I’m really late with commentary on this, but awhile back there was a story on the news about a “notorious” cat-tagger that had finally been arrested. When I first heard the story it made me smile to think there’s someone out there painting cats on freeways. Then I wondered why the hell is a guy who paints cats on freeway overpasses considered “notorious” in the first place? I mean uhm … cats are awesome. Anyone who likes to paint cats must also be awesome. Right? Well, apparently not according to the LAPD because they apparently care more about cat-tagging than “real” crime. In my opinion, his work is not “tagging” but then I don’t know for sure if the guy is a gang member marking his turf or not, but even if it is tagging, it’s a lot better than the usual tags you see around the ‘hood. I remember as a small kitty, erm sorry, kiddie, there was another “cat-tagger” who graced the flood control channels with painted pussies. I remember being intrigued by them as a kid and thinking how cool it was that someone turned the ugly-ass storm drain covers into smiling cat faces. I also seem to recall there was a bit of an outrage back then too that this person must be stopped, as he was just encouraging more graffiti along the flood channels (and yes, it did get somewhat out of control at one point.) But this brings up the question that was drilled into my head in art school: What is art? Some of the graffiti I’ve seen around the city is, in my opinion as an art-degree possessing person, most definitely art. Some of it is just crap. In my opinion a lot of “art” in galleries and museums is also crap. But where do we draw the line? Who decides? If someone were to pay a million dollars to buy a brick wall with gang tags all over it, would that make it art? Is it only art if it expresses some esoteric idea the person is trying to convey? In art school, one of the generally accepted criteria of art is that it causes an emotional response in the viewer. If a freeway cat-tag makes you smile, is it art? If it causes outrage is it art? I think so.

Disclaimer: I am not implying by my use of the phrase “cat tagger” in reference to Leo Limón, that he was a tagger or gang member, I just used it to show the idiocy of using meaningless labels (ie tags) to categorize someone’s art.

I won another “promo” PokePlushie last week, for utilizing my art skills again. There was a contest to make a sprite, per spec, so I did one. I was one of the 3rd place winners, which means I could pick either a Devil Chao or a promo dragon. I picked a Chao, because it was a cooler prize, and I don’t care if all the runners up got a Chao too. I do have to say I spent a lot more time on this one than that last art contest they did. Here is the sprite I made:

And here is my prize:

PokePlushies.com

I really, really like Chaos, so it’s just awesome the prize was a special, one time only Chao! I named him Dante, because he’s a devil chao and that means Hell, and well, “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate” and all that rot.

And yes, I have too much time on my hands. But hey, at least I’m putting my hard-worked for art degree to some use.

mine

theirs

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I was listening to the radio computer geek show and they had someone on who talked about this site and I have to say it’s fun. The bestest part though is that when you get the other person’s drawing, it shows the actions they did with the mouse to draw their picture. I dunno about you but when I draw cartoons I always start with the head. Some people start with the eyes, some people with the nose, some people the body. Kinda interesting. And free! Like free lunch!

… OK … I know just about everything is cooler than LOTRO but this is almost as cool as WOW … maybe even cooler. Now, I dunno about you, but when I was a wee childling I used to construct little miniature things for the dollhouse I would someday own (given I knew, even at that young age, I’d likely never be able to afford a real house.) It all started when I went to Knott’s Berry Farm once, back in the old days when they had the Mott’s Miniature Museum there (with a real working TV set that was about 1 inch wide!) Anyway, I love miniatures, if I ever won a million dollars I’d probably blow it on miniatures (and a few other things like FOOD and HOUSING but I digress.) I’ve even been tempted to utilize my art degree for the purpose of being a miniaturist, but then my mother would kill me. Hehe. It’s bad enough I majored in art and play video games, she’d disown me if I made a living making TOYS. Anyway, this little Bag End thing is pretty damn cool and gave me a smile on this bleary day.