Does this offend you?

Ok I admit it I like to sketch nude ladies ...what is worse I often like to do it quickly ...do gesture studies, two minute sketches of torsos, I have been posting this on the net for some time. Some sketches have been heavily criticized, by self opinionated wankers (the wankers bit is my opinion btw) but I hope enough people see beauty in my work as well. However I suspect I am fighting a loosing battle over the censorship of nudes on the social webs ...and that is because these places quickly adopt the manners and conventions of the crowd ...and that is unfortunately that nudity must equal porn ..it doesn't! I know that! I'm a grown up!

For a while there I thought Flickr had got it right offering a content filtering system that let you mark the content safe, moderate (and they had prepared good guidelines, so this equals exposed breast) or restricted (full frontal nudity and other things offensive!) They also had 18+ groups for grown ups. All was ok but then they started marking folk like me unsafe, which means if you don't log in and click that you are old enough to look everything I do is hidden from you. At Least they didn't remove my account. From recent discussions in some flickr groups a lot of accounts have been summarily suspended. The anti nudity witch hunts are probably increasing, yet I think there are just reasons, there is way too much stolen porn and other folk's photos and artwork being re-posted in flickr and all across the net these days. It is theft and plagiarism gone feral and it is distasteful ...Unlike my art!

The real rub for me came today when I discovered I have been suspended on TwitPics, presumably for posting the sketch above. No reason give no correspondence, just messages at the end of links that image no longer exist and member suspended. Such is life.

So Artists may soon not able to display their own original and real art, if it doesn't conform to the latest web stampede/fashion on popular social networks. The trend is worrying, aussies should particularly watch out for the net censorship noose (aka clean feed) proposal Senator Stephen Conroy is fashioning for australian web users (he is suddenly quiet about it at the moment? that's right there is an election loaming, but the stupidity is still their on the books).

Vive Le Art

chalk on my fingers ...again

kool portrait,
originally uploaded by sigh clone.

I haven't used my pastels anywehere near enough for a while ...I like being able to apply the rich pigments directly mixing the colours on the surface ...but i think i need to have a watercolour wash of use coloured paper to really see that richness ...which doesn't scan well by the way

...Vive le pastel

dark torso

I've started to find my own way to work in corel painter essential ...I like to start with a little bit of "borrowed" colour into a quick background wash,(broad wash brush) then add a few tiny little details (using the edge cloner brush) or just tracing some free and easy fine lines (using the 2B pencil brush and purple colour) and splash or two on the nipples for interest. Still not quiet 2 minutes but getting faster and freer. Hard to image it is done on the computer ...or am I pulling my own leg?

giving it a red hot go

Its winter here now and has been cold, rainy & cloudy for a few days ...great time to stay inside by teh fire and watch the rain ..and maybe practise with my hand at painting on the computer ...I have a new wacom bamboo tablet with corel painter ...still in the learning stage ..those demos & tutorials make it look easy but ...but ...ok there are lots of buts ...and hows? ...and arhhhh! So there I was with a blank canvas and staring out the window with a bad case of "painters" block ...just as the sun was setting it was beautifully silhouetted against a large banksia tree and some dark clouds ...strongest of warm colours (almost the colours of the aboriginal flag) ...I had to go for it ...and it was easier than I expected. Choose the brushes (impasto followed by opaque arcylic), select & mix a couple of colours and wow ..you can push the colours around on the canvas just like real paint...not as hard as the instruction seem to make me believe.

I think I could get used to this!

the apron

the apron
Originally uploaded by sighclone

watercolour, pencils & felt pens on paper

Stop nagging me gmail!

I must admit once the sun comes out, I feel i'm well on the road to recovery ...ok a bit slower than before but my creative juices are starting to flow ...and I know I've missed a lot of conversations and posting but I get a guilty conscience whenever I look at my gmail account ... its nagging me ... UNREAD EMAILS ...UNREAD BUZZes ... buggar it they can stay unread ...sorry if they are yours ...I have my life to live ...those things that slipped under the cracks may just have to stay there

C'est la vie

Joanie sketch

Quick sketch, not exactly a torso, but close enough to two minutes. Testing out some new Neocolour II water soluable wax crayons, with some pencil and wash as well.

That is some cyber woman

You would have to admit that the cyberwoman on tonight's re-run of Torchwood, puts those cyber nasties on Dr Who to shame.

Auto vs manual

I've had time to review the tutorials that come with Corel Painter ...and i've tried out their auto paint and trace features ... the three images about were created in only a minute or two using avrious auto-paint options ...look they are effective but in the end I am unimpressed. The colours are nice in the modern painting example in the middle, close to those I might choose. But sadly the auto Van Gogh of the right is an embarrassment to the poor guys reputation, particularly the colours, also the watercolour sketch on the left lacks the transparency and delicacy that makes watercolour such an appealing medium.

Ok could I do better? I choose this photo, of a flickr friend, for a "two minute torso" exercise, that I have found enjoyable and a way to test out new techneques or just shapen up my work. so here is my first computer generated two minute torso (ok it did take more like 18minutes because I was still learn and doing a lout of s)

I used the chalk and pastel brushes because the marks they left where close yo want I get when sketching. So I started with my favorite pale blueish purple to start the shape of the mid tones, adding a couple of colours in the darks. When sketch I also often just have a few reference smudges or colour patches over on the edge so I can judge the relative tonal values

Next I added strong colour using a wide and fast infill squiggles. Then I got the blend tool and smoothed them into the previous areas.

I have repeated these last two steps several times, building up the form ...and i do like how it lets me do that ...however I gave up at this point ...normally about know I would put in a few "detail" lines with a pencil, generally with a quick open flourish ... just to bring a few key parts into detail ...alas my detail line work is still a bit clumsy and I was consigning all my work to the place (where ever that is)

So my final conclusion is I actually love the my bamboo fun tablet (it won't stop me painting of sketching conventionally) it is a terrific tool. Expect to see more or my work created with it, Yt I am unlilely to start selling my direct computer art anytime soon.

too much fun

I actually went to buy a new scanner (my old one died a far while ago, they don't seem to last for me) and I got side tacked by a slicky shinny thing called a bamboo fun. Its kind of a cross between a touch surface and a graphic pen tablet. It is just a few flat pieces of plastic molded together really, maybe heavier than it looks with a pen and a usb cable. I liked the black small ones but the bigger one only came in grey ... I really needed the room for my hand to flourish rather that colour cordination with my laptop ...so grey it was.

The really best part of the story is how easy it is to use. Take out of box and plug in ...not hard at all. Ok there is one big limitation as a mouse substitute it is really hopeless and clumsy ...or maybe I haven't got the hang of that part yet! Once I loaded up corel painter essentials which came as part of the deal I was hooked. I could rub with my finger press hard or soft with the pen. change the drawing "brush" from feltpen to soft pastel to a bristle brush, even a smudge. It was very natural ... so natural I haven't read the instruction manual yet (its on a pdf file somewhere) or the tutorial videos they can wait I'm having too much fun

sick of being sick

Being under the care of the medical profession is a time consuming business, and I'm so so sick of it. Clearly no one knows what is wrong, ok I've had all the test and scans & xrays but i just want someone to listen to me not the machines ...whinge over ...the drugs are making the symptoms bearable ...just

What I want want know is some time to be creative

oh yes and sorry for the lack of posts lately, I not one who likes to use excuses, maybe I can focus some that inspiration and creativity into more posts :)

The yellow bra in pastel

Pastel on Paper

mucking around with tone

pastel on paper. with watercolour wash under the dark tones

2010 Funbag Fascination Calendar

Forgot to post this, the 2010 Funbag Fascination Calendar is out, on flickr. Better late than never I guess, but you should have noticed by now that I use small versions of the calendar pages over on the right hand side.









INSTRUCTIONS :: HOW TO MAKE a PERSONAL COPY OF THIS CALENDAR.

This is DIY (do it yourself) calendar, and only for personal use (see the copyright and wrong discussion at the bottom of the right-hand side column.

First click through on each image (you will get through to flickr were they are stored) and the select all sizes, and get the largest size images (they are all 710 by 710 pixels, this is 12cm at 150dpi and matched a CD jewel case size), download to your computer and print them out. The instructions to assemble your calendar can be found here

interviewing me!

blog interviewer.com has interviewed me ...no kidding ...well i filled out their questions and you can read it spelling mistakes and all here. They rate themselves as a behind the scenes look at the web best bloggers ...some of their other interviews are fairly insightful also (eg rick green's organized doodles is worth a look). I'm just a little puzzled why i ended up in the photography section with an adult rating!

...oh that's right I sketch nudes!

buxom dreams

pastel on paper

what is art?

I get asked this question a lot ...as if i should know the answer! ...welll i suspect art like beauty is in the eye of the beholder not the object or the action ...so I can labour and toil and call what i di art, but i would be lying ... i think my art is a gift of inpiration or joy to the viewing ...a gift i may never seen given ..but one i give in honesty and full knowledge that it may not be recognized of generate income of bring fame ...but is a gift all the same.

Stolen Art

I'm not sure why the art heist in paris has gitten so much media coverage, when so much art is stolen every second on the net. Sure the picaso, braque, modigliani and matisse works are worth a lot these days, as museum pieces. The reality is they should be worthless, ok the could earn the thief or indiscreet purchasers a lengthy jail term, while they are at large. The problem I an getting more and more confused about is what is the real vale of art and why is the art creator so unlikely to benefit from its value. The worse problem in my mind is all the direct theft of art, photos, videos and songs because it has been posted on the net. Doesn't the artist deserve something?

I will skip over the question of whether art is also stolen when it is largely copied (plagiarism?)

If you have valuable art and are worried about it being stolen, make sure it is properly photographed (you gallery or agent can help with that) and document it specifically with your insurance and not down the useful web servicw the Art Loss Registry (which lets you register stolen works). It will also let you do additional check up on that "unearthed" Picaso from the guy at the pub!

restlessness

I have become restless in my art ...two things are nagging me about what i see others doing ...the first is fashion and fads, the look at me i'm a celebrity wannabee ..which is just copy/plagiarism in disguise ...and most of all boring ...you don't neeed it to look like a beyoncé or lady gaga film clip ...ok lady gaga is becoming a recycled madonna and single ladies has more than a few dance moves from the Yolngu Zorba Dance ...don't get me wrong there is talent there also but i yearn for more originality in the rest of us

yet I know you need to follow some rules of say composition and sketch a pose that artist and photographers have used many times ... but it works

the second concerns is about colour ...i love colour ...i'm sure you have noticed that ...its just that colour consciousness seems to have left the building ...am I the only one who see the beauty in a purple shadow? perhaps i just need to keep sketching :)


BTW I'm still posting on TwitPics

They say ...

They say that doing too many self portraits is the way to madness ...they sight Rembrandt through to Van Gogh and many more ...well I might have a dutch name but I'm not the slightest bit psychotic ...Ok I keep getting reminded I'm a child with an inflated super ego (them there are harsh words from a professional) ...its justt6hat those self reference things keep cropping up amongst my scratches and doodles ...ok the one below I did waste some time creating on-line. It is supposedly me in the future according to my webface.com ...to be honest it looks nothing like me. It even looks a bit creepy, kind of troll like a photoshopped buddy icon on a dating site, and he is the last sort of bloke I'd even chat with ...little lone draw ...C'est la vie.



Surely there may be some advantages to appearing mad, a little off or not quite the full bottle maybe I'll be left alone. ...alone to create and just do what I want. But then I am reminded by someone who knows these things there is zero benefit in going crazy

“Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively” Voltaire