#BookReview Narrated by H., a portrait painter, José Saramago's first novel depicts an artist's struggle to capture the real person behind the face and the frustration of being unable to do so.
H. has no illusions about the kind of work he turns out. His portraits show his clients as they want to be portrayed, but when S., a businessman, commissions a portrait H. also paints a secret second portrait to show the real S., but is dissatisfied with that one too. He then turns to words to capture S. as he is.
He begins by writing about their interactions and quickly expands to writing about his own life, politics, and artistic philosophy. What's most fascinating about this book is watching a great writer in the process of unfurling his new writerly butterfly wings.
First published in 1977, Manual of Painting and Calligraphy was published in the US in 2012 translated by Giovanni Pontiero.
Ave Barrera's The Forgery (2013/2022) is a Mexican #art caper story about an #artist forced to complete a forgery as part of an inheritance fraud. But by the end its unclear (perhaps purposefully) whether the narrator has experienced imprisonment & exploitation by a violent & rich mastermind, or whether its all a fever dream brought on by a hand injury (turning to sepsis). While quite enjoyable its also finally unsatisfying as a novel.
Today in Labor History November 7, 1912: Ernest Riebe's "Mr. Block," IWW labor comic strip first appeared in print. Mr. Block was one of the best-loved features in the Wobbly press. Joe Hill wrote a song about "Mr. Block," who was a boss-loving, American Dream-believing, self-sabotaging knucklehead. Some call Riebe the first "underground" comic book artist.
Mr. Block (by Joe Hill)
Please give me your attention, I'll introduce to you
A man who is a credit to the ["Our] old Red White and Blue["]
His head is made of lumber and solid as a rock
He is a common worker and his name is Mr. Block
And Block [he] thinks he may be premier [President] some day
Chorus
Oh Mr. Block, you were born by mistake
You take the cake, you make me ache
[Go] tie a rock on your block and then jump in the lake
Kindly do that for Liberty's sake!
Yes, Mr. Block is lucky - he got a job, by gee!
The shark got seven dollars for job and fare and fee
They shipped him to a desert and dumped him with his truck
But when he tried to find his job he sure was out of luck
He shouted, "That's too raw! I'll fix them with the law!"
Block hiked back to the city but wasn't doing well
He said "I'll join the union, the great AF of L".
He got a job that morning, got fired by the night
He said, "I'll see Sam Gompers and he'll fix that foreman right!"
Sam Gompers said, "You see, you've got our sympathy."
Election day he shouted, "A Socialist for Mayor!"
The comrade got elected [and] he happy was for fair
But after the election he got an awful shock
[When] a great big socialistic bull did rap him on the block
And Comrade Block did sob, "I helped him get his job!"
Poor Block he died one evening, I'm very glad to state
He climbed the golden ladder up to the pearly gate
He said, "Oh Mister Peter, one thing I'd like to tell
I'd like to meet the Astorbilts and John D Rockerfell!"
Old Pete said, "Is that so? You'll meet them down below!"
Tune: It Looks to me Like a Big Time Tonight. from Al Grierson,
by Joe Hill, in 13th ed. of the Little Red Songbook
Day 18 of #Repostober where you share old art during the month of October
🎨 Watercolor & ink, by me
An Illustration for the short story "Zero Sum" by the talented J. Daniel Stone. The story + art will be included in his 2024 collection RAGING IN THE DARK.
Artist and writer Leonora Carrington is the subject of 'Surreal Spaces' by Joanna Moorhead a visually beautiful book that is a combination of biography, record of the author's conversations with the artist, and an exploration of the places Carrington moved through during her life. It's an intriguing look at a fascinating woman and artist.
Working on a Minecraft texture pack that cleans up the paintings. Here's my take on "Match"! This one's already pretty good in vanilla, though I'm still decently happy with how my tweaks turned out. #pixelart#minecraft#aseprite#art#artist#artwork#fediart
Today in Writing History September 10, 1960: Alison Bechdel, American author and illustrator was born. She is most famous for her “Dykes to Watch Out For,” comic strip. And for her “Bechdel Test,” originally intended as a joke in one of her comics, but which has since become a routine metric used by critics as an indicator for the active presence of women in a film.
The Golden Bowl is a sweet story meant for young readers. A little art lover girl is very excited about her dog’s coming birthday, but no gift seems adequate enough for the animal : a necklace ? A decorated dog biscuit with frosting ? A painted bowl ? The latest seems the best gift and Zoya works very hard on her création, sharing color names with the reader in the process.