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LONFELLOW’S CORNER

Tapping into your brain's originality?

Lon Levin, the magazine’s editor is a working designer, illustrator, photograher and writer. He worked in the entertainment business for 25 years on hundreds of movie and TV campaigns. He has 33 illustrated & published books to his credit. His book “Treehouses” published by Globe Pequot Press in 2010 features his writing, illustration and photography

Article written by Lon Levin

How original are you?

I ask myself this question quite often. I’m constantly in search of who I really am as an artist. When I started working on the “Devolving Earth” series I had no idea what I’d come up with. I made some simple rules for myself and started drawing. The results of my work took at darker, tone than normal.

and somehow started to evolve into some core beliefs and views I have on life itself. This wasn’t planned. It was something that sprung to life on it’s own. I realized I had tapped into what I really wanted to say artistically. I also realized it was original though the influences of artists I have studied and seen clearly were there.

I started to post some of these sketches and later on the painted work. The response I got was favorable and surprising.

The interesting part to me was I could clearly see in what I had created a point of view, hence the word “devolving” popped into my head. In all I drew the theme of pollution as a physical and a mental process seem to dominate my thinking. I realized my bent on this subject is the earth and it’s key inhabitant, humans, have a tenuous relationship. The actions of most humans clearly state we don’t care much about our earth.

On the face of my work I think it is unsalable, but that is only my jaded uber commercial brain talking. The other side argues this is truly good work and it deserves recognition. The point is I am satisfied with the look and the message and it clearly is not (knowingly) derivative. It has opened me up to other possibilities as well.

My art tells me that despite all the good intentions of some the efforts seemed doomed, so why not add some black comedy to the work. Perhaps it’s my cynical, satirical way of dealing with a problem that is overwhelming at best.