2010 Funbag Calendar

I will have to admit that I have been a fraction slow getting this year's funbag fascination calendar organized. I'm sort of doin as the year goes along, which should matters since it is designed to fit into an old CD jewel case and sit nice and neatly on your desk ... you will just have to keep and eye out and download the new page each month.

Here are my sketches for next month calendar girl.

river nymphs

A couple of rough sketch ideas for a new series of water goddesses

the satire is not lost on me

The Hungry Beast, a good new show on the ABC, tonight had a segment with lots of graphic detail and the true terms about Labiaplasty, a bit of a surprise from conservative aunty. Yes it was about snipping the lips back of a woman's genitals. I have no complaint about the segment but I get the feeling most people missed the point that it was satire not a documentary. I doubt the plastic surgeon was really a doctor at all and the expert witness, a graphics artist from a soft porn magazine, who voice was disguise to protect his identity. Come on! Are models really going to undergo surgery to look neat, just to get in a cheap magazine when a bloke at a computer screen of said magazines can airbrush it all out in a flash? Are you starting to realize now? This was good satire, but it is not to be taken too seriously.

The truth is the Hungry beast team is hoping to exploit the same classification that let the magazine publish clear and frank frontal nudity photos.

PS Seems I miss read the intent of satire in the story (see response in my comments) & I'm not trying to critize the hungry beast team, they are well worth a watch

The first drinks on me

Well I finished Feb Fast without any big fan fare. Not having alcohol for a months was a lot easier than I expected, ...probably because most of my friends where in it as well. The community response was pretty amazing as well, nearly $650k raised in support of services working to reduce alcohol and other drug related harms in young people. Well done everyone.

Watching the weather

Today is supposed to be exciting weather, and I have taken a twitter friends tweeted request literally.

I wonder what the difference is between thunderstorms & thundery rain? Be on the look out today ... weathergirlbug

So just for today I'll be updating this blog with my hand painted observations of how the weather is progressing today. ....Live Art on the Internet? ...Calm Down, old fella, just my observation of the sky from life in watercolour wash

Twitter me some love

A Canadian twitter friend & follower, who just happens to be great singer ... has just posted her latest song and especially nice animated video onto YouTube ...This is worth tweeting your friends about ...go Marcomé ....check out her other new age style music

out of my depth

First Itunes is playing naughty ...now twitter ...or is it just karma getting back at me for slagging off apple inc

on being a non-apple 'puter artist

I'm starting to get depressed by the loyality my creative friends show to second rate apple'ness on their computers. I really don't like the appl'ific software ..it only appears easy to use because it doesn't let your do very much ...ok ok some really creative types can do ammazing things but they tend to do all that with a lot of work ...manual work ...lots of fiddling .... lots of time wasted ...my feeling is in 75% of the cases just doing it manually with a pencil and paper... or paint or whatever ...would have done a better job probably in less time ...I have come to associate apple software as a time black hole just sucking in the creativity and giving a bland results, if any result can be created in a reasonable time frame. RANT OVER

So Having said all that, I am finding it hard to find the type of artistic software I would like to use to do my art directly on the computer, a much battered but loved toshi notebook running vista. Corel draw & paint are ok but expensive .. the adobe stuff also ok, albeit applish, but even more expensive ...gimp is pretty powerful and free but oh what a learning curve ...where is the middle ground?

Ok back to the rant, Itunes has trashed my music library yet again ...and goobled up most of my free disc space in the process ...bugger ...buggger ...more bugger ...it is time I learnt the lesson I should have realized sooner ...remove itunes and try something else ...so I'm rebuilding with songbird portable (ie it and the library are happy on an external USB drive) and now for my ipod ...hangon Ipod device not supported ...What the?

its too hot to worry about all this now but keep me away from apples tonight! even the edible kind

with a little help from ipernity

This is my first attempt at a blog post images directly from Ipernity ...why? Well Ipernity if a lot like flickr but at least so far doesn't have quite the same shame you, because you post nudity, attitude as Flickr ... maybe thats because it is essentially europian and more grown up ...maybe the trolls that ruined flickr with stolen pornsite images haven't found their way to ipernity yet ...no matter there is a chance I can once more be publically viewed and my links won't be blocked ..so if you are bored with flickr stick around and I will give you an artist opinion of how it find it in some future posts

DON'T PANIC if i have sketched you and posted that only on flickr, it will be safe from me ...I'll keep my flickr presence. If you prefer the image removed, also let me know and better still tell me if you prefer it also posted in ipernity

That wasn't so bad

Its a dull day here ... drizzly rain, which we need badly but not art inspiring I'm afraid ... and after my third coffee of the morning and a twitter read or two ...I got an itch to change my blog template

I was scared this would be a big technical issue, requiring too much patience and text editing ... so I had keep avoiding even looking ... ok I was wrong

I soon founf Deluxe templates, and liked their creative art template as I was seeking a sketchbook look & feel ...i still have to tweak that stuff over on the right but overall I'm please and it was easy to change the template (just read the instructions that come in the zip file with xml when you down load it. the step about backuping your previous template is good advice) :)

The Great Wall ..or Not

I'm not happy I've just deleted a larger number of anonymous comments in Chinese with lots of links to goodness knows where and what, added to MY blog posts ...many just posted in the last day or some in posts as far back as 2004 ... not sure who would spend so muck time doing that, ...AND how have the bypassed the standard google steps to stop anonymous comments ... inscrutable ,, or just childish ...No matter they have been deleted and will keep being deleted ... MOST IMPORTANTLY dear readr do not follow these Chinese links I suspect they is no good to be found behind them

HEY GOOGLE
How do I even reportt this stuff to you?
Do you even care?

iPad

iPad
Originally uploaded by vicequeenmaria

I'm not sure the ipad is really likley to live up to te hype ... but i'm also certain it will be a very popular must have toy for most ...and a tools for a few creative types ...i do see it as the technology that overcomes the resistance of the OLD CENTRALIZED CAPITAL CONTROL of the creative folk among us. ..Magazines and newspapers will struggle but the real battle line is all about intellectual property and copy right or wrongs ...if it just means more blanant stealling of work and plagarism then we will be living in a darker world ...on the other hand if we learn to share and acknowledge creativity, we could be on the verge of a gold era with nifty toys to enjoy it in our pockets

raising the flag

i feel like dancing

Went along to the globe to globe festival of world music today in the semi-official capacity of artist for the brazilian style full body paint for the samba band ...ok just for the girls (no photos sorry) ...massive amounts of fun ...even got to play in a west African drum band workshop ...loved it ...this evil rhythm type dancing is for me ...it was a great day out ...great food ...great music and lots of dancing ..lots of happy faces, multiculturalism does work and is alive in this little corner of this humble globe

View from on Top

“There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same” ... Ancient Chinese Proverb.

Beware I am a promiscuous tweeter

I actually get a lot of flack from my so called friends, because I'm an old guy and I tweet, that almost as perverted as using facebook to them. The really bad news I must hide from them (seriously they will never read my blog ;) ...is I am not choosy where I tweet ... I will tweet from anywhere using anything ...shame on me ...I know this because I have checked with TweetStats.

Happy New Year

Still scannerless, ....but happy :)

Wishing everyone of my friends a happy new year and maybe it be both pleasurable & prosperous

yes ...but the food is great

One thing about having my studio out he back of a french patisserie and cafe, is I get the most wonderful day old cakes for morning & afternoon teas ...just things like a decent coffee morning and afternoon are a great plus in temselves ... not sure it gets anymore art done but it sure is the right way to live ... just in case you are worried i am geting to pampered, I do help out in the cafe from time to time

watercolour sketching

lotta 5 watercolour,
originally uploaded by sigh clone.

It has been a while since i painted something to post in here ... I'm still painting but just not for my blog much ... had a lovely email from a web fiend which included some christmas photo that inspired me to get the brushes out ... problem is I had no watercolour paper .. not too bad i thought, i could handle it ... the washes don't glide on standard printer paper the water sinks in and goes a bit greyish ... the second wash didn't help ... normaly that would starts to bring on the translucency . . it sank in as well and looked even muddier ...damn ... used a few pencils to put a few colour highlights in but I certainly miss that 300gsm archers

why is nudity so misunterstood?

Saw this posted on You Tube by Blunty3000. It does so many things right, starting with acknowledging the other contributors, looks at the human form as beauty, uses the censored blackouts sensibly but most of all it demonstrates that nudity can be treated a perfectly normal form of artistic expression.

Nude
"Consider this video both a love letter to the Human form, and an open letter to any and all either interested in the nude in art, or are confused by it, or have trouble telling what is art and what is porn, or simply want to explore what goes on between model and artist in the creation of artistic studies of the naked human body.

Thank you to all who helped me make this video, It simply would not have been possible without you. Thank you to all the artists who either offered their work directly, or allowed it's use through the Creative Commons copyright license, Your generosity is greatly appreciated. :)" ...Blunty3000

changing scanners

yet another sketch of walkabout,
originally uploaded by sigh clone.

my long suffering scanner died yesterday... in an acrid flash of something electronically amiss it breathed a last vile breath and just stopped .... we never really got along ..she, I called my scanner a she, she always kept me wondering what my image would turn out like ... too dark, too litle, crinkle marks, not eogh contrast ... no matter whoi adjusted the control she would still just always insist on the last word and over tweek something ... ok i found her infuriating ...BUT I had grown accustomed to her face



So soon i have to learn to use another mistress ...just fpr now I'm making do with a multi-function printer that will do some basic scanning, ok scans quiet well and without the fuss

tagging people in flickr

I only just noticed, the new people feature in flickr ... because a few people where identifying themselves within my photo stream. It is super easy to use. Just look for the add people under the people in this photo heading ... its down on the right hand side of the main photo display page ...then type in their flickr name or email address ... suddenly they are famous. You can add people to your photos or they can add themselves to yours

ok famous, is a slight exaggeration ... more precisely tagged in public, and this may have a down side ...a lot of folk including good friends of mine are paranoid at the moment about what the net knows about them ...so I'm probably leaning towards the etiquette that people can tag themselves, rather than me do it ...and on that note I normally ask those i sketch before I post them on the net

the alley cat

I have no idea why I sketch the alley cat sitting on the fence ...i normally throw things at him (or her) ... i'm not a cat fan ...they are vicious killers and torturers of anything smaller than themselves ... they are definitely;y not affectionate pets, they treat their keepers with only contempt ... I can not see why anyone wouls like them ... in fact anyone with a cat as a buddy icon, or post photos of cats in their ablums gets the heave ho from my contacts. So just watch yourself alley cat, i'm bigger than you

something to watch

I started to prepare a post today but my scanner breathed its last breath half way trough and kind of spoilt the flow. So I though i;d give you something from youtube to look as as a reward for stopping by.

what good is a sketch blog without sketches

Some sketches of eyes & ears on normal copy paper using a new type of charcoal stick. Like a conte only oily. Quite like it.

PS It's been so long since I uploaded an pictures blogger asked me to reaccept the terms of service ... maybe I should have read them ... ok nobody every does ;)

some on-line sketches of friends

Opps

sorry about the black box (seems I'm deemed un-safe on flickr again) andits been a while between post ...i'll be back sometime soonish ;)

more dancers

too many web 2.0 places

I have been a sucker for the new social networking place ...like a kid with a new toy ...i pick up and play with each new offere like blogger (here), flickr (i'm considered UNSAFE there so your need to be a member to see my work), last.fm, bebo, tumblr, & twitter ...now I have a small gallery in ipernity...



Ipernity is often refered to as a flickr clone, superficially it is ... but for me the big difference is you can upload video from a FREE account ...all my web 2.0 playing is very definitely based around not paying :)

AND for the record I still resist FaceBook ...not sure why, haven't tried it but those who where so initially enthused just put me off ...had the feeling it was second life without the fantasy avatars

See you on the interwebz, some time

watching paint dry

I must admit I have had a lot of problems with my washes getting way to wet as I develop watercolours ...particularly of naked flesh .. the delicacy & transparencies of watercolour is beautiful ...and a little hard to control... but thin layers of colour ontop of each other give a luminancy to the original work (which is almost impossible to capture in a scan like this) ... the down side is the washes need to be thin and WET ... VERY WET .. which crinkles the paper and any further pigment added will bleed out into the already wet zones ...waiting for the paper to dry takes hours, and the creative urges soon dissipate ...the solution is painfully simple ...use a hair dryer to speed up drying ...and keep the creativity flowing.

dancers

Siren is also the name of Tara Moss's new book

Tara Moss is not only a great looking model, she is an exciting writter ... her latest book is out in australia today. Its called Siren not sirenS ... haven't read it yet but who could resist with a teaser like this -

ENTER A WORLD OF BEAUTY AND DANGER, OF FRENCH CABARET AND TERRIBLE REVENGE

girls drawing back

I don't always get my way, sometimes my subjects get cheeky ...take my pencils and sketchbook and draw themselves or friends ... who am I to argue?

venus reclining

venus reclining,
originally uploaded by sigh clone.

This is another sketching exercise ... my skills at taking the video haven't improved ...not up to YouTube quality just yet ... but hopefully ot lets you see what I do ...how i work the washes ... and my mistakes and errors ...and the feeble attempts to fix them ... but most of all i want you to see feel the image coming together ...it takes about 5 minutes but i have made sure the video is small enough to be low-bandwidth friendly ... sketched from the natural curves group on flickr ...its a private group but if you are nicely you can join

wow ...i'm worth something!

Not sure why I even checked ... but you can even get a quote on the value of your web site ... is it the indepth content that brings the crowd? ... ok maybe its just the boobs :)

My site is worth$2,696.6Your website value?

Wet & Overcast & Sketching

I did ask if anyone wanted to be illustrated on twitter... but only one reply and that was probably a bot ...so I returned to flickr for yet another torso challenge in watercolour.

sirens

The painting "The Crucified Venus" cause a real stir back a long while ago in Australia. Some of the controversy is covered in the film Sirens

Sirens (1994) - The best free videos are right here

This is a good film ...much more to it than just the speculation of seeing elle naked ...have we really progressed very far? ...is good art recognized? ..must nudity be always confused with pornography? ...are religious images sacrosanct? ...or was Norman just a naughty boy?

ear ear (again)

who could not help being a bit distressed at a gory item wrapped in newspaper ...not a gift of love that I think anyone would like to have to accept? poor rachel!

just had a massive argument with some fellow artists about the Kaufmann claim that gaugain cut off van gogh's ear ...it wasn't about the ear abd who did it, over who and why? so much as what was the deeper disturbance between the two artists. Van gogh insisting (quiet rightly) that art needs to be grounded in what we see ...landscapes need to be painted in plein air ...while gaugain insisted (maybe just to rattle van gogh) that it was the artist imagination that made the picture ... the artist just needed to be inspired ...and then his mind could do the rest ...it was me against everyone, the rest of the world maybe ...but i was adamant that your need to have the visual reference ...studies from life ...that what makes for a great nude ... then I was called a hypocrite and deluded ...you see I often sketch from photos or direct from the computer screen ...but isn't that also a visual reference ...ok I know I'm outnumbered, but i still think vincent was onto something.

not getting out of line

I haven't been drawing as much as I'd like ...for a start I don't like the cold and I prefer to sketch & paint on the deck ...but the health fiascoes of the past few months have slowed me down ...but i know i need to get back in the saddle and keep the mark making, marking marks, making lines and making shades .. just making stuff ...keeping the eye hand coordination subliminal not labored ...art is as much about seeing as actually making the lines ...that is why I need to sketch

“People only see what they are prepared to see.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

not seeing eye to eye