14 Valentines day 13: Art

14valentines is a project started by rageprufrock several years ago to bring attention to women's issues through fandom and Livejournal. I've always really liked the project. I thought I'd be able to participate more this year, but severely underestimated how much time moving to another country would take up.

Today's theme is Arts and Entertainment. There's plenty of meta out there about the portrayal of women in bandom, and even fandom in general, and I think others have been more articulate than I can be right now. But I will say that the sheer hatred I've seen addressed toward the wives and girlfriends of band members, and the way women in and surrounding the bands are ignored or turned into stereotypes, is sickening. It's not unique to bandom, but "she's not good enough for him" &c is that much more shocking to me when it's real people.

Anyway! I think that women are, have been, and will continue to be awesome musicians and artists, and today is a great day to celebrate that.

Here is a picture! It's on 22 by 30" Stonehenge paper, done in Prismacolor pencils and blended with their marker blender. It's part of an unfinished diptych dealing with fannishness/obsession in music, and how being at a concert can sometimes be like being part of a cult. It's heavily inspired by a Cobra Starship show I went to in November and references pictures I took there. There's some discoloration due to glare, especially in the lower right corner.

( full view is best )

( detail shots )