We've finally arrived at the conclusion of the Memory Beach series, this final episode being very straigtforwardly and consistently named "Part 3".
Having departed from his love for the sandy washes of Memory Beach, our hero partied hard with his friend the sociopathic crab who it turns out did not cast the helpless turtle from part 2 into the bonfire. Instead, the trio has decided to go surfing, T&C style even! His heartbreak mended and his old love forgotten and fading into the ether, the octopus rides the waves with his friends and rally car as the world around them explodes with possibility and beauty. Yes, everything seems to be going quite swimmingly!
But our hero wipes out! Or does he? Perhaps he's casting himself to that charming, Norma Jean lookalike mermaid riding the sea foam? And what's with that dragon hiding inside the wave? Is the crab reenacting that famous scene from "Say Anything"? Why does the golden bass have such a tiny umbrella; is he fancy?
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's see the first draft of part 3:
The skeleton was fairly well in place with the initial sketch of part 3. I had been wanting to use that tremendous wave graphic for a while, partly because I love Raymond Pettibon's drawings of waves.
Continuing the transformation of the octopus' ex girlfriend, this scene finds her fading, Pacman style, into the salty air. Nothing but eyes, a shadow of a nose, and mouth being wafted away by the girls seemingly walking/resting on the wave? The UFO and the whale are there too, the latter apparently conjuring Hokusai's wave to wipe out two lovebirds lazing in their yacht.
And, as we so often see in the ruthless day-to-day of oceanic ecosystems, there's a family of ducks chasing the shit out of a shark, who seems quite alarmed! Yep. Sadly, neither the ducks nor the shark made the final cut.
Speaking of final cuts, here it is!
I decided to push really hard and pack this thing out to match the intensity of feeling when new love arrives. "Bursting" is the feeling I was going for. However, there's also a bit of mystery mingled with those explosions of color. The misty, dreamlike clouds are very out of place and only barely obscure a large dragon resting inside the waves behind the mermaid, who is one part Marilyn Monroe, one part bass.
The large fan reads "Nin Ten Do" which roughly translates to "leave luck to heaven". Many thanks to my good friend Anne for helping me accurately reproduce the Japanese characters in the restricted pixel format!
An element I did not plan but will gladly accept is the gradual flooding of the picture plane that occurs throughout the series. The water level rises and rises from one image to the next. I really didn't plan that, but I love it.
Thanks for reading about the Memory Beach series! Maybe we'll see that octopus again someday...
You can purchase the Memory Beach series in my etsy shop. $15 a piece, printed on #80 card stock. You can also see some really nice quality gel transfers of the series on my flickr.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Memory Beach is also available on Benjamin Benjamin Gallery's online shop. The version they have in stock is larger than the version on my etsy and it's printed with pigmented inks on archival Somerset Velvet 100% cotton rag paper.
Having departed from his love for the sandy washes of Memory Beach, our hero partied hard with his friend the sociopathic crab who it turns out did not cast the helpless turtle from part 2 into the bonfire. Instead, the trio has decided to go surfing, T&C style even! His heartbreak mended and his old love forgotten and fading into the ether, the octopus rides the waves with his friends and rally car as the world around them explodes with possibility and beauty. Yes, everything seems to be going quite swimmingly!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's see the first draft of part 3:
 |
| No mermaids in this one yet, but that bass is pretty sweet. |
The skeleton was fairly well in place with the initial sketch of part 3. I had been wanting to use that tremendous wave graphic for a while, partly because I love Raymond Pettibon's drawings of waves.
Continuing the transformation of the octopus' ex girlfriend, this scene finds her fading, Pacman style, into the salty air. Nothing but eyes, a shadow of a nose, and mouth being wafted away by the girls seemingly walking/resting on the wave? The UFO and the whale are there too, the latter apparently conjuring Hokusai's wave to wipe out two lovebirds lazing in their yacht.
And, as we so often see in the ruthless day-to-day of oceanic ecosystems, there's a family of ducks chasing the shit out of a shark, who seems quite alarmed! Yep. Sadly, neither the ducks nor the shark made the final cut.
Speaking of final cuts, here it is!
 |
| Definitely a climax! |
The large fan reads "Nin Ten Do" which roughly translates to "leave luck to heaven". Many thanks to my good friend Anne for helping me accurately reproduce the Japanese characters in the restricted pixel format!
An element I did not plan but will gladly accept is the gradual flooding of the picture plane that occurs throughout the series. The water level rises and rises from one image to the next. I really didn't plan that, but I love it.
Thanks for reading about the Memory Beach series! Maybe we'll see that octopus again someday...
You can purchase the Memory Beach series in my etsy shop. $15 a piece, printed on #80 card stock. You can also see some really nice quality gel transfers of the series on my flickr.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Memory Beach is also available on Benjamin Benjamin Gallery's online shop. The version they have in stock is larger than the version on my etsy and it's printed with pigmented inks on archival Somerset Velvet 100% cotton rag paper.
