Category: Musings

I don’t like talking about politics and religion, but I’ve noticed that Western art and Western culture are severely lacking in schools nowadays. If it weren’t for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I don’t think most kids would even know about the Greek Gods and Goddesses.

However, I don’t bitch. If I see a problem, I either do something about it (if it’s important) or ignore it (if it’s not important).

In this case, I’ll do something about it.

I started painting Greek Goddesses awhile back. Not the major ones, but more the lesser ones that nobody’s heard of. Like Brizo, the Ancient Greek Goddess of Sailors and Fishermen.

I’ll even give a background story about the Goddess. For instance, women on the island of Delos left offerings to a creature they called Brizo for good luck, so their husbands, sons, and other family members came home safely.

This creature morphed into a lesser Goddess. Brizo became the Goddess of Sailors and Fishermen for the Ancient Greeks.

More recently

I’ve talked about the importance of painting the same painting twice. For Selene, I’ll paint her a bunch of times since I really like the poses I’m getting with Allie. She’ll be posing for me later on today, but here’s the second one already.

Selene is the Moon Goddess. She’s the daughter of Titans, the Gods before the Gods.

Selene’s had flings with both Zeus and Pan, but her most famous fling is actually with a mortal. One day, she gazed down on Earth and saw a young shepherd that she fell in lust with named Endymion. She ended up begging Zeus to extend his life and she bore him at least 50 daughters, all of whom grew into beautiful women.

Different accounts differ on some of her other children. Some say that the infamous Narcissus was her son. I leave it up to the viewer to believe which accounts they want to believe.

Fun

I take artistic mindset very seriously. If you’re not having fun with your art, you’re going to quit. You could tell I’m having a blast. You can see it in my paintings.

Find something that you’re passionate about and paint it. I’m quite passionate about Greek mythology and high fantasy. I mix them both into my pinup art.

I aim for fun over high art. My music is high art. My painting? Fun. It’s pretty obvious. I don’t claim to do high art in my paintings. Rather, I’m a pop artist.

I’d love to be famous though. Actually have an influence over culture. And one thing I’d do? I’d make the Greek Gods and Goddesses cool again!

The Olympians and Hades

The Greek Gods overthrew the Titans, who overthrew the previous Titans. Long story. But at the very least, Zeus is the King of the Gods.

He is married to Hera, his sister, of whom he cheats every chance he gets. Zeus is the God of the Sky and Thunder. You’ll often see him throwing a lightning bolt.

Poseidon is God of the Seas and the brother of Zeus. He’s also the God of Storms, Earthquakes, and Horses. What do horses have to do with anything? Who knows? But you’ll sometimes see Poseidon riding a chariot pulled by a hippocampus.

Hades does not live on top of Mount Olympus, although I still have to mention him as he’s one of the most powerful of Gods. He is the oldest of the three brothers (Zeus and Poseidon) and together, they overthrew their father, the Titan Cronus.

Hades lives in the Underworld, often also called Hades. Hades got the Underworld, Zeus got the Skies, and Poseidon got the Seas when they overthrew the Titans.

Let’s revisit Hera. She’s the most powerful Goddess and the Queen of Olympus. She’s the Goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth.

Yes, the Ancient Greeks believed that the Gods and Goddesses lived on top of Mount Olympus. (And if you’re wondering, Mt. Olympus wasn’t successfully scaled until 1913).

Demeter is the Goddess of the Harvest and Agriculture as well as fertility and the sacred law.

The city of Athens is named after Athena. She’s the Goddess of War and Wisdom.

Apollo is supposed to be the best looking of the Gods. He also has the most titles. He’s the God of everything from Sun, Light, Oracles to Music and Knowledge.

Aphrodite is someone I paint a lot. Why? Well she’s the Goddess of Beauty. She also gets Love and Sexuality and is the most beautiful of all the Goddesses. So of course the other Goddesses are envious of her and they made her marry the ugliest of the Gods.

Artemis is the Goddess of the Hunt, Wilderness, and Wild Animals.

Ares is the God of War. “But I thought you just said Athena is the Goddess of War.” Yeah, Greek mythology is inconsistent. You’ll see a lot of overlap. You’ll also see that different areas favored different Gods and Goddesses. There’s a lot of inconsistencies. Just bear with me.

Hephaestus is the ugliest of the Gods and is married to Aphrodite. He’s the God of Blacksmiths and pretty much everything related to tools and crafts. He’s even the God of Volcanoes.

Hermes is known as the Messenger of the Gods and deals with everything from Trade to Thievery.

Hestia is the Goddess of the Hearth, and is a virgin Goddess.

And last, we have Dionysus, the God of Wine.

Under the Gods, we have all kinds of various creatures. The ones I’m most intrigued by are the Nymphs.

And last we have the Fates, which whatever they decide is what happens, whether the Gods like it or not.

This is a very brief summary of the Greek Gods and Goddesses. I left out all the Minor Gods and Goddesses, the Titans, the Demi-Gods, and human heroes and legends. I also left out the monsters.

Artists are like Lesser Gods, creating worlds that peoples will remember hundreds of years after the artist’s death. How many little girls have spent years in the worlds of Tchaikovsky? In the Nutcracker or Swan Lake?

How many smart high school kids got stoned and talked about visiting Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights? Or Boris Vallejo’s fantasy worlds? Or my favorite 20th century artist – Frank Frazetta. He created so many beautiful but dangerous worlds in his lifetime.

Heck, look at Luis Ricardo Folero’s works. I borrowed a lot from him.

Long after the artist dies, his legacy survives. Some for hundreds of years. The greatest ones longer. Imagine how long we’ll still study Leonardo and Michelangelo.

This was meant to inspire you, not just to create, but to create worlds. Memorable worlds.

Muses

How many muses will be remembered hundreds of years after your death? And do you ever wonder if all the stories of the Ancient Greeks were modeled off of real people?

Lizzie Siddal was the muse for several of the original Pre-Raphaelites. I even wrote an orchestrated piece inspired by her death.

Will I ever get famous? And will they remember Allie or Roxy? Or both?

Keep all this in mind when you create. Are you painting for fun? Or, are you painting for a legacy?

When was the last time you expressed gratitude towards another person?

I’m grateful I have a supportive wife, who’s also my number one fan and number one critic. I’m grateful I have a son that’s in his mid-20s and is completely independent.

I also think, where would I be today if Allie never approached me about replacing my former model? Then after Allie did, Roxy did. So, I was in a rut, and suddenly, I have two beautiful young ladies modeling and inspiring me to paint.

And musically, I’m by no means doing this alone. Last month, we finally released Opium Tales Volume I. It took forever. Everything went wrong. I lost musicians. Gained musicians. Musicians got sick. I had a musician get stabbed and miss a recording session. Yes, he’s fine now, but was quite a scare.

My voice is not good. I can sing on time and on key. However, my tonal qualities are terrible.

Thus, I only sing harmony vocals. Instead, you get to hear two lovely ladies sing on the three songs that have vocals. Two are instrumental.

We practically have an army of musicians. You’re hearing three different bass guitar players, tons of string players, me playing all the electric and acoustic guitars, piano, and synthesizers.

We also have a small army of sound engineers. Randy Burk is the lead one. He also plays all the drums and percussion.

You are not alone

Now, this is probably way more than you care about. But that’s not the point.

You have friends with talent. You may even have some talented family members. Have you ever considered working with them?

This may surprise you. I struggle with language. I’m not that good of a reader. I like reading Harry Potter books because that’s about the level I’m at. Yes, seriously.

My math skills are off the charts. But reading? I’m not that good.

All these smart friends of mine tell me “Roman, you need to read such and such book. It’s a classic!”

And I pick it up and struggle through the first ten pages.

I couldn’t finish Les Miserables. I got about twenty pages in before giving up. Yes, there are kids who can read better than I can.

So those lyrics I wrote? Took me forever.

Don’t get me wrong. I do think they’re good. They just took forever for me to write them.

Ask for help

Now, you know what I’m really good at? People. Yes, people.

I’m a people person. Always have been and always will be.

One of the few extroverts left. I strongly think too much phone usage has killed people’s social skills. You see it everywhere. You ride the train and everyone’s on their phone. I remember back in the days when people had these things called “conversations with strangers.” A thing of the past. Unless the stranger is over 60.

Anyways, next release, I won’t be writing any of the words. The vocal lines, yes. But the actual lyrics?

I asked friends for help. And they’ve responded.

People like to help. But, most people are afraid to ask.

The thing is, don’t be one of those assholes who asks for help, then doesn’t appreciate it. You do that and nobody will want to help you.

Appreciation

So, simply show some appreciation. It’s not that hard.

I remember a week ago, I held two doors open for some bitch on the phone and she didn’t even look up. Didn’t acknowledge I was standing there, holding the doors open for her lazy ass. She just kept her eyes glued to the phone. No thanks. No smile. No nod. No nothing.

Now, that’s someone I won’t be inviting over to my next BBQ or cocktail party.

I always show appreciation for those who have helped me. Always. No matter how small it may seem to them.

And yes, I’ve done pretty well in life. But it wasn’t at all without help.

In my late 20s, I didn’t know what a 401k or an IRA or a stock purchase plan was. I just started working at a corporation after doing manual labor, waiting tables, and delivering pizza for years. Suddenly, I realized I needed to make more money because my future wife and I had a surprise baby. As you know, babies cost money.

So, I had to change my path. I went the corporate route. And I didn’t know what to do with my salary.

You may laugh. But seriously, I didn’t know.

Some older guy with a house told me all about 401k’s, IRAs, stock purchase plans, and saving a downpayment for a house. I literally didn’t know any of that.

And I don’t even remember his name. It was so long ago.

Thanks

So give thanks when appropriate. Of course I thanked the guy and offered to buy him dinner. He laughed and said it’s nothing. But you know what? It’s not nothing. My wife and I have now been to Europe three times, the Caribbean three times, and South America. We’re going to do a Panama Canal cruise in January.

It’s not nothing. It literally changed my life.

And if Allie never approached me about replacing my former model, I would never be an artist today. I’d still do my music. But I wouldn’t paint.

I used to do photography and dabble in drawing. That’s it. My former model, bless her heart, had a nervous breakdown and got fat, then of course stopped modeling. I wish her best. I’m really hoping her new boyfriend and her get married and do well. It’s going to be a struggle though.

So thank you Allie. Thank you Roxy. Thank you wife. Thank you Randy. And all the string players, other session musicians, woodwind players, brass players, sound engineers, and my future lyricists. Thank you Sarah and Liel for your lovely vocals.

Life really is a team sport. We need each other.

And thank you reader for reading all this. It’s therapeutic to get it off my chest.

Now it’s your turn. Think of someone in your life that has helped you. And tell them what they did for you and how much you appreciate it.

I’m taking my wife in a few weeks to see Billy Idol in Vegas. He’s her second favorite singer after Frank Sinatra. Of course, Sinatra died a long time ago so we never got to see him.

But no way we’re going to miss Billy Idol. My wife has been a fan of his forever.

I’m more into Metal and Classical music. Classical music is not going anywhere. For Metal, we finally saw Iron Maiden last month. Yeah, I missed them in their heyday. But better late than never, right?

Who are you your favorite bands? And more importantly, have you seen them perform live?

I’ll go to my grave regretting never seeing Prince or Dio. I got the opportunities to see them both (not together of course) multiple times and didn’t go for whatever stupid reason. Now, I can’t. They’ve both passed on.

I got a chance to see Dio in a small club, a club one of my former bands actually played at. It was cheap too. I really had no excuse whatsoever. I just didn’t go.

Prince – even worse. He played a small club four nights in a row and the show we should have gone to, Carlos Santana jumped on stage and jammed with the band for a few songs. Imagine seeing two Guitar Gods on one stage.

Prince died later on that year.

So if you get a chance to see your favorites, definitely go. It’s something you must do while they’re still around.

And it’s not just death. Bands break up all the time.

I did get to see Pink Floyd in 1994 and Judas Priest twice, once with each singer. Yeah, a lot of Judas Priest fans don’t acknowledge the Ripper years but I thought Ripper was fantastic. Of course, nobody could ever replace Rob Halford. I’m just giving credit where it’s due.

Judas Priest is my all-time favorite band. I do regret not seeing them in the 80s. But I was broke back then.

Work with live models

If you’re an artist, and you’re serious about it, then you absolutely need to work with live models. Some things, you just can’t pick up without them.

In this painting in progress, you can already see some personality seep through. Jin is on the left and Allie is on the right.

It’s funny because Jin’s actually an introvert. Allie’s more an extrovert. Both fascinating girls. Totally different personalities though.

Like I said, personality will seep through into your paintings. That makes the paintings that much better. We are all human after all. And when we paint humans, they want to see humans.

My favorite paintings with people all involve models that you’re wondering what’s going on in their heads. Like Ophelia with Lizzie Siddal. I even wrote a neo-Classical tune called Lizzie’s Opium Waltz after Lizzie Siddal. Inspired by a painting.

She died on opium at the young age of 32.

Don’t worry. Jin and Allie are both doing quite well.

Love

Love is underrated. It seems like so many people nowadays are scared of it. But without love, can you really truly be an artist?

OK, even worse. I think you should get your heart broken. Let’s be real. So many great songs were written after the songwriter got his or her heart shattered. Right?

So yeah, don’t be afraid to love and lose. You only get one life. And your biggest loss may turn into your best pieces of art.

The more I write, the more articles I will have just like these. They’re musings – things that inspire me. I’m quite sure they’d be useful to you as well, because it’s a good thing to share thoughts. You and I are human after all. And we’re both artists. It’s always a good thing to know how other artists think.

It’s OK to become obsessed with a color

Yellow. More specifically, yellow medium gouache. I’ve done three out of the last four paintings using this color as the primary color.

I’m about to have several paintings for sale at the local bar. And three of those paintings are using yellow medium gouache.

Why? Because I took a chance doing these gouache silhouette paintings and you know what? They work. They work big time. I love this color because it makes the black really stand out. Plus, it’s kind of a vague color. What’s in the background? The sun? Fire?

I had these gouache paints laying around collecting dust and I thought to myself “why not?” Sometimes, you just have to do things like that as an artist.

Well, now I’m going to use this color until I run out of it.

You need models who are good dancers

Well, not everyone paints humans. But I do. Specifically, beautiful women for my fantasy pinup art. If you’re new to this site, I use primarily two models – Allie (the blonde) and Roxy (the brunette). They’re both very close friends of mine and both excellent dancers.

You see, a girl who can dance can also model. Even better, a girl who can dance can do pretty much anything. Dancing is grace. Dancing shows character. Dancing shows that a woman likes living life.

I don’t like devoid personalities. I’ve worked with models in the past who may have well been good looking zombies. Because that’s as much personality as they had.

I got lucky. Neither of my current models are models. Of all the models I’ve worked with in the past before I started working with Allie and Roxy, I’m only friends with one of them.

Several of them I enjoyed their company. One of them I really wish I got to know better because she had a lot of brains and was a downright fascinating person. Another one made damn good soaps and lotions and I’m still a customer of hers.

But now that I’m a painter and not a photographer, dancing adds a whole different layer for modeling.

That image above covers the first two random artistic musings. That was the specific medium yellow gouache I was talking about. Both are of Allie, from live model sketches we’ve done recently.

Running is underrated

“What? What does that have to do with art?”

Last night, I drank way too much. We killed a bottle of Japanese whiskey (quickly becoming one of my favorite drinks) and on top of that, I split a small bottle of absinthe with two other friends.

Drinking too much though is no excuse not to get out of bed. The alarm still went off at 7AM and rather than not doing anything, I got up and ran. Yeah, I should have stretched. My calves didn’t feel too good afterwards.

However, running helped get the remaining alcohol out of my system so I could paint.

Heck, I don’t even like running. I do it because I don’t want to die. I hate doing anything cardio. I love lifting weights. But cardio? Hate it.

Running is probably best of the worst for me. So that’s why I run. It’s my favorite exercise of the exercises I hate but still have to do. If that makes any sense.

After the run, I pretty much came back to life. Stretched. Then got a lot of painting done.

I don’t like wasting days. Running salvaged this one for me.

Why buy art? Why should you own art?

Well, let me ask this – why do you own any music?

Same thing.

Think of it this way. Exercise is for the body. Reading is for the brain. Art is for the soul.

You work out so you don’t die. Your body needs exercise. The more you exercise, the more you increase your chances of living a long, full life.

Reading will give you those same results. Except for your noggin. I’m sure you’ve met that smart guy or gal who’s well read. And it shows.

What about for the soul?

That’s great and all. But what about your soul? What really makes us human?

Opposable thumbs? Breastfeeding?

Or is it something even more complicated?

We made tools. We learned to control fire. We invented the wheel. And we eventually sent rockets into space and walked on the moon.

That’s great. Our greatest accomplishment as a species so far. Until of course someone walks on Mars.

On the other side, as humans, we need our Beethoven and our Tchaikovsky. But we also need our Leonardo and our Michelangelo. And more recently, I happen to like Waterhouse and Frank Frazetta.

That’s where the soul comes in.

If you really want to nurture your soul, create art. And be sure to support your local artists as well.

By the way, if you’re wondering why I use Romanian a lot, it’s because I’m learning it. My goal is to be fluent in 2021.