Exclusive footage of the the evil empire's leader and his crack band of penguin storm troopers retreat from the rebel forces Lego monster... 
Sent from my iPad
Friday, 30 December 2011
Hitting the Talent Wall
Another day another attempt to get better at something - so here is my latest attempt at a Brushes painting and I have come to realise that there is a talent wall and I have just hit it. I have also realised that the talent wall can be moved further and further back the more you practice and so this is mine at the moment. I hope that I will be able to move it further away as I go on but for now this is as good as I can make things. 
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Thursday, 29 December 2011
Battling with exhaustion
Hyperbole of cause but this is the hardest I have worked on a painting in one session. I have been researching other Brushes painters on line and frankly I am a raw beginner compared to some. But I suppose we all have to start somewhere so here is my first stab at a serious Brushes painting. This took me the best part of 3 hours to complete there are still many things wrong with this which I might try to correct but I am now feeling drained. I think a period reflection is in hand but the first thoughts are that this better than I feared. 
Sent from my iPad
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Getting ready for the concert
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
David Hockney
I'm currently listening to the David Hockney interview on the Start the Week and I thought it would be a great idea to make a quick portrait of Hockney on the iPad. I hope this has Craft and the poetry. 
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Benedict Cumberbatch
This is starting to get like a copy of Radio Times (other listing magazines are available!) but Sherlock returns on Sunday, yipee! 2012 should prove to be a big year for Benedict Cumberbatch as War Horse should propel him into the headlights of Hollywood...however Sherlock takes some beating. I promise this is the last TV listings blog...I think. 
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Sinead Keenan
Not long now before the new series of Being Human is shown. It has been 12 long months but the wait should soon be over. It has a tremendous ensemble cast with the wonderful Sinead Keenan playing the world weary Nina who had werewolfhood given to here by her boyfriend George. Oh the things we do for love! 
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Monday, 26 December 2011
Shake it Out...some iPhoneography
I don't know where this came from but I actually made an iPhoneography image! The Shake It Out ref is from the latest, and possibly best, Florence and the Machine CD. 
One final thing - the iOS spellcheck still doesn't recognise iPhoneography - very strange.
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Can't Take Brushes Seriously
I try and I try but I just find making an image with Brushes a bit of fun. I look at some of the work that some people make with Brushes and I wonder how they are able to do that as I find myself just having fun when using brushes. I know you can do a lot more with the technology but I just don't seem to be able to do this. Take this drawing of Sean Connery. I started out with all good intentions but very soon I lost interest in making a serious sketch and drifted off into the 'fun' territory. I suspect part of the problem is that I find the whole drawing experience when using Brushes so very sterile and cold - there is no organic feed back from screen that you get with paper. 
Sent from my iPad
Sunday, 25 December 2011
Battery LIfe on the iPad
I know this is a well publicised problem but I have noticed that the battery life of my iPad is getting worse. This could be due to the problems brought about by iOS 5, which Apple are supposed to have fixed (and we all believe everything that Apple says don't we) but it might also be because my iPad is now getting old. It is, after all nearly 2 years old and in the fast moving world of consumer technology that is really geriatric. Whatever the reason the battery isn't lasting as long as it did before.
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Inspired by Hockney
Well it is Christmas and what should you do? Well I was looking through the free (?) Sunday Times this morning and found a video by Hockney talking about his iPad drawings and so I felt like making one myself. This is just a 10 minute bit of fun and is based on Duke Ellington although whether it is a reasonable likeness is irrelevant - it is a bit of fun nothing more which is what art should be even though those of us who try to create 'art' find the creative process, at times, as far from 'fun' as you can get. This is actually totally over the top statement but what the heck. 
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Thursday, 22 December 2011
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
I suppose this is almost fame?
I have been getting some strange hits on Flickr page for the attached Pete Rose sketch. I couldn't understand why this was until I did a bit of digging and found if you Google the term 'Pete Rose diving into third base' this is the first image that appears on Google Images. Fame at last!?!????
Simon Marchini
Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Dr Who sketches
Just been messing about in Brushes and came up with these quick sketches 
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Monday, 19 December 2011
Troubled Hollywood starlet
This is a better photo of the oil pastel drawing/painting (I never know where drawing ends and painting begins?) and I am still quite pleased with the result. It is not how I would want the final painting(?) to look like but as a stepping stone to something better then I am more than satisfied. 
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Sunday, 18 December 2011
The Sneezing Baby Panda
It's silly I know but what the heck
Check out this video on YouTube:
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Troubled Hollywood Starlet
This is the latest in the development project I am working on over the holidays. This is a mixed media painting of ink, professional marker pen and oil pastels and as I write this I am really quite pleased with the result. The image here doesn't really do the final result justice as there is a blue cast to the colour. Nonetheless it would seem that the project is starting to pay dividends. 
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Dr Who theme
I seem to have a bit of a Dr Who theme running this weekend. Here is a rather scary Catherine Tate aka Donna Noble. 
Sent from my iPad
Dr Who?
I made this sketch last night after having a really great lunch with my brother and his wife...not sure why that might have effected my drawing but it did. 
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Friday, 16 December 2011
Doodling in the museum
I'm having a coffee and doodling in the Leicester museum and art gallery...there are worst ways to spend the morning! 
I'm on line at:
www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.posterous.com
I hope you enjoy
Moulon Rouge sketch
At the same time as watching the Kylie show I switched over to the Moulon Rouge film during the break and made this sketch. 
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What and incredible show
Last night I watched the Kylie live concert on Sky and whilst it was the gayest show I have seen in a long time it was also such a wonder feast for the eye it almost made me wish I had 3D TV. Everything was produced on an outlandish scale that seem to be inversely proportional to the diminutive Ms Minogue. Great TV.
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Thursday, 15 December 2011
iPad and SimCity
Having just read my last post it struck me how much things have changed since I first owned SimCity ... Perhaps the best way to show this change is to note that I am writing about SimCity on my iPad, which by the way has SimCity as part of its spellcheck.
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Blast from the past
I'm just installing SimCity 3000 on my computer and it really is a blast from the past. The interface is so 1990's, which as we all know is like something from the dark ages. Let's hope that the game is just as retro.
Sent from my iPad
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Troubled Hollywood Starlet
This is the second stab at this drawing and I think it is better. I have a cunning plan over the Christmas break...I'm doing to work on this one drawing again and again in an effort to develop a number of skills. Well that's the plan and I wouldn't place too much credence in me sticking to it! 
Sent from my iPad
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Duke of Edinburgh
I have been inspired by a painting I saw of the D of E. In truth this is the first drawing I am happy with...however the frustrating things that this is not what I want as I was using the painting as a means to develop my pastel skills. However that is the way things go I suppose. 
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Saturday, 10 December 2011
Making a mess
Well I am still feeling a bit under the weather....now I am getting dizzy spells - deep joy! Anyway it has given me a chance to experiment with soft pastels. I tried this in the early part of the year and made a real mess of things, both artistically and in reality. I had a set of VERY soft pastels and unfortunately I didn't have the correct control to make the most of them. Now almost 12 months on it is time to have another go, this time with slightly harder 'soft' pastels and this was the result. Now this isn't quite as big an artistic mess as the first time I tried this out but I still managed to make quite a bit of mess Using the pastels! 
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Muppets and Frank
I was watching this and noticed that the banner ad from YouTube/Google was from Frank, the drugs abuse counselling service...is there a connection?
Simon Marchini
Friday, 9 December 2011
Making Progress No 2
These are final drawings from the first and last session of the life drawing course and this really does show the problems at measuring progress in an artistic endeavour. The drawing on the left has a number of faults but has an interest due to its simplicity of line and form. The one on the right marks a transitional point in my artistic career and as such is not really the culmination of five weeks work but rather a stepping stone to something new. Nonetheless it does mark significant progress even if the actual colour needs a lot of work...in fact the photo makes the drawing look better than it does in real life. 
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Measuring Progress No 1
This is the first of two images that try and record the progress I have made during a five week life drawing class. As with all things artistic progress is a very wooly concept open to interpretation, personal taste and experience. The drawing session usually involved 3 or 4 drawings and this shows no 3 in each session. The drawing on the right is from the first week and one on the left is from the last and I think it is far to say there is a difference and I would say progress. 
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Wednesday, 7 December 2011
"Tight schedule" forced ban on DSLRs, says London Transport Museum [update] - British Journal of Photography
This must go under the...'I just don't believe it...'
http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2130486/-tight-...
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Monday, 5 December 2011
The Cafe - Sky1 HD
This is just a wonderfully underplayed series where not a great deal happens yet the characters are so well observed that you can't wait for the next episode. http://sky1.sky.com/sky1hd-shows/the-cafe
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Now I've got a cold
Oh it never rains until it pours - I think I've got a cold. Actually I suspect it is a variation of the bug/virus thing I have been suffering from over the past few weeks. So I'm spending my time messing around with Brushes...here's my latest mess about 
Sent from my iPad
An exhausted drawing
I knocked this up after a long day driving...I was knackered. 
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Sunday, 4 December 2011
Jingle bell jingle bell jingle bell jing
The view from the restaurant ...10 minutes ago this was almost a white out. Going south in a couple of hours - makes me feel like a snow goose. 
I'm on line at:
www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.posterous.com
I hope you enjoy
Saturday, 3 December 2011
Sir Thomas Moore
Copying a master does help you to understand his genius. So it is with this weak approximation of Holbein's drawing of Sir Thomas Moore. It is based on the original I saw at the Holyrood exhibition this afternoon...well worth a trip to Edinburgh just to see...however it closes on the 15th January next year so not much longer to catch it. 
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Inspired by Holbein
There is something wonderful about the work of Hans Holbein the younger and the exhibition at the Queens Gallery in Edinburgh truly does justice to his genius. This inspired me to create this drawing. 
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Friday, 2 December 2011
Colour photographs of fashion, 1940s, by John Rawlings
This is the most amazing series of fashion images I have seen. The most surreal aspect about them is that they were made in the 1940's. Eat your heart out Rankin!
http://www.retronaut.co/2011/08/john-rawlings-1940s-colour-fashion-shots/
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Corner Portraits, by Irving Penn
A wonderful series of Penn's work. http://www.retronaut.co/2011/09/corner-portraits-by-irving-penn/
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35+ Figurative & Expressive Oil Paintings
A great series of paintings...the only down side is that there are too many...after a while they tend to loose their impact
35+ Figurative & Expressive Oil Paintings
http://www.hybridlava.com/artwork/35-figurative-expressive-oil-paintings/
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Sent from Zite personalized magazine iPad app.
Available for free in the App Store.
www.zite.com
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First of the day
Having woken at just after five I decided there was nothing more to be done by trying to go back to sleep so I decided to experiment with another brushes drawing or should that be painting? 
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Thursday, 1 December 2011
Brushes Painting
Having just looked at the version of the Brushes drawing I posted I am not sure it is the best version...here is the original it was based on 
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In the clearing stands the boxer....
The words of the Simon & Garfunkel song came to mind when I look at this...it is all the more apt as the drawing was based on Steve Bruce who has just been fired by Sunderland...and he carries a reminder of every fight that fought on his face.... It really is conducive to the creative process sitting in the bar of the hotel as this is one of the most interesting Brushes drawings I have made. 
Sent from my iPad
Messing about in the bar
After a long drive what better than messing about with brushes in the bar of the hotel? Well nothing really - certainly beats working for a living! 
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Room with a view
Just arrived at Edinburgh and what a view! Actually the room is very comfortable and should be fine. 
I'm on line at:
www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.posterous.com
I hope you enjoy
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