Break Away

I went to my first music festival last week.
About two months ago my boyfriend offered me a ticket to Glastonbury festival to go with him and some friends, including Little Miss DJ, who did an amazing set at Cubehenge on Friday morning.)

the festival at sunset

I had a pretty incredible week. As a girl who steers clear of any kind of camping I was definitely out of my comfort zone - particularly since we arrived a few days early to get a good tent space.Yes, there was rain. Rain, mud, cold, damp sleeping bags. It started off pretty horrendous. But all the while I heard testimonials of how amazing the festival would be - how it was like a city with all the people and lights and sounds. I explored the healing fields and the park, I discovered new people and places.... And then the music started. Wow. Its amazing how everything sort of came to life. I kept thinking how it was like a different world, no computers, no phones, just interesting people and live music. I witnessed a spontaneous lesbian wedding, I danced in front of a mechanical rave spider. I got rained on, and it was good.

6. Break Away

"Break Away" by Jess Milton

I suppose the idea of having a 'break away' from home is pretty applicable here. But this picture, to me, is more about breaking away from the norm - breaking away from reality for a few days. I went to another world, and when I came back it was a little daunting. I came home, I had a bath... I watched TV. I called people on the phone. I checked Facebook. It all seemed so odd - these things I thought I couldn't live without, and yet an hour after being home they already seemed like they were wasting my time. I left my heart in Glasto, I think.

Seeking Solace

Today I moved out of halls. It's been an interesting experience, highs, lows, ants, mice. It's quite a comforting thing to hear people fiddling about in the rooms near you - reminds you that you're alive.
Anyway, my tenancy ended, and I've moved into my dad's work-flat. (I always saw it as his bachelor pad.) Despite him being there a couple of days a week, I'm pretty much going to be living here alone. But comfort! I sleep on a sofa, but damn is it a nice sofa.

Well thats what picture number 5 is about anyway - 'seeking solace.' Comfort, security, an escape from misery or disappointment. I saw it more as seeking shelter, in both a physical and emotional way. I think the cat in this picture would be a lot cheerier if the title was 'solace,' but unfortunately he's still in the 'seeking' phase. Shame.

5. Seeking Solace

"Seeking Solace" by Jess Milton

I really struggled with this one, I have to say. I tried Cinderella, hitchhikers, overdressed girls looking lost... I even tried to cheat with a really dull, melancholy close-up. Thats why this post is a little 'delayed.' However, I tried to channel my inner alley cat and came up with something a little scruffier than usual. 

Below are a couple of my first attempts. I mean the first one - a Cinderella seeking solace I can kind of get. But the second one? What's all that about!? I have no idea what that has to do with anything. I put it down to desperation - my brain tossed me a naked chick with a pixie cut.

 

Dark

Watched 'Tangled' for the first time yesterday. Not as pleasantly surprised with the plot as I thought I'd be, but wow. They got the look of that film just right. As soon as I heard they'd be using Fragonard as inspiration I knew it was going to be gorgeous, but that hair! Incredible. So the hair in my 'Dark' picture is a little inspired by the shininess of Rapunzel's. I do maintain that she would have no problem with boredom if her mother would just give her a set of GHDs for her damn birthday though.


4. Dark:

"Dark" by Jess Milton

Yes, this seems a little obvious as a choice of subject matter but I figured - where's the darkest place on Earth? Under the sea, obvs. So here's a little mermaid - deep deep deep under the sea.
As far as composition goes this one's pretty simple but I think I needed the painting practice.
I'm finding all the themes quite challenging actually, but I think they're doing the job! I'm really starting to push myself.

Light

The view from my window, 5:45 am.

One of the first things I studied this year in Performance Design was the impact of light. I never really paid much attention to it, but now I find myself noticing it's effect on everything, everywhere, and can't stop snapping photos. (light is probably a novelty for me because I haven't been awake in the morning for about two months.)
When was the last time you watched the sun rise from your window? Or been outside at 5:00am when the birds are singing and the sky is a sort of light, eggshell colour? Wow.
(Incidentally my favourite recent example of brilliant light-usage is Joe Wrights 'Hanna.' )

3. Light:

"Light" by Jess Milton

So. Light.
Well, I decided to do something really anecdotal. My friend Liz, who is currently writing a blog about her ridiculously exciting travels in Mongolia and other far away places, is really good at telling stories. One that stuck in my mind was a nightmare she used to have when she was little - that during the night, if light touched her she would explode or dissolve or melt into some sort of Liz-puddle. Anyway, she would be terrified and try to get to her parents' room, only to find a door slightly ajar; throwing a big sheet of light on the floor. She'd sit there for hours, unable to cross it, waiting for the sun to rise. 
If it was anyone else, I'd be reluctant to divulge that information at risk of her sounding totally insane. (Luckily for me her insanity is basically common knowledge.)

Love

I am a bit of a Romantic. I love old movies with Cary Grant, my favourite places are Paris, Venice, London, New York (all the un-imaginative shmooshy ones.)  I have a tendency to pair all the characters off in my stories at the end like in a Midsummer Night's Dream. (Usually my characters end up married or dead. Yikes.) I would like to stress that I'm not a terrifying, ankle-grabbing love-harpy in real life. Except for all those young men I have chained up in my cellar, obviously.

2. Love

"Love" by Jess Milton

So, I could do the old Romeo and Juliet style romantic scene, or couple of 1950s high schoolers making out on a car-bonnet. Instead I went for a sort of love 'mind-map.'

 This picture is a look at the three most recognised types of love. At the top, the two lovers kissing represent Eros - that all-consuming, whirlwind, crazy-in-love love. The sexy kind.

The two girls in the middle are a portrayal of Philos love. The kind that exists between friends - and in relationships built around friendship. I have a staggering collection of friends from my scary, all-girl's secondary school. (Frustrated-Virgins-R-Us?) I love them all very much, and despite being all over the country now when I see them nothing really changes. Its very comforting.

Finally at the bottom, Agape; unconditional love. This is the big one. The one everyone says you only really experience after years of marriage and arguing and all that jazz, or through God if you're religious (not quite ready to crack open that old chestnut yet...) I also understand it to be the sort of love you feel for your parents and family etc. But I think the kind that always makes me tear up a little is the unconditional love people have for their pets. Something about the innocence and loyalty of animals makes them incredibly important to a lot of people.

This is why I can't listen to Cat Stevens' "I Love My Dog." Or watch "Marley and Me," without crying like a wuss.

Introduction

Time to talk a little bit about my work I think.

My favourite things to draw have always been people - apart from a couple of years when I was about 5 or 6 and it was dogs wearing hats. I love fairy tales, stories and general folklore. My most recent comic, The Flying Ship,  is based on an old Russian Fairy tale of the same name.
My favourite artists include Edmund Dulac, Aubrey Beardsley,  Norman Rockwell, Lotte Reiniger and of course, Alphonse Mucha. 

Apparantly I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil. I used to sit in front of the TV with a big stack of A4 paper, fill each page (both sides) with pictures in whatever pen or pencil was to hand, and then put the stack in a drawer, only to get another stack. I did this till I was ten. Somewhere in Brazil there's a huge, smoking wasteland where big chunk of Rainforest must have been - I feel entirely responsible.

My Godfather says that there's really no such thing as talent, only the result of years and years of practice. The thing about practice is that you do an awful lot of it when the activity in question is an absolute obsession. When I was 15 I developed a repetitive strain injury from too much drawing and had to stop using my wrist completely for about 6 months. I learnt to paint with my left hand - something I've completely forgotten how to do. (I later learnt that the injury was partly caused by the fact that I held a pencil with the wrong fingers - idiot.)

I love drawing flowers and other decorative flora and fauna, usually around semi nude women with ample bosoms and slightly mischievous expressions. I have a weakness for old fashioned, muted tones. In this 100 themes project, I have decided to push myself to improve my composition and detail, creating works of art I'll be proud of. And this is the first:

1. Introduction

"Introduction" by Jess Milton

I wanted to incorporate a type-face reminiscent of the 'Once Upon a Time' beginnings in old fairy tale books - The Frog Prince idea sort of came about on its own. The crown the Princess is wearing is based on a pair of Antlers. I think the biggest influences for this piece are Aubrey Beardsley and Lotte Reiniger.

Avast! 100 Themes

I've recently had a problem with boredom.

On the train back to London with the boyfriend yesterday, after a long weekend at home in Cornwall, I whipped out my sketchbook and asked him "would you like a picture?" This resulted in an epic alien battle scene, Ninja-Pirate hybrids and cats. I had forgotten how refreshing it is to just draw.

I'm reminded of those Art challenges you see on the internet - 100 days, 30 days; draw a self portrait! Draw whats in your handbag! 
I always wanted to try one and never felt like I had the time. The point of them is to draw things that would never occur to you otherwise - to approach your work within the constraints of a theme. Its a similar (but slightly more straightforward) idea to Lars Von Trier's Five Obstructions.

So here we go - this marks the beginning of my 'search for beauty' - by challenging myself and my work, I want to improve and progress through means of this project. No quick sketches. No copying other artists. No cheating.

Wish me luck, me hearties.