krissie's pout

krissie01
Originally uploaded by sigh clone.

I loved krissie's expression... especially the intensity of her lipstick & painted eyes... very inspiring

I think this watercolour turned out well and it is a definite for my modern girl's series... in fact she is a very special modern girl... what Flicktionary (a glossary of Flickr terminology, on Flickr central) calls a FlickrWhore... a term for a person posting links, tags and "tease" photos that most certainly brings other members to their photostream... krissie is both glamurous and has a fine photostream

to be honest i'm an old bloke and i have no idea what makes a modern girl... I just think krissie is a perfect example of one :)

original photo
uploaded by krissie p.

Raven in red (again)

Raven05_prelim
Originally uploaded by sigh clone.

my way got lost in the creation of this... as many dark watercolours tend to do... they quickly become muddy in colour... i abandoned it... impatient, i added some red...(am i getting a bit obsessive with colour?)... abandoned it again... but now it is dry I think it has a certain charm (& strength)... raven is convinced I just like her in red... it sadness be to see she has also had a visit from the NIPSa police and her lovely photo is nolonger public, so I can't post you a thumbnail here...

Is it just me that thinks "nudity doesn't equal pornography" or am I being reckless?

I've added some links to Simple Nude & DoMai over to the righ hand side... i think they show nudes but they are far from tastless... but I'd rathre you made up your own mind... on the otherhand I think porno sites are so predictable & UNORIGINAL (seen two or three and you have seen them all) and becarefull they can be so expensive... (so i'm told) still i'm sure if that's what you prefer, you'll know to find them... and while you are about it you may as well take me off your favurite bookmarks

I've now made a "no tasteless posts in here" resolution... ok, ok maybe one or two wickedly artistic ones to test the wosers are awake ;) rant over

getting free'r...(another secret learnt)

aq01
Originally uploaded by sigh clone.

this ia a friend qUiMeRa... who posts a fair bit on the webcam self-portrait group... I loved her posts and this was one that had both a lovely feel and great composition... (not a boring straight facing the camera shot) and great... colours... well I might have gotten carried away with the colours... (as usual)... what i discovered here is... i worked very quickly and just focused on the right tne depth in the colours and where to put them... the beautiful quimera just appeared when she was ready...

procura solitaria,
originally uploaded by qUiMeRa.

compare it with the original image... i'm certain gaugain would have approved

Art & Peace .vs. War

the importance of art...



I've beenfancinated with BlogPulse... and did this search today... that compares Art, Peace & War as topics in blogs... I was shocked at the dramatic peak in the topic war (even if it is "war on terror" it still means killing people)... do 3% of blog post contain the word war..? (seems thay have been... the good news is the rise of art



if you clik on the graph it will take you through to my blogPulse research results and you can "drill down" to see the actual blogs

returning to the pencils

work in progress, originally uploaded by _rebekka.

This photo & illustration are not by me they are by Rebekka... (see also post below)... i think it is a very powerful image... and it has inspired me to returned to graphite pencils... and go learn a bit more... well there is a surprising lot of good advice and shared learning on the web... surprise surprise... in blogs!

Jennis rule "NEVER outline anything" at Drawing Portraits is a gem


Wilkinson's Celebrity Portraits has great art and also good advice and demos

painting rebekka

I have a massive backlog of art work to scan and post... but i thought i would start with these... a couple of watercolours painted from photos... (something i have shy'd away from in the past, because I find it easy to loose the more personality... by trying too hard to copy "unnessary" detail... if that makes sense?)... well I waa happy with these







If you click on the sketch you will get through to flickr... then you can follow the link in the comments to see the her original photo

ICE... rumours, virus or good idea

like me you have probably recieved a lot of email about ICE... telling you to do it... maybe that it's a hoax... & now some say don't open any email with ICE in the title... it's a virus



well at least for me it makes a change from all that hate and flame mail i have been getting..



BUT what is the truth... well it is a good idea but a lot of the emails are a little off the mark (see the truthorfiction posting)... if you not have done it already add an ICE entry to you mobile(cell) phone now with the number of the person you would like contacted In Case of Emergency



AND while on the email subject a few of you will get an invite to join me on Yahoo 360, its a new place I'm trying out.... that sort of combines lots of stuff i do.... what it might do very well is let me build a fairly complete ablums of my art... and at the same control who sees my sketches & letting my friends get higher resolution versions

My little helper

My little helper, originally uploaded by sigh clone.

this is my first post from my new mobile phone ... not bad for an old bloke .. who has not read the instructions yet!

this little guy is a blue wren... at first I thought he was attarcted by the colours of my pastels... he was actuall after the little crusteanes in the sand i was disturbing as i sketched

Seven Deadly Sins (an update)

Well I have been surviving fine out in the real world... having lots of fun infact... but I have noticed a theme that has cropped up a few times... is what is bad behaviour?



What is the modern version of the seven deadly sins?... well the blokes seem to agree that they like a girl who drinks to much... it seems this is a sin that guys recognise... straight after the boobs (or bums, or legs) & before eye contact... girls on the other hand notice if a girl talks to much... especially if she is "faking it" on her mobile... blokes appear deaf to this "too muck talky talky" sin
... BTW: this character "the listner" was created with a bit of help from paula... a long time ago... before I sketched her... it seemed like a bit of deja vu... proving yet again in this interent journey insearch of creativity and originality I keep crossing my own path...



Are the seven deadly sins still relevant to the modern world? if you click on the link you will see the percentage of blogs that mention them... seems they are... especially pride & anger.... thanks to blogpulse for the research


PS: I'm quiet that the "pride" query in the above research had include *NOT* gay... is that because it is not a sin? ... or it would bias the results?

suspicious or coincidence

est-ce que soupçonneux ou coïncident ou je suis paranoïde?



over the weekend i was switched to "NIPSA (not in public site areas) status" on flickr and switched to PENDING on cafe press as my "contains material which may not be in compliance with our policies"... either way I'm going to take some time off the net to contemplate and investigate it, the reasons given, who is behind it... stuff like that.... sorry folks there will be no new posts for a while.


watch the comments here for the resulst of my investigations

reflection

I drew this based on a little german girl in a peace protest I had seen on TV... just as america, under bush, began bombing iraq... sadly it is just as relevant today (i'm pretty pissed off at all the belligerent ignorance and hatred being posted in flickr & to me)... grow up folks... there is NO EXCUSE to murder and mame innocents



doesn't matter which side you believe you are on...



end of sermon

White Hands for Peace

White Hands for Peace, originally uploaded by Lynn Morag.

... whilst there is still hate being expressed amidst the confussion... I see than there are still plenty of intelligent people that realise that you can say no to terrorism without a call for war... this delightful photo was post on is flickr post by Lynn Morag as a contribution to the Peaceful Protest Against All Kind of Terrorism / Protesto Pacíf group.

... find out about the white hand protess and then tell all your friends

peaceful protest against terrorism

white hand,
originally uploaded by sigh clone.

Let's paint our hands in white (as the people from Spain did it last year, just after the Madrid bombs in Madrid) and post on blogs and flickr on saturday.
If you like the idea, please, feel free to copy it and spread the word to your friends and contacts...
Thanks.

Vamos pintar nossas mãos de branco (como os espanhóis fizeram ano passado, logo depois das bombas em Madri) e colocar em nossas páginas amanhã, sábado.
Se você gostou da idéia, por favor copie esta mensagem e espalhe entre seus amigos e conhecidos.
Obrigado.

peignons nos mains dans le blanc (pendant que les personnes d'Espagne la faisaient l'année dernière, juste aprés que les bombes de Madrid à Madrid) et poteau sur les blogs et le flickr samedi. Si vous aimez l'idée, svp, sentez-vous libre pour la copier et pour écarter le mot à vos amis et contacts... Merci.

understanding the shameful truth in the Underground Bombings

Photo from Underground
Originally uploaded by Frankie Roberto.

"It was an indiscriminate attempt to slaughter, irrespective of any considerations for age, class, religion whatever"

London mayor Ken Livingstone



Whilst I quickly joined the flickrains for peace group...I am ashamed to see it's text posting are filled with ignorant and empty ranting against (islamic) terrorists... this is no more justified than the cowardly acts in london...

The flickr peace movement group, at least for the moment, seems more enlightened and grownup

See the BBC coverage, dees'broacasting weblog's "peace for all" tribute flag & my friends appaloosa's blog for more informed opinions and truth

The image above was sent into BBC by Alexander Chadwick

deepest condolences

soft_target
Originally uploaded by sigh clone.

the senseless and cowardly atrocity.... bombing the London underground & bus... can not be excused... it is a cowardly act against innocents

there are a number of groups in Flickr, showing photostreams of the london bombings, where you can witness the event through everyday peoples eye's... may those involved grieve today but recover soon

buggar

cyclone mad,
originally uploaded by sigh clone.

I just finished my elaborate... "Please play while I'm away" post (see it immediately below this) and I notice the formatting strating to fall apart in this new template... a BIG BUGGAR... pardon the french ladies... i'll just have to assume its due to the psych test (scroll down into last month) and trust it fixes itself... I'm not going to tinker with this template... I like it too much

something to entertain you

I might be away from this blog for a little while... so here is something I trust will keep you entertained... "slide night" was something that as a kid these words bought terror to my world... but now you can have a slide show on your desktop...



another nifty feature of flickt is its view as slideshow feature... which you should be able to find in anyone's photostream sets (the're the little boxes that people can set up on the righthand side of their photostreams)... well this link will take you to my elegantly unclothed set...


try clicking on either the view as slideshow (or new window) and you should see something like this below


if you want to change the slide advamcement times, or repeat the shoe move you mouse up to the top of the window, and you should see extra controls appear

the Yahoo chatroom lockout

chatroom_preception
Originally uploaded by sigh clone.

to the best of my knowledge the great Yahoo private adult chatroom room lock-out continues... i'm not to worried i still have a decent friend list... but the lack of information suprises me... its starting to look like the percieved actions of the few have destroyed a fun place for the many... and typical doublespeak... it is just enough to mention terrorist or pedofiles and thats it... no one can play

sure the adult side of yahoo has weirdos... but it does have some normal well adjusted folk as well... most of them can in fact tell the difference

hanging out on webcam

I don't think any words are required...

growing up...

Almost missed this... actually I did... this blog is over a year old now and nudging 10,000 visitors... it has been quite a journey of learning and discovery and fun.., when i look back at the first couple of posts I notice that I had already posted the unfinished sketch of cincy (the dame one that is a couple of posts below) as my first sketch and I was complaining about Yahoo! What is it they say about full circle?

a great measure

DSC08907,
originally uploaded by loupiote.

at the same time i was waxing eloquent about... favourites versus views... (see below)... loupiote on flickr started a group for photos with a favourite to view ratio more than 5% ... it is just number of favourites divided by total views times 100... it means that at least one in twenty people who look at your post like it... and i think this is a pretty good way to find the best.... oh yes the group is called Fav/View >=5%

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