Dragons and Batman - My Artwork Exploring Mythology

Recently I was asked to create an art piece to represent the mythology of my cultural background for Harmony Day.  Below is what I created.  Below that is the explanation I gave for the painting.

The myths and legends of days of old were well-known to the people who originated them; retold and expanded upon throughout the ages, teaching wisdom and attempting to explain the big questions, growing and developing with each civilisation, and mirroring a core element of humanity each successive generation could see in themselves and relate to.  

Some of these tales have now receded into the obscure textbooks or been forgotten, while others thrive in further modern retellings like the heroics of Thor, the betrayal of Seth, the cheekiness of Sun Wukong the Monkey King, and the fierceness of the monstrous dragons (as pictured).  

Building on from these epics, a modern-day global mythos is emerging, which like the stories that came before, strike a chord in generation after generation, while being retold to reflect the popular tastes and environmental factors of the time.

Because of the constant retelling across multiple mediums, you can cross the globe and talk to people of all generations, and they can tell you Sherlock Holmes is a detective who lives on Baker Street…  

Or Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are Darth Vader’s children…  

Or Batman’s parents were murdered, leading him to dedicate his life to fighting crime (pictured here in Crime Alley, inside the silhouette of my head).

These are the new myths that in this “global community” have become a shared history.  Stories that connect us all together, and are a lens for us to see and contemplate ourselves through.

... Well, either that, or I just wanted to like paint dragons and Batman because they're cool and stuff!

- Daniel Grant Newton :-)

New Paintings for a Trendy Nepalese Restaurant by Daniel Grant Newton (DGN Productions)

Happy Friday or Thursday (depending on where in the world you are), 

Thought I'd write to you and share two new paintings I have created for a trendy new Nepalese Restaurant opening soon.  

I designed these two paintings to face each other on either side of the restaurant.   

The story in my head being that a woman comes before a stone buddha, and when she closes her eyes to pray with her beads, his eyes open and the sky is encompassed in a red glow. As patrons are in the middle of this moment, they are put into this dream-like reality.

Peace and Nirvana,

Daniel :-)

P.S. Speaking about Buddhism and Nirvana, you should check out this spoof news article written by The Onion... Only AFTER having had a look at my paintings below of course, and subscribing by entering your email address above if you haven't already. :-P  

The link is: http://www.theonion.com/articles/buddhist-extremist-cell-vows-to-unleash-tranquilit,34623/

'Stone Buddha' by Daniel Grant Newton

'Nepalese Prayer' by Daniel Grant Newton

New Painting and Stop Motion Capture Video by Daniel Grant Newton

New Yet-To-Be-Titled Painting by Daniel Grant Newton

Hey there.  

Another blog entry, and guess what???

This is actually my 200th entry. So proud to have broken the 200 mark with my faithful readers.  

If I had a Spartan for every blog entry I wrote, well I'd be 100 Spartans away from taking on Persia. But not really. In reality I'd need a lot more to be historically accurate.

However, I have something better than 200-almost-300 Spartan warriors. I have blog readers - YOU! The very best this planet has to offer. The Justice League + Avengers of my life.

So thank you again for sharing my journey, my dreams and my creations with me. And my jokes that are the most hilarious thing ever said, and that you've ever heard... EVER. Even more funny than Eirik Lodbrok's jokes.

Anyway, next post I will post something a little different to celebrate the big 2-0-0, but in the mean time, I'd like to share with you a new painting I have done (above).

And below I have included a stop animation video of me painting it, to the beats of Voodoo Dred.  Hope you enjoy!

Ancient Alien Paranormal Romance in Egypt - a new painting by Daniel Grant Newton (DGN Productions)

Hey Friend!

I have painted a new painting (below - like at the bottom of this post below) that I would like to share with you.  

There is a clear story behind this story, but I will keep that to myself at this time, because let's face it, we all love a great mystery that unravels.  And this particular mystery will unravel as further paintings in the collection are made.

I also created the drawing on the left as well.  Initially I was going to paint hieroglyphs and images like the ones I roughed out in that picture, but decided against it because it looked too crowded.  So instead, I went with the futuristic spaceship wall/force-field type background.

Another interesting point to make is that out the door, in the dark of night, there is actually a pyramid.  Some people spot this, some people don't, but it is there.

There is also a fair bit of bushland outside the door.  Reason being is that there are theories that the pyramids were built when Egypt was lush with forests.  That was a very long time ago, and although there is a fair bit of debate on the accuracy of this, there is some compelling evidence to point to this - an occurrence that would rock the archeological world like it was 1999.

Anyway, it is how I imagined Egypt if this scene were to have occurred... and that my friends, is all the analysis you are getting out of me at this time.  But sign up to my blog (if you haven't already), scroll up to the top right of the page under my comic strip self, and in the future you'll get the whole picture of this collection - excuse the pun.

Yours in fantasy and science fiction,

Daniel

P.S. To ensure you see all my zany creations, use the sign up form at the top right of this page. I look forward to sharing more art with you. :-)

Ancient Alien Romance in Egypt painted by Daniel Grant Newton

'Geisha in the Hood' - made with coffee, pen, pencils and paint, by Daniel Grant Newton (DGN Art)

'Geisha in the Hood' by Daniel Grant Newton (DGN Art)

This is created with:

- coffee for the brown
- paint for the rich red lips and eye edge, and black eyebrows, hair and eyeliner
- pen for some of the outline
- pencil for the shading and outlines

Launching DGN Productions soon...

Hello there friends in cyber-land.  Thought I'd let you in on a new project I am launching.  It is called DGN Productions, and will essentially be an online hub for my art, novels and comics.  Pretty exciting stuff!  

I'll let you know more closer to the date (early March).  In the meantime, here is a design motif I will use throughout the website.  I finished designing it last night and you are the first peeps to see it!  - Daniel

DGN Productions motif

"The Queen's Vision" - a new painting by Daniel Grant Newton (DGN)

The Queen's Vision by Daniel Grant Newton (DGN) - painting

Progress

Sketched out

Underpainting

Mark out details

Fill in details

Finishing touches

A Mad New Painting for You from your friend Daniel Grant Newton, channeling (or inspired by, rather) the brilliance of Marc Chagall

Hey friend,

Hope 2014 is going as well for you as it is for me.

Recently I have been immersing myself in art, as well as my writing and an exciting comic I am creating (which you'll need to subscribe to ensure you get it when it comes out!).

Anyway, at the moment I have become obsessed with the work of Marc Chagall, and especially his paintings of green fiddlers (which inspired the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and I suspect may have inspired The Mighty Boosh too).  

It feels somehow as if these characters have been living in the depths of my mind forever, and now that I have seen them they are free to run around my mind.  Marc Chagall's paintings are below:

The Fiddler by Marc Chagall

Green Violinist by Marc Chagall

Interestingly, the fiddler represents the big moments of life, as they were used to play at births, weddings and deaths ... which is fitting, because right now I feel we have seen the death of 2013 and all that came with it, and the birth of 2014, the best year of our lives so far.  And as for a wedding, I am wedded to bringing you the most creative out-there stuff this year!  And hopefully you are wedded to joining me on the journey 

:-)

I do so often digress...

As I was saying, as I was thinking about these paintings, I felt compelled by my muse to grab one of my canvases and attack it with paint.  It was as if this character had hold of me, or perhaps the ghost of Chagall was poking me with his ghosty stick.  And in a matter of four hours, with no real prep or plan and no sketching out on the canvas, I came up with the below.  One of my favourite paintings to date, and one that has been well received by fellow artists and art lovers.

"The Green Fiddler runs through my mind..." by Daniel Grant Newton (painting)

For those who enjoy to see my process, I was in such a mad rush of inspiration I didn't get many photos taken.  But every time I stood back to see where my madness needed to be woven next, I took a quick snap.  They are below, and track the green fiddler's path through my mind to the canvas.

PROGRESS

'Two People at a Jetty' painting from video

Hey again!  Here is the 'Two People at a Jetty' painting from video.  Enjoy!

'Two People at a Jetty' by Daniel Grant Newton

Superman Painting Photo Diary by Daniel Grant Newton

Hey again,

One fine member of our blog family sent me a note to say that they liked seeing the process of a painting I previously did (always love emails from readers PS!).  So I thought I'd post another one.

This painting is one I did for my nephew as a birthday gift.  It's of Superman, who I obviously do not have any rights to, otherwise I'd be laughing in the bank with the bank manager, and taking cheesy photos of me cutting ribbons to new theme parks I had built with my mountains of money.

Anyway, here is my photo diary of my painting.

Stage One: the sketching it all out.

Stage Two: the under work.

Stage Three: allowing it to slowly take form, and coffee staining it for effect.

Finally, the Superman painting by Daniel Grant Newton. 

Note: After taking this photo I had to change the copy under 'BREAKING NEWS' to be more child-friendly, but this is essentially what it looks like.

Close up of the face in Daniel Grant Newton's Superman painting.

Warrior on a Bridge by Daniel Grant Newton

More warm up for my art piece a day challenge (which, it should be noted, will not take away from the usual programming).

This picture I feel should be from some future epic I write. It looks very ethereal and 'Jet Li your ass' at the same time.

DJ Panda - The World's First 'Beat Painting'

Before I went to Haiti, I teamed up with a producer Lazy Beatz in Toronto, and we created what we are currently calling a 'Beat Painting'.  Essentially he created a beat whilst I painted, and because neither of us had any hard and fast planning beforehand, we influenced each other's expression.  

We taped this expression, and the recording is what can only be described as a unique 'Beat Painting'.  This time we were in the same room, but our future plans are to do it via Skype from different and interesting parts of the world.

The video is in post production, but for those interested, here is the painting I did in those two hours.

Thinking Behind a Painting

Friends, Shambhalans, countrymen (and countrywomen), lend me your eyes...

Actually, not your eyes, but your _'s.  _ am m_ss_ng some, and could do with borrow_ng your _'s (sounds l_ke eyes but _s a letter).

Cool, I found them again!

Anyway, I thought I'd give you a little insight into how I create paintings.  I'd love to hear about your art or books by the way, and also how you go about your creativity.  You can email me at danielgrantnewton (AT) gmail (DOT) com

Step 1: I come up with a scene and rough it out (see below).  The scenes I choose usually come into my head from the Unicorn Keepers of Imagination, but they are more than just a picture.  They are part of a larger story that invite the viewer to co-create the story with me.  Kind of like what I was talking about last blog article in regards to books and comics.

It's on a train, with two commuters in the background, and two police/soldiers with flashlights checking passengers. One of them spots the man in the foreground with a flashlight. The context of what the men are looking for, and why the man in the foreground is going to get in trouble, and will he be caught or escape, and what happened up to this point and after this point, and where the train is heading, and who they all are, is for you, the viewer, to create.  He will be however holding a bible, which means he could be just worried and praying, or that he is being targeted for his religion, and the flashlight will have a double meaning as being touched by the Holy Ghost.

In this picture I planned to create a boy who perhaps lost his kite and found it by a group of mysterious Romani people camped out in a field, or was catching bugs that led him there.  Although the rest of the camp do not spot him, he and a young girl the same age catch each other's gaze, and destiny awaits them.  However, the adults are packing up camp so there is the question of whether this would be a fleeting moment, or whether one will approach the other and begin a relationship, or whether their destinies are intertwined in ways greater than a chance meeting.  As you will see, this idea was expanded on greater when the paint hit the canvas.

Step 2: Keep the basic composition, but ignore the details, and let my personal unicorn painter and I expand upon the seed of an idea.  See the results below.

As you can see here, the basic premise did not change much.  I added graphic elements, such as foreshortening, but the main story line has not changed.  That said, in my original conception I made the character more of an Indiana Jones type character, concealing a gun under his coat, whereas this man looks more 'ordinary', but with his mind visibly racing through different scenarios and reactions, and his jacket under his arm ready to run perhaps.

In this painting however, a lot has changed.  Most noticeably, the characters have grown up, the girl now has her eyes closed and has a tear sliding down her cheek as she looks back at the boy, and the characters around the camp seem ghostly (perhaps they are apparitions rather than alive people).  The expression of the girl implies that they were romantically involved, but she is leaving either against her will or because of what had happened between them (the wind dramatizes these feelings).  Also, the boy now appears to have ridden his bike to come see her go, rather than having just found her by chance.  And so as the characters in the scene have grown and become more colourful, so has the story and emotion.

Woman at the Wharf by Daniel Grant Newton

Can too many book editors or artistic opinions spoil the creative brew?

The idea behind this blog article can be adapted to anything, whether you're writing a story, or creating art, or creating anything artistic - but since I've just finished my first novel and everybody wants to be my editor (which I'm thankful for), I'll use a book as an example.

Say you're writing a book (if you're confused because you are not writing a book, read the above paragraph again).

You've put a generous proportion of character development. Put a sprinkle of romance in it. A dash of action. Two cups of intrigue. You've mixed it around, and have let it sit. It is now ready for you to put it in the oven and have people look over your story.

We are still talking about writing a book right? Yes, and I'm glad you bared with me with my over-the-top extended metaphor. Are we talking about a cook book? No, forget the whole cooking thing. Then why did you start talking about cooking? (Excuse me, I'm just having one of my multiple personality moments.) I'm hungry.

Where were we? I have been sidetracked... a feature of this unedited blog apparently.

Now you've got people looking over your work, critiquing and giving advice. Question on your lips is, or sign-languaging hands for those who cannot speak... can you ask too many? Survey says... The plain and simple answer is yes but no but yes but no - to quote a few television shows in one mash-up sentence.

It's great to get different perspectives and ideas (and grammar checks) from willing participants, but the caveat on that is that they are the cooks, and you are the chef. The iron chef with the iron fist.

You use your cutting knife (probably iron too) adding some suggestions and cutting others. So although they are integral to the editing process, do not change your story if it doesn't feel right to you. Or change your artistic vision. Or your art piece. Or whatever.

It is ALWAYS your work, not theirs... however this leads me to...

Two words of warning.

Well, two points of warning. I couldn't summarise each point in one word.

One, don't take offence to what they say.

Everyone has different tastes and sometimes they'll have an opinion that you don't have. That's okay. Doesn't mean your books sucks, or that is must be changed to their liking. (They'd probably tell me enough of the cooking analogy Daniel. You should really have got this blog entry edited. In which I'd answer, "I'm hungry and I don't know why.")

And then there will be people who just never like your work, or the fact you are doing that work. There are many reasons people won't like what you do, and none of them are really ever about you or your work. For example, I find people often tell me I can't do things when they really fear that it will reflect badly on them and what they have achieved in their lives.

And, as I always say (to myself in the mirror with the door closed), if you want to be something different or more than those around you, you have to think and do differently than them. So thinking differently to those around you is the first step in moving forward.

Don't get me wrong, your editors will always (most likely... probably... maybe... perhaps) be well meaning. But subconsciously they won't want you to make them look bad. Success and being different scare most ordinary folk.

And that leads me to my second point...

Two, don't fight over what they say.

It's futile for one. They probably think what they're saying is correct no matter what you say, but more importantly, you should never have to justify your reasons. Does Lady Gaga defend her cigarette glasses, or Michael Jordan ever defend why he wears Nikes, or Charlie Chaplin ever defend why he never spoke? (I hope I'm making you laugh as much as I'm making myself laugh!)

Point being, because you're a genius, or a genius in the making, you don't explain - that's for critics to ponder. Just ask me why I can think that and watch me not justify it because I'm a mother flippin' genius - and so are you - yes, you.

Always thank them for their advice, but you don't have to ever say you'll take it all on baord!

Thank them, use what you want, don't use what you don't want. You may ask them for clarification, but don't go to war with them on why your artistic idea is right and their opinion is wrong. It's an easy equation.

Y x (A + T) x (G - R) = S

Y = Your Work

A = Ask

T = Thank

G = Good Advice

R = Rubbish Advice

S = Success, or sexiness personified

So don't go to war with your editors. Just thank them, and don't take it personally because your art is all about YOU.

(On a side note, if a young Hitler's art pieces had been more accepted we may not have had War World Two so... case in point. And who knows, Ghengis Khan was probably spanked when he did finger painting at pre-school.)

And take a look at it from your editor friend's side of the table. If they feel attacked for opening up with their opinion they'll never give you advice again (and I need people to check my spelling and grammar).

These two points are hard to follow, especially since you've put your soul into your story, but essential to a writer or artist.

Last Thoughts...

Never worry about whether people will like what you've done. I have always found that if you throw yourself completely into your artistic expression, are passionate about it and making it the best possible piece, and love it with all your heart, the world is a big enough place that there will be plenty of people who will support you.

On a side note, one month until my novel is out! :-) Just in case you are one of the people who are going to support ME and buy it!