Zeitgeist: Volume I

Zeitgeist

The spirit of the time; the general intellectual
and moral state or temper characteristic of any period of time.

After beginning my quest into creative arts back in February, I would like to introduce to you some of the drawings from my book that I made titled Zeitgeist which I was in spirit at the time to draw using crayons and expressing my feelings & ideas. Below are a couple of drawings with the meaning and commentary beneath them. I hope you enjoy my artwork!
- Jon-o

1) The Perplexity of Creation

The Perplexity of Creation is the beginning of this epic project that I set out to do in my Zeitgeist collection. Basically the concept of this drawing was from the idea that I love robots and I love oranges. The thought came into my mind that robots are machines that really do not understand the concept of reality and the beauty of creation, which is why he looks so perplexed when he is holding an orange simply because they cannot taste it. The back story I had was this alien robot came to earth to scout out the area when what amazed him the most was the orange, but knows that his creators back home will enjoy it. Just like in reality, it makes us think that there is so much majesty in the world and if we compare ourselves to machines or become, we soon will lose the sense of love and happiness. This robot drawing was in an art show that I participated in called, The Fearless Art Show. It was all ran by Trader Joe’s employees, and this was one of my six pieces featured in it. Notice a special friend in the right bottom corner?

2) On a Distant Planet

On a Distant Planet the second drawing that I did and it represents, you guessed it, a distant planet that takes place in the distant future where man has created a new space colony. In this picture, I am showing a creature which to me is a mixture of a polar bear mixed with tropical features to make it seem like a friendly alien creature. The machine in the background represents industry and the destruction of the planet. One of the back stories I came up for this drawing was that humans destroyed earth and they have moved on to another one, and this process has been now repeating itself to the point where once again the skies are polluted and the environment is destroyed. Represented by the colony in the background, the smoke coming from the machine, and the large cutting saw, they are all signs of destruction and loss of hope. If we cannot take care of our own planet, what makes us think that we can take care of a distant one?

3) Xanthia's Landing

Xanthia’s landing is some concept art from my book that I wrote last year titled, Sunset into the Eastern Shore. It is where an alien robot comes from the future to tell Jonathan and Phoebe that the world is about to be destroyed by an evil scientist with the launch of a civilian tourist space flight across the nation. This picture is one of my favorites and was really glad I was able to make it to what I had in my book. This piece was featured in an art show back in July and I gave it to my friend Naomi as thanks for her inspiration because from her creative talents, it is one of the reasons I started to draw and get into creative writing. Below, is an excerpt from my book to give you another illustration that this mysterious character Xanthia is.

Blinded by the white light, it was hard to make out what the person looked like. Climbing his way out of the hole, his figure was revealed and Phoebe shrieked at the loudest that Jonathan has ever heard someone, “Oh my dear, Jonathan, is this real?”
Jonathan was shivering because the man from the metallic sphere looked like something from a science fiction movie. He had a glowing jumpsuit that was to exact replica like the ones worn in the movie Tron, and on his head was an deep sea diving helmet that had a big X on the center of it.

4) Professor Menorov's Revelation

Professor Menorov’s Revelation, another concept art from my book which is at the last few chapters of Sunset into the Eastern Shore. This drawing too, was featured in an art show back in June. In this part, Jonathan falls into a dream where he has a vision where Menorov describes his toxic gas that is responsible for thousands of deaths across America. In this picture I decided to add in a few fun things like a little Wii remote on the table and a knife, which is something I really have trouble drawing, so I threw it in there too. On the actual copy, the gas looks like it would be glow in the dark since it is a mixture of greens and yellows. Below, is another excerpt from my book:

Looking over to his left was one of the tents glowed a green color from the inside. Out of his own concern, he went and entered the tent only to see one of the people looking into a clear box that had green smoke emanating from it.
Jonathan said to the man in the lab coat, “Sir, did you hear the explosion? Is everyone OK?”
The man looking at Jonathan looked back at the green smoke inside the box and said, “Isn’t it amazing? This small amount of this chemical can kill up to a million people and just to think that they accidentally mixed it with the space flight last week in their fuel. Sad to think if this box would ever leak, the damage on this camp would be catastrophic, and with the president coming tomorrow, I will be extra careful.”

5) These Arms Are Snakes

These Arms are Snakes is a pretty simple drawing and has a very simple description, I got the idea from a Math-core band called These Arms are Snakes. One day I was thinking to myself and thought… What if I had arms that were snakes? So I made a visual representation of what someone would look like if they had snakes for arms. Still following me? And if anybody had a house with snakes as their arms, they would have a very cool fireplace that looked like a skull and a house with only two windows painted purple and light blue.

Check out their Myspace to hear there music at...

www.myspace.com/thesearmsaresnakes

I hope you enjoyed my drawings and check back next time in the near future for Volume II!