SMOKE SESSION

Hands are notoriously hard to draw, as I found creating this study. But I like the sort of warped look that my lack of skill lends to each position. This dynamically flat, shadowed illustrative style reminds me of the animation style of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons of my youth, like Scooby Doo, and Josie and the Pussycats — which of course led me to try to do a little subtle animation on this image that was really just meant to be a simple hand study. I’m a sucker for narration though. Like, what’s the story here?

In this video, the story is about a woman, smoking in a bar, engaged in a dissociated confabulation with her altered self. “And I can’t find my mind, I can’t find my mind/Must’ve lost it ouchea looking for all these dollar signs.” I love the abstract soft pink/purple gouache painted background, the hard graphic rectangles backing each single-handed version of self, and the undulating puffs of watercolor smoke. It’s a blend of feminine and masculine that feels really on brand for me. Here’s both the simple original animation and the 30-second “story” I created with the help of music from lojii & Swarvy.