King Arthur and The original Doodle Artist - Aubrey Beardsley

Although I was planning on writing about my recent whiskey painting workshop (which I will), or about my thoughts concerning KONY 2012, I am writing about Aubrey Beardsley.

Aubrey Beardsley is one of my favorite  artists , because he illustrated Le Morte D'arthur.  Beautifully.   And since we have been watching the BBC series of Merlin, it just seemed to work.
Merlin is a great show.  At first, it was the goofy, funny, non serious side of Arthurian legend.  The fourth season is becoming more dark and serious. Camelot, started out that way and is very intense (and I like that too.). Either way, it works because every writer since the beginning of Arthurian legend has done their own take on it.  There are so many variations of every tale, all from before modern times, that it is difficult to say any one is right.

Beardsley was a young sickly man, who died extremely young.  He became sick with tuberculosis at six years of age, and died at 25.   THAT is what makes him extraordinary.  He had 25 years and became an influential artist.  A man whose work will last for centuries.
He was commissioned to illustrate Le Morte D'arthur.  He was influenced by the art nouveau movement, as well as Japanese woodblock prints.  He came into contact with Oscar Wilde and illustrated Salome. What struck me is the original sketch of the cover of the book.  Yet another reason for me to love his art.  I love peacocks and feathers!






Anyway, Aubrey Beardsley WAS the original zentangle doodlist.  He created illustrations with awesome design, and punched the values by adding values, designs, doodling.... i love it.


His spiritual life is rather interesting.  After drawing some rather "scandalous" illustrations, he converted to Catholicism, and demanded for his work to be destroyed. .Interesting Info 
His request was refused, and it is all still "out there" today. Of course, by today's standards, they are rather tame, being pen and ink. 



So, if you are looking up  his work, there may be some nude illustrations.  But, his depictions of the scenes from Le Morte D'arthur show a sense of fluidity and fantasy, which add to the mystique of the legends.

Names and Artistic doodling

For a while now, when a friend has a child, I have painted a piece for the baby's room.  My sister wanted the sex of the baby to be a surprise, so I was working on a neutral sheep (her theme) painting for the nursery.  It was not working for me.  She had the baby and no spectacular painting.  So, this is what I came up with when I heard the baby's name.  Adeline is a family name from my dad's side and Frances is a family name from my sister's husband's family.  Now at least she has something pink. 

In other artistic pursuits, I have been mainly doodling.  There is a trend in art called Zentangles, it is basically structured doodling.  I have been looking at some online and it has been a lot of fun.  Zentangles are awesome because you do not need any artistic experience to learn, but as an art teacher, there is a lot of skill development.  Some of my art lessons have doodling included which are very similiar to the Zentangle approach.zentangle explanation 
What I have below are not really zentangles though, but my own take on artistic doodling.

Not a zentangle, but a watercolor poppy.  Poppies always remind me of the Wizard of Oz.

Above are a couple of my Zentangles.

A sketch of a rose from my Valentines bouquet. My husband, bought me the best bouquet this year, because it was a mix of red, pinks, and white.  I think the white ones were my favorites.  Red roses are so hackneyed.  And they are more difficult to sketch, since the values are so dark.