Wendigo Painting by Alex Ariza 2023

 

Wendigo in the Snow Acrylic Painting by Alex Ariza 2023

The Wendigo is a creature from Native American folklore, specifically the Algonquians. The Wendigo represented insatiable greed, winter, and famine. It is traditionally depicted as a gaunt giant with icy features, which this painting captures by elongating the creature's limbs and placing it in a gray and snowy winter setting. In this acrylic painting by Alex Ariza, the Wendigo has just killed a deer biting down on its neck. The Wendigo has a sickly appearance meant to represent famine. It has antlers similar to a deer. The body of the Wendigo is dark and covered in a brown fur. The snow has small drops of blood spilled from the deer. The frost covered evergreen trees surround the scene peacefully below a mountain. The sky is overcast and snowy.

Detail of Wendigo Painting by Alex Ariza

Sleep Paralysis Painting by Alex Ariza

Sleep Paralysis Assignment Prompt

Create a double page spread; dimensions are 8.5 inches by 22 inches. Imaginary client / publication is Playboy Magazine.

During sleep paralysis you're aware of your surroundings but can't move your body or speak. Hallucinations are common and often includes feeling a threatening presence, pressure on the chest, or out-of-body sensations. Historical depictions of sleep paralysis included demonic or supernatural creatures such as the incubus or succubus. Some parts of the world describe visions of an "Old Hag" or ghost oppression.

Some patients described the sensation as "a devil laying upon their chest."

The most famous painting depicting sleep paralysis is Henry Fuseli's, The Nightmare.

Sleep Paralysis by Alex Ariza

Sleep Paralysis by Alex Ariza 2008, acrylic paint and ink on paper

This painting, Sleep Paralysis, by Alex Ariza, features a nude horse headed woman sitting on top of a male victim experiencing sleep paralysis. The man is conscious but unable to move or run away as his body is still asleep. The room features two doors with the one closest to the viewer slightly ajar. This is to build the psychological tension of an exit so close by, but unable to be reached by the victim due to their paralysis. The wall paper is striped and can be read as prison bars or a baby crib, further heightening the psychological tension of the inability to escape. The ceiling is ambiguous and dark like a thunderstorm is about to form. The horse headed woman figure is unnaturally colored to portray the supernatural quality of the sleep paralysis phenomenon. This painting draws inspiration from the historical depictions of sleep paralysis by including the presence of a horse. The decision to make the figure a nude woman is to align the image to the client publication, Playboy, while also paying homage to Fuseli's painting which was initially criticized for its overt sexuality upon first viewing in 1781 at the Royal Academy of London.

The Nightmare, Johann Heinrich Fuseli 1781

Testing Different Mediums Out on Karst Stone Paper

Trying out Karst Stone Paper with Ink Brush. The paper is water resistant and tricky to work with.

Karst Stone Paper Sample - Pepe the Frog with Color Pencil. 

Water-based ink does not work well with Stone Paper. Notice the smudges it leaves behind on the previous page. The pigment doesn't get absorbed. It dries on the surface.

Stone Paper creates interesting effects, but I question the longevity of water-based ink drawings.

Markers work really well on Stone Paper. No bleed. The ink glides against the stone paper nicely.

Color pencils work extremely well on Karst Stone Paper. The texture of the paper is a bit rough. The wax pigment holds well.

Yeah, color pencils are the perfect medium for Karst Stone Paper.

 

My brother Richard purchased a small Karst Stone Paper sketchbook last year for me to try out. I tested different mediums out on the paper. 

The "paper" is really a film of plastic with a fine grain of ground up stone particles. It is non-absorbent. It doesn't handle water/wet media well in the sense that it just blobs on top. If you're using ink and it dries, it rubs against the opposing page and leaves residue. Since the paper is non-absorbent, the ink literally sits and dries on the surface. 

Longevity is questionable at this point.

Color pencil and other wax-base media works well on it. The stone paper is tough and can handle a lot of layers and blending. 

Markers also work really well with the stone paper and glides nicely and blends easily. 

Overall, I'm probably going to fill this sketchbook up and won't be getting a new one anytime soon. I'm a  traditionalist. I like paper made from pulp. I like the feel of normal paper - its "tooth," thickness, and color options.

It's worth checking out. 

Blogger is Dead After All

Alex Ariza - Fashion Institute of Technology Student Days Circa 2008 or 2009

What the hell happened to this site? How did Google let this happen? 

Back in 2005, twenty years ago now (good Lord), all my FIT colleagues were on Blogger. It was fun. It was cool. People shared what they were working on in school or their personal projects.

Blogger was a place where you could truly express yourself freely. You could cultivate a small following. The ability to explore other blogs was also part of the fun. You saw the blogs your friends were following, or simply jumped from link to link until stumbling upon a great niche blog. 

My professors at FIT encouraged us all to start a blog. I remember starting this blog in 2007. The professors had a blog. The students had a blog. Other students outside of FIT had a blog. The professionals had a blog. Everyone in my world at the time had a Blogspot through their Google account.  

Alex Ariza - Scanning Artwork for School. Almost everything made for school was also posted on Blogger. Circa 2008 - 2009.

Some of my professors even followed my posts, which, looking back, was risky for me. Not all of my posts were safe for work or used appropriate language. 

Around 2012-2013, everyone left this platform to either start a tumblr or WordPress site, including me.

Google ruined this site by letting it stagnate and refusing to update or match the features these other platforms had. Why even buy a site if you're just going to let it rot?

That's how the tech business works, though. Buy out your competitor and exploit it, or close it down.

I'm surprised this site is still up. 

Do you remember the absolute failure that was Google Plus? What an absolute joke.

Visiting this site is like a digital time capsule. Everyone's posts end around 2012 on this site. It's like a singular catastrophic event wiped out this once thriving civilization. 

Ghost mall.

Ghost town.

Empty chairs and empty tables.

All that remains is a goodbye post stating they've moved to Tumblr or WordPress. 

Now, even Tumblr is a ghost town. What happened there?

Wordpress? Do people still use that site?

This place is like Detroit. Gary, Indiana. Some remote, deserted areas of the US that once had a rich history and a large population.

Everyone is gone. What the hell happened?

Twitter. Tik Tok. Facebook. YouTube. Medium. Behance. Whatever the hell else is out there. That's what replaced this?

None of those sites will give you the freedom that Blogger gave you. You can post just about anything here. Google indexed these sites. Google doesn't index anything from Facebook, Tik Tok, etc.

People don't want freedom. They want certainty and convenience. They just want to be where everyone else is. This is a perfect case study of this phenomenon.

This is a lost cause. I'm the old man screaming at the clouds now.

Selection of 2020 Sketchbook Paintings

 

Prometheus. Acrylic on Paper. Alex Ariza 2020

Metal Truss in Blue. Acrylic on Paper. Alex Ariza 2020

Nude Female Figure Study. Acrylic on Paper. Alex Ariza 2020

Gore. Acrylic on Paper. Alex Ariza 2020

Spirit of the Fox. Acrylic on Paper. Alex Ariza 2020

Nude Female Figure Painting. Acrylic on Paper. Alex Ariza 2020

Figure Drawing at Art Stop in Rochester, NY

Every Monday there is a figure drawing session hosted by Mia Bell at the Art Stop in Penfield, Rochester, NY. I've been going on and off since 2023. 

The sessions are pay as you go and last for three hours. I usually only have energy for two hours of drawing before calling it quits. It takes a lot of mental power, it's in the evening after a full day of work, and I only have so much patience before I get discouraged and put the pencil down. 

Since I moved back to Brighton I've been trying to go every week as I'm just a few minutes away via car. I also really want to get good at drawing before I die. I'm serious. I don't want to die as a shitty draftsman. 

I fantasize about taking lessons back in New York at the Grand Central Atelier. They're now located in Ridgewood, Queens which is just a few minutes drive from Richmond Hill. I've had a few colleagues from college go through that program and they came out producing some absolutely gorgeous work.

I want that for myself.

Sometimes I think about moving back home, but I'm reminded each time I visit my parents of the crowdedness, filth, and how expensive NYC is.

Living there might be different now that I'm married and have dual income and make a lot more money than when I left New York, but my wife happens to hate NYC quite a bit. She doesn't like how dirty and noisy it is.

NYC is like a shitty girlfriend that you keep hooking up with long after realizing she is toxic as all hell and you know she isn't right for you - but she's hot so you keep coming back. 

Every time I come back home to visit family and friends, I have mixed emotions. I miss being able to visit my family and friends whenever I want; now it is every few months if I'm lucky.

Maybe one day I will return. Who knows?