A study of a queenly woman and her attendees that is based on West African ceremonial scenes.
The symmetry of the umbrella, gown and assistants is satisfying. But I realized I have a portrait in my photograph bank that can be traded for this generalized face.
There may be a color version, too.
Looking forward to re-doing this one.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Mtoto, from the Bayou LaFourche Coloring Book, Robert Trudeau
Friday, March 25, 2011
bikers, shreveport, 2011 / mural study
Riding a bicycle is one of my great pleasures. And I'm an advocate for biking to the store, biking to work, biking on historic tours, etc.
Thus watching the bicyclists of my community is an avocation.
What I love most is what you might call an Art Bike. Wheels festooned with cards and bottle caps and reflectors, frame painted gaily, excessive mirrors, bells and brackets fastened to handlebars and over fenders. Sometimes the frame is modified, too.
I've been working on a public art idea . . .
I want to paint silhouette murals of riders resting alongside their bikes. Just to seed the idea of biking. And to to remind people that we bikers are on the streets and need the care of the auto and truck driver.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Romulus Remus t-shirts feature Parachute Patty; order one at romulusremusmusic.com
If you like the rendering of Parachute Patty, the cover girl for the Romulus Remus album, Good Grief, you can wear it.
Kern Courtney, guitarist, producer and member of Romulus Remus, is ordering a run of hand-printed silk-screen t-shirts with this image. Black or white t-shirt with contrasting artwork. They're $15 and can be quickly ordered at http://romulusremusmusic.com.
You can also download the album, which is Beatlesque, quirky and richly recorded. Listening to the music - the tune "Parachute Patty" is a classic - was integral to my making the sketches that resulted in this image.
Kern Courtney, guitarist, producer and member of Romulus Remus, is ordering a run of hand-printed silk-screen t-shirts with this image. Black or white t-shirt with contrasting artwork. They're $15 and can be quickly ordered at http://romulusremusmusic.com.
You can also download the album, which is Beatlesque, quirky and richly recorded. Listening to the music - the tune "Parachute Patty" is a classic - was integral to my making the sketches that resulted in this image.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Paper project - robert trudeau art '11, shreveport
Help apply fluorescent paint to life-size outlines of dancing figures on Feb 19 at minicine Shreveport.
"Paper Personalities."
Many artists make light work.
Participation being the key to a growly event.
"Paper Personalities."
Many artists make light work.
Participation being the key to a growly event.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Gulf of Mexico Girl - an elegy for the people, the planet, the sea, the quandaries of modern life
Gulf of Mexico Girl - an elegy for the people, the planet, the sea, the quandaries of modern life
Originally uploaded by trudeau
She will drive home in an older SUV-type vehicle, using pretty hefty amounts of petrol. She will speak out against continued drilling and in favor of alternative sources of energy. At home she will go to the store on foot or bicycle, because she knows that will help a little bit.
Her memories of swimming in the gulf in a more innocent era have proven rancid. We were living in a bubble, denying the disturbing truths of modern consumption.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Barataria Bay / robert trudeau pen-and-ink 2010
The people of Barataria Bay are somewhat isolated denizens of a Gulf estuary that is, really, not that far from New Orleans.
Their tradition is that of the buccaneer Jean Lafitte. He organized a band of impoverished Creoles - French, Spanish, Italians, etc - to make money from the war between Spain and England. Lafiite, with his brother, Pierre, was a trader in slaves as well sundry goods which avoided the tax system.
So the people of Barataria Bay, vaguely outlaws and certainly not mainstream Americans, make their humble way of life as fisherman, guides, hunters, bar tenders, boat makers, and laborers. Until the next disaster arrives. Then, with some luck, they will make a few dollars serving the inquiring media.
Their tradition is that of the buccaneer Jean Lafitte. He organized a band of impoverished Creoles - French, Spanish, Italians, etc - to make money from the war between Spain and England. Lafiite, with his brother, Pierre, was a trader in slaves as well sundry goods which avoided the tax system.
So the people of Barataria Bay, vaguely outlaws and certainly not mainstream Americans, make their humble way of life as fisherman, guides, hunters, bar tenders, boat makers, and laborers. Until the next disaster arrives. Then, with some luck, they will make a few dollars serving the inquiring media.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Shreveport Means Business / Trudeau 2010
What is one implying with the guns, anyway?
Well, fella. It's like a blues tune. Fine young black woman. Several suitors. Jealousy. High, high blood pressure.
She can't say "No," can she? And where does that leave her fellows? Each one of whom possesses enough cash and confidence to swoop down and deposit a deep mess.
This one's about temptation, rationalization and miscommunication.
Well, fella. It's like a blues tune. Fine young black woman. Several suitors. Jealousy. High, high blood pressure.
She can't say "No," can she? And where does that leave her fellows? Each one of whom possesses enough cash and confidence to swoop down and deposit a deep mess.
This one's about temptation, rationalization and miscommunication.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
A Simple Wimple / Robert Trudeau 2010
Created for the next Bubble Rap show, A Simple Wimple is pure Carnival albeit without the usual godawful obviousities. No purplegreen&gold, no fleur de lis, no mask.
For those deeply invested in Carnival, the view might be that this person - let us call her Sheila the Slayer - represents Over the Topness, Transvestitism and Whimsic Contrariness.
Indeed.
For those deeply invested in Carnival, the view might be that this person - let us call her Sheila the Slayer - represents Over the Topness, Transvestitism and Whimsic Contrariness.
Indeed.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Wicker and bassinets
Madeline, my daughter, needed an invitation for a baby shower. Casting about for inspiration after one failed sketch, I cam across a photo on flickr entitled "Picot Hemmed Bind Off Swatches." From a distance the rectangles of textured fabric implied baby baskets to me.
Btw, there are already two wicker bassinets in Madeline and Lyosuke's apartment. One was saved by talbot from Jett's infancy and another was rescued by Madeline from a curbside de-acsession.
Btw, there are already two wicker bassinets in Madeline and Lyosuke's apartment. One was saved by talbot from Jett's infancy and another was rescued by Madeline from a curbside de-acsession.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Haiti: the other peoples of the island
With all respect to the impoverished, I know that elegant people live in Haiti, too. Or they once did. Seen here: Garaille and Dinique.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Welcome to Shreveport, Dudes; green room grafitti at 516 Soundstage / Robert Trudeau 2010
Graffitti on the dressing room wall at 516 Soundstage, Shreveport.
While waiting to perform with Tracy Chappell & Friends at the Dan Sanchez benefit.
While waiting to perform with Tracy Chappell & Friends at the Dan Sanchez benefit.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Romulus Remus CD cover: Parachute Patty / Robert Trudeau 09
Nathan Woods is a musician and recording artist who has packaged one of set of his tunes into an album called Good Grief. As a group, as a recording unit, Woods works as Romulus Remus.
The first Romulus Remus album opens with a Beatlesque tune about a girl called Parachute Patty.
Thus this design for the Romulus Remus CD cover. Am in the process of tweaking and refining my vision of this image.
The first Romulus Remus album opens with a Beatlesque tune about a girl called Parachute Patty.
Thus this design for the Romulus Remus CD cover. Am in the process of tweaking and refining my vision of this image.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Radim LeMonde a solstice / trudeau 09
Mark Burt, of the amazing mind and pen of C. Mark Burt, asked for a small sketch with head, body, legs. He's got a serial sketch thing going. This what I found in the sketchpad and ink well.
Hope it works for his assignment. He said "the radium the better." Hm. I'm afraid this fellow's radiality is quiemus. .
Hope it works for his assignment. He said "the radium the better." Hm. I'm afraid this fellow's radiality is quiemus. .
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Alonzo Maxile, Jr, with a title and proper respect
In Albrecht Durer's age, artists sometimes put the name of their subject on the canvas beside the portrait. It was a variation that has always attracted me, somehow.
I've taken the idea of painting the name of the subject on the canvas and made it larger, bolder and more modern. Subject-wise, Alonzo is no longer a characterful black man, a stock figure. This piece proclaims his name in attention-getting form, both with a classic calligraphic edge to the lettering as well as with an idiosyncratic spacing of the letters on the canvas. In the spacing I was influenced by an antique map that I found online of Terra Incognita America.
This is my idea of a good Christmas card. Happy holidays, Xmas 09, all!
Please check the fresh link in the title box to viewing a range of my sketches.
I've taken the idea of painting the name of the subject on the canvas and made it larger, bolder and more modern. Subject-wise, Alonzo is no longer a characterful black man, a stock figure. This piece proclaims his name in attention-getting form, both with a classic calligraphic edge to the lettering as well as with an idiosyncratic spacing of the letters on the canvas. In the spacing I was influenced by an antique map that I found online of Terra Incognita America.
This is my idea of a good Christmas card. Happy holidays, Xmas 09, all!
Please check the fresh link in the title box to viewing a range of my sketches.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
While listening to Regina Spektor
What a lovely and thoughtful songwriter and performer she is. Heard an interview at NPR.org.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Edward Plankton, 1954, Shreveport
Driving through Shreveport on his way from Cleveland to New Orleans, music promoter Edward Plankton stops to enjoy a Saturday night at the Louisiana Hayride.
Alonzo Maxile, Jr / a study
Not happy with this sketch but this work-in-progress, a presentation of a striking and warm downtown denizen named Alonzo Maxile, Jr, is driving me. I shot 4 photos of him on Spring St during the Revel and he was soft-spoken, kind and sort of magnetic. Hope to find him again over the holidays and to find a fluent way of capturing his holiness.
Hilaire Manteaux - a study in Warholia
Soon I will be exploring the Andy Warhol blotted-line technique. It involves India ink and Strathmore paper and I am excited about the possibilities. This portrait of Hilaire Manteaux was a first run, but without the ink. Nonetheless, I think of this sketch as evocative of the early Warhol illustration style.
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