Showing posts with label Bad Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bad Art. Show all posts

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Moving rocks with a short-handled shovel.



Dead Thing of the Day


As the years roll on, I find there are fewer and fewer
Outcomes I chase after, fewer and fewer 
Things I give a shit about.
It's mostly all moving rocks
With a short-handled shovel, kid.

(Mostly) All of it. 

Not for the LinkedIn set,
All out to diSrUpt tHe WOrlD,
Save it from itself somehow,
But there you have it.

Rocks.


~




Tuesday, September 17, 2019

It's About Image



Surprised2



He was old and a bit broken down, 
And yet - he had not yet been discarded like 
So many others he knew.
It confused him and made it difficult
For him to concentrate.

He was still serviceable but
He was no longer pretty and one had to be 
Pretty if one wanted to hang around.
Utility had never been a concern here,
Only appearance was valued, and his looks
Were gone long ago.

And yet - here he was.



~






Friday, September 13, 2019

Truly Great



Parker River Wildlife Refuge



THIRTY-FOUR

The great Tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right.
The ten thousand things depend upon it; it holds nothing back.
It fulfills its purpose silently and makes no claim.

It nourishes the ten thousand things,
And yet is not their lord.
It has no aim; it is very small.

The ten thousand things return to it,
Yet it is not their lord.
It is very great.

It does not show greatness,
And is therefore truly great.



Tao Te Jing
Gia Fu Feng Translation


~



Last Days of Summer



Endless Summer


The end of summer is within sight.

A glimpse came yesterday to the Cathedral of the Great Wide World in the form of a fifty-eight degree, breezy afternoon.

Of course, since this is New England, and the sea has not yet frozen, there were several congregants walking the sanctuary without shoes.


The Rind of Summer - Parker River Wildlife Refuge



~




Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Painted Jizos - So Far..



Jizos - Titanium White over Sanded Gesso



The first few steps in the painted Jizo test cohort are done.

To recap:
  • One layer of Liquitex Acrylic Gesso
  • Dried 24 hours
  • Sanded gesso layer with 150 grit sandpaper
  • Wiped clean with microfiber cloth
  • One layer of Windsor & Newton titanium white acrylic.
  • Dried 24 hours
Next:
  • Working from inside out, draw main features with pencil
  • Paint from inside out in layers (like dressing the figure)
Supplies Needed:
  • Detail brush set
  • Flesh tone acrylic paint
  • Assorted colors acrylic paint
  • Dust Mask
Ongoing: 
  • Collecting internet images of 'cartoon' monks
  • Collecting internet images of drawn Jizo
  • Collecting links about painting these kinds of figures
  • Practicing drawing different styles of figures
    • expressions
    • positions
    • attire
Lessons Learned To Date: 
Sanding the gesso layer produces a lot of fine dust - a combination of acrylic gesso and sawdust. Best not to breathe it. Best not to do it in the same room I'm going to paint in. 
I thought that perhaps I should sand the body before the gesso layer, but several sources point to sanding after the gesso has dried. 
Acrylic paint dries really fast. It can be thinned with water.
Windsor & Newton Titanium white is very thick - almost too thick. It could be because it's very old (~ 9 years). Once it's used up - I probably will go with a more economical product.
Learned the difference between a 'bright' and a 'flat' brush..  
  


~



Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Practice




Practice



~



Hurry Slowly



Waiting Jizos


"A student at the monastery says to the teacher, 'Master, if I practice very hard, how long will it take me to achieve enlightenment?" The master replies, "Ten years," and begins to walk off. The student persists, "But how about if I practice very, very, hard?" The master looks him over and replies, "Twenty years." The master picks up his broom and starts to sweep the entryway. The stupefied student continues in the same vein. "What if I practice day and night without ceasing?' "Thirty years." the master answers."


~ Zen Story from "A Hundred-Mile Walk" ~



~




Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Never



Amida



"Force does not work the way its advocates seem to think it does. It does not, for example, reveal to the victim the strength of his adversary. On the contrary, it reveals the weakness, even the panic of his adversary, and this revelation invests the victim with patience. […] The victor can never be the victor: on the contrary, all his energies, his entire life, are bound up in a terror he cannot articulate, a mystery he cannot read, a battle he cannot win—he has simply become the prisoner of the people he thought to cow, chain, or murder into submission."


~ Jame Baldwin ~
"No Name in the Street"



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