popular versus appreciated

that light bulb is burning bright... above my head (in cartoon land)



i've been worrying about why most viewed, most visits & most popular didn't always match up with what I think are my better sketches... well these common traffic counters just meassure the voyeuristic side of the net... and i have already figured out that the tag NUDES in flickr generates lots of views...

I also learnt in this blog, that the nunber of comments was a good measure of what people appreciated... flickr has comments too but it also has favourites, other flickr'ítes can mark their favourite images (see post below) ... AND wow "my art appeals to women" (not men, well other than the nudes)... girls have way more of my art favourited than guys ans whats more they seem to like the same works that i do... (the sketch above is a classic example it has drawn proportionally more comments and favoutite tagging compared with views

does this mean i'm in touch with my feminine side..? bloody hell..! (gasp!) or does it just mean girls are more open and honest... (phew! and wipe brow) no matter... thanks girls i appreciate it

getting about

favourites_2
Originally uploaded by sigh clone.

even though i've been very busy in the real world I still like a bit of communication with my net friends... the Yahoo chat rooms being off have meant I done a little more exploring of blogs and flickr... and i've come up with a nice new way to get around... find a blog or flickrstream of someone who's work you like (like brandelion or jiggles)... then check out their links (or their favourites in flickr)... you discover much more creative and original stuff than using a search engine (or tags in flickr)... my theory is that it is prefiltered for you my a like mind... yes another person... not a bit of software... its time for the real people to retake the net

my blog doesn't have many links to friends... they are there but hidden in the posts so I suggest you start by clicking on screen capture of my favourites... then move over to the favourites link... its text on the right hand side and click on an image that interests you.. then click on their favourites... bon voyage

real fun

i've found another nice flickr "toy" called Mosaic Maker... it created image & the html code for the display below






1. a raven beauty, 2. Huge's torso, 3. fashion diva 3, 4. pirouette, 5. red knickers, 6. rebekka_torso, 7. ravengirl 04



this is a collection of my drawing... in a set I have called centurian... they are not commanders of 100 soldiers... they are the sketches that have scored 100, the big HITers in my flickr artstream... so which two have made the grade in less than a week?

some fun

speaking of things sort of medical... have you tired out getting your pysch profile off the net....

Global Personality Test Results

Stability (50%) medium which suggests you average somewhere in between being calm and resilient and being anxious and reactive. Orderliness (46%) medium which suggests you are moderately organized, hard working, and reliable while still remaining flexible, efficient, and fun. Extraversion (80%) high which suggests you are overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense too often of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

Take Free Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

no surprises at the extravertion part but... hey I'm stable, (and always calm... whats wrong with you medicos")

well that was no fun

sorry í've been away.. i had a forced stay away from the net... I've managed to pick up yet another ulcer infection mycobacterium ulcerans not a lot of fun at the best of time... actually its not really painful at all... but flesh "ëating" toxins made by the bacteria, arent reaaly very nice... not really a social asset... or a pretty sight



the painful bit is... now i'm the subject of research to find the "vector" carrying the infection, the potential list includes white tail spiders, mosquitoes, march flies, possums and koalas... does that mean i'll have be less friendly to the fauna... actually I don't have intimate relationships with any of the critters



i'm sure its the same ulcer infection I got in my eye last year in the solomon islands (but who am I to argue with doctors)... the most devastating bit is no beer till I finish the pills (bastards!)

Art is either plagiarism or revolution

bot dog pissing on plagiarism,
originally uploaded by sigh clone.

Whilst i was pretty sure this was a paul gaugain quote, I was able to locate it on allgreatquotes.com.... thats an authouritive website on the internet so it must be right.. yes?



actually on my journey of discovery i'm starting to get the distinct impression.... to be honest it is more a gnawing doubt... maybe it is but....



Unfortunately I'm starting to suspect that net=no or at very least what you are looking at is probably lifted from somewhere else



the big secret of the net is it has revolutionized plagiarism... it is so simple to say "look at me" i'm way cool, i'm the celebrity... look what I can do (but what is done is copy & paste... sometimes with a change of font or the colour of the background)...on flickr i'm meeting and seeing the work of many professional & less professional (ok we are amateurs) artists... like me they put their precious and original work on the net so people can see it... the net is a wonderful gallery, with a limitless number of potential visitors.



no one posts on the net so their stuff can be copied and passed and showed off as a "look at me" pseudo celebrities own work... that is simple theft



everything i post here is low resolution (& it really won't reproduce well outside the net)... I hold the originals... & the better quality scans. i don't mind people using my images, elsewhere on the net, if they get both my and the model's permission... but if my work is taken and not acknowledge... that is theft



brad templeton has compiled the 10 Big Myths about copyright explained and this is worth a read... also read my copy right or wrong notes on the righthand side



maybe it is time to start shaming the thieves or originality







(end of sermon)

no magic...

Ok there is no magic... i've discovered why my torso sketch is popular in flickr

,

its all to do with the tag "Nudes"... and thanks to meta atem for the flickr spell tool i used to illustrate this post

a tale of two torsos

nort's stuff,
originally uploaded by sigh clone.

i'd better appologise already... since this is going to be my most ambitious post yet... using someone else's photo (thanks H), and images from hello, blogger & flickr... hold your breath here goes



Over the last few days I seem to have become very torso oriented... it all started with my doodling for an idea of a BBW/Big Bellish logo... something i could use as a "badge" on the clothing in my on-line shop... I often think with my hands, a pencil and paper ;)





I ran into a bit of creative serendipidy when I scanned it... notice how much the accidentally over darken one, on the right, looks.... much more what I had in mind... pity it has picked up the lines on the other side of the piece of "recycled" paper I used (i'm a bit of a "don't" waste paper fanatic)



Next came a friendly portrait... well thats what I was supposed to do! i kind of got side tracked




Well I can't believe how popular this quick wash waterolour sketch has become on flickr... it skyrocketed to the nuber 23 most viewed... just overnight... be patient rebekka I will do your portrait soon :)




aren't torso(s) a marvels subject

(slow) progress at my shop

well the respones to my shop (the less said the better)... may be it is not well enough known... or too hard to find (so i've made its own section over on the right hand side now)... but don't worry I am not in a hurry. i want to make sure the quality, and efficency are perfect before I get too excited about quanitity.

All the images i use in the shop are based on much higher resolution scans (200dpi) than I post in here. if you have not visited my sighsketches shop yet, shame on you.. please go take a look now




The latest special at my shop is a poster



I plan to offer the ability to use any (almost any) illustratuon you see here, or in my flickr contributions, on any of the items you see in the shop... the procedures to upload and create custom stuff are not public yet... so contact me by email if you want a custom t-shirt or mini-poster... (or whatever)

saggy boobs

saggy boobs
Originally uploaded by sigh clone.

a joke doing the rounds in OZ -

"what did one saggy boob say to the other?"

"We need support before they say we are NUTS!"

... couldn't help illustrating it


Revisting this for illustration friday's topic "gravity"

rediscovering my neocolour watersoluble crayons

I have a small box... of Caran d'Ache Watersoluble Pastels,well used... they are from the neocolour range... they are great for quick fills in a cartoon and have lovely vivid colours... just no skin colours in the little box i have.... so I had "kind of" neglected them for conventional water colours in my recent sketches... last week i dared to open the little tin again... and used them on these two sketches


I love the colours... even though it isn't really very close to skin tone

PS: don't carry these crayons in your carry-on baggage when flying... apparently the waxy sticks of pigment show up on the explosive detection devices as something very very dangerous.... and you will be pounched upon.... I now know this

yahoo! woes

There are a lot of people screaming mad at Yahoo!... what with pedofiles & pervert on the chat rooms, bots everywhere and now the private chat rooms are closed down... supposedly because yahoo is being sued

long time net friends can still chat with yahoo messanger.... but the spammers, virus brigade (& urban myths of their terror) are also rampant in messanger at the moment...


just to be on the safe side don't click on links from folk you don't know.... especially angell11, tewwtuler and sassybitch...
and whatever you do don't accept an invite to your list from dvorak@yahoo.com... a real sicko virus



get well soon yahoo!

a little enlightenment...

sketching hand selfportrait,
originally uploaded by sigh clone.

all my running round in wild sweeping clicking through link after link, group after groups and friends favourites on flickr... has led me to realise why my style became what it is so quickly...

its a little like escher's hands... i could not see it because I was doing it... (it is quiet a challenge to draw your hand, drawing... i had to take a picture with my webcam first)... but once I stood back it was obvious

I like sketching from webcams because the webcam has already translated the subject into a two dimensional shaded image... from which I can readily observe and translate the the shading onto my blank page... also using the relatively low-res webcam rather than copying a photo meant I was less likely to fall into the trap of trying to copy detail as line work... infact on mt best webcam stuff there are really very few lines... just carefull shading



buggar my brain hurts with all this thinking... time to turn of the computer and have a beer (or two)

A new game

my favourites, originally uploaded by sigh clone.

i've made up a great new game in flickr... "follow the favourites"... when I find an image I like I go to the person who posted it and then look at their favourites... and so on... it is a fantastic way to see the best original stuff around

Your chance to get NortE artwork : CafePress.com

I've finally found a place I like enough to open my own online shop @ CafePress.com... it is the only place you can buy my artwork... also keep your eye out for unique and original gifts there... don't worry this is not really the official opening... just a bit of a preview... so you can get a few things at a good discount and I can judge if an on-line shop is a good idea



Also look out for the link and discount offers for the shop on the right hand side.... just under the BBW art badge... i know its getting cluttered down there... but hey it can save you a few dollars, just remeber the coupon code as you go through the link


cincy's mug is a pre-opening special... check it out

More Red...

Red
Originally uploaded by RavenGirl.

I selected these two photos to practise sketching from photos because I loved all the red... especially the hair.... and the compositions are beautiful... so a lot of the art is already there to interpret...

not only is ravengirl a wonderfull model she is a great photographer... so check out her work by clicking on the either photo.... which will take you into her flickr gallery.... take some time and look around... set what i mean about the art already being there


still
Originally uploaded by RavenGirl.

what artist couldn't help but appreciate the wonderful curves and forms.... long live cleavage! well in my art at least

an example of the attraction-repulsion algorithm

this is a fascinating graph... well its called a flickr graph... and it lets you look at who is looking at you and if you want who is looking at them... its dynamic & real six degrees of seperation stuff... but also fun

Cinderalla Sisters

Not sure who these girls are... if you think they they might be you drop me a email or comment

that tongue thing

sexyblogger
Originally uploaded by sigh clone.

something that has overhelmed singapore faster than bird flu... is that tongue thing...

everywhere... pretty young girls are lining up for photos... taken with a camera phone, of course... and poking their tongue out... not all the way just out the side... it's way cooler than the "say cheese" smiles and gratuitous poses most foreign tourist get up to

anyway I have been researching and the phenomenon has a net beginning... here in singapore... a popular blogger xiaxie... she posed like that once... and posted it... then it was ridaculed... and of course the pose became popular for self-portraits... mr brown, about town, and also flickr enhusiast, suggested more people should pose and post using the tag "sexyblogger" .... now there is a sexyblogger group.

thanks xiaxie, for being both beautiful and original

The Mudd Women:Sculptures of Real Women

The Mudd Women is a great website of the sculputress Joyce Mudd... she has created some beautiful and original full figure girls... and her work is for sale

getting ARTier

Huge's torso,
originally uploaded by sigh clone.

i know i'm travelling so much I can't get onto yahoo much.... i will admit i was getting very frustrated with its less than reliableness... and the bots... and the trolls... and the...

well the list is pretty long... let's just say it wasn't helping me be creative!

flickr and the flickr groups have however been more inspiring and let me refocus on what this blog journey is about.... being ORIGINAL!

i still love sketching from webcams... it is a lot of fun if nothing else BUT it is time to be creative not just frustrated cause my typing so bad

Sigh*t

ssh*t what a coincidence.... i suggest you check out Sight- An Oracular Insight ( A Singapore Art blog)... i came across it by RJs comment to my latests sketches of ginger... looks like he is another expat living in singapore and coming unders its mutli-culrural charm and energy... his current project a big canvas is really worth a look... and read the text to see what is developing and the angst that creativity and orginality seem to require...

go for it mates... make great art here in this little island city