Dung Life

Hey everyone, long time no post... I have been unnecessarily sick for the past two weeks, so I apologize for neglecting society a little bit lately. As a result, I managed to get a bunch of other people sick too... sooo... that's something!

In other news, this illustration is one of many editorial pieces that I'm creating for Rick Sealock's Interpretive class. I chose this article from BBC News about how dung beetles are becoming bullies in the insect world, for no real reason. Scientists can't explain it, but dung beetles have recently started to push around other non-predator insects like the millipede, and in many cases, end up killing them just for the hell of it. For this piece I tried to get across the idea of a token "Badass" who, if you were to pull up to a 7//11 and see him standing in front, you would wait in your car and try not to make eye contact. I'm not trying to stereotype or be rude in any way here, I'm just playing up the white middle-class interpretation of a "street thug" angle, for some quick understanding. While doing this piece, I really noticed how easy it is to label and judge people. I had fun here, and you can see that by all the little treats I placed in and around this piece.

Points of interest: His tattoos say "Roll'n Dirty", "Dung Life", and "Dook" in a heart. I also have a tattoo of a coil of feces with a crown, A little mouth and tongue with a number nine (for anyone who likes my ink work) and the number thirteen and a half (twelve jurers, one judge, half a chance... It's a prison thing). I also have him missing a finger on the hand carrying the head. While painting, I realized that it looked like someone sliced his finger off, so I rolled with it.