...the Genius of DR Seuss.........

'Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.' - Dr Seuss

I take issue with anyone who believes DR Seuss is anything other than a true visionary thinker..... And a literary Genius. Disliking his work is fine (it’s an acquired taste)..... but the allegorical meanings behind a lot of his work is fantastic; this teamed with his uncanny ability to some up a broad all-sweeping ethos or series of beliefs.... is nothing short of extraordinary.......:-

'I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.' - Dr Seuss

....this quote shows better than any other HIS ethos, HIS way of perceiving the word.......Nonsense literature is the most freeing of all, it gives both reader and writer a totally expansive plateau to build the story on, giving extensive latitude and scope to explore the intricacies of the smallest of stories..... True genius lies in simplicity......:-

'Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!' - Dr Seuss

One of the most interest stories Seuss ever penned was Horton Hears a Who, a story about an elephant in the jungle that hears a dandelion speaking, he plucks it from the ground, examines it..... And their is a tiny speck of a planet balanced between the bristles........ Populated by the 'whos'..... Horton’s big ears are sensitive enough to hear the 'whos' beg for protection from anyone who wants to crush them..... And he agrees to be that protector..... Despite the animosity of other animals in the jungle..... the animals mistreat Horton because he has vowed to protect something that they are unable to see or hear.......... until all of the who’s work together to make enough noise so all the animals in the jungle can hear that they EXIST!......

.......a very simple story, written for children......

BUT the allegorical meaning of this story is up for debate..... is it a statement about religion and protection of deeply held beliefs, despite the fact that their is no tangible proof...... many people believe it is a story based around the 'a person, is a person, whether they are big or small' premise.... this theory is supported by the fact that the who’s could not be heard by the animals in the jungle until the last who chipped in....... Pro-Life people believe this story supports their anti abortion campaign (before they were threatened with lawsuits!)....... Dr Seuss DID offers a synopsis of this story; he elaborated on the real subject of Horton and explained that the post war occupation of Japan was the real fuel of this fantastic story..... But a story is a story..... And the ideas a reader acquires are the author’s gift, a gift to anyone and everyone that thumbs through the pages......

And because you have read my ramblings..... Here’s a GIFT......

New Work:-

All of these Picture/Artworks have been digitally enhanced and avaliable for sale... BOOM!

Go to www.artgallery.co.uk/artist/rhys_bright for a gander.

Till Next Time

Bizal&PeaceOut!

RBXXI

.....No-One tells uplifting stories like the Ancients!......

.......Blog 5........ Something Uplifting :)......

In ancient greece, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King's' wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!

'Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.'

Beautiful :)

Till Next Time, Bizal

RBXXI

Muhammad Ali vs Mike Tyson - In their prime who would win??

This is a Blog post that is close to my heart......

"All the time he's boxing, he's thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him." - Jack Dempsey - World Heavyweight Champion from 1919 to 1926 - This quote perfectly illustrates the Technique vs Power debate that continues through-out boxing circles...... and a debate that I hope to solve with the following!.....

So!..........Muhammad Ali vs. Mike Tyson...... In their prime who would win??

TYSON! ......Obviously............But why?

Muhammad Ali was a great champion.......... possibly the greatest of all-time.... he was indisputably the first three-time lineal Heavyweight champion in history; wining in '64 against Sonny Liston, '74 against George Forman and '78 against Leon Spinks.......... those credentials speak for themselves.... and something else that cant be overestimated is Ali's cultural impact, which also helped feed his own legacy, he is 'easily' the most loved and widely respected sportsman of all time.... beating Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Pele, Maradonna, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretsky, Michael Schumacher BlahBlahBlah......

 It could be argued that Ali's prime of fighting was between 1965 and 1967, as at this point in his career he was giving some of his most emphatic victories .......some believed he was unbeatable.... and I agree that there was no boxer AT THAT POINT IN TIME that could of matched his pace, agility, power, reactions and heart.... but lift Mike Tyson out of 1986; after his run of 25 wins no losses, you would of seen Ali; the greatest of all time, taken to pieces inside 3 rounds!!

My first piece of evidence to bolster this theory is Tyson’s record up to his 25th fight against Marvis Frazier..... (Who Tyson knocked unconscious with an uppercut inside 20 seconds of the first round), 23 out of the 25 fights came by way of KO and 15 of those 23 KOs came in the 1st ROUND! Fck ME!! He was the single most ferocious boxer to EVER step into the ring! No comparisons! No arguments!..... Many of Ali's supporters suggest that Ali's height and reach advantage would of allowed him to escape Tyson’s blows.... well that’s what Mitch Green thought, until he was given a 10 round pasting at the hands of Tyson in 1986; despite the fact Mitch green was 3 inches taller than Ali, Tyson still managed to knock out greens gold tooth during the fight!

Another factor that isn’t often discussed, is the cultural and economic advantages Mike Tyson had over Ali, Mike Tyson was a product of a more advanced and ruthless training regime PLUS he was genetically predisposed to being a fighter; Ali stood in contrast to many boxers of his era because he WASNT from an impoverished background... he had a financial advantage over a lot of boxers of the 50's, 60's and 70's.... many of which only boxed to make ends-meet... this did work against Ali to some degree as he didn’t have the pent-up aggression and past history of street fighting that many other boxers possessed and regularly draw on; mainly out of necessity or survival - Tyson WAS however from a very poor background and did suffer at the hands of bullies and thieves until he fought back.... this exposure to REAL violence gives Tyson far more of a psychological edge over Ali; and Tyson WOULD of exploited this in the ring.

....... Tyson was a Master of the Psyche 'Out! he would retain eye contact with his opponent as soon as he climbed into the ring until the bell.... and then he would go to work, knowing he had the mental advantage.... because people were SCARED of him!... People didn’t fear Ali; they simply respected his superior ability..... Tyson was an ANIMAL! Like being in the ring with a wild bull.... there was no-where to hide between the ropes...... you were going to get hurt!

'THE ROPE-A-DOPE!! ...... That’s it! That’s how Ali would beat Tyson!'.......erm.....No Mate...that’s BULL-SHIT!............

It’s very true that Ali used the Genius strategy of tiring out George Forman by leaning against the ropes in 1974, absorbing his blows and clinching where-ever possible..... Great Strategy! But if he did that against Tyson..... He would have had broken ribs almost immediately!.... Tyson’s strength and Punching power was compounded by his SUPREMELY strong mid-section, the additional strength from his twisting motion teamed with the explosive power in his legs made him one of the hardest, fastest and most accurate punchers the Heavyweight division has every seen...... if Ali ALLOWED Tyson to hit him, he'd be on the canvas very quickly.

Muhammad Ali was certainly one of the Greatest Boxer's in History, he was a fast and nimble heavyweight with a spectacular leading jab and immense power and accuracy; he was a finely tuned sportsman who was conditioned to the highest levels in his prime. But even the 'Greatest' would have fallen to the More Powerful, More Aggressive and visceral competitor; Tyson was bred for fighting and his experience of street fighting as a child gave him the ferocity and love of violence that would of given him the psychological edge over the calm and collected Ali.

..... Oh YH! .... One more thing....... Ali and Tyson were both guests on The Arsenio Hall Show in the late 80's, and Arsenio asked Ali directly 'Who would have won between you and Mike in your prime?' (As Tyson was IN his prime at the time of asking)........ And the loud-mouthed, publicity grabbing, self-promoting, SELF-Labelled 'The Greatest of All Time' said...... 'Mike.....'... And pointed to Tyson.

Till Next Time, Bizal

RBXXI

I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance.

Second Blog....... Continue the story......

'I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.' - John D Rockefeller.

This is one of the most encouraging quotes you could ever want to read..... Because it’s SO True!..... And J'dizzal' Rockefeller (possibly the best surname ever) should know about perseverance.... because that fucker was worth nearly $700 billion...... let me say that again .....7..hundred .....BILLION ..... That is enough to make the London Eye nearly 10 thousand times.... Jesus!.......But then again, that amount of cheddar should be expected when you are the founder of the first GREAT Oil Company in the USA!...... and even though amassing hundreds of billions of dollars from Oil ISNT the same as drawing a picture over and over again.... I’m still going to use it as an apt simile......

I have loved Lewis Carroll's (Aka Charles Ludwig Dodgson’s) book Alice’s adventures in wonderland since I was very young..... And the Disney film; even though it was largely a bastardisation of 2 books, was enough to continue this obsession as a child. The most interesting characters in the books are the Cheshire cat and The Hookah smoking Caterpillar, in my opinion, and I have done MANYmanymany pictures of both of them over the years. But over the past few years I have attempted to perfect the style and form of the caterpillar character; called Absolem in the new Tim Burton film, which is a pile of shit!.... but his art is amazing so I forgive him!.

Attempt one!

My first 'recent' attempt (late 2010) resulted in this shambolic attempt to illustrate the languid caterpillar that is present in Carroll’s original story..... But ....... it turned from a Caterpillar into a grass hopper.... NightMARE! There are certain aspects of this picture that I love, and have continued through my other attempts.... the monocle and Converse to name a few.

Attempt Two!

My second attempt at Absolem took more of an expressionist turn, and as I have done on many occasions, I failed with the pencil so I picked up my paint brush and a fine liner! This picture conveys a much more manic and potentially dangerous caterpillar... and although that isn’t what I intended to do; I like the extra dimension this picture provides.... it truly epitomise the Kafkaesque principle....... but it still wasn’t RIGHT! Plus although the monocle and Glass hookah pipe made an appearance.... the caterpillar has now turned from a caterpillar to a grass-hopper to a SLUG! 'With arms!!! ..... What kind of world is this!?

Attempt Three!

My Third attempt doesn’t look any better, still the same picture in Black and White...... Still looks like a Slug..... Damn It!

Attempt Four!

My fourth attempt was a complete overhaul of my original design, because I was determined to make this one look like a Caterpillar and not a Slug-Hopper! This picture was drawn using pencil and gives a great insight into the different textures of the toadstool, paper, and books blablahblah. In addition, I love the TINY details in this picture, the collar on the smaller Mushroom, the clock, his boots, the globe, his goggles blahblahblah......PLUS in the original piece the writing in the book is an extract of Thomas Paines Age of Reason! ....... There is however one negative to this picture..... And it was pointed out by my Grandad or as I call him 'The Great One’..... He drew my attention to a MASSIVE flaw in this picture.... and it was...... That the globe didn’t have 23 degree axis.........wow....... Great Man! Ha-ha...... But even though this picture was the best so far, it still wasn’t acceptable..... Sooooooo...

Attempt 5!

 

My Final attempt to date is attempt four with some serious photo manipulation, I love the colours, and I love the enhanced sense of tranquillity due to the blue and purples as well as the added texture at the top of the picture..... BUT it still isn’t PERFECT.... but it’s the closest I’ve got... so far.....

Future.......Attempt Six!

My sixth attempt will hopefully be the FINAL incarnation of the Absolem caterpillar, I have sketch out the main forms in the above picture....... my chief target with this future piece, will be to achieve a sense of scale and space between Alice (who will make her first appearance) and Absolem who Will be wearing a red military tunic, I also have plans to take this back to the same style as attempt to.... as its more free flowing ....Fingers crossed that my PERSERVERANCE pays off!!

Till next time, BIZAL!

RBXXI

  

Art is either Plagiarism or Revolution

First Blog........must be interesting, cerebral, funny, poignant.... with good spelling.......Yh Right!........:/ Here Goes!

'Art is either Plagiarism or Revolution' - Paul Gauguin. I am heavily invested in this quote, as think it really hits onto the problems an artist faces; mainly how to be original! ...... The fact that Paul Gauguin said this is also very important, not because of the deep meanings this statement conveys, more because he was one of the worst artists of the past 200 years!......He took his own point very seriously, and by the looks of the picture 'below' he decided to plagiarise the work of a 6 year old school girl!:-

Nancy Walker - Age 6 :)

.....oh Wait... its Paul Gauguin french Master.

Really?!.... Fck OFF!...HAHAHA! 

I started a piece of Artwork a few months ago and it was supposed to be a homage to the GREAT Tim Burton (opinion ALERT.....Majority of his movies are awful... but his Art is Fantastic!) but after sketching out the picture I realised that it was a TOTAL rip-off of the great mans work; judge for yourself:-


My Piece:-

Tims Piece:-

What a Fckin Plagiarist I Am! haha

In an attempt to belay the criticism that my 'Best Piece of Art to date' is a total and utter rip-off of Tims work, I decided to vastly over complicate the design and turn it into far more of a technical exercise.... than a piece of innovative artwork..... Hence the reason I spent 16 hours writing tens of thousands of 'HA's' to form the background....... and even with all of this extra effort..... I think Tims is better! ..... Bastard!

And that is not all!..... You think that Tim is the only famous illustrator to be ripped off in my piece?!..... really? ......well if you look closely at my Signature; and have abit of knowledge of art, you will realise that the ink-blot has been heavily influenced by 'My Artistic Idol'.... Ralph Steadman..... I just ripped the ink blot from right under his feet.... Like a rug! ..... But to compensate him for this obvious theft I have sent him one of my RBXXI T-shirts with this image sprawled over the front.... So he can WEAR a Plagiarism of his OWN work.... Nice :P

HOWEVER....... going back to the picture itself, I am rather fortunate that this piece of Tims work hasn’t been highly publicised, such is the way with his 'Sketchbook' work.....(Man id love to get hold of one of his sketch books!) .... and as I’m sure you'll agree, that is very beneficial for me $$$$

After completing my Ventriloquist piece I played around with it, via filters, contrast, shadows blahblahblah; all in an effort to change it enough so the connection to Burtons work is less obvious....AND .....None of this worked! So upon realising that my best piece of work; no matter how I changed it, it could still be linked back to Burtons sketch.... I decided to go 'Back to the Drawing Board!'... Literally!

My reasoning was 'If Plagiarism is too obvious; I’ll go for a bit of Revolution!'

I spent 10 minutes wildly scribbling on a piece of thick Bristol board with a Parker Roller-ball.... Which I have never used to draw with before..... And slowly but surely the ventriloquist and 2nd puppet started to appear in the scribble. Knowing that I had captured the pose and expression perfectly, I decided not to re-draw it.... and just paint straight over the ink.... WITH MORE INK! And even though it broke all of MY rules.... it worked:-

Initially I was left with a 'splodge' (amazing word) of colours and shapes..... but its amazing what you can do with a 'Uni-Pin Fine Liner - 0.3, 0.1 and 0.05'.... and this piece is actually one of my favourites, because it took me 2 attempts (but both attempts are finished pieces in their own right).... Plus I think the colour adds that extra dimension to the ventriloquists character.... the MADNESS I was aiming for....... the only negative is that I priced up the cost of 20 screen printed t-shirts of this piece and it was going to cost around £500, to which I told the guy to swivel and promptly left his shop ha-ha 

But my point is that all art is plagiarism.... its all been done before.... its just that my first ventriloquist was so similar to Tim Burtons..... I should have saved myself some time and just traced it!

Next blog will be about Absolem the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland.... I’ve done four pictures of him.... and I’m still not fckin happy!

Till Next Time..... BIZAL!

RBXXI