the haircut

OK I'm a bloke and an old one at that... but there are still a few things I don't get about girls ... the all taking at the same time things and the obsessions with haircuts (and/or new "colour") ... what I do know is often they are always at their most radiant just before and just after the "new haircut" ... & deep in my brain there is a entry that says this is the very best (actually no the only) time to sketch a female friend ... I think it is because it is a fleeting moment when they are at one with themselves and their self image ... well it is my experience that it is a fleeing moment ... before the tantrum and storming off to have a shower and mutter about never going back to that person again .... just glad I'm a bloke

I could not manage to find a video of the waif's performing their wonderfully insightful "the haircut" but this young lady gives her all for the sang ... ok she tries too ... but I guess you will get the picture

The Haircut (The Waifs cover)

[via FoxyTunes / The Waifs]

armed & dangerous

I have had a lot of computer hassles lately so I have decided that i will stop worrying and just use what every is around... I wouldn't say I becoming obsessed with using computers in public ... ok I am actually starting to worry about some of the long time users at the local internet cafes and library... but I don't think I need to be as monogamous in my computer use ... infact my best work is inevitably done when my no using my computer... SO I'm on a interwebs computer diet kind of thing, looking to be slimmer and trimmer ...moving all my web interaction onto my sexy little black sports version of a memory key, using portable apps (gimp in particular), for my general purpose camera and scanner(using shozu & qipit) there is my mobile phone ... ok and i still need a pencil, pen, rubber & sketchpad ...ok there is no room for backups and archives but that's what the webs there for ... isn't it? Such is life

deja vu bebo guru

Bebo Guru – Flashback
I pause and listen, its a very simple melody, a flash back flashes as I listen to songs from my past, and I loose myself down memory lane, ...in a sentimental phase, ...it makes me sad... isn't it strange how a song can trigger such emotion. The memory can seam just like yesterday, light happy and full of fun and laughter, healing those deep wounds. I often wonder how you could begin to paint such emotion, does an image or a photo have to be personal, before you experience the moment, unlike a music which is likely to find a share experience...or is colour like melody and tonal balance like an unwritten song.


Flashback by bebo guru can be downloaded, at the moment for free, from Last.fm

monetization for nothing

One of the sessions I enjoyed most at pubcamp was the debate between Richard Walsh (representing the old school) and Browen Clune (the new whatever, it isn't really a school so much as a conversation. I really like her terminology of control media versus free media. BUT I worry that everyone is getting the perception that on the net, means free. The struggling creative type mentioned by richard, wont be able to sell anything even enough to buy beer. YET at the same time i worry about all the talk of monetization on the web, is just cover up for ways that the advertising networks (based in old school practices) can mop up any value before it reaches the creatives. Sad but such is life.

I feel the interwebs are a fatastic gallery to display your most creative work, but I don't yet know how to ensure that some value can trickle back to the creators ... or am I just a naive old bloke ... with a romantic view of the artist and bohemian as an enhancer of life and society?

Browen Clune has just recently posted a late account of her view of pubcamp

First blog post from ping.fm

My head is spinning with despair ... my notebook is sick again ... and now my scanner is getting bad tempered it did not like that horrid appleMac i borrowed and it has been moody ever since... my ipod is the same ... it is cold and if this cyber cafe didn't have such good coffee i'd be by a warm fire enjoying a beer by now and maybe some good conversation ...instead I'm think about technology and art, and the patience required ...tapping on a strange keyboard and wondering ....evil thoughts ...should i visit harvey norman or dick smith on my way home ...or try a fourth time at the service center ...loyalty wins ...one more chance you snotty nosed service brats.

the story behind the Twitter cocktail

On sunday we had a big house warming party ...and I was barman ... some time into the proceedings talk of the best cocktails merged with some heated discussion about things interweb and stalking, pedophiles and other weirdos... i was in a minority but we all like twitter so ... well somehow... this drink was born, a cocktail in less than 140 characters! ... and it was good


The Twitter Cocktail :: start with sugar cube covered in blue curacao, half shot of richard, top up glass with shaved ice & then lemonade

Ricard is a commercial version of the popular french aperitif pastis. The sugar cube dates back to the absinthe rituals and the blue curaco was the only blue liqueur I could lay my hands on. The shaved ice turns the ricard & curaco a milky light greeny blue, the shade of the default twitter background. BUT be warned the twitter is a drink to be savored slowly over much conversation, and just keep topping up the lemonade ...two or more and your tweets may become illegible.

(: now I need three interwebs windows ..browser, twitter & ping

g'morning m'blog world

... I wonder if ping.fm will work better than gtalk (;

words of peace

My words for peace list is getting longer but not really a tree worth yet, peace שלום (Shalom) سلام мир 和平 mir mino klid fred mano vrede rauha paix Frieden ειρήνη pace 평화 pokój paz
pace

if you know the word peace in another languages please email me or leave a comment ...merci

sultry

mid western couple, originally uploaded by sigh clone.

Watercolour on paper.

This was quite a challenge...and the third attempt... I wanted to capture the emotion and expression and in the end found that there is just a fleeting moment between washes and a touch of detail that you must STOP..also a limited palette of yellow ochre, crimsom and violet, and just a touch or two of cadmiun yellow and burnt umber... in other words less is more

mid western couple was the winner of the latest exposed wife comp

Art on Technology as a Gallery

Despite my warning on copyright (on the post below) I am not against sharing and collaboration, it is good for art ... exposure is even better ... there is little point creating a masterpiece and not showing it to anyone ... especially if you want to eat ... feel the glory ... get inspired by other ...all that involves being out there.

NOW for the crackpot theory ...these days everyone looks at screens for hours on end, so why not put art (my art, your art, anyones art) on those screens ... could be as a wallpaper ...could be as a slideshow ...could be a mashup ...SO stop mucking around and DO IT

IF you are arty make wallpapers ...email stationary ...turn your blog into a scrapbook ... it you just want to be arty seek out someone creative you admire and use there work (with permission of course) (:

sharing the creative wealth

A massive problem with the US-centric view of copyright was that it had become legally exploited by the middlemen ...publisher ...promoters ...agents to steal much of the value away from from the creative artists ...authors ...songwriters ..etc through long legal contracts that always had a tiny clause that the copyright was transferred the middleman (or middlelady)... if you wanted to be part of the system you had to play by their runs ... and live in poverty

Unfortunately copyrights and having to sign them over are moving onto the web and through web 2.0 infrastructure...

SO if you create content its time to think about your rights and avoid signing them over to middlemen...

YET like me you may want to share your ideas and inspiration with others in a limited and fair way ... ok you can is called creative commons... and i strongly suggest you investigate the various levels of licencing and find the one that suits you and seek out those places (like flickr that support them) ... this is a good introductory tutorial to begin choosing a creatice common licence

peace on my phone

I remember this symbol from the 60s as a strong anti-war emblem, but its origins go deeper into the Ban The Bomb and Nuclear Disarmament movements... so is it still relevant today? ..I've made this as a wallpaper for my phone to find out

seeing in colour (again)

Apart from the fact that I have been a bit monochromatic of late ... I blame the media at my finger tips more than my emotional condition... I think it is time to refocus on colour so I was delighted with this little web toy from Idée Inc it searches flickr for images that best match your colour selection. Simple but fun.

thanks to Canadian Dana on twitter for this link

Je regrette

whilst I have been RW busy, I haven't been following up on my peace tree project ... and I think I should have been ...starting to think it might be a neat stenciling project.

I have figured out to get a lot of translations from google language tools but would love some more words for peace in languages not yet in the googleverse... so if know any, please email me sigh dot clone at gmail dot com (hope that slips past the spam bots)

a happy computer

my computer is back safe and sound ...a lot cleaner and not overheating all the time ... isn't it strange how you like your own computer best, its like a good friend ... those poor workhorses in the cyber cafes are not the same ... not that I'm getting too close ...but I will have to be more careful when it is in my backpack

Tweets for Today

• 09:25 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 09:27 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 09:22 sketchblog Tweets for T.. tinyurl.com/6gexzm #
• 16:16 my house painting has been interrupted by the drizzle ... ah yes there is a god (or goddess) looking after me! #
• 17:06 looking up best deals for a new computer ... now just very confused :( #
• 17:08 got an email from india to saying my computer repair has been delayed ... BUT I thought my computer was with a adolescent guy in melbourne? #
• 17:16 buggar it ... time for a beer :) #
• 23:32 twitpic.com/2gu7 - bright idea #
• 03:26 sketchblog from little things...: It may not seem much ....but ... I was able to convert this.. tinyurl.com/6qlqm7 #

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from little things...

It may not seem much ....but ... I was able to convert this photo of a crude sketch into the cartoon above, all on a cybercafe computer with a crap keyboard, just using a version of Paint.net downloaded onto my memory key ... it was like my climbing mount everest ... and with a decent cup of coffee as support. Better still I had it on twitter within ten minutes of the ink touching the paper ...from little things, big things grow

Tweets for Today

• 09:27 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 09:22 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 09:22 sketchblog Tweets for T.. tinyurl.com/5awhue #
• 03:26 sketchblog the naked vlog campaign: well I don't exactly understand the naked vlog campaign ... tinyurl.com/5v3thn #

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the naked vlog campaign

well I don't exactly understand the naked vlog campaign ... ok i have no idea how to even make a vlog ... but i can see that x gobo bean x has had a lot of fun making her youtube video and it is worth a look.

Tweets for Today

• 09:22 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 09:22 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 09:24 sketchblog Tweets for T.. tinyurl.com/5oetw4 #
• 17:31 enjoying the sun ... pity about the chill in the wind #
• 23:37 twitpic.com/2dgj - ...strange attractors #

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Tweets for Today

• 09:22 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 09:24 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 09:25 sketchblog Tweets for T.. tinyurl.com/58bgxc #
• 17:50 hmmmm ... so now I have created a never ending cycle ...message -> twitter -> twit loud (publish)-> blog (sends update) -> t ... #
• 17:51 bummer ....i can't describe infinity in 140 characters #
• 18:18 ok gmail back to controllable and coffee finished ... time for food #

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Tweets for Today

• 09:24 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 09:25 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 23:50 doesn't look like I set.. tinyurl.com/5dakoc #

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Tweets for Today

• 09:25 sketchblog Tweets for Today: 23:50 doesn't look like I set up loud twitter properly ... oh we.. tinyurl.com/639af9 #
• 15:17 10 to 14 days ...no guarantee on the repairs ... of course you have a backup, sir! ... are computer technicians accountable for anything? #
• 15:30 twittering at a cyber cafe is somehow not the same ... but the chai latte is good :) #
• 17:30 hmmm ... my SMS to twitter doesn't appear to be working... time to give up :) #
• 20:42 twitpic.com/28bz - ... worrying about my dead mate, in the uncaring hands of a computer tech ..."Dave I can't let you do that..." #
• 21:23 sketchblog Dave I'm afraid I can't do that...: "Dave I'm afraid I can't do that..."not sure w.. tinyurl.com/67wdfb #

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Dave I'm afraid I can't do that...

"Dave I'm afraid I can't do that..."

not sure why i doodled up this sketch... worrying about my dead mate, in the uncaring hands of a juvenile computer tech, with a personality bypass... the quote comes from HAL in the film 2001, A Space Odyssey

Tweets for Today

• 23:50 doesn't look like I set up loud twitter properly ... oh well, worse things can happen #
• 23:58 @elligirl bonjour mate ...est ce que vous ...considerez-vous comme illustre ... cyart.blogspot.com/2008/06/buggar.html #
• 00:04 @candysnap ... yeap melbourne is a nicely kept secret .. but why is it so cold tonight #

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buggar....

My faithful laptop has "died finish" (em i bugarup bigpela) ... which really sucks because I kept putting off and putting off backups ... ok kiddies learn from silly old nort... backup now and backup often


Elligirl Illustrated in marker pen

BUT life will go on ...I can still draw, with pencil and paper (ok marker pen and paper) there is still plenty to be inspired by but now I have to find a friend with a scanning before I can blog my art or better still a coffee shop ...come cyber cafe with a scanner ... such is life (... well there is life after a dead computer incident)

Celebrating Originality

Jade Infusion
Originally uploaded by cena art

No not the adidas campaign... proper art ... despite my recent pessimism, original creativity does still exist on Flickr and the net in general ... I recently stumbled across Cena Art's photostream ... it is a delicious celebration of colour on abstractly painted bodies ...high on creativite calories and drench in exotic aromatics of rich sensual forms and textures ...in short it is a feast for your visual pleasure ...the collage above is inspired by green tea ... the site is a wonderful collaboration between Chris and Elisa, and they also have a great Etsy site where you can buy some of their art and photos.


... did I mention I love their use of colour ...

don't panic

No need to worry I have not lost it and gone off on a tangent ... I still just want to make sure the Net... and wider technology, has some art ... not the soulless copies of celebrity and softporn that has overwhelmed social networks site through to video clips ...I want the screens in your life to occasionally have art ...original stuff .. creative work ... inspiration and not only mine ...stuff that makes you feel alive, or reflective or anything but the numbness of the bland sterotypical mash that is leaking from modern life

My piece for peace

I belong to the very trustingly democratic flickr peace movement group (in fact I am one of 850 admins). There was a new thread today urging everyone to do their piece for peace ... something i feel i must do ...I would like to reconstruct my peace tree (show above) ... this time as a more permanet "scultpurish" construction ... what i need is for everyone to Email the word for peace to sigh dot clone at gmail dot com) in your language ... and handwritten is fine

If you want to contribute you can get to the map below with instruction on how to add your piece via this link or just click on the map below to see what others are doing.


View Larger Map

what the?

I have been thinking about my foot prints ... on the environment.. on the net ... on other people's lives ....on myself ... you see I secretly yearn to be at one with my surroundings... a useful past of the furniture ... someone who knows and encourages beauty ... but definitely doesn't create a hassle... wastage ...mess ... conflict ... drama (especially the emotional ones ...and to that end I long ago stopped blogging about my day to day life)... this place is just about inspiration and art ... anyway I had seriously contemplated reducing the number of groups and sites I belong to on the net. Which should I stay with and which should I pull out of? its a hard question... hadn't quite got started but had already penciled in blogger flickr and twitter ... so what are all these errors today about?



Have I offended one of the net gods?

wankergirl in charcoal

wankergirl in charcoal, originally uploaded by sigh clone.

I have been a follower of wankergirl for some time on twitter and I generally get a good laugh or at the very least a big smile from her exploits ... she is totally original and refreshing ...you see she likes to broadcast on seesmic or blog from "bathrooms" (yeap, fair dinkum she does it in dunnies) all over Canada and the US. If you listen carefully to the video below you might see her explain why.. well almost ...just before she gets interrupted!

*******
WARNING from Selth - WankerGirl is "Why parental controls were invented"

a much ado about nothing

I trust the outrage over Bill Henson photos has self extinguished, I personally think his works are about as close to paedophilia as old Willy Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet ... and kevin get some sleep mate and think before toy put your mouth in it again... the only vicitims in this who-ha was the dignity of the models and their families under the voyeurism and prying of the press, their beat-ups and muck ranking ... if you can't recognize art maybe it is you that should still be in school?

... but the ignorance has not stopped there ...it has moved onto a preoccupation about nudity on YouTube ...



such is life ...

venessa in pastel

small triumph managed to get twitpics working for me again

[deleted]

withall the user [deleted] appearing everywhere on flickr ..it did seem that the yahoo/flickr police might finally be getting around to purging the once great place of all the image theives and fakers... not so ...i asked a couple of friends that have started wearing that badge... the truth is they deleted themselves... sick of not being able to post into their favorite groups... the problem is dead or at least sleeping admins... and the new safe only default conditions

so the slow decline of flickr as a cool place for the creative and interesting to gather and exchange is now accelerating ...so sorry bill ...it is not just you a lot of other are suffering from the "its nudity, it must be pornography its not art!" misconception.

a bit of nauti cal ness

for those of you that think eurovison is tacky & kitch ... well it is ... but if that upsets you look away now



i know this didn't score well but the nauticalness appeals to me

back to charcoal rub

Being busy is no excuse

kate pastel, originally uploaded by sigh clone.

I got mysef a great CD , Little Eve by Kate_Miller-Heidke... and I'm chalking up some serious Ipod hours with it ... the tune "Don't Let Go" is a bit of anthem for little moi at the moment

"First of all I apologise for this long period of silence.
Being busy is no excuse to pull away and lose touch with my friends."

Don't Let Go - Kate Miller-Heidke

[via FoxyTunes / Kate Miller-Heidke]

ashely watercolour

2 minute (& a bit) torso

i was waiting for a big weather event ...yes a true cyclone ...thought it would be a great opportunity to paint ... and it was ...but my inexperience with acrylics is clear so i did need to "finish" off with pastels


The music is In my garage by EST

Honesty about art and nudity

I do get a bit sad at how the USA-based self absorption about the moral high ground (which they certainly don't occupy) dominance in the politically correct self appointed web 2.0 police tend to categories my humble efforts as UNSAFE on Flickr, pornographic or even worse being called tasteless ...but heck I see beauty in nudity and something to be celebrated, no appologise there ...(just look away if you are easily offended) ...so I was pleased to see this BBC report.

back to the 2 minute torso

No better way to get the creative juices flowing again than to tackle a 2 minute torso and a good coffee (at the same time) ...happiness!

Has it been that long?

Sorry it has been so long since I posted ...

... but its hard to post when i haven't had a pencil or brush in my hand. Must be time to fix that

still flickr'ing

perhaps i am admin for too many groups ;)

nude as text

yet another text art image ... not txt as in mobile phones... just more fun with the alchemy filter

hooray for google

Whilst it is not my art... i must applaud google for their scheme to allow you to put artist based themes on your homepage ... i want to see more real art on technology ... it will humanize us all and sooth our spirit


bravo google

torso as text

sorry about the long absense from things net... i'm just bouncing around in wonderful places but they are outside the webs influence. I happened upon this method of photomanipulation playing around with the alchemy add-ons for corel paint and making a brush that was infact text, the word torso actually... it has given the subject a charm of its own... I hope you agree?

monica's torso

I decided its time to rekindle the two minute torso sketches... and monica had been given an anniversary surprise by hubby chris .. a nude spread on flickr .. how could I resist

I have found my old webcam and decided to film myself sketching (ok ok the quality ordinary! but such is life!) ....ok it also took more like 4 minutes not 2 ...anyway happy anniversary chris and monica

tawnee sketch

tawnee sketch, originally uploaded by sigh clone.

my charcoal "rubbings" are coming along just fine ... good therapy and quick ... however i seem to have to find the image rather than be able to construct it ... my depeast thanks go out to however figured out about kneadable soft putty rubbers.

the dilema

I get asked to do a lot of sketching on flickr... and don't do it most of the time ... all too often their subject are clearly stolen images... taken from others on flickr or web sites .... its actually very hard for me to figure out what is and what isn't but a grey bot buddy icon and different models, glamor style lighting and certain poses are usually enough ... also i'm well behind the eight-ball when it comes to recognizing "adult movie" starlettes ... but the widespread practice of posting stolen photos is really ruining flickr and I'm not going to play

txssizetits sketch, originally uploaded by sigh clone.

Having said all that this wasn't a request anyway. I had seen a few of Txssizetits's post (she's apparently very web famous as samantha, and that probably isn't her real name either) on my boob oriented group for grown ups, the funbag fascination. I did suspected they may not be her own images but they were consistent and her smile was very infectious ... anyway she (ok its mainly about her cleavage) made a wonderful subject for a charcoal sketch.

... so I apologise txs size ... sorry i thought you where a bot or a fakr

Seeing double

One hassle with my eyes is i see a lot of things as a kind of double vision... particularly when my eyes are tired or there is a glare ... or just about any time i actually want to see... but now I am starting to see the same two ghostly apparitions in the left hand field of my view... when i turn to study them they vanish.... they ae just there to distract me when I tried to sketch...

... but why are they so thin? ....such is life!

Simply seeing

B E
I N G
B L I N D
I S A P A I N

But it does not need to be!

thanks to jan for indirectly drawing this to my attention

Not so foolish

Each year on this day you can get a special gift from fd of Fd's flickr toys if you use Scout .... it will generate posters of all of your images on flickr ... have fun it only last today!

Homage to one's self

Once was a self (portrait)
Originally uploaded by sighclone

Self portrait in marker pens and shredded paper for illustration friday's topic homage

PS: some of the strips are deliberately inverted and reversed... its a dyslexic thing!