Bey Fierce

When it came time for me to cast the Post Modern Muse version of Erato, the Ancient Greek Muse of love poetry, there was really only one option. The sublime Beyonce. A lot of pop divas sing about love, but when Bey sings about love she reeeeeally means it. The type of thing where when she hits a heartfelt high note, you hold your hand up to the sky and yell "preach!" Her songbook is full of all kinds of expressions of love: sweet ballads about meeting your soul mate (Jay-Z, an unexpected prince charming), fast-paced dance tracks about gettin yo man with that Freakum Dress, slow baby-making songs...and a healthy dose of women-scorned anthems that tell no-good men to pick up their box on the left and hit the road. Listening to Beyonce reminds me that love exists, it feels amazing when it's real, but if you do me wrong then the cab is waiting for you outside.

On top of all of that, Beyonce is seriously one of THE most incredible live performers that I've ever seen. Like better-than-the-recording type of incredible. It is unreal. Here she is performing "End of Time" live in 3 different locations at once...that's right, she also teleports. Fierce.

 

A Note About the Fallen Post Modern Muse: Let me get on my soapbox for a moment. One of the main reasons that I love Beyonce so much is that she represents positivity. When she sings about love, it's promoting healthy relationships full of respect, trust, honesty. And then there's Rihanna. I was super excited to include Rihanna as a Post Modern Muse...according to my iTunes I apparently listen to her music more than anyone except Lady Gaga. I was going to draw her with red hair, maybe even give her an umbrella. BUT THEN she might be dating Chris Brown again? The man who brutally beat her just 3 years ago?! Even though the idea of dating him again and knowingly putting your life in danger is absolutely self-destructive/idiotic (if it's true)...that's her business. What put me over the edge was when she and Brown collaborated on not one but TWO songs. Do what you want with your love life, make your poor decisions...but don't go flaunting it to impressionable young girls who will now hear these songs (especially the raunchy "Birthday Cake") and think that it's ok to go back with a man who beat you. Or not even go back in the dating sense, just to work with or associate with him at all. Such an awful message. So disappointing. Hopefully she'll grow out of this. And that's why she is no longer one of my Post Modern Muses. The role of Euterpe, Muse of music, is now being recast. Alright, tirade over.

Gestures Yo!

Pausing Post Modern Muses for this post...but there are more coming. Much more. Tease. But first, a collection of gesture drawings that I did during classes taught by the uber talented Rad Sechrist and Anthony Holden.

Here is a fun Moulin Rouge-y Can-Can Dancer/Rococo Lady. She's rather flirty.

 

Come hither.

And then there was this dude that was like from Arabian Nights sort of. We pretended that he was being chased by birds. I added red to them to make them stand out in Photoshop...is that against the rules?

And lastly, a Saloon Girl that has the leg up (if ya know what I mean) when it comes to playing poker with Cowboys. Again, I messed with the opacity in Photoshop to make her stand out and for him to recede...cause she gonna win (and also because it was originally hard to read).