A Twitter Comic A Day

Quick check in here;

A new 'multiverse' comic is starting on Twitter under the title ATWOMIC

Link here for details from the creator:
http://wineink.blogspot.com/2011/05/atwomic-twitter-comic-or-multiverse.html

It's basically a draw-a-day from a tweeted prompt which is left up to the artist to interpret. The result is that the same story is told in a multitude of alternate realities by different artists. Appropriately enough, if you do a bit of Google-Fu for Divine Comedy artists, you'll come across several tellings of the tale in a variety of media.

It's open to all so go ahead and sign up!

Jesus and Judas: BFFs?

Since starting this project I've been increasingly interested in reading CNN's Belief Blog. Occasionally one of its articles bubbles to the top and piques my interest. Due to the sympathies between it and the Divine Comedy, I see it fitting to share with you this new article which questions the classical interpretation of Hell and its tortured occupants.

In My Take: Is Judas in Heaven or Hell? God Only Knows, writer Craig Gross questions the popular notion that Judas, the Great Betrayer of Christ who sold out his beloved teacher for a handful of silver, would actually have been sentenced to an eternity in the Pit for his heinous crime. Gross points out that Judas, up until just before the end, was perhaps the most faithful and trustworthy of the Apostles. When he realized the enormity of his mistake, Judas was overcome with so much grief and regret that he hung himself.

If you've been reading ahead to Inf. Canto XXXIV, Dante places Judas not just in Hell, but in the Ninth Circle being devoured by none other than Lucifer himself! Though the Divine Comedy was never meant to be on par with Christian doctrine, Dante's own creative liberties clearly reflect the popular infatuation with appropriate punishment. The rest of the epic, especially the Inferno and Paradiso, depicts the various sins of mankind and punishments doled out justly according to the severity of the sin. Surely the greatest of sins is to defy God? After all, that's how Lucifer got his post in the Ninth! So what greater punishment could one be given for betraying the Son of God to his death?

Well for one thing, great sin alone does not earn one a ticket to Hell, as we will undoubtedly find reading Dante's work together. There are a great many sinners who reside in Purgatory with immense burdens to bear; the difference? Remorse for one's sins or lack thereof.

The denizens of Hell are there because they refuse to accept responsibility for what they have done in life, favoring to blame God or circumstance or whatever else other than themselves. All throughout the Inferno we meet souls who spend their days cursing God and lamenting their situation. Judas, on the other hand, was honest almost until the end and was remorseful afterward. There is a place - according to Dante - in Hell for those who commit suicide, but it probably follows the same rules of remorselessness that the rest of the Inferno abides by, and Judas knew and accepted Christ personally, so he wouldn't be one of the virtuous pagans from the First Circle either.

In all fairness, I have to mostly agree with Gross on this one. If anything, Judas should have been placed in Purgatory rather than Heaven to work off his admittedly great sin. There are many things that Hell is, but a place for God's vengeance is not one of them. It's way too logical for that.

Any thoughts? I know my opinion isn't the only one out there, and I'd love to hear yours.

FW: The Literary Merits of Dante's Inferno

Dante's Inferno was made into a video game in February of last year by EA. While I have yet to play the game, I hear that it's an interesting take on the actual poem with some understandably video game-y concessions thrown in. Tonight I found a fascinating old article about how the game reconciles the allegorical themes in Dante's work and presents the world of Hell to the player. In many ways Carboncino is like the game in that they both seek to recreate and reinterpret a classic work in a different and exciting medium.

You should give it a read, especially if you've played the game:

The Literary Merits of Dante's Inferno PopMatters

Where's my Canto?

I'm actually proud of myself for once. Though Canto VI is still in the works, I'm spending more time and effort to finish this piece the way I want it.

It's actually mostly done, but the paper that I'm working with this time is much smoother and doesn't stay as dark when blended. I'm using a final fixative spray to hold what's already there in the hopes that it will let me layer a darker layer of charcoal on top. So far, so good.

I'll write a bigger statement when the final piece gets posted. For now, here's an in-progress preview.

Resourceful Thursday

Forgive the uncreative title.

It's been a busy week at work and I haven't had the motivation to read Cantos 6 and 7, let alone illustrate them. I could try to fob it off on some whimsically artistic excuse like "alas, I am feeling uninspired as of late" or "oh, my muse has left me" but no, I'm just effing lazy sometimes.

Which is precisely why I started this project in the first place!

I may not find the time or the energy or the "muse" to churn out two new illustrations every single week, but dammit, I'm going to produce something! And yes, I do have to actually read the Cantos - I only ever read Purgatorio in its entirety and that was like 7 years ago. Fortunately, I've got enough of the fortitude to get through the heavy language so you don't have to!

But if you're keen on playing along, I have some resources for you:

First, we have www.everypoet.com, which I've been linking to here and again for the text of the Divine Comedy. They use the H.W. Longfellow version, which is probably more widespread but is tough to follow if you're used to modern English. I've only been using Everypoet since the beginning of this project, and it doesn't seem to have been maintained much in the last few years, but that doesn't necessarily make it a poor resource. Plus, it has a nifty haiku generator.

Another more comprehensive web resource is maintained by the Electronic Literature Foundation. They've built a searchable database for several major works including our favorite Dante original. You can search by Canto in not only the Longfellow translation, but that of H.F. Cary and Allen Mandelbaum. Plus, you can choose to accompany your text with artworks by the likes of Dali, Dore, and Botticelli. The only real downside, alas, is that the searchable database's code doesn't give you a linkable URL - not easily anyhow - which makes it a tough sell if I want to present a specific Canto's translation without taking up tons of space with copypaste.

Beyond those two sites and the occasional Wikipedia article, that's all I've got. I'm also doing most of my physical reading from this book.

If anyone out there has a tidbit of insight, I'm all ears.

Oh. Canto VI is about fat people.

Weekend Update

Howdy y'all,

I have the illustrations done for Cantos 4 and 5 and they'll be going up sometime this weekend. I still have to write up the posts and I can't take photos of the work until I get some better light tomorrow, but they will both be uploaded by the end of the weekend. Maybe if I can make some time I'll start working on the static pages. We'll see about it because I'm notoriously lazy.

Tonight I go bowling. It should be fun.

Coming up:

I just finished work for Canto 4. Thought I'd mix it up a bit with white charcoal on black paper. I'm a little underwhelmed, honestly - the white stuff just doesn't spread like regular charcoal, although it does make for some good contrast.

In other news, Canto 5 should be fun - I get to illustrate how all those heathen souls get sorted and delivered to the various realms of Hell (with a whirlwind!). We're also going to have some demons - I'm thinking of making demons to be incredibly massive; something that would really put anyone who beheld it in total awe. Inf. #5 will probably necessitate some bigger paper.

Speaking of paper, I just got some new pads at Aaron Brothers. I've been using heavy Blick watercolor paper for the last 3 since it's got a good weight to it, but the texture isn't really what I like so I'm switching to 90lb drawing paper to see if that will work better with the style I'm shooting for. Maybe if there's any interest I can do some materials comparisons later on in the project. There's just so much to do and it's all so exciting!

Oh right, I have work in the morning.

*sigh*

'night

Heaven: Are All Welcome?

A recent article caught my attention about a new book being published which has some of the religious community riled up. Pastor Rob Bell's new book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived takes a universalist view of the afterlife, that God's love is absolute and everybody virtuous (non-Christians included,) are entitled to divine salvation. Naturally this goes against the doctrines of many Christian churches which hold that Hell is not only very real, but that anybody who has not accepted Christ is doomed to eternal damnation.

The relevance, which will be apparent starting in the fourth Canto of Inferno, is that this is how Dante's world is also established - with few exceptions, those virtuous pagan poets whom existed before the time of Christ are forever doomed to languish in the First Circle of Hell, regardless of their merits or legacy. While it might seem rather harsh to the rest of us, Dante is laying bare the framework for the multitude of metaphysical rules and logics that will go on to influence much of our modern civilization, politics, and philosophical thinking.

Regardless of your leanings, the article was an interesting read. Check it out for yourself and make up your own mind.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/01/what-is-a-heretic-exactly-in-the-evangelical-church/

Project: Dante's Carboncino

Lucifer, 2010

Dante's Carboncino is an extensive charcoal illustration project which is based on the Divine Comedy, an epic three-part tale by 13th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Inspiration for these illustrations also comes from engravings by 19th century French artist Gustave Doré.

Divided into 100 Cantos, the Divine Comedy chronicles Dante's guided tour through the three realms of eternity, first the Inferno, then Purgatorio, and finally the heavenly Paradiso. It is an allegorical epic of the soul's journey to God and was one of the first major works that sparked the Italian Renaissance.

Throughout the course of this project I will create 100 original illustrations in charcoal - one for each Canto. At an average of two illustrations per week, this endeavor would take slightly under one year to complete. However, due to the likelihood of breaks or work slowdowns, the project will more realistically take between 1 and 2 years to see to completion.

Dante's Carboncino will begin at 12:01am PST on Saturday, February 26th with Inferno: Canto I

Dante, Doré, and the Divine Carboncino

I'm sitting awkwardly in my small home studio which is floored in light yellow carpeting - not at all conducive to working in charcoal, let alone any other dry or wet medium. Tomorrow is Tuesday and, after an uneventful four-day weekend in honor of deceased presidents, it is also a work day. There is laundry to put away, there are dishes to clean, a paltry 'lawn' to be mowed. Christmas decorations still adorn the mantle in late February. When did I last clean the gutters? No idea.

Why, God, why am I starting such a massive project when there is so much else to be done?

Tough-yet-irrelevant questions aside, I’ve always had a soft spot for The Italian Poet’s epic ever since I read Purgatorio for a class in college. Though I’m not particularly a spiritual or literary giant by any means, I find the organizational structure which Dante invokes to describe the various levels of eternity quite fascinating. With 100 Cantos spread about the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, there should be enough literal (and allegorical) imagery to keep me occupied for quite some time. Now for a starting point…

Ever since the late 1800s one hasn’t been able to talk about the Divine Comedy without conjuring images of Gustave Doré’s famous engravings. Indeed, most illustrated copies of Dante’s Divine Comedy that you can buy seem to come bearing gifts of black and white etchings exclusively by the French artist. Doré just so happens to be another dead person whom I admire for his talent and creative genius, which just makes me SO happy that both he and Dante were able to collaborate (albeit 600 years apart) on this amazing project.

So that brings us to “Carboncino”, the Italian word for “Charcoal”. I love working in charcoal. I know lots of people hate it, but I love the stuff. It’s messy, dark, it gets ALL over the place. It’s a versatile medium which, most importantly, can be used quickly. If I’m going to be illustrating 100 Cantos, I need something that I can produce works with on a bi-weekly basis. Even so, at 2 works per week, it would take me a whole year to illustrate the entire Divine Comedy! Realistically, however, the project will take longer as I plan to take some breaks here and there, and some weeks may only see one Canto finished. I’m not worried about the length – It will be good to have something enjoyable to work on. In between, I’ll be improving my writing skills, reading some classic literature, learning more about working in a medium that I love, and at the end of it all I’ll have a great portfolio piece!

Now I'm off to sketch the stars.