Tuesday, June 30, 2009

High Above The Cabs



One way to avoid the traffic.... Changing the scale of the figure makes this a lot less literal. I am into my new studio tomorrow in the Lower East Side and very excited to be able to work big again. Bedroom work has its pluses - if you're a big sleeper for example - but the minuses are bigger.

It was a big weekend in american suburbia - I was out in Annapolis visiting a dear friend of mine, Josh Stewart, local hack at The Capital Newspaper and came back slightly the worse for wear, and with a black eye. Not another man making an attempt on my life, but a humble fight with a table. The table won. So I'm not looking as pretty as usual - still hot obviously - but with a fair bit of purple on my visage.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Early Bird



Another early morning sketch. I woke up in The Zone yesterday, so thought I would crack on. This evening I have my first session with a couple of new models - let's see how fast they can/will run and how high they can/will jump........

Monday, June 22, 2009

Blog Contest!!!!!


I'm launching a blog competition to help with me with my 4 part plan to Break America. Despite breaking various other things since my arrival on Thursday - see checked list - it would seem the country still seems to have eluded me. I know it's only been a few days but I'm not one to let the dust settle under my feet. So I'm asking for help to my readers - if there actually are any - to send their suggestions please on a postcard to me, Patsy McArthur, Apartment 1N, 140 7th Avenue, New York 10011, NY, USA. Obviously, you could just comment on the blog, not that anybody ever does.. But I really just want some good old fashioned mail, and for the doorman to hand it to me.. There will be 2 fabulous, authentic NY prizes - one for the best suggestion and one for the first to arrive. Come on kids, help me out...

The Drowning Man



After I came back from my dawn excursion up to 42nd Street I came back and did a bit of work! The Drowning Man is an idea that I had many years ago in Australia but I think it came out again this morning after witnessing quite a lot of drowning men uptown. There were drowning women as well of course, but women tend to float better than men. I'm going to go on a dawn excursion tomorrow as well, it seems like a creative time for me.

My delight in the doormen is wearing off. I had to go on a lot of missions today so was in and out a lot and after 7 or 8 "How YOU doin miss"s I had had more than enough..

I was complimented on my english today as well in a shop. It is rather good I suppose, even for a Scot. Thank you Duane.

An Early Start


I had an extremely early start this morning. My room is at ground level, sidewalk level I suppose one could say and I wake to the loud, babbling nonsense of New Yoykers as they walk past which they do extremely early. So I got up at 5.30 and thought I'd walk up to 42nd street to see if I could get some good shots of the area round Times Square while there weren't many people about.

Not so, it would appear that even at 6 the streets are chocka, which made me think I'd possibly found one of the bullet points to Break America - get up 4 hours earlier than you normally would, in an attempt to make sufficient fistfuls of dollars to survive in this beast of a city, and subsequently be able to break it.

Thereby winning my own contest - joking, I'm not allowed to enter.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Auf Wiedersehen


I've been moving so fast I almost forgot to post a few farewell berlin words. I had a very interesting time and would like to thank the city and all who sail in her, especially my beautiful friend Martina, my very inspiring catalan friends Maria and Gemma who are the girls behind the wonderful new audiovisual project El Mur and my fabulous new Irish friends, photographer Steve Ryan and rising literary star Conor Jack Creighton, all of whom helped keep me working and entertained.

Meeting of Minds



My brief Scottish tour is coming to an end as I make the final preparations for arrival in NYC. And no Scottish tour would have been complete without a visit to Dylan Lisle Heights in the capital. Dylan is a very focused and gifted young man whose work you can see at www.dylanlisle.com

More than anything I was supremely impressed with his determination and agility. His ability to paint and more importantly to move around seemed incredible, considering he is suffering from an unfortunate accident which has left the poor boy with a broken leg.

Dylan and I experience much of the same life and work issues and although few conclusions were drawn, a lot of nonsense was talked and fun was had, all disabilities considered.

Healthy competition was one of the topics discussed and although my observation of power struggles was possibly a little dramatic and ridiculed by Mr. L it was clear to me that some form of this exists between us, and indeed between most artists at a similar level career wise.

So, in order to channel the energies of both Lisle and McArthur, we may join forces later in the year in a project which should enable us both to come out on top.

Watch this space.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Pure Vie en Rose

A little bit of McArthur fun to share with all those bored and lonely souls out there. I've been trying to clear up my computer today as it's too cold in Germany in June it would seem to be in the studio, and I've stumbled across previously unreleased footage of my dear friend Wendy, having a wee solo dance in India. There was this fabulous music pouring out of these speakers in the grounds of this deserted palace about dusk and after a bit of encouragement from my good self she started her cantering antics.. Poetry. In. Motion.

Breaking America




A few sketches for McArthur's next mission of Breaking America. My first attempts with working in spray can and charcoal which I think is a winner especially in large format. These pieces are much looser than how I normally draw, especially with the cityscapes it's a real break from the old routine to draw in a different style - very liberating. There's definitely room for areas of spray can, very loose charcoal work and very tight areas all in the same drawing.
I'm thinking about power with these pieces, how the figures work in relation to the city - is the figure conquering the city or the other way around? This is an interesting idea especially in a city like NY that makes you feel so small as an individual. There are all sorts of angles on this - superheroes, invaders, are we fleeing it or jumping in? It's maybe how I'm seeing my own arrival in NYC - it's got to be powerful but controlled, and definitely fearless!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Devil Man or...... Man Devil?

As some of you may or may not know, I am currently living in a street in Berlin which seems to directly translate as "Man Devil Street". And it seems that the other night I may or may not have run into this particular Man Devil.

He was about 5'10", mixed race, and had a slight american accent - spoke perfect english. I didn't realise until very recently that this incident had inadvertently been filmed. Unfortunately, Man Devil doesn't feature. He is to my right. I seem unperturbed, although this is just the beginning of the exchange, and I seem drunk, although not spastically. I am posting this incident just in case - he claimed and seemed to really mean it by the end that I was going to die sad and alone, then straight to Hell - all of which seem fairly likely, but still, a little rude don't you think? "Straight to Hell" is heard coming from MD's mouth in the middle, at which I cleverly ask him if he wants to appear in the footage - he, also cleverly, declines.

I'm trusting my fans to take up the search and the atonement of MD if I come to an early demise in the immediate future. Over and out.