the Funbag Fascination Calendar

Ok I know no one was actually impatiently waiting for this... but i do appologise I am over a month behind schedule... it was un avoidable, i'm sorry... but I hope the wait was worthwhile










This year I've designed the calendar to fit neatly inside a CD jewel case (... i'm sure you have a few old ones lying around, if no they are cheap enough to buy... getting them reused is so part of my art on technology push) also this year I just used various fd flickr toys to help construct the calendars thanks fd (aka big huge labs)... here are the instructions on how to make a neat desktop calendar

1. download the calendar pages above, (you will have to click onto each, to get the full size image and then use save picture as... from the right mouse click within your broswer to save a copy to your computer)
2. print them out actual size (12cm square, that 150 DPI if you are into that, or just use the CD cover setting in your printer if it has that) ...you will normally get two per page) ... printing on photo paper looks great, but thicker/matte card is better than just paper
3. cut them out and slide them into the CD cover

... you now have a neat desktop calendar

more detailed instructions here

J'ai coupé mes yeux pour voir.

Quite recently I had the opportunity to get up close (and almost personal) with some of Gauguin's original art... the quality of the painting disappointed me a little... but the genius is really in how he "sees" his art... his technique suddenly hit me in the face... when i was scanning this sketch... he hangs his figures on a violet frame work... something I kind of fell upon in watercolours... a different media to his but the colours are the same... when you glaze over this outline in ocher or crimson, the transparent layer of pigment moves out of the violet and creates a beautifully warm shadow that lifts the figure forward, a sensual reality that almost jumps off the page.... no amount of looking at your model (or a photo of them) lets you actually see that shadow but that inner "artist" eye can visualize it.... next with a bit of practise your hand and brush learn how to see the shadow as well

"I shut my eyes in order to see." ... Paul Gauguin

the joy of ... a torso in just three colours

This is a nice loose wash and glaze with only three colours ... violet ...alizarin ...raw umber ... demonstrating yet again... in art less is more



Watercolour on paper of a friend (walkabout) from flickr

"go walkabout" is a great aussy term that just means you have (or want to) buggered off and pursue your own agenda, it is of aboriginal origin... traditionaly a three or more month aimless meander is their right of passage into adulthood.

Now I'm here .... and you're here

Holly Throsby - Making A Fire

[via FoxyTunes / Holly Throsby]

I know its so bloody hot at the moment... well not exactly now... but over the past two weeks... it is high sumer here in Oz... so why the heck has this little tune got so much into my brain... its about being cold outside but holly doesn't mind she is making a fire... I think its the frail voice, the oboe and the reality about I'm here and your here ... or is it i am very disturbed that they are lighting a fire and they have left the dorr open!! ...anyway it is posted here for you to make up your own mind

cocktail time.... on twitter

I've just decided my twitter friends might need a bit of a lift... lots of uming and arhing, sigh, and boredom... so it might be time to start having some virtual cocktails of fridy nights/saturday morning

Ok here is the first one its called the rhythm of love... and I learnt how to mix it in tahiti

Firstly about one thirds fill a cordial glass with midori
next squeeze and pulp a whole kiwi fruit into the glass
carefully layer in creme de cassis and fresh double cream

that's it...

2 minute torso(s)... continue

This is more of my self imposed practise... 2 minutes to capture the essence... well at least the light and shade... on my very favorite subject the female torso... this was a conventional watercolour but just using a limited palette of 4 colours... I have finshed the final work below with a little pencil work (not included in the 2 minutes)

more art on CDs

Have I a started a trend of art on CD... NO! I may have got a few people excited but I'm not the first to try it...

Mathew Toledo, has written a very comprehensive blog article on how to paint your own CDs. It also emphasizes using the right paint to "fuse" to the plastic... If you want to do you own CDs... please read his article.

Apparently the recent nine inch nails CD changes colour when it is heated

You can also "Print" your artwork onto a CD, either using a specially "precut" peel off and stick down CD mattes or one of the many new thermal and/or inkjet printers that can take a special printable blank CD. There is also lots of software to help with the layout.

A pretty amazing way to "burn" your art onto the face of your CD is to use lightscribe (you need a compatible CD drive)

harder than it looks

I'm new to using Conté Crayons, they were invented by the same guy that invented the modern pencil (graphic inside a wooden stem) Nicolas Conté. they are harder than pastels... they are made of fired clay and wax as well as natural pigments, such as iron oxide, carbon black and various clays and produce a sanguine tones like an old sepia photograph. They took me by surprise... they act more like a sketching device (eg pencil of pen) on standard cartridge paper, maybe because of the square shape and hardness. Their soft pastel cousins, which I think should be used more like paints...like a textured paper with lots of tooth.

The big triangle

The big triangle is a marvels visualization to help the understanding comics, created by cartoonist Scott McCloud

but it also is very relevant to understanding art in general

doodle-a-riffic-torso

roller ball & marker pen with a little paint on paper

my new friend Kate

I have been befriended by kate on bebo... not any kate ....kate modern


Watch More Videos Uploaded by www.bebo.com/MyKateModern

Put simply kate modern ia a modern twist on the old who dun-it, but rather than just being a rerun bit of entertainment, it is a project that runs right through the social networking fabric, a kind of reality TV meets miss marple with the opportunity's of audience participation... the video above probably gives you enough to figure out what it is like, but if you like there is plenty more to my newest BeBo friend.

So like mediavladski i'm left asking is bebo the new ITV?

art on technology (the humble CD)

art on CD, originally uploaded by sigh clone.

Putting art on technology, is a bit of a personal campaign for me, as regular readers will know

If you don't start enriching the sterile face of personal technology, your lives might just be a little less rich and uplifting...

one technology that is ubiquitous these days is CDs ...so it was a pretty simple step to think using that empty space, on the front of any home recorded CD, as a canvas. If you intend to still use the CD it may be wise to test you paints out first, on a CD you can afford to destroy... many marker pens and paints do not stick/set and could gunk up your player... I used matisse derivan "dimensional" acrylics and they bonded to the plastic well.

This was a 2 minute torso execise (see below)

second 2 minute torso (on a CD)

this is the second 2 minute torso, also using acrylic paint (on a CD, see above, talk about art on technology! and the CD still works!)

choir of hard knocks

speaking of art for the down and out and homeless... in melbourne we are very fortunate to have the wonderful choir of hard knocks

I notice their wonderful rendition of leonard cohen's hallelujah at the sydney opera house has made it onto You Tube.



they are a true inspiration... especially Jonathon Welch

When does the art start?

I am sort of trapped in the city for the summer... a hot place, not really my place of choice... I'd rather be at the beach, or sailing... still life goes on and i want to paint... so it was suggested I try a self portrait (...the cricket is about to go into boring mode... indian is batting) .. i set up out the back in the only space that could find to spread out in... it didn't take long to be distracted with the possibilities of shadow on my canvas .... ok i'm certainly no Raymod Crowe... but i am at least unusual



but it got me wondering when does art begin... is it as much performance as a finished product? ...is it time for a beer yet? ...has india got a run yet?

Art Start is also a successful program for the homeless in New York

resolutions....

I looked up new years resolutions on twitterverse and there was not any.. lots for new and years but nothing about resolutions .... does that mean the people who are busy telling others "what they are doing?"... are not it self improvement.... you know the old standards "Lose weight, get a new job, save money, find love, travel, spend more time with your kids, learn a new language, read more, watch less TV, blog less, blog more"... or is the resolution a quaint custom from pre-net times.... maybe it is not desirable in a facebook and myspace world of self spin and Disney-like sanitization... perhaps there is nothing further to desire in the net-self being projected... quick their is a blemish better use the glamor widget...


ok sorry I am imperfect I think a resolution of two will not go astray (well for a few days at least...)

Happy New Year!

no nudes please this is.....bebo

I know i have been posting a lot... lots have been happening and i have been doing a lot of sketching.... or anything net... when i realized nudity is a no no of bebo... I worried i'd never find a home for my art... (well the nudes)... is the USA imposing iots all nudity is pornography stance of the social networking... or is it just me out of touch with reality... no matter... if bebo says no nudity that ok its clear unlike what constitutes unsafe and restricted on flickr?

so i was interested to read in laura alte's blog that social network sites are overtaking porn...

2 minute torso

this sketch blog is getting to be anything BUT Sketchs ... so I going to try a weekly 2 minute torso session... here is the first

almost a self portrait

It started out as a doodle but became and alsmost self portrait... do you think it has what it takes to be a better buddy icon for my blog profile?

Norton Elissenhttp://NortonE1.bebo.com/

Humble apologies to everyone in my world that I accidentally invited to bebo... I'm only just trying it out... if social networking has an invitation etiquette I'm sure I have just overstepped it... still isn't that the point of social networking so your friends can be in the loop and know what you are doing... or was that just simply a different form of spamming?

having said all that if you see me on bebo say hello ....if you don't know what bebeo is watch the video below

Watch More Videos       Uploaded by bebo.com/jane.white8

giving original art

back to the importance of original art

carolyn (of art for engineers fame) is staying cosy for christmas, and offering her especialy sexy work as gift cards, via the net.... i know christmas is soon but i am guessing you still have time if you act fast

...and for truely lovelli cards, and christmas cards you can send to your mum... her made to order calendars are truely unique

giving original art is good for your soul

am I becoming invisible or irrelevant?

Know your name
And sing it loud
Know your na-a-a-a-ame
Though I'm saying this again
Know your name
And sing it loud.

When it rains
I hear that sound

From Cities / Cat Empire project

There is art out there

Geek 4 x 4, originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

If you look around enough there is art out there... on technology... for example check out Jawboneradio's podcast art on flickr.. the problem as i see it is not so much a lack of art... it more that the great gadgets and geeks that drive their development, let there wonders be marketed and sold by folk that just want to charge for everything.... the original artist is left out of the equation


but don't dispair... think about how to get original artwork on the the screen of your favourite piece of technology... and if you get lost doing that watch some of the thing i try right here.

buzz it! blog note

Twitter

sighclone wonders.... what is the shortess tweet ever? about 1 hour ago from web

Art for all

I've decided to give my slowly burning little campaign, to get more art onto modern technology, a kick along by starting a little flickr group @rt4all ... art for all... I'd love you to come and have a look at the very first steps

all suggestions more than welcome