The Smiths Suck

Morrissey's voice sounds like fucking Kermit the Frog.

The Smiths suck. Yes I said it, and I'll say it again,the Smiths suck.
There is one song, though, that I really can't get over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5HpeA_WSo&feature=related

For some reason Morrissey's voice doesn't annoy the hell out of me when singing How Soon Is Now? What is it about this song that makes it so freaking good? There are a lot of instrumental elements that bring the song together. From the continuous choppy chord progression that seems to get mush through an oscillating tremelo effect, to the sweeping guitar effect, which is my absolute favorite part of the song. The cool synths that come in and out of the song How Soon Is Now? is definitely NOT your typical Smiths song. In fact, that was the first song that aroused my curiosity in the Smiths. Unfortunately, that song was the only one of its kind, the Smiths suck after that. I've been wanting to know how to recreate that sound, or how Marr even got the guitar to sound like that.

I researched wikipedia and found this somewhat helpful quote that was pulled from somewhere.

“The vibrato sound is fucking incredible, and it took a long time. I put down the rhythm track…through a Fender Twin Reverb without vibrato. Then we played the track back through four old Twins, one on each side. We had to keep all the amps vibrating in time to the track and each other, so we had to keep stopping and starting the track, recording it in ten second bursts…I wish I could remember exactly how we did the slide part- not writing it down is one of the banes of my life! We did it in three different passes through a harmonizer, set to some weird interval, like a sixth. There was a different harmonization for each pass. For the line in harmonics, I re-tuned the guitar so that I could play it all at the twelfth fret with natural harmonics. It’s doubled several times.”

What the hell can you even take out of that? Harmonizer and Harmonics. My next quest to find the ultimate badass sounding sweep/slide has presented itself. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to control that effect? The possibilities are endless.

So maybe, the Smiths don't suck so much after all. Actually, yeah, they do, for keeping Morrissey as a vocalist. Horrible, horrible vocals. Still that track makes up for his shitty voice somehow.

We need more guitarists like Marr that explore their instruments to create awesome sounding effects and songs.

Anyway, maybe I'll throw up a song soon...till next time!

The Mind Scrawls of a Mad Man

Oil on 8.5 x 11 in. paper sketch

Oil on 8.5 x 11 in. paper sketch

Gouache and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Gouache and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Watercolor and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Acrylic and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Gouache and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Acrylic and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Watercolor and ink on 11 x 17 in.  paper doodle

Smells Like Chocolate Body Paint to Me: Alex Ariza's Student Watercolor Paintings

I got to scan in some images from the watercolor sketch book Bil Donovan told me to fill up. Filling up a sketchbook isn't as hard as you think it is. Just do it damn it!

Here are some pieces that I'm somewhat happy to show.

I did these at the New York Public Library...you know, the big one famous one with the lions at the entrance.

Watercolor Sketch of the New York Public Library Interior 2009

Some chick was studying, so I decided to draw her too.

Watercolor Sketch of a Woman Reading at the Library 2009

These few below I did for Bil Donovan's class. The lady model was dressed in a skimpy skirt with a wonderful view of her ass hanging out. I wish I had more time to draw her.

Speed Drawings of Models in Constant Motion 2009

Watercolor and Black Color Pencil 2009

I stayed after school tonight to draw some nudes thanks to one of our teachers, Peter Emmerich.

Watercolor and Black Color Pencil Drawing of Woman 2009

This piece would be my favorite if I didn't fuck up the woman's hand. It annoys the hell outta me, but I posted it because I liked how the rest of it came out. Very Egon Schiele inspired.

Watercolor and Black Color Pencil Drawing of Woman Posing 2009

Rejected Society Of Illustrators Student Show Submissions 2009

Been real busy lately as the deadline for the Society of Illustrators was today. I will make this blog short just cause nothing is coming to mind at the moment.

First we have two pieces from the series I've started called Kids With Guns

Johnny Acrylic on 16 x 24 in. Masonite board 2009

Justin Acrylic on 16 x 24 in. Masonite board 2009

I also did this piece especially for the show itself within the span of three days. Really happy how it came out. I give credit to my brother Richard for pushing me to get extra detailed, pain in the ass, but totally worth it.

A Cowboy's Worst Nightmare Acrylic on 20 x 32 in. watercolor paper 2009

That's all for now folks. New projects coming soon!

Wow Wee! Ride Me Sally, Ride!

Well hello again everyone. During this past semester there were some assignments that I really enjoyed working on. Unfortunately, some assignments were treated and created to make my teachers happy. The good stuff I wanted to make wasn't really produced this year. One interesting project dealt with sleep paralysis. For those of you who don't know what sleep paralysis is:

"...a common condition characterized by transient partial or total paralysis of skeletal muscles and areflexia that occurs upon awakening from sleep or less often while falling asleep. Stimuli such as touch or sound may terminate the episode, which usually has a duration of seconds to minutes. This condition may occur in normal subjects or be associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations."

Thank you, Wikipedia, for clearing that up.

The following images are the original sketches for the project:

The first sketch was drawn straight out of my head with no reference to help me out with anatomy of the nude woman and horse head. Although there are some mistakes with the anatomy, there is an energy to the piece...something that got lost when I began using reference for the female body as seen in the second image.

Sleep Paralysis Rough Sketch by Alex Ariza 2008

Drawing depicting sleep paralysis featuring a nude woman with a horse head riding a sleeping man in cowgirl position.

Sleep Paralysis More Refined Sketch - Alex Ariza 2008

I had put a lot of time into the final since this was the first assignment of the year, and I wanted to leave a good impression with my professor. It came out decent looking, but, as I said before, it lacks a certain energy I was going for. Also, it lacks any real depth or concept behind it. All I came up with was a guy having a dream about banging some hot chick and it just so happens to have turned into horse headed lady. Big whoop.

Sleep Paralysis Acrylic Paint on Watercolor Paper 8.5 x 22 in. 2008

Fashion Institute of Technology's School Paper - W27 - Cover Illustration

Ice Skating Frustrations Digital 2008

This image was created for FIT's newspaper, W27. It was the cover for their January 2008 issue, which was winter themed. I went for cute, since ladies love cute, and FIT is 90% female.