The Big Canvas – Part 1 – oh an iTunes stinks

Painting_2012-08-24_-_pt_1

Well I have just completed part 1 of the Big Canvas project – paint the canvas background.   I was initially going to roller the whole canvas a very light blue but when I saw how this was working out I thought that was actually better.  By the way it isn’t anything like this blue in real life and there are hints of brown/red as well which were not picked up by the iPhone camera.

Now for today’s Apple related moan. As you may be aware I have moved from Windows to Apple – however the circumstances of this move meant that I wasn’t able to do it in an orderly fashion and of course somethings got lost – one of those was some of the music I had bought off of iTunes.  No problem as you can download all your previous purchase off of iTunes – so I thought.  Well it seems that iTunes hasn’t got one particular album which I bought from them listed and so I can’t do that.  I haven’t got time this morning to sort this out so I am a bit screwed apart from the fact I have most of my songs on my trusty old iPod.  So this is a way around things but why hasn’t iTunes recorded all the albums I have bought from them??

Simon Marchini 

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The Thick Of It (bbc.co.uk)

Oh I just can’t wait.

The Thick Of It
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2012/37/The-Thick-of-It.html

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Measuring Progress

Contactsheet-001

Over the past few months I have posted on this subject a number of times a and I don’t know if a I have still got any answers as to whether I have made progress because I am not sure I know where I am going with my art at the moment.  However, setting this existential problem aside, I have been reexamining some of the paintings that I have made at the art class and I have been pleasantly surprised with what I found.  

None of them are masterpieces but I suspect I have now finally worked out why that might be.  First, this collection of paintings are literally the first I have ever made starting in the top left hand corner; second, and this is probably the most important, I have finally put the works into their rightful context, that is they are, at best, painted sketches.  up until quite recently I have thought that I should be producing completed works in the time provided – for me an impossibility.

So given these qualifications I am quite pleased with me work.  Unfortunately I won’t be able to go to the class this autumn so I have decided to go out with a bit of a bang, I have bought a canvas which is 40inches by 32 inches which will be the largest painting I have ever made.   I suspect I will need to take a deep breath and jump.  I just hope I am not a blubbering wreck by the end of the class tomorrow.

Simon Marchini 

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Watercolour

I’ve been messing about with watercolour and I think I’m starting to get some interesting results. The two images are a before and after and give me ideas on what could be achieved. It also gives me an idea as to what I need to do to improve.

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The things we do on flights

I suppose this is one way to pass the time away on a flight.

Simon Marchini 

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Realistic Ballpoint Pen Drawings – Going viral and what about the copyright?

This morning I had two more post from different blog sites mentioning the incredible work of Samuel Silva – here is one of them.   Again, one can only marvel at the skill level required, for me it is the skin tones – how on earth did he managed to do that?   However, there is another aspect of all this that seems to have been brushed aside – copyright violation.   Now Mr Silva may have taken the photos that most of these drawings were based on but at least one, Scarlet Johansson from the film Girl with a Pearl earring, is copyright and so did Mr Silva get permission to reproduce it?

Of course this is a trivial matter in this circumstance because I am sure the film company wouldn’t  be too bothered about the publicity.  But what if Mr Silva then sells the work for a considerable amount of money then what?   How much royalty/fees would he pay to the film company?  I am sure that he has thought about this, as he appears to be a lawyer.  

I guess this wouldn’t really be a problem in most circumstances as photographs tend to be the starting point for any art work or the final art work doesn’t have a sufficient likeness to be considered a copy of the original.   But in this case this is the USP  of the work and so Mr Silva could land himself in a whole lot bother – should copyright lawyers come sniffing around.

Or maybe not – however, it is a point worth considering.

Realistic Ballpoint Pen Drawings by Samuel Silva
http://machoarts.com/ballpoint-pen-drawing-by-samuel-silva

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Nikon announces Android-powered Coolpix S800c smart Wi-Fi superzoom: Digital Photography Review

The other day I posted a spoof about the iPhone 5 being an SLR – well perhaps it wasn’t that much of a spoof after all.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/08/22/Nikon-announces-gingerbread-Android-p…

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Science doesn’t count in North Carolina

I’m not sure how accurate this story might be but if it is true then it is a poor indictment of the state of local politics in the USA. Thank good we have much more enlightened local politics (ha ha) in the UK!

http://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/north-carolina-enshrine-climat…

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How many condoms will be used … (blogs.channel4.com)

Well I wish them well, I wonder which country will top the condom use table?

How many condoms will be used in the Athlete???s Village at the Paralympics?
http://blogs.channel4.com/paralympics/2012/08/22/how-many-condoms-will-be-used-in-the-athletes-village-at-the-paralympics/

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Amazing Portrait Drawn with ballpoint pens

This is an amazing drawing, simply phenomenal but it does raise the age old question about the artistic worth of reproducing photo realistic art works.  I have no answer to this question other than to say beyond the mind blowing skill you have to ask why?

Amazing Portrait Drawn with Ballpoint Pens by Samuel Silva
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/08/amazing-portrait-drawn-with-ballpoint-pens-by-samuel-silva/

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