Do The Creep

Is it weird that I have an entire folder on my laptop called "Manson Photos?" And by Manson, I mean the deranged serial killer version.

Sorry, bro

Granted, those pictures are research, experimentation and inspiration for an assignment. But still: you say "important person," I say "Charles Manson?" But that's the thing--inspiration can come from literally anything, whether it's rainbows and unicorns, or serial killers, or...dust or something.

My personal inspiration for this first piece (a portrait of an important figure crafted out of other pictures and textures) really came from the word "important" itself. We often think of "important" with the connotation of "good," but it's not necessarily the only interpretation. And who can deny that Charles Manson was an extremely important figure? He was certainly a directly important figure in the lives of both his victims and his followers, he was important in media and the popular imagination, and he is the center of an important incident in American history.

...hi there

And SO we have Portrait #1. I went for an extremely narrow frame of the face, but still included some of Manson's most recognizable traits--the swastika on his forehead, the Helter Skelter reference and those crazy, crazy eyes. The entire thing is composed of layers and layers (and layers) of pictures I took of random textures, as well as overlapping colors and exposures. I constructed the "Helter Skelter" image like a ransom note from different signs around campus and used it as a kind of foundation to ground the rest of the piece.

As an Adobe newbie, this finished portrait is the result of much experimentation, and I hope that it conveys the ambiguity, confusion and uncertainty that I associate with Manson and his story.

BUT the murderous fun doesn't end there! Part 2 of the assignment had us create a companion piece out of text. And what word better sums up the influence and importance of Charles Manson than "infamy?"

A more traditional portrait in composition, but this one still maintains the layers and visual impact of the first. Text is such a fascinating medium and I absolutely loved playing around with all the tools Illustrator has to offer! On the docket for next semester: a typography class! More text adventures to follow...

So IS it too weird to have a "Manson Photos" folder? Maybe...but it inspired some pretty rad art-ing, and I'd say that's worth a pretty large quantity of weird (and sometimes even requires it). A more apt question is maybe "Did I feel completely sketch carrying two full-size portraits of Charles Manson on a public bus?" (to which the answer is a hearty YES). Or "So NOW what do I do with my serial killer art?" Luckily, I have a pretty fantastic, pretty serial-killer-obsessed sister who says she can find some space on her walls for a little bit of creepy inspiration.