An update

Lately I have been thinking a lot about "fine art" and struggling a little bit. I think I am much more comfortable with concept art for film or games because I understand it a lot better. It has a clear purpose and seems much more objectively measured. What really is the main purpose of a lot of fine art? It seems to be created mostly for the rich to buy and consume, and to boost the egos of the artists.

Anyways, here is some of the stuff I have created lately. After speaking with several people from the industry, I have decided I need to focus a lot on keeping a lot of the "life" within the art while still making it readable.

And this is for "Wake"

Idea for next work.

I really love the work of Syd Mead (below). He's a prominent futurist and has created many captivating images. 

Lately, I've been thinking about the importance of my work. Like Phil said: "obviously it shows you have technical skills, but why should anybody care about this work"? He's right, why should anybody care? Well, I agree with Phil that I can grow in this area and put more thought into this question. I think it has already helped with some ideas for my next work. 

Like Mead, I'd like to try and visualize the future, but make it really personal and have it reflect examples of a future I would really like. It may not be a practical vision, as in, I may not believe the scenes would reflect the most likely outcome. I do think it's important though to show a possible outcome. I think this is one quality which a lot of Mead's works reflected. I think it's important that artists continue to create visions of the future because as long as it seems that it might be possible to achieve it, I believe people will internalize the ideas and in some way help to bring something like them about. 

Some "Wake" art and more

Here is some of the progress I've made on both of these concepts, but more much work is needed!

Also, I was thinking about what Phil said about the abstract art. I find the contrast between the more rigid, realistic-type concept art and random abstract stuff very striking. I think in a sense, the abstract stuff acts like a valve and lets out something that the rigid stuff tends to build up. It's almost as if I need to do both. The abstract and experimental stuff is there to balance out and keep me from becoming to rigid and formulaic. They are both equally important then, and both are part of my artistic self. Next to think about, how much of my artistic self should I show in my MFA show?

More work, a vision for my MFA show

I have been thinking a lot about what I enjoy about making art. A lot of it I believe has to do with experimentation and the learning and excitement that comes with it. I want to have variety in my final show, but it won't be contrived- it will just be a result of my natural experimentation and my urge to use different processes with a focus on different subject matter and styles.

One thing I've been doing lately is listening to music and letting it drive the image. These thumbnails were created quickly during the duration of various songs, and no work has been put into them after the song has ended. For one part of my final show, I would like to do a lot more of these, pick my favorites, and display the thumbnail images in some array. From these, I am thinking of taking the ones I like absolutely best and developing them further.

631 update

Here is a VERY ROUGH sketch of an idea I had for a painting, basically, babies covered in oil...

And an abstract one

Here's another piece of "Wake" concept art