Friday, September 24, 2010

why redirected?

so........ figured my main blog was was getting a little "cluttered" so decided to start "chopping" it up into little bits dealing with the separate issues... that way you guys can "follow" only the bits your interested in

my "main blog"

http://exper-e-mental.blogspot.com/
dedicated to bipolar... and my life in general
(and currently is where most my followers are)

my "poetry blog"
http://wid0wsweb.blogspot.com/
just what it says on the label ;-)

or my "arts and crafts blog"
http://mitch-arts.blogspot.com/
 dealing with ... surprise surprise arts crafts and anything in my life dealing with such matters

so far

so this is as far as iv gotten on these projects so far
please bear in mind these are works in progress
although...
if left to myself they are liable to remain "in progress" for ever, or until some one rips the paint brush out of my hand and screams "back away from the painting" at me
(see earlier posts for earlier phases)

***

my Ethereal Myst
who is just a "pretty" and isnt really meant to portray bugger all beyond
"help i need to paint to live and cant help myself i have to doodle"

guess its best i first show you the concept "sketch"

which yes was "sketched" in paint...

does she not count as a real painting? .... no.
why not? ..... because i said so...because i wanted "more" ;-)  


rather bizarrely enough, below is the version of Ethereal Myst i am working on now, its shot from two different angles...
(yes i cheated and "squared up" the second one its as seen from at quarter rather than a head on)

you cant really see the heavy textured fabric on the photo siiigh




isnt it bizarre the transformation that a different angle will make, catch that effect from out of the corner of your eye its it looks like shes jumping off the canvas 


########################################


ahhhh now this one im working on i do consider art though many might disagree with me...
portrait of pain

first the concept


and now, finally the painting as its progressing....



explanation....i have some health problems

this is a portrayal of how the pain from those problems feel
(a nice short and sweet explanation huh )

i really cant wait to finish her so i can hang her i know some might look at her and think ... W.T.F but im actually quite excited by her... the arch of the body as the pain bursts forth from her, almost as if in supplication to death its self, pain radiating, constricting, binding her to it in an all consuming manner

yes i know im strange but hell you didnt know that already?

*********************************
ahh White Hot Pain...
 so nearly done.. im having a love hate relationship with it at the moment
one second i like the next i loath, i think over all im kinda liking her.. but im running out of wall space fast so not sure if she will "make the grade"
yea yea i should get off my arse and sell some more... but hell it makes me feel like a hooker
and i just totally hate that side of things...besides .. these are my "babys" ;-)

the concept (which i designed through various filters and masks on the paint shop pro program) ...

the explanation...
a depiction of the despair, isolation, horror of spousal abuse... proud defiance mixed with sad acceptance of the situation for which she believes there is no escape.. restrained by the bonds of "duty", a belief that this is her lot and that she "deserves" it...
her life's view discolored, distorted by a lack of self worth and acceptance 
this is i hasten to add not my current situation ;-)
err ok so i did more and messed up because i prefer the above version


***************
sorry folks another depressing one ;-) dealing with ... yep you got it
isolation, loneliness... that sinister feeling of a haunting presence around you

the woods...

the concept



errrr k i attacked this one again too so now it looks more like this

i think i might change it back

***************************************************
ok
this is just a silly piece of nonsense that i did purely because i needed a break from real stuff ;-)

it is, of course "LIFE"





***************************************

So
did i ever mention how much i hate portraits ..
this has been the source of much frustration, swearing and self berating




O.M.G Stephen i totally did not mean to thump you in the eye like that... i guess i was just getting frustrated and angry at my own inability to get the portrait right ;-)

 .. guess ill fix that next, its really not that dark around the eye "off photo" very odd



still its an improvement on the previously posted versions of him dont you think ?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

more insanity

so





as you know iv been kinda lost within the realms of painting






being bipolar this means iv got several underway and i pretty much hop between them all
bit here bit there... variously enjoying my self, and totally trashing the house
(no not out of temper tantrums when one doesnt go the way i want, just general mess with paint cans drop cloths and so forth which im too busy painting to pick up,)


the "living room" is currently in the process of being buried under several "drying" canvases....
the "dinning area" is basically covered in a giant drop cloth and looks like a bad accident in a paint factory






ahhh but the bed room is clear i hear you say? well no, i live in an efficiency apartment
(i like the price and generally when im not painting its small enough for me to keep moderately tidy no matter how my health is on any given week),
we do though have a bedroom sized alcove  .. however i ran out of floor and table space so currently the bed is also drop clothed and im sprawled across it painting "fine detail"




so....


whoo hoo yea im one of the few woman thats actually had stephen fry in bed with her :-) well on the bed at least..





and if that werent enough..... due to the fact im

1 a hermit,
2 its just my latest victim and me here,
3 paint is pain in the ass or impossible to get out of clothes
4 ok 3 is just an excuse cuz i just like padding about my place nude.... but 3 it still is kinda valid

5 ohh and my new great excuse our A/C is busted





any way that all means not only do i got stephen fry in/on bed with me but i be only in my birthday suit too .... poor fella lol

(just as well he dont read this... poor sod would be blushing to his roots ;-) )





so....
nude with stephen is ok ...





but ...
nude with "portrait of pain" not so hot....

(still have some ways to go on this yet)
you see... this particular one requires mini barbed wire,

 which i constructed sitting cross legged on my bed.... however there was a bit of bad news......
im kinda absent minded so i kinda laid it aside then promptly forgot where





good news .... i found it





bad news ..... as barbed wire, mini or not, it really really works well .. "ouch"





so i can really accurately report that making mini barbed wire is in fact a pain in the ass

and i have the punctures and scratches to prove it

##################################





having poured my heart and soul and many, many, (wo)man hours into


the paintings im working on now ... such as ..,



please bear in mind these are works in progress

as well of course as the main (kinda when i can b bothered) project of
yea hes not looking so hot again .. ohh well
i will fix him

any way i decided after all the frustrating heart felt hours of painting to "mess around"
with a foil technique
which was simply tearing up foil slapping it on a board, and then throwing torn up tissue over it, then messing about with some pastel and varnish.. 
closer to kinder garden than high art lol

kinda no brainer quickly, lets pass time and give the brain a rest, just have fun, sorta thing

anyway including the time spent a drying couple hours of messing resulted in ...

this

which my latest victim quickly proclaimed as his favourite "piece" that i was working on

W.T.F

hours and hours of blood, sweat, tears, frustration spent on the others
meaning hidden in every weave of the canvas,every careful application of the paint, the shading
thought out from every angle, and the care in the composition

and yer favourite is ....
basically
the trash left over from making from last weeks turkey, and the contents of shoebox

 

what can i say
you
PHILISTINE
lmbo ...

nah im glad he likes it but sheeese lol
times i just want to pack up my paints and call it a draw on art (no pun intended)
###################################


So

After flogging myself over the fact i hated the direction stephens pic was going
i pretty much reworked the entire facial paint layer using oil paint and pastel
then blending them in

this resulted in this.....


p.s ..

no i wasnt reenacting a scene from the da vinci code and breaking out the barbed wire from earlier,
i was purely and only mentally flogging myself and howling at my own inadequacy's... i think it did the trick though i figure its improved vastly

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

progress

so
 if you followed a link from my main blog there is nowt new on this post for you...
further updates will be added soon though

but
if you are new here....
hey there, welcome to my arts and crafts
section

my main blog can be found


and it covers


and pretty much anything else i can think of at the time
now on with the blog
###############
 decided i needed some practice at portraits....
(and boy do i)
didnt have a subject to sketch so thought sod it stephen fry (some one i admire) was all over twitter today in folks comments


so the poor sod was picked as my test subject

which (me being so rusty at portraits) meant that
i spent the next 3 or 4 hours swearing at the photo, sketch and life in general
now my throat is sore, my eyes are falling out their sockets and bloody sketch still no where near completion
infact im thinking bout saying bugger it and just using the sketch for dart practice instead of portrait practice
my latest victim ran away on pretext of grocery shopping and buying me a new eraser...
i think i scared him
so .. this is as far as i got... i may finish it as a sketch i may finish it as a painting, i might finish it as a dart board who the hell knows




sorry stephen


four fucking hours of hell
i remember why i hate portraits now...

any way
figured i might post a progression up
(if i decided finish it)
might be interesting to compare the different stages
(of either sanity or the sketch you choose)
some might find the process interesting, so ill try and stay honest

and yes i am aware that currently the sketch look as as though stephen is attempting a drag queen look but im hoping to fix that later, fer now im going to medicate

###########################
so i meant to lay down for a bit but.... well hell what can i say
im legally insane

#################################
about an hour or so later

i attacked stephen with the new eraser
(yep my latest victim dared to venture back to the house)
(and yes i know eraser is cheating, but guess what....)
(i dont fucking care...)
(well ok i do care and im silent beating myself up ok happy now),
any way then i did a bit more sketching and with a lot less swearing and this time hopefully less drag queen effect.


what do you mean you cant see any difference???
damn it i can see heaps of differences
that was an hours bloody work

still more to do though
eye is still funky for a start as is the hand

hmm to colour or not to colour? what do you reckon?
course i should done it in sepia if i was going to colour it but ohh well
#############################
hmm other eye is off too, and shoulders set incorrectly, nose and right ear need work
(right ear a lot of work, looks like hes gone vincent on us huh)
i need sleep
###########################
and for those of you wondering why im so critical of my stuff
 its because these following works make me look like a 3 year old that got into the crayon box

i look at my stuff and see how badly mine compares to a true artist


they inspire, haunt, and torment me.
(probably laugh at me too)
though that might be the bipolar talking


bet they didnt need an eraser fer a cruddy penny sketch

so other than being the proverbial dogshit on the shoe of true artist of such calibre...

i strive to do the best i can with my "crayon box"

well shit this blog might well be relevant to bipolar yet ;-)

########################################

Oh I Should Mention Its Stephen Frys Birthday Today
so happy birthday wishes going out to him poor buggers stuck working on his special day :-( 
but doesnt seem to mind so ...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR STEPHEN FRY
(yea im doing the scary fan thing) 
heres to you on your day
id say bottoms up but there again it can be taken entirely the wrong way;-)


well hey they say its the thought that counts
(rest assured im doing more corrections on it)
############################################




errr me finks i went to far and overworked it... said id be honest so bugger it heres how i messed up the sketch with a further half an hour of work
(which will probably take several hours to repair lol)
poor sods going to end up haveing a hole in the paper where eyes should be




ohhh.. actually seeing it along side others maybe didnt screw it up as much as i thought


thinking of taking up self flagellation figured its less tortuous than attempting art
pass the cilice



really really hoping that one of these interviews for my fella works out or ill have to turn to portraits again for income AAARRRrrrrrrggghhhh

#####################################



so whilst studiously avoiding doing more on the portrait i did manage to start turning some of those design sketches into paintings, going for my usual heavy texture, so they are not going to photograph well but ohh well, early days so far but got them this far





the initialization of the woods, slowly getting there


might be getting to the phase where i cant see the woods for the trees


finally got around to starting this one near a year after it was designed
ok this was a painting but i wanted a higher texture version. so this is how far i brought this during avoidance



might be called ethereal myst but she will always be my
funky fairy


computerized design, slowly becoming a high textured variation

















did do a painted study of this one before but damned if i can find it for now
#####################################################


so another half an hours half assed sketching
and surprisingly little screaming and i get from
here




to here



and if you say you dont see a difference i might possibly burn it

and another few minutes work for the beginning of colour



flash to a cut scene and some speeded up special effects
(all of which are way to expensive for me)
and surprise surprise im back to swearing and thinking of darts
though granted that may just be down to getting tired








so my latest victim is screaming at me
"BACK AWAY FROM THE PICTURE"
and other polite phrases such as
"PUT THE FUCKING PASTEL DOWN"
as of yet though he hasnt rugby tackled me to the floor so i figure im still good to go





still see a lot of faults so i think i can take this further





i seriously can see steam erupting from my latest victims ears
hmm
i might well wake up in the morning to find the pastels hidden or padlocked
guess we shall see





##################################
so things were getting to the point that the paper was getting over worked, and seeing as i am primarily a painter i decided to risk a varnish spray, both to protect the paper and so that i might add addition detail with out turning into a complete basket case of nerves ;-)
note how the spray exaggerates any paper damage (nose and hand)

not to worry though because (now its sprayed) we can "fix" that with a little wet and dry and some over painting



or we can just leave it and let every one think that stephen has the worlds biggest pimple half way up his nose.
#######################################
migraine stops play fer couple days sorry

#########################


ok so finally migraines subsided enough to paint,



sorry stephen but i took some time off you and decided to do more on the others



(the clue to the necessity of this came when i found myself doodling with a paint shop program instead of actually painting)



(no offense stephen it was more a comment on my work not you personally, im not throwing lightning bolts at ya honest, just at the painting and areas im least happy with )

Any Way

finding myself screaming "why the hell arnt you finished yet" at them...  i decided to paint along to the following tune











It seemed to fit my current mood quite nicely


this is as far as iv gotten on this concept so far.......hope i caught the texture good enough to give you an idea... (on the final five minuets of work on her i was referring to her as that fucking fairy rather than the friendlier funky fairy so i figured it was time to move on to the next)


####################


and this far on this one

im begining to wish id used the textured woven canvas fer this one
"The Woods" isnt irritating me as much as the others

####################

from computer generated concept to canvas interpretation (yes im changing some aspects of it)

still a fair amount to go on this one but the light is at the end of the tunnel as they say..

(bloody dumb @$$ saying that that doesnt actually help me feel closer to finishing it)
finding myself toying with the idea of doing a glow in the dark version just to creep folk the fuck out when it gets dark

#########################

and finally portrait of pain
or as she is currently called portrait pain in the arse, the high textured back ground really did seem a good idea at the time
now...
err not so good
sure as hell makes it damned difficult to add detail
got to say though i still kinda like the way shes progressing

#####################

so finaly reaching the correct mind frame of

that brings us to right here and now
and the problem of the huge assed zit/scab forming on poor stephens nose..
(not on stephens actual nose i hasten to add, just the paper damage)
time for me to stop procrastinating and fix the damage on the paper around the nose, neck, lips and hand huh

doesnt look too bad huh, barely discernible i hear you cry, err yea sure thing... that is right up until you look closer and put the lights on...at which point you see this.............

OMG Stephen did you start shaving with a rotary lawn mower? or did a vampire attack you?

now whilst we cant resolve this issue with some clearasil and a tube of chap stick.....
we do get to have some fun attacking poor stephen with some wet and dry
 (hmm when mentioned in the same breath as stephen fry wet and dry suddenly sounds so insidiously perverted hmm )

once the errant areas are reduced a little i can then over glaze with a translucent white
.........................
FINGERS CROSSED THIS WORKS

########################

poor stephen and his scabby nose,

i fear i lack the skill.



or is it just this apathy that keeps the paint brush still....


Look Ma Nae Pimple

also started turning from a sketch to a painting

hmmm wonder how far ill take this