She's An Outlaw

She's An Outlaw
oil on canvas
15 x 30 x .75 inches
This item is unframed but ready to hang.

The best artists are outlaws
Vandalizing our sanctity,
Our sanctimonious freight trains,
Our parsimonious neglect.

The best artists are culprits
Chiseling our school desks,
Scraping our bathroom stalls,
Doodling our notebooks.
 - THOMAS WELLS

There is something deeply symbolic about guns.

I don't own one and don't want to. I have had guns pointed at me - twice. It isn't anything I want to revisit ever again. But the people with guns have power.

There are other kinds of power - words, images, silence. I like to think my own "guns" are the images I make and the words I put with those images.

Get the art

In the world of gunslingers and outlaws, there aren't a lot of women. It is generally (but not always), men depicted with the gun in their hands, and thus the power. More contemporary fantasy and sci-fi includes more badass women, and I think this particular outlaw fits well there.

She's every woman who has had enough. Every female whose rights are being eroded. Every woman who has suffered at the hands of the patriarchy. Each woman who wished, even for a moment, the power was in her two hands.

Maybe she is carrying bubble guns, squirt guns, nerf guns or just guns loaded with powerful words. She demands attention. And by golly she is gonna have it.

The artist in me knows that I must also be an outlaw (vandal, culprit) in the world. It might be a controversial image, or words that rub some folks the wrong way, but my job is to put it out there; to stir up conversation and maybe cause some notebook doodling. Whether it is powerful women with weapons, monsters lurking in the shadows or books about the monstrousness in all of us, I'm gonna do it.

---

About the art: I had an idea for this one, a female outlaw in mid-air. So I began with a gesso'd canvas and some thinned oil paint and sketched a rough outline of the figure. Next a layer of background paint, pushing in to further refine the sketch. A long drying time.  Using a small brush I went in for the detail work - face, hands and weapons. While those were drying, I placed shadows in the clothing, the hair and the legs. More drying! The requisite 80 million layers, pushing and pulling until the right level of detail vs abstraction was reached. It took many weeks. OY! Finally, a second layer on the background, and a very wet brush laden with paint for the dripping parts of her clothing. After four more weeks of drying, I added a layer of varnish. She is a big, powerful piece in the studio. She does not tolerate timidity or hesitation!

---

​MonstroUS has been released!

Order your copy from WayWord Books!

---

​Watch and listen to the blog on YouTube

​Bonus malarkey!