Getting in Tune with the Straight and Narrow

In life, you have to prioritize.  I often vacillate between my two biggest pursuits right now, art and music.  I like both.  I mastered delta blues and cartooning, and wonder which is more important.  My mind often works in the method of comparison and contrast, and I am constantly doing this.

Obviously, my music is a lot of fun but won't pay off.  You can get thousands of streams on YouTube and Spotify and still not be rich.  The MP3 and the streaming websites ruined the profitability of music in the modern era.  The business has changed, and if you are not Taylor Swift or Kanye West, you are not going to make a lot of money in music.  It doesn't matter how talented you are.  You need marketing, advertising, to sell out big venues, and to create provocative, new music to be rich.  I like the old sound of the blues from the 1950s and 1960s.  This was the best music ever made, and the 60s will always be known as the climax of western civilization.

But art and design is a different story.  I have a degree in graphic design, I mastered Photoshop, and I like visual storytelling.  The graphic design business is growing as the computer and internet takes a bigger role in people's lives.  Every business needs graphic design, and even copywriters and journalists need images to attach to their articles.  So drawing and designing are huge important skills now.  My education is relevant.

Ultimately, I don't need more money.  I have enough and I am content with my life.  But I want more productivity and more renown, and I can accomplish that by doing a little bit every day.  When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is pick up my guitar and play.  And throughout the day, I use my computer to digitally color drawings, write in my journal or blog, and use the internet to watch my creative career going.  It is a fulfilling life and money is not an issue.

So I know my life is fine and I don't need to accomplish anything.  In addition to delta blues and cartooning, I can practice Judo, cook my own food, and do what I need to do.  So in many ways, I am better off than a millionare stock broker with no free time and no real joy.  I do what I want to do and I do it well.  So who's better?  I never got to work in wholistic medicine and it doesn't even matter.  Nietzsche called this attitude Amor Fati.  The love of fate.  When you realize that everything that happens to you happened for a reason, you naturally become disinterested and amused.  Life is not an accident, it has a guiding hand.  So don't fight back against the system.  Just take it easy.

You Must Diversify In This Economy

One friend I had who was my mentor until he passed away told me, that each person should have multiple income streams or they won't be able to make a living.  I know what I am good at and what I can monetize. 

In my youth, I did guitar, and mastered karate, shootfighting, and wrestling.  Martial arts training is important as self defense, physical education, and moral pedagogy. But most people stop after college age and move on with their lives.  After college age, I mastered nutrition and art.  So between music, martial arts, nutrition, and art, I can figure out how to create my own online business.  I already have several income streams coming in, it's just they are small and I need to scale up.

Music is the most fun thing, but it is the least profitable.  Everybody these days is a musician, and there are fewer people making money from it.  Taylor Swift and John Mayer are rare people with a lot of people behind them. 

Art is growing, and graphic design is a field with a thousand niches, of varying levels of profitability.  Painting is fun but low reward, and desktop publishing is boring but profitable.  And there's a lot in between.  Visuality and color is mental health therapy in a mentally ill, technological world.

And as always, nutrition is big business.  The one thing that unites all humans is that they eat, and they must eat several times a day or they die.  Both saints and sinners eat.  The restaurant business has a 500% markup and some cuisines have even bigger profit margins (like sushi) because they give you smaller quantity for more money.  I like Thai cuisine and Dominican cuisine the best. 

So straddling the line between what is fun to do and what will get me the paycheck is the issue.  Right now, I am working on getting another degree in communications so I can sell more articles as a copywriter and expand my skills as an artist.  But if I had it my way, I would just play the boogie and train matwork.  But we don't live in an ideal world.

Glorious Return

I haven't written in this blog in a long time.  I have decided that art is not my main vocation.  My graphic diploma helps me design art for books and albums, but it is not my main thing.  I am not a graphic designer.  But my education was not a waste.

As time goes on, I will spend more time doing what I've been doing all my life.  I have been playing music for 25 years and grappling for over 20 years.  I could be teaching music and Aikido, and the art just supplements what I already know.

The reality is, you only learn by doing.  Stuff you learn didacticly in a University is not real knowledge.  You are regurtitating what others have said to you.  Anything in life, including judo, is theory and practice. First learn the theory, then get involved in doing, and then put the theory into practice.  It is only after you are tested that you value what the instructors have taught you.

In my experiences, I have mastered music, judo, and home cooking.  I possess a lot of skill with English and computers.  I could use my knowledge in a more advantageous way to create an income and gain popularity.  Knowing this, I will write more ebooks, publish more albums, and get involved in martial arts again.  My scholastic education in acupuncture and graphic design didn't help me.  Book learnin' doesn't work.

So knowing this, I will draw less and do what I am good at more.  I have made money in the past two years in copywriting, design,and music, and this trend will continue.  But I know my art is limited and I've only been doing it a short time.  If I want to be succesful, I need to do what I am good at and get paid for it.  So I am returning to this blog to inform whoever is out there in internet land that I am not focusing on the design or even the acupuncture but using what I actually know and not what I think I know.

Revisiting the Past

It's all been done before.  There's nothing new under the sun.  When something is new, we attack it with enthusiasm and do it til it's no longer fun.  Soon, the joy wears off and the productivity tapers off.  But real success comes from consistency, and the whole western world is based on the factory line production method.  The daily grind is the secret.  Do a little bit every day.  Day in and day out, do a little bit, and the results will accumulate, and your work will become part of your lifestyle.

I don't create new designs as often as I used to.  Instead, I go back to old line art and recolor it with new color palettes.  Or I take line art I rendered in my grayscale period and apply color to it to see it as something new. 

That is why i'm revisiting the past.  I will attach one design I recolored below.

Red Barn In Color

This was originally a grayscale design based on a replica of a work by Roy Lichtenstein from 1969.  I saw it in a book on his work, and did a drawing which I applied shades of gray to.  This time around, out of boredom, I recolored the work in RGB, and came up with this creation.  It is almost Cubist in it's use of solid blocks of color, heavy black lines, and geometric shapes.  But it makes sense both in grayscale and now in color.

So even if I am not dreaming up new designs for new artworks, I can visit the past and recolor old artworks.  I save every artwork in three forms, as line art, as a PSD file, and as a colored JPG.  With the line art and Photoshop, you can recreate a work with a totally different palette or filter and create something new from the same drawing.  This has become my specialty, coloring line art.  I want to expand in art, but this is my fundamental skill.  The Japanese have been using Photoshop to color hand drawn illustrations for a long time.  That is where Manga comes from.

So I can stay productive even when I am not productive.  The daily grind.  Do a little bit every day, and stay occupied.  That is the secret to a fulfilled life.

Check out my FASO Artist Site.

Over the course of the past five or ten years, I've blogged away a lot of knowledge and information and history.  My Taoist Nutrition blog, nativefitness, lasted three years on Wordpress and with it, I established I have the education of a Phd scholar in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Nutrition.  I gave away a lot of information on that site and got very little in return.

I've also blogged on other subjects, and now I have a FASO artist site at www.lioravnidesignwriter.com which features a portfolio of artworks for sale, a blog within the site where I share my ideas about art and life, and a system of analytics for keeping track of who sees what I am creating.

In addition, I use this site to reach a bigger audience, with no cost to myself.  As well, I am using www.liorandhisblues.com on Wordpress to blog about my music career, my fondness for the delta blues, and to chronicle the history of American pop music, which owes a lot to poor southern blacks who never got rich off their own folk music.

Selling art and blogging can be lucrative in this day and age when the internet has changed the way people do business.  In 2019, half the world population will buy something online with a credit card.  That is 3.5 billion people.  The internet changed everything, and made it possible for creative professionals to make a living, when in older times, most would live and die starving artists.  Very few creative people become rich and famous, and leave behind a household name.

I am not great with business, finance, and law, but I have a growing talent, and I know I can create an extra income with art, blogging, and even album sales.  I am constantly refining and updating my art to be more up to date.  Continuing education is part of being an artist. 

So as the months go by, my art and writing skills grow, and i continue to produce better and better works.  The point of my endeavors is not to create a million dollar sale and die rich and vindicated, that is only the result I want.  The point is to live a harmonious lifestyle where I enjoy what I am doing on a daily basis, and constantly grow and mature as I reach old age.  Dying rich and well known and leaving a legacy is just the icing on the cake.

Scribe Master Lao Shun

Lao Shun is a Chinese term which means 'most high'.  I'm joking.  Scribe Master Lao Shun sounds like a member of the Wu Tang Clan or a character in a Kung Fu Movie. 

I am a modern day scribe.  In Ancient Egypt, the first high civilization, scribes were of the highest level in society.  They weren't just keepers of knowledge and arcane arts.  They were both writers, scholars, historians, and artists.  Everyone in ancient Egyptian society wanted to be a scribe, but few had the talent.  Egypt was a high civilization, and invented science and religion, which where closely intertwined back then.

I would like to be a scribe, and going back to school is the best way to accomplish this goal.  I am an expert at design and communications, or drawing and writing in common language, and I possess a large body of knowledge which could be used to educate or make money.

My plan is to return to school in January, giving me the rest of 2019 to do as I please.  I will try to make more money, spend less, learn more online courses about art and digital marketing, and write on my artist site, blog, and here on this design blog, which I am not so active on anymore.

Money is not everything, but it is important if you want to advance your position in society.  Women want looks and money, and no one will marry someone who is poorer than they are.  Women want upward social mobility, it's in their evolutionary psychology.  If I want a good woman, I need to elevate myself.  The thing is, I don't want a boring job in an office.  I'd rather have a job I find fulfillment in, and can see myself doing day in and day out for twenty or thirty years.  The daily grind is the only way to accumulate wealth and family.

I am not doomed to a life of poverty and mediocrity.  I have talent, some followers, and the willingness to work daily.  I just need to get the degree and the exposure so people will be aware of what I have to offer.  I have a good future ahead of me. 

This next half year, until next year, will be a time of learning and preparation for the next phase of life.

Hard Times

Clarksdale, Mississippi

The blues is the music of the hard times.  This artwork depicts, in a cartoonish way, a cotton farmer in the Delta looking at his handiwork and realizing there's a lot more work to be done.

Right now, I am doing two main things with my life.  I am playing delta blues music, releasing albums of original music on the internet, and copywriting about health and nutrition.  These are jobs that make me happy, use my knowledge and skill, and fulfill me on a deep level.  I know I'm not the best visual artist in the world.  

I've fallen on hard economic times.  I'm not starving, and I have enough income to cover gas, groceries, clothing, expenses, etc.... but I still live with my family and I am single with no kids.  I need to get economically stable before I can get on with life.  I have little ambition, but I know I want more money, more power, and more pleasure out of life.

My two talents are in the physical performance and the creative expression.  My music is stronger than my visual art.  And I've mastered martial arts, massage, and nutrition.  I'm a copywriter, and as a side gig I play and sing the blues.  That is my life for now.

If I want enough money to make a living, I need to educate myself on digital marketing, because the internet has changed the way the human race does business.  It is possible to make a sustainable living as a Creative Professional with the internet these days.  Copywriting, blogging, music albums, and live gigs can create income.  As of now, I have published one ebook and four albums online, they're all online and available to the public.

My music is on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, and most other stores online.

My ebook, 'Sport and Physical Culture' a summary of all my wholistic health knowledge and a treatise on clean living, is available on Amazon.   

All I need to do is study more online courses, get more productive moving forward, and learn to reach as many people as possible.  The secret is the daily grind.  Doing a little bit every day, without fail.  Every day, do something, in this way, you accumulate results slowly but gradually.

Peace.

Battlefield Earth

This is going to be a far reaching, all inclusive post and feature my three most recent art designs. 

Life is a battle.  Everything in life is a fight, even getting out of bed in the morning.  But you don't have to be angry, violent, or aggressive.  Life is hard enough.  Be gentle.

When I was young, before I started guitar or judo or chinese medicine, I liked fairy tales, mythology, kinghts with swords and armor, and fantasy movies.  I thought fighting was cool.  It was later I found out fighting involves loss, and loss hurts.  So I stopped liking battlefield warfare and started liking non lethal combat sports like boxing and judo.  At least you don't die if you lose.  There's always next time.

A lot of my imagination was shaped by young adult mythology books at the local library, which I still visit from time to time.  It's free entertainment and knowledge. 

I especially like Celtic, Scandinavian, and Hindu Mythology.  As well, I am fascinated by the shamans of Mexico. 

Below are three recent artworks, done in 6 by 6 inch fashion, regarding battlefield skills and tactics. 

Jousting

The King Departing

Sambo

The first is called Jousting and portrays two knights doing a tournament for the entertainment of the king and queen of the nation.  The second is called The King Departing, implying the king is going on an expedition or journey and the friars are praying for his success and return.  And the third design is called Sambo, and portrays a sambo wrestler shooting a single leg pick against a rugged opponent.  Sambo is a battlefield skill, and the Russians value military service and judo.

So this is the direction my art has gone in the past couple of days.  I've been fantasizing about mythology, warfare, sambo, and my past, when I was young and didn't know much about reality.  

An Asian Motif

A lot of my work is influenced by Asian culture.  I studied Traditional Chinese Medicine when I was young, I have an acupuncture license, and I have a master's degree in acupuncture.  I know a lot about karate, judo, taoist philosophy, nutrition, longevity, and massage.

Even the way I do art is influenced by japanese comics, also known as manga.  I sketch first in pencil and paper, then I ink the drawing by hand with a black pen, I then scan the image into the computer, and color it with Photoshop.  This is traditional for manga.  Photoshop has been around a long time.

Lately, I've been exploring themes in my art.  Themes like zen, kung fu, work, women, and other things that deal with real life, not fantasy.  Reality trumps fantasy any day, even though it doesn't look as good. 

Here are a few recent works. 

Building Blocks

Man and Donkey

NYC Subway

Sparring at the Shaolin Temple

These are artworks done in a comic book/children's book/cartoon way, but deal with adult subjects and adult themes.  This is what I'm striving for.  To tell a story visually.  I like east Asian culture, but I am not obsessed with it.  It is merely an advanced culture, and because of my acupuncture education early on in life, it has left a lasting imprint on my mind.

Back in the Saddle, Again.

So far, May and June 2019 have been productive months for my art career and body of work.  My technique keeps improving, and a style is developing.  Part of my progress is because of practice.  But part of it is because of continuing education.  I use courses on udemy, I experiment with different techniques and keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop, and I read books about all types of art, using some pics as references.

Now that I am really an illustrator and cartoonist, I can draw from imagination.  So lately I've been using references less.  This is a good thing.  References are like training wheels on a bike, you only need them in the beginning.  And I'm not a beginner in any aspect of life at this point. 

I want to include here some of my best recent works, which might be uploaded to different parts of the web by now. 

Beach Scene 1

David vs Goliath

Sleeping

All three of these works are on my instagram account.  Beach Scene is an ideal bikini girl walking by the seashore on the hot sand.  David vs Goliath is a biblical scene, done in my minimalistic cartoonish style.  And sleeping is a monochrome composition that depicts a man in his apartment peacefully slumbering.  

This art is deceptively simple.  At first glance it is a cartoon, but when you look deeper you see details and depth that is what makes it special and unique.  I hope I can revive traffic to this blog and create a name for myself as an artist and designer.  

TCM Theory

Meridian Man

I went to TCM school and got a Master's Degree and a Professional License.  I understand Oriental Physiology, Taoist Philosophy, Nutrition, Tai Chi, and Microbiology.  Traditional Chinese Medicine and Wholistic Medicine has a wealth of knowledge to offer both the Doctor and the common man alike.  But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Not getting sick in the first place is better than eastern or western intervention.

TCM used to be called Taoist Medicine because it is based on the polarity, or yin yang theory, of the Ancient Mongolian and Chinese shamans.  It is more complicated than that, but that is the essence.  It is allopathic.  We give to those who have too little and take from those who have too much.  That is similar to the theoretical standpoint of Western Medicine.  But in practice they differ.

Western medicine is rooted in the Renaissance studies of human anatomy, the rebirth of Ancient Greek Science, cadaver studies, and the birth of modern science.  Eastern medicine is based on empirical observation, the stored wisdom of thousands of Chinese people and hundreds of their generations, and the revelations of Taoist Shamans, direct from Heaven.  Empirical Science and Reductionist Science are both sciences, but they are not the only ones.  There is science, there is religion, and then there is reality.  And reality is better than science or religion.

Reductionist science is similar to Platonic metaphysics, the idea or notion precedes the real world evidence.  Empirical science is similar to Aristotle.  He observes the world fairly and impartially, and concludes what he thinks based on his actual observation and experience.  Aristotle is based on real life experience.

So many generations of Chinese people have come and gone, they've seen it all, and fair-minded people like doctors and wizards have observed what actually works well and what doesn't.  So TCM is based on reality and Western Medicine is based on theories and scientific experiments.

I would trust the real world experiences of many generations of Chinese people and not a scientific theory or experiment that doesn't really help in real life scenarios.

In this design, a perfect meridian man shows the conception vessel running down his front line.  The center line is the main theory of Chinese Medicine and martial arts.  The spine is the main part of the human being and what makes us able to walk upright on two feet not four like an ape or dog.  If you control the center line, you control the man.  In Muay Thai, the standing neck clinch allows for the use of knee and elbow strikes.

In the design, the man is on the backdrop of the yin/yang symbol, and one arrow goes up to heaven, the other down to earth.  Yin rises up and Yang descends to the low.  But one creates the other.  There is no better or worse, one depends on the other for existence and one will transform into the other eventually.  The only real duality is male and female, and males have a preponderance of yang, and females have a preponderance of yin.  God is balanced in masculine and feminine qualities.  

So if you want to be healthy and normal, balance masucline and feminine forces within you.

The Prophet by the Stream

The Prophet by the Stream

I've returned to color designs with a vengeance.  This design is simple, but showcases some of my most unique drawing characteristics.  The figure or character design is simple and elegant.  The colors are bright and solid.  Perspective is implied.  And there is efficiency in denoting detail with as few lines as possible.

This scene depicts a biblical prophet with a staff by a stream issuing forth from a mountain pass.  There's not much to say about it.  Enjoy.

A New Theme to My Art

Adam and Eve

Celtic Cemetery

Overlooking the World

Buddhist Portrait

I've been doing more line art lately, from imagination, and addressing judeochristian, mythological, and Buddhist themes in my art.  I've been using a ballpoint black pen to ink my drawings, not a black marker, so the lines are finer and less bulky.

Adam and Eve depicts the original hamitic negro couple in the Garden of Eden, after they took from the forbidden fruit and realized they were naked.  They are depicted wearing coverings made of fig leaves.

The Celtic Cemetery is made from a reference photo in a book on Celtic art I got at the library.  It depicts a large grave with a Celtic cross on it.  The Irish preserved a lot of pagan and European myth and culture during the time of the dark ages when Christianity threatened to wipe out all of Europe's rich culture.

Overlooking the World is my vision of God overlooking his creation, the one planet where there is life and reproduction through sex, through the meeting of male and female, which is unique to this world.  The original meaning of life was that Adam and Eve would live in paradise, giving rise ot perfect immortal offspring that had no need for money, would never grow old, sick, and die, and could live carefree in an idyllic paradise eating fruit and seed.  But we lost that.

The last artowrk, which I call Buddhist Portrait, depicts a buddhist holy man or saddhu sitting in yogic pose, surrounded by a fiery halo and the heads of a leopard and elephant.  It is more symbolic, and it portrays the qualities of a buddhist sage, monk, or holy man and his spirit animals.

As I practice more art this summer, my art will improve, and I will constantly invest more time and effort into drawing, designing, and Photoshop.  I plan on making tremendous progress with the Summer of 2019.

One Last Lichtenstein Before I Move On

I have the basic art book on Roy Lichtenstein, an avant garde jewish-american artist well known in the 1960s for his tongue in cheek interpretations of comic art.  I've decided to start making original works instead of copying classic works of others. 

However, one landscape that stoned my imagination in the book I had to copy.  And the name of this landscape is simply, 'Cloud and Sea', and it is indeed simple art.  Here is my version below.

Cloud and Sea 

My version is in grayscale and is just as minimalistic and zenlike as the original in the book.  My emerging style features wobbly but coordinated black lines, grayscale toning, large solid blocks of color, and assertive visual storytelling.  I'm not tooting my own horn.  People see value in my art, and I have a formal education in graphic design.

Moving on, I plan to take more photos with my smartphone, and use these pics as references to future drawings and designs.  I also plan on making videos for YouTube featuring slideshows of my art and music and how it constantly improves.

Life is good for me, and gets better as I unravel the mysteries of the self.  

Man is heaven and earth in miniature.

Iconic Pop Art

In the 1960s, artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein created simple, iconic art that through parody and light-heartedness poked fun at and reinvented what art was at the time.  They were pioneers, just like Chuck Berry and Elvis were pioneers in music in the 1950s. 

Today, I did a replica of a Lichtenstein work, Red Barn II which was done in color in 1969.  I found the image in the Roy Lichtenstein basic art book I bought at Barnes and Noble a couple of years back. I think my image is simple and more like manga since it is in grayscale and lacks much detail.  My version is good too, and has a minimalistic style with wobbly lines and efficiency of line and effort.

Hope you like it.

The House of the Rising Sun

Visit Japan

This image I got off Pinterest is a replica of a vintage travel poster advertising travel to Japan.  Japan is a series of islands off the eastern coast of Asia, and the sun rises in the east every day.  So some people call Japan, the House of the Rising Sun.

The thing I like about Japan, besides sushi, judo, and minimalistic art, is their ability to weave complex zen culture and modern technology into one harmonious civilization.  They are the most advanced Asian nation, and east Asians are pretty advanced to begin with.

Zen Buddhism did not begin in Japan, and the founder Daruma, was not Japanese.  He wasn't even Chinese.  He was an Indian Buddhist monk named Boddhidharma, and he came to China in 500 AD or so to spread Buddhism in China.  Chan Buddhism, the predecessor of Zen, started when Boddhidharma, or Daruma, came to China and found Taoist monks to be overly meditative, and lacking physical strength, stamina, and focus.  He single handedly invented Chan, or Zen Buddhism, Kung Fu, and Qi Gong.  These three things alone were a great innovation and boon to not only East Asia but to all mankind.  Boddhidharma was considered to be the avatar of the boddhisatva of compassion in his time.  

Chan, or Zen, Buddhism combines Chinese Taoism and early Indian buddhism into one religion that focuses on the here and now.  Attaining enlightenment so one can be happy and free right here and now, regardless of wealth, honor, fame, or children.  A Zen Buddhist who attained sartori, or enlightenment, is happy regardless of his circumstances, because he knows he possesses nothing, and even his physical body is merely a tool or vehicle for his mind/body/spirit trichotomy.  Everything is transient, so cling to nothing.  Zen Buddhists are different from other types of Buddhism, with altruistic intents, complicated philosophies, grand temples, and secret practices.  Just meditate on the emptiness of reality and the moment will come.  The moment of zen is when suddenly, in a flash, all things are revealed to you and there is no more need to return to the cycles of birth and death.  It all is just a game.

Kung fu is  martial art that imitates the movements of animals in attack and defense, and the shaolin monks have gained tremendous notoriety for their strength, stamina, agility, speed, and physical training since then.  

Qi Gong is related to tai chi and kung fu, it is a practice for maintaining the health of the human body, and may be the greatest thing the Chinese culture has to offer the world.  Health is our real wealth, and a Qi Gong master can maintain his own perfect health and heal others, sometimes even just with his cheerful presence.

So Boddhidarma, or Daruma, as Chan later spread to Japan and became Zen, was known as the father of the religion Japan would cling to, while China later would abandon.  At one point, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucionism flourished in China, but later religion declined with the advent of Communism.  Japan latched onto Zen Buddhism and it flourished, unadulterated and unperturbed, until now.

So when people think of Japan, they may think of Toyota cars, Sony electronics, sushi, a liberal and quirky culture, or even practical, rugged martial arts like karate, judo, and jujutsu.  But I think about Zen Buddhism, and the spiritual legacy and strange paradox of a modern nation with roots in the philosophy of IndoChina.

Like Consumption, Killing Me By Degrees...

Trying to make it in America is a waste of time.  If you don't have a wife or children to support, you are living for yourself.   And that is best.  A full time job may get you your own place, but you'll be so worn out you'll only have time and energy to eat and sleep on the evenings and weekends.  Is it worth it?
You're better off living with your parents, dating, not marrying or having children, and constantly learning and growing as a human being.  Masturbation should be encouraged and marrying at a young age should be laughed at.
The system is rigged and there is no way to live the fantasy life you see in the media or on Instagram.  Do what you love.  Eat vegetables and fruit.  Sleep deeply.
If you were wise, most of your day would be spent doing a business you enjoy and improving your skill set with education.  Knowledge is power, not phoney wealth, politics, and fame.  Be real.

Learn to do things yourself, for yourself.

Elephant Alone

This is a line art from november that I only colored last night.  It is of an elephant all by himself, and from the looks of it, he is quite skinny.  He is Elephant alone.

Everyone in life needs to learn to be alone.  You can be very lonely, weak, and dependent in a family, group, or meeting.  Learn to be a rugged individualist.  Learn to do things yourself, for yourself.

I know we live in a society of specialists, but ancient man had to be a jack of all trades to survive, we are complex beings with many factors, and it's hard to outdo the primitive past.  Cavemen were better.  They weren't hypocrites, there was no room for morality, theology, or civil law.

So take a lesson from this skinny, solitary elephant.  Do things on your own, and you will attract strong, independent people.

Change your mind, change your life.

There's not much we can do.  Human beings don't have a lot of power to change the world, or outside circumstances, but we can change our internal mind state.  There is no more religion among progressive, modern people.  It is a vestige of the past and should be done away with.

Neither should people give into hedonism and recklessness.  Moderation is key to happiness. 

But in regards to what you are in control over, you can control yourself, and you are responsible for what you do with your body.  Your body is your only real possession.  Everything else comes and goes, everything inanimate wears down and breaks and needs to be replaced.  Living tissue regenerates and replaces itself.

In ten years, your body will have regenerated all of its cells.  It is the DNA that codes the proteins into more of you and you alone.

Don't let vestiges of the past rule your life.  Throw away religion.  Obviously, there are some spiritual truths observable, but these are attributed to nature, science, and the law of cause and effect.  You're judged by your actions and everything you do comes back to you.

Even Yogic Philosophy and Buddhism is not necessary.  It's just eastern philosophical religion, and all the ascetic gets for his abstinence is less pleasure.  Moderation destroys all sorrow. 

Meditation and hatha yoga is essential to health, and these inner exercise teachers are in demand now.  So do it.  Hatha yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory.  Meditation quiets the inner restlessness and yogic postures help invigorate your body and realize your human potential.

They are an important thing to incorporate besides work, sleep, eating, bathing, talking, and fucking.

YOGA POSES

These are the 5 basic yoga poses everyone should begin their practice with.  They prepare the spine for exercise, both internal and external, and help the energy go up and down the midline with no stagnation, helping you realize your potential and grow wiser.

Home

'Home in Argentina'

This is my ideal home.  A little villa in Argentina, or Spain, or Italy.  This cartoonish drawing represents peace, security, independence, and a place of my own.  And yet, I may never attain it.  Because I can't afford a home of my own.

The English word, 'mortgage' comes from two French words, mort and gague, which combines means, 'death pledge'.  That is what you need to have a home of your own in America.  A death pledge.

So keep working away at your job, paying your 'mortgage', and teach your children well.  American society is a bunch of savages indoctrinated into evil and materialism from a young age.  

Be well.

A Bit Saucy...

'Woman and Banana'

Bravely departing from more serious, Judeochristian and eastern philosophical themes, here is a work that I am sure is to grab attention and keep it, at least for a few seconds.

This is not just inuendo, this design pokes fun at pornography, at what men really want, and what we these days consider 'erotic'.  It is just a picture of a pretty girl staring at a large banana over a noisy pink background.

But in it's stark simplicity and choice of subjects, it piques the interest of all who see it.

Enjoy.

Exodus

Or, out of Egypt.

'Pyramids Up Close'

This work is a modification of a previous work exploring the Pyramids of Egypt.  It is flatted and colored in a more professional, mainstream comic book type of way, and the results are good.  I am constantly striving to improve as an artist.

Egypt was the first high civilization, after Sumeria, before the Jews and the Greeks.  They birthed the concept of religion, which in one way or another thinly veils solar worship, or worship of the Sun as a God.

It is only the Jews and later the Christians who believe that the Creator is outside of nature, outside of Creation, outside of Heaven and Earth.  

But the Ancient Chinese knew, 'the universe is the body of a single being'.

Too Much Monkey Business

'Spider Monkey'

My Photoshop skills are improving quickly with diligent practice and study.  I'm relearning layers and selections and coloring.  So here I took an old design and made some corrections to it.

I really am growing as an artist, I'm finding my calling, and I'm exploring visuality through pinterest, which has a wealth of inspiration for those who love art and photography.  Nature lovers especially can find many great photos pinned to pinterest.

So here is a monkey, a spider monkey to be more exact, looking back at the viewer as if to wonder what his intentions are and if he is in any danger.  When humanity and nature collide, nature always loses.  

But someday the bottom will drop out.

NOTE:  I modified the color of the monkey.  I found his yellowish brown color to be too muddy so I made his color darker brown as shown now.

A Taste of China

'China Gate'

When me and my brothers were younger, and in the habit of receiving birthday gifts, my oldest brother received a book called, 'a little treasury of Chinese wisdom'.  He never read the book, but it turned out to be one of the most influential books I've ever read in my whole life.

It began me down a long path of seeking wisdom, and the Ancient Chinese had accrued tremendous wisdom and insight through empirical observation over hundreds of generations.  I later studied and mastered Chinese Medicine and Judo, both practices with origins in East Asia.

While I am not Chinese, wisdom is universal, and I find many of the observations of Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, and the many Zen masters (like Dogen for example) to be keen and insightful, yet funny, simple, and paradoxical.  That is the mystery and the charm of eastern philosophy.

So here is an artwork inspired by the East.  

Big City Blues

I discovered a new website where I can sell my music, both singles and albums, make a decent cut of the money, and use my designs as cover art to each song.  It is wonderful.  The site is called, www.bandcamp.com, and my page is as follows:

www.lioravni.bandcamp.com

You can see there how I've used my artworks from before as cover art, and you can preview each song three times before you have to purchase it for a dollar a song.  It's not  a bad way to reach music and art fans.

This design I colored in recently, but the actual drawing is from October of last year.  I drew it using the reference of a Manga cartoon background I saw in a book on how to draw Manga.  I colored it in in my own way, and I can say it's all my own.

I have songs on bandcamp such as 'big city blues' 'g blues jam' 'field blues' and one of my favorite instrumentals, 'dancing with mabellene' a slow chuck berry style blues instrumental.

I hope you click and go over to my bandcamp page and see what I've done so far.

In any case, I will keep creating, especially art and music.

Chloe's Window Revisited

I've been studying online, both YouTube and Udemy, and I learned a new way to color drawings in Photoshop.  I am always learning more. 

As a practice, I recolored 'Chloe's Window' and it came out more bright, and more lively.  And it's not just the color settings, I really learned a simpler, foolproof way to color line art.

'Chloe's Window Revisited'

While the colors are brighter and more cartoonish, I like both renditions of the original line art.  But this one pops.

A bit of my music to brighten up your day...

Besides being an artist and writer, I play and sing the blues. I've been playing many years and my guitar playing is advanced. I just want people to hear my sound, so if you like delta blues and folk blues, click on this link and listen to a few of my tracks on CDbaby. Don't worry, I'm still an artist and writer, and I have a comic book about animal conservation in the works... Lior

Nature's Call

'Elephant in Jungle'

Africa is a source of inspiration, a last bastion of natural beauty and integrity, and the last continent to become civilized.  Elephants should be more populous in Africa, but they are in grave danger.

The Elephant is the real king of the jungle, not the lion.  They are very manlike, live a 80 or so year lifespan, protect their offspring, live in herds, and possess a deep intelligence and benevolence.

The Elephant is the symbol of the Buddha.  A white elephant who signifies purity, uprightness, nobility, and wisdom.

A Brand New One

This design I just scanned and colored today, based on a pencil and paper sketch that was sitting on my refrigerator door for months.

The original inspiration for this poster was a vintage travel poster I saw on Pinterest advertising United Airlines, New York City, and featuring the U.N. building.

I think I captured a cartoonish impression of the poster, the subject, and the importance of the landmark.  Enjoy!

'Travel to NYC'

Cartoons are Back in Style

It's  happened.  Time has passed.  All the people who read Xmen and Spiderman in the 1980s are in their 40s and 50s now. 

People who grew up on Transformers, Thundercats, and the mythologically based Star Wars are young adults now.

Manga and Anime is more popular than ever outside of Japan let alone inside.

Adults these days like simple, cartoonish art.  Which makes my childish doodles more relevant than ever.

So this primitive, unsophisticated art is perhaps not so primitive and unsophisticated.  Remember what they said about the Beatles in the 1960s?

This is a good time to be an artist or a creative in general.  The internet means anyone can be found, as long as their work is good.  No more starving artists.

And Adobe is always doing good business.  So I'm not so depressed.  If I keep refining my art and being productive, i will find a place in art.

Wish me well.

An Old One from the Archives...

'Savate'

I never posted this one on my blog, social media, or anywhere else until I added it to 'my story' on Facebook a few days ago and it got some attention.

I try to avoid works about combat sports or fighting, but since martial arts training was a part of my life, I am going to share this one.

It's a nice color scheme to this work, it was done loosely based on a photo in a Google Images search, and I have experience training in kickboxing and judo.  

This one could have been called 'David and Goliath' based on the size discrepancy between the two fighters, but what I was trying to capture was not just the small man attacking the big man, but the theme of all eastern martial arts training.  And that would be the mental qualities of courage, belief in oneself, tenacity, and self-abandonment into the technique.

I think it's brilliant.

By the way, Savate is a western martial art of French origin.  It is the original style of kickboxing in a ring with gloves on, and a relative of western boxing that everyone is familiar with.  But the same ethos apply to any fighting sport or art or method.

'Chloe's Window'

This is the final work, inked and colored in Photoshop.  It didn't take long, as my skill, eye for detail, and attention to correcting errors is improving.

This pic was based on a lonely photo taken out a window of an empty schoolyard.  I hope you like it.

'Chloe's Window'

It's mood is sad and forlorn, but isn't everything about the public school system sad and forlorn?

Halfway Done

I recently created a line art of a landscape based on a photo a friend took and sent to me on facebook.

It is a lonely, rainy schoolyard photo taken out of a window.  I call the work, 'Chloe's Window'.

It is only black and white line art because I stopped using access to Illustrator and Photoshop, because I feel these programs are a waste of money to an illustrator and technology is not necessary to make fine art.  So the artwork is not colored.

This drawing is crude but shows an understanding of perspective, balance, contrast, harmony, and mood.

Enjoy.

'Chloe's Window'

Other artworks (not here yet)

Recently, I did an artwork of a cat for a friend's mother whose cat passed away of cancer.  I gave the artwork for no cost, but I felt proud in the sense that I did a 'commissioned artwork' for free.  I created art for someone else's needs not my own.

Also, I have an artwork in the works based on a photo a friend sent to me on Facebook.  It is a landscape of a schoolyard taken out of a window.  I call it 'Chloe's Window'.  I have pencilled it and inked it but haven't colored it yet.  I will post it on this blog when I am done.

Recently, I renewed my subscription to Photoshop.  It will give me a chance to color many artworks in 2019.  Looking forward to a career in art.  I have a lot to give.

An Epiphany

To beat the system, you got to work with the system.

Life is hard.  It's all about the daily grind.  Surviving and making money to buy the necessities.  But if you find a job or livelihood that you enjoy, then the tragedy doesn't have to be so tragic.

The only get rich quick scheme there is is to do you're passion in youth, get educated and an official degree in the subject, and work a little bit every day on your projects.

The results come gradually, but remember, the journey is the reward, and the chaos of it is the fun part.

'Lions of Judeah'

This is an artwork that has special meaning to me.  It is rich with Jewish symbolism and my father was a jew.  So I am a descendant of Abraham.  I plan on doing all kinds of art in 2019, but Judaica has special meaning to me.

Where Have You Been?

I haven't posted on this blog in a while.  I haven't even made art in a while.

But I am not quitting.  As 2019 is upon us, I am strategically planning what to do with this entire year and how to further my art career.  One way is to further my education by taking classes on painting and photography.

Another is getting access to Photoshop for a whole year, which I have already done.

And still another is my professional art website, www.lioravnidesignwriter.com which showcases my designs for sale, has it's own blog, and has lots of other useful features this site doesn't have.

So the prognosis is good.  I hope to revive this particular blog because it has a high visibility compared to other things I have done.  That in turn can draw people to my professional site which may lead to a sale.  Business is warfare, and it takes strategic thinking. 

So since this is throwback Thursday, I will leave you with an oldie but goodie.

'Sunrise'

This is inspired by a Roy Lichtenstein work I found in a book about his art.  I colored it, unlike the original which is in grayscale.  I like to think the sun emerging from behind the land shows a new dawn, and therefore new potential for a new day.  2019 will be a new day.

The Shaman's Drum

'Shaman Playing Drum'

This drawing is based on a wood-engravement from the late 1700's.  When the Europeans came to the Americas around that time, they found the practice of the medicine men, or shamans to be most unique.

I saw this engraving years ago and then I found it last night on a Google Images search.  It reminds me of the past and what I've read and thought about shamans.  At one time priest, magician, and healer, these enigmatic leaders wore many hats.  They did a lot of different things at the same time.

I hope, with future works and entries, to explore this theme, but rather than depicting the shamans, I want to actually translate their experiences into images.  And that means I have to experience more things myself.  

There's a number of ways to do that, but I will figure it out for myself.