Surreal black & white art -- Mermaid drawings

The online art galleries contain many mermaid drawings and some paintings. Just pick and click.

SURREAL BLACK & WHITE ART -- MERMAID DRAWINGS
This original surreal black & white art is one of many mermaid drawings on display in the online art galleries. This is, however, one of the more striking and unique original mermaid drawings (in that the fish tail is replaced by an octopus). Please note: this particular work of art is no longer for sale, but if you like mermaid drawings you are invited to click through the online galleries -- there are plenty of pen & ink mermaid drawings, colored pencil sketches and paintings (also featuring mermaids) on display.

This work of art is no longer for sale.

25.5" x 22.25" x 1"
64.77 x 56.52 x 2.54 cm

Original pen-and-ink drawing

Resides in the private collection of:
Richard Oster, New York.

ARTIST NOTES:
It seemed that everywhere I looked, the advertising efforts were focused on faces -- great big face shots taking up the entire page. EVERYWHERE! I wanted to do a very surreal piece: I wanted to see if I could get your attention without using the eyes or a face. Well, I found a pose (in Playboy) of a beautiful blonde with her head thrown so far back you couldn't see her face. That got my attention initially. Then I went looking for something to put in the other half of the drawing, which started out as a mermaid... But this was to be an unusual piece and it turned out to be a photo of an octopus that caught my attention...

Symbolically speaking, think of the human half as the conscious and the octopus as the subconscious or animal/passionate part of the equation (this symbolism is discussed under other online mermaid drawings). Our reasoning rationale dances daily with the shadowy hungers of the animal that drives us, a dance that the conscious doesn't like to acknowledge: shadow dance.

The original Surrealists tried to drag their subconscious entire into the waking world--staying up for days on end without sleep, trying hallucinogenic drugs and drink, etc. I understand what they were trying to do, but that's not the path I use now. That way eventually leads to just dreaming. Dreaming is fine, but it's not what I'm trying to do <rolfmao>. Anyway, these surreal works of art aren't "planned" out (per se), usually they just happen. That little voice inside says, "do this" and "do that" and you don't question, you just do. It demands a LOT of trust to follow that little voice because it usually doesn't make ANY sense until AFTER it's done talking <g>. Then you step back and go, "oooooh, I see." Make sense? Well, that's how mermaid drawings become very surreal black and white art. Ok? :)

The moon as a keeper of the time, that is a global interpretation of the moon. There are (of course) layers of interpretation on top the moon (so to speak <g>).

When you peel away the layers of interpretation (cultural & time), you get down to the global/human language. Symbols are a global language that is already in place. Peel the onion baby.