NOVEMBER 24

OUTPUT

November for the last 3 years has been two things: Firstly I always seem to be somewhere away from home on a nursing placement; and secondly and most importantly it’s Ausmusic Drawing Month. A friend started this challenge, they pick an Australian band for each day of the month who are mostly small time bands. They share this list with us and we all (try to) start and finish a piece each day, raising awareness for the bands and raising money for the music industry charity: Support Act.

I pick a different theme to stick to each year. Last year I redid their band name into a metal logo, the year before I illustrated each band as a retro toy advertisement. This year I did each piece traditionally in my own abstract style.

I’m happier with some more than others. I’m glad I committed to doing all the art analog and in a style that’s fun for me, it’s something I’ve developed myself through trial and error over the years. I love that it doesn’t really on being precise, overly detailed or symmetrical which I feel like a lot of my other work does. It’s strength is in the chaos, contrast and imbalance.

INPUT

The element most impacting my creativity this month is being out of my comfort zone for a sustained amount of time. I learnt about the anterior mid-cingulate cortex which basically is a part of out brain involved in functions such as pain processing, cognitive control, emotion regulation, and decision-making, particularly in tasks requiring effort or conflict resolution. The mid-ACC integrates information about physical and social threats and is crucial for adaptive responses to challenging situations. It’s also something we can exercise and strengthen, I feel like this is something that I’ve always known is true and have worked towards, “ Easy choices hard life. Hard choices easy life”.

The three top movies I watched this month include:

The Moogai is an Australian horror with Jon Bell directing, a Bundjalung/Wiradjuri man, focused on the trauma of the stolen generation and the very apparent systemic racism Indigenous people still face today. It was harrowing. The worst parts were from lived experience with our institutions like schools, police, and hospitals. But the supernatural element and monster design was also done really well. Get out and see it.

Perfect Days is a must watch if you’re sick of all movies having an overly ambitious protagonist who always wants more from their life, and is always striving towards some unattainable future. Our protagonist Hirayama, a toilet cleaner in Tokyo, finds beauty and contentment in each moment. The movie goes over his daily routine in great detail but instead of this being bleak and crushing like it would in similar movies, it’s simplicity is like meditation.

Return of the Living Dead is from 1985 and surprisingly holds up really well. It’s so much fun and should be seen as a comedy rather than a horror. It has a really decent script with hilarious dialogue and doesn’t only rely on gore and dumb jokes. I think I’ll have to watch the rest of the series.

I listened to so much good new Australian music this month, it’s hard to pick what I enjoyed most but here’s three music videos that I really enjoyed. See the first image for some more recommendations

  1. Locket by The Lonesomes