Sublime Sardax

The first time I played Ella Fitzgerald I shook my head, no that wasn’t music for me. Given that I now own about three feet of her work on compact disc my earlier response baffles me.

Something akin to that when I first discovered the art of Sardax.

No kidding.

I think I found the scenes too mild. My mind was addicted to Stanton, Eneg and Ward at their most violent. Now I realize the misery inflicted by Sardax’s mistresses is more heartless than a Ward bitch kicking a man down the stairs.

Sardax’s favorite shades of blue and lavender are my own most loved colors. Aside from that since I don’t have much of his work here at hand I’m going to have to wing this and I hope Sardax will forgive me.

In many of his illustrations what strikes me about the women’s faces is the unruffled ease with which they inflict their torments. They are enjoying themselves but their authority and cool cruelty are simply givens in their handling of men.

It is a mark of his ability that the arch of woman’s back seen from the rear captures her confidence.

While I enjoy many of Sardax’s more fantastic drawings sometimes it is the simple ones that I suspect are book illustrations that come to mind. A man having coffee (or tea?) poured on his head. Another one who (I think) is being forced to eat dill pickles (what I’m remembering looks worse than that sounds).

I can’t pick out a favorite, how I respond to his art varies with my mood. Honestly I don’t care for the ones where the men’s faces look like melted wax or are too distorted: my desire for plausibility is violated. And while there’s no denying his ability to render hopelessness in a man’s face I wish few of them looked simply devoted or even happy.

And who is that young man who shows up in so many illustrations?

No sample of his work accompanies this because I’m not sure which I’d pick.

You probably came here hoping for free pictures to download. Why not go to his site and pay for a membership? It isn’t that expensive. You should at least look at the pages in the free area where Sardax actually talks a bit about himself and his work. And on another site there’s this interview.