new piece, as different as possible as the one I failed. Neurotic episodes can also take over, where I destroy pieces that I liked but for some reason were never exhibited or never stepped out of my studio.

In order to better understand your work, is it necessary to see how you conceive caricatures? Clearly, it is not simply the mocking of physical features. What components do you think a cartoon/caricature has to have?

All great artists have made caricatures, that is, exaggeration and monstrosity. This is the way it should be understood, caricature in all its vast possibilities, they way José Clemente Orozco, Otto Dix and Georges Grosz did it. Caricatures are not mere political comments in a newspaper. Some of the best caricaturists, like Daumier or Grandville, were complete artists. Leonardo practiced caricaturesque distortions, just as Bosco did. In the 20^th century, comics and the T.V. culture have contributed to enrich pictorial languages used by artists whose work is close to caricatures and cartoons, for example the lowbrow movement. I feel very close to them but do not ascribe myself to that aesthetic. I draw cartoons and distortions because “realistic representation” is not enough for me.

You have an impressive management of different techniques. Which ones are more interesting to you? And how did you get to them?

Almost all techniques interest me and I master almost all of them, except one: oil, which is a pity because it is the pictorial technique par excellence. Nobody teaches technique and I am not sure if recent art graduates have received any technical training. I suspect not: nowadays a lack of skills is considered more of a virtue than a flaw. Why bother to become skilled when “spontaneity” and “freshness” have replaced virtuosity? The ENAP taught me to build mental masturbations, but never to paint. I don’t regret it. I bought my first acrylics to try out, around that time. I found it very easy to master the technique and so I still use acrylics today. Pastels are another story. It’s a very popular technique, like a hobby for ladies, but I took it as a challenge because I always found bad pastel artwork very annoying when history of art has seen chalk masters like Quentin Latour or Rosalba Carriera. So I told myself, “Carlitos, if you’re going to do it, do it like they did”. Also, because I find myself in the low-tech of things, my interests lie in all that counterweighs new technologies. From that standpoint, I’m a reactionary.

Who appears in your paintings? When someone inspires you so much that one way or another you want them to be part of your compositions?

For the last couple of years I have been including real people in my work. When there exist people with such powerful symbolic charge, like Jean-Marie Le Pen, Napoleon or the one and only Gabriel Orozco, there is no need to distort or caricaturize them. On the contrary, if they lose that “immediate recognition” then the meaning of the work is also lost. What’s the point of drawing against the “gabrielorozquization” of taste, if the protagonist is not recognizable? Without technique becoming an obsession, the academic drawer must overshadow the satyrical one. My friends also appear in my work. Their physical features help me construct new characters, monsters interacting with real characters, like the drawing with Hugo Chávez, or monsters starring in their own scenes, like “Piercings for idiots”. I have always asked permission to those in mi work, except when I deal with public figures. Since I don’t know Hugo Chávez or the Kuri brothers, I simply get photos of them wherever I can. That’s what almost everybody does. It’s different with friends. I have the feeling that many of them are waiting to appear in one of my pictures. It flatters them and they really hold out for it. They know I won’t paint them smelling roses or in graceful positions. They have been warned. I am filthy and as characters of my pictures, they will automatically become filthy. No, nobody has taken offence. On the contrary, it is a privilege to be in carlitos world. If they appear in my work, be it Juan Pérez or José Kuri, it’s for a reason. Parody is also a homage, even though at first sight it seems like stepping over the line.

Are there any limits to the content of your creations? Or do you sometimes censor yourself (just a little) depending on the relationship you have with the person in your work, e.g. if it is someone you love and might somehow hurt them with one of your paintings?

I don’t like dicks nor do I like cheap vulgarities. There are very phallic painters who put penises here and there and everywhere. I prefer to paint open and slimy vaginas, but only when necessary, like in “La Gran Vida”, a beautiful image about pleasures (although it doesn’t seem it, I painted it with bucolic scenes of 19^th century French painters in mind). I don’t think my work can be harmful, on the contrary. If friends appear in my painting with guts spilling out, they know that being in it is a sign of affection. That’s why I say that those who serve as models for my work are important people: be it because of a symbolic importance when dealing with public figures, or because of emotional importance when dealing with friends. The nastier the paintings are, the more at ease we feel with each other.

Has the rejection of your work from various people made you feel frustrated in some cases? Or does this, on the contrary, feed the spirit of your work and encourage you to make something even more garish?

It’s not very nice to send work to biennial exhibitions or competitions and find out that one has not been selected. Rejection is certainly frustrating, but it only lasts the time it takes to read the results. Rather than frustrating, it’s exasperating. Exasperating because exhibitions are a sign of the standardization of taste, where painting, the good drawing and virtuosity are becoming increasingly rare. Because the elite, who are supposed to pull up the taste of people, are increasingly ignorant and mix perfume and fashion with art.

I feel quite far from real frustration because I have also won prizes and received scholarships. And you are right, after every disappointment I want to paint even crazier images. Do you know what is really frustrating? That artists talk like soccer players. Even Cuauhtémoc Blanco has better grammar than any artist in the Júmex Collection.

How do you think your work has been evolving? What interests you more now and what have you stopped doing in your paintings?

I’ve always been interested in the same things. It’s just that I am better at them now: guts; food; poop; sex; politics; religion. I am increasingly concerned with the concrete aspects of painting such as composition, color and figure. As there is no doubt I am a good drawer, it seems as though I’m home free. However, every painting is a struggle and works differently than the previous one, despite it being the same technique, and hence is constant learning. I used to be very afraid of having my work labeled as illustration. I took it as something derogatory. Now I no longer try to hide that I once was a cartoonist, illustrator and even a musician at weddings with the superb Sibaris group, affiliated to the Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Música (a trade union for musicians). In fact, I like it to be noticeable. I hold many more resources than anybody who limits themselves to be purists in painting. It’s funny, but when I went to the editorial department of the Canard Enchainé in Paris to look for work, the editor told me my work was very pictorial. So it’s been a while since I stopped giving importance to labels. Those who really know about painting are able to decipher and truly understand my work. They don’t pigeonhole me. There’s also a problem with the public: people, young people are getting used to not seeing paintings. And the new generation of painters is increasingly bland and produces a sterile painting which is very “artistically” correct.

Move to Indiana

Ronny — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:27:00 +0000

The move from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Lafayette, Indiana is complete (more or less). Colorado Springs is a beautiful place to live and I wouldn’t have moved if I could have stayed. Here is why I moved:

As sole proprietor of a CAD consultant company I call CAD Directions, I have been providing services to the architectural community since 1994. With over 30 years Architectural CAD experience I provide an array of services.

Highlights from the last couple of years:
-    As production draftsman: Produced architectural construction documents for several buildings including an 84,000 sq. ft. school on the north side of Colorado Springs.
-    As 3D Modeler: Created several 3D computer models including the 21 building Health Sciences Center located in downtown Philadelphia for Temple University (I had previously done the same for their main campus.)
-    As delineator: Provided many photo-realistic computer renderings, including animations and shadow studies for several clients ranging from a home owner in California to a land developer in New Jersey.
-    As programmer: Provided custom AutoLisp programming for a cabinet designer in Colorado Springs.
-    As teacher: Furnished custom AutoCAD and Revit training.
-    As CAD Manager: Setup CAD standards and procedures for an interior design company and an architectural firm in Colorado Springs.
-    As BIM expert: Assisted a Revit professional in California who required help in refining prototype families for architectural product manufacturers.

You can find more information about me and the services that I can provide at my web site:

http://www.caddirections.com/index_old.htm

Last year (2008) was my best year ever. But this year my business got slower and slower until by October, it had slowed to to the point where it was practically nonexistent. Having lived off my credit cards for a couple of months in the vain hope that work would pick up, I finally had to swallow my pride and accept my daughter’s offer to move in with her in Indiana. So my wife and I, along with my father-in-law and his dog are all now happily living with my daughter and her husband in Lafayette.

Even though I do work for Architects and designers all across the USA most of my work for the last few years has been for local Colorado architects. I have started cold-calling all of the local architects. First I called all the architects in and around Lafayette. Lafayette is about half way between Indianapolis and Chicago so I have started calling the architects in Indianapolis. I’ll call the Chicago architects next.

The good news is that I have met a local architect who has offered me a contract to produce a set of drawings for him. I start tomorrow. I have also talked to an architect in Indianapolis who is giving me a contract pending his client’s signing off on the project. And I have a meeting on Wednesday with another local architect to discuss possible opportunities.

Drawer vs Draftsman

John Blalock — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:05:50 +0000

Rachel and had an argument about the word drawer. I was using it to refer to a person who draws (such as myself). Rachel states that this is an inappropriate use of the word and you should use draftsman.

I stand by my usage however and I have print proof (thanks to the internet)

The Diary of Samuel Pepys looks pretty good and is quite the literary back bone of my argument

Can’t argue with a book like this.

Rediscovering Inspiration

gears — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:46:36 +0000

Nicolai Fechin, Mexican in a Cowboy Hat, Charcoal on Paper, 16" x 12"

http://www.medicinemangallery.com/bio/nicolaifechin.lasso

I found a page from a calender that I have carried around with me for about 10 years. I was stunned by this artist and I wondered why I had never seen his work before. His name is Nicolai Fechin, a Russian born artist that painted southwest subjects in the first half of the 20th century.

The work is stunning! I always felt that this is what I was working towards with my art.

The Hot Seat: C3

whitewallssf — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:22:15 +0000

Some creators breeze through sketches as a stepping stone to their final product, but C3 is a differ

Jobs at BIET Jhansi

The Editor — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:44:36 +0000

Bundelkhand Institute of Engineering & Technology, JHANSI. Advertisement No: 3/2009 Separate app

DraftsMan

accessiblecli — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:03:07 +0000

(review date February 2007)

The DraftsMan with the ruler about a third of the way down the page. The writing on the plastic sheet, the set squares and protractor are visible.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is not always an accurate statement where blind students are concerned. Most blind people cannot interpret complex images and this is especially true in the case of three-dimensional representations. Nevertheless, raised line diagrams are potentially very important in the education of people who are blind or have a severe vision impairment.

The process used by the DraftsMan to produce raised lines is not new, examples of varying styles having been available over more than forty years. The DraftsMan, however, represents a very good implementation of the technology.

The DraftsMan Standard accepts A4 sized plastic sheets. To keep it taut during drawing, the sheet is secured by a simple and effective bar clamp at top and bottom. Drawing with a pen (or other sharp stylus) results in the lines being raised on the plastic sheet due to its interaction with the rubbery surface of the board.

A ruler, set squares and protractor are provided. It is common for raised markings to be used on Braille rulers. The tools supplied with the DraftsMan have these, but also include niches along their edges. This is highly desirable, as it allows greater precision when locating the pen at a specific point.

On each side of the board there is a slot, which ensures that the purpose-built ruler lies directly across the page. This also allows the ruler to be moved up and down the page while maintaining a constant angle.

The ruler can be locked in a chosen position. This is especially helpful to a blind user, as it frees both hands to control the pen and to manipulate set squares. The scale on the protractor is very coarse, with marks at only every 10 degrees. While marking every degree in a tactile form would require a larger protractor, this implementation is disappointing.

Very little practice is required to establish the correct pressure when drawing on the DraftsMan. Insufficient pressure will produce faint lines, while excessive force can cut the sheet. Sharp, well defined lines are produced. While the sheets supplied with the DraftsMan are translucent, drawings made with a pen are also highly visible. While thin and light, the sheets appear to be quite resilient. When stored in folders or other options which prevent crumpling, the durability of drawings should be good.

The DraftsMan is a simple and effective tool for producing raised line diagrams both for and by students who have little or no vision. It can be used for showing anything from basic geometric shapes to flow charts and bar graphs, basic maps and other two-dimensional representations. One application is to teach the shape of print characters. Importantly, it allows blind students to draw and to receive immediate feedback on their work. It also allows people who have had no prior experience in the field of tactile graphics to produce material with very little practice.

Manufacturer	Caretec, Austria, http://www.caretec.at
Australian supplier	Quantum Technology 5 South Street, Rydalmere 2116 Phone (02) 8844-9888 http://www.quantech.com.au
Cost	$295

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India Recruits Executive Officer/ Junior Engineer/ Draftsman/ Steno-Typist/ Data Entry Clerk/ Peon

The Editor — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:21:04 +0000

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India requires candidates with proven ability and track re

Hugh Ferriss- The Father of Gotham City

JP — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:18:04 +0000

Some called Hugh Ferriss a draftsman, others called him a delineator. More accurately– he was a trained architect, visionary designer and iconic artist. Without ever formally designing a building himself, he is credited with influencing a generation of architects and creating the cityscape we call Gotham City. His signature ‘moody’ style was honed during the 1920s– frequently presenting the building at night, lit up by spotlights, or in a fog, as if photographed with a soft focus. The shadows cast by and on the building became almost as important as the revealed surfaces. He had somehow managed to develop a style that would elicit emotional responses from the viewer.

His book, The Metropolis of Tomorrow remains in print some 80 years after he sketched his shadowy images of cities where airplanes slide between towers and floodlights carve a backdrop to skyscraping peaks. The Hugh Ferriss’ archive, including drawings and papers, is held by the Drawings & Archives Department of the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University.

1 / On Ferriss’s fifth birthday, somebody gave him a picture of the Parthenon. “I tacked it onto the wall and often thought about it,” he later recalled.

2 / Early clients included Vanity Fair and, during World War I, the federal government’s Committee on Public Information.

3 / A series of Ferriss’s melodramatic images appeared, mural-size, in The Titan City, a 1925 exhibit at Manhattan department store Wanamaker’s.

4 / In 1928, Ferriss was asked to write about “Rendering, Architectural” for the Encyclopedia Britannica. His 4,000-word essay stayed in the encyclopedia until 1973.

5 / The Metropolis of Tomorrow cost $3 when first published in 1929. In 2008, a first edition on biblio.com was priced at $750.

6 / By 1929, Ferriss occupied an Upper East Side penthouse with his wife and daughter and earned $20,810. Three Depression-wracked years later, they were back in Greenwich Village. His income: $1,861.

7 / When a Diego Rivera mural was removed from Rockefeller Center in 1933 because it included Vladimir Lenin, Ferriss was among 47 cultural figures who signed a letter of protest.

8 / When Le Corbusier and Russian engineer Nikolai Bassov squabbled over the base of the United Nations headquarters, with the press hungry for images, Ferriss saved the day by blurring the ground floor with foliage: “When in doubt, plant trees.”

9 / “Manhattanism is conceived in Ferriss’s womb,” proclaimed Rem Koolhaas in his 1978 book, Delirious New York.

10 / Since 1986, the American Society of Architectural Illustrators has presented an annual Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize.

Drawing

indianartinfo — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:26:51 +0000

India is a land of many forms of art. To the credit of India, right from ancient civilization to modern India, India has produced numerous monumental artworks. There has been no let down as far as producing classic work of arts is concerned. Even invaders have managed to blend well with Indian culture and left a legacy of art works which are both Indian as well as foreign in nature. In other words, the best of diverse cultures has been witnessed by India. Mughals are a great example of this fact.

Among several forms of art, Drawing is one wonderful part of visual art. Drawing makes two-dimensional shape, figure, or image by using any tool on a surface like paper. One can use several tools for drawing the likes of which include charcoals, stylus, graphite pencils, wax color pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, crayons, pastels, markers, or even different metals like silverpoint. The person who draws efficiently is also called as Draftsman or Draughtsman.

However, many people confuse between drawing and painting but both things are totally different from each other. The only similarity is tools used in both form of arts are almost same. In painting, brush is used on a cloth or other surface for layering of pigments whereas in drawing dark lines are used drawn on the surface of a paper. The process used in the both painting and drawing is also different. Execution of an artwork or finishing of a work of art is the central theme of traditional paintings whereas problem solving, observation and composition are emphasized in drawing.

How to Get Free Autocad Blocks

esmartsllc — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:14:21 +0000

Okay, so a few people have asked me about how to get free autocad blocks, So I will tell you. In the world of autocad and drafting finding blocks is a tremendous time saver. What is a block? A block is a drawing that architects, designers, engineers create of something using autocad. For example an architect may draw a detail of a residential gutter, a footing detail or a person sitting on a bench. After they draw the item they simply save it to a library which he/she can access at a later date. These blocks can be shared umong friends, students and fellow drafters. So how is a good way to get free cad blocks. Well here you go… Simply visit

www.autocadfiles.homestead.com

and purchase access to my library of over 12,000 blocks. Once you have access, you have access for life. This means whenever as new blocks are found you get access to them them at no additional cost. Blocks are updated on a regular basis. These blocks are easy to access and download. They can be minipulated and are compatible with any autocad version. You can download them one at a time or in bulk. Have fun, hope this helps. You are not going to find a better price on the web for this many blocks!

WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hCq12w1nK8

Giacometti would have stayed at Hotel des Academies et des Arts

hotelacademiesarts — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:00:09 +0000

Sleep in a different hotel in Paris

Alberto Giacometti (October 10, 1901 – January 11, 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman, and printmaker.
In 1922 he moved to Paris to study under the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, an associate of Auguste Rodin. It was there that Giacometti experimented with cubism and surrealism and came to be regarded as one of the leading surrealist sculptors. Among his associates were Joan Miró, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and Balthus.
His paintings underwent a parallel procedure. The figures appear isolated, are severely attenuated, and are the result of continuous reworking. Subjects were frequently revisited: one of his favorite models was his brother Diego Giacometti.
As his last work he prepared the text for the book Paris sans fin, a sequence of 150 lithographs containing memories of all the places where he had lived.
Giacometti died in 1966 of heart disease and chronic bronchitis at the Kantonsspital in Chur, Switzerland. His body was returned to his birthplace in Borgonovo, where he was interred close to his parents.

Mechci CADD Recruits Fresh Civil Draftsman with Autocad

The Editor — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:23:58 +0000

MECHCI CADD Mech-Ci Sai Complex, 3, Station View Road, Kodambakkam, Chennai – 600024 Recruitme