Beginnings of a New Art Direction - Climate Change Made Me Do It

Yes, this post needs a new title.

And yes, it seems just when I've sorted out a mode of painting that really suits me and seems to be a coherent integration of everything I wanted to do with painting, I'm going to abandon it and change again.

Wait, abandon it? Yes, I'm going to abandon it. Why? Because of the looming climate crisis that threatens the survival of human civilization. Why now? I guess I should've started this years ago, and I guess I was hoping that I could do things to help while still maintaining an art career in painting, but now I'm abandoning that hope. The situation is too urgent for half measures, for divided efforts. Making paintings that enrich people's homes, while a good thing in and of itself, just doesn't seem to be an effective way to help society mobilize to cut emissions.

This is going to be a journey. I haven't yet figured out how to best help with the climate mobilization effort, and most of the arts communities around the world haven't figured this out yet either.

I have been working through a lot of thoughts on the topic, and I'll try to post some of my conclusions here as I embark on this journey.

I'm currently working towards something that involves climate themed online comics and digital artwork.

Please check my Instagram account to see how it's progressing, otherwise, sign up for my email newsletter to stay tuned: http://marcelguldemond.com/SignUp



cheers,
Marcel

But skip that, what's this kids' book about?

I've been making a foray back into the world of comics, sort of, by working on a kids book lately. I'm working with Corel Painter 12, which is fantastic for doodling, and I'm using Trello ( trello.com ) for building the plot, which is a fantastic tool for project management, and outlining stories.

But skip that trivial stuff, what's this book about, you ask? Well, it's about climate change and kids. And them talking their daft parents into doing something about it.

It's a pretty scary subject, and although my 4 year old is still a little too young to talk about it, I can well imagine how tricky it's going to be to explain how crappy her future world will probably be. So I'm trying to write a book that will help parents engage with their kids about it. Actually, I'm really hoping that the act of reading it to their kids will motivate parents to do a bit more to solve the problem.

I should really be working on paintings so I can make some money, but this is something I've been circling around for years and I figure it's time that I just get down and do it.

As you can see in the image, it's currently at the thumbnail page, which means that it's pretty much only me who can figure out what's going on with it. Well, actually, if you could see my sketchbook you'd be able to see the plot. Then again, only I know which bits I'm going to keep out of that, so even there it doesn't make any sense yet. I'm sure I'll be posting and writing a lot more about this. Stay tuned!

cheers,
marcel