No. 247: Acquiesce

"ACQUIESCE" Noel & Liam Gallagher by Tom Wills, April 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmVgeT8g0NY

I don't know what it is
That makes me feel alive
I don't know how to wake
The things that sleep inside
I only wanna see the light
That shines behind your eyes

I hope that I can say
The things I wish I'd said
To sing my soul to sleep
And take me back to bed
You want to be alone
When we could feel alive instead

Because we need each other
We believe in one another
And I know we're going to uncover
What's sleepin' in our soul
Because we need each other
We believe in one another
And I know we're going to uncover
What's sleepin' in our soul
What's sleepin' in our soul

There are many things
That I would like to know
And there are many places
That I wish to go
But everything's dependin'
On the way the wind may blow

I don't know what it is
That makes me feel alive
I don't know how to wake
The things that sleep inside
I only wanna see the light
That shines behind your eyes

Because we need each other
We believe in one another
And I know we're going to uncover
What's sleepin' in our soul
'Cause we need each other
We believe in one another
And I know we're going to uncover
What's sleepin' in our soul
What's sleepin' in our soul
What's sleepin' in our soul
What's sleepin' in our soul

 

'Cause we believe
'Cause we believe
Yeah, we believe
'Cause we believe
'Cause we believe
'Cause we believe
Because we need
Because we need

Songwriter
GALLAGHER, NOEL

Published by
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

No. 244: "Love Janis"

JANIS JOPLIN By Tom Wills, April 2014

Janis Joplin is difficult to categorize.
She and her three bands made rock, folk, soul and blues music during their brief time between 1967 and 1970. 

It was after some listening  that I chose to file her records with the blues singers.
The voice is the reason.

It's not a good voice, nor is it a pleasant one. It's a hurting sound, raw with emotion and meaning.
It is a pained voice.
For Janis' music it is the only, perfect voice.
And, in this drawing, I think she looks so sad.
And a little beautiful.

I never really spent much time playing those records, until this spring. I liked "Piece of My Heart," "Cry Baby" and "Try."  She made "Me and Bobby McGee" her own but it's become tiresome for me to hear.
But then I had an occasion to draw Janis, and to pull out those records.
It was just a remark someone had made to me, out of the blue: "Love Janis."


As is my practice, I had to play her music to get into my work.
Turns out that I did enjoy my three Joplin vinyls: "Cheap Thrills" (with Big Brother and the Holding Company), "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama" (Kozmic Blues Band) and the unfinished "Pearl" (Full Tilt Boogie Band).

Each record is a progression toward where she wanted to be, musically. The musicianship was always good and got better, and the songs became more soulful. Freed from the radio hits formula, the music stretched, turned up and spread out.
But at the core it is still the blues.

 

And I listened as I drew her, thinking about how she's been dead for 43 years.
Just 27.
She was sad, then.
Maybe more than a little beautiful.

Those records are filed away again.
Janis rests between John Lee Hooker and Albert King.
They welcome her company, as she is home among them.

About this drawing:
There is an insane amount of lead on this sheet of poster board.
To keep it from smearing and going all gray during the two-week process, there also is a volatile amount of Krylon workable fixatif applied. Draw, spray, dry, draw.  Inhale, repeat.
This drawing, with the following eyes, is not for sale.
It too has found a home.

Emil Leo Perunko Jr.,  Aug. 31, 1945 -  April 14, 2014

Unfinished Business

I take many photos as I work on drawings. These sketches in development give me reference points along the way, and provide a good visual tool for seeing what is working and what needs work.

The one constant to all of these pictures is my heavy and vintage, wooden drafting table. I inherited it from my father two years ago and, at that time, wrote about hoping to put my own etch marks into its surface.

Read about the table here: http://tomwillsproductions.blogspot.com/2012/08/deeply-grained.html

Well, now I have made my own marks, dents and scratches. If I'm lucky there will be more to come.
These are my demos, my rough mixes.
Browse this website to see the finished products.

(Click on all photos to enlarge.)