The real Pretty Woman

In truth this a sketch of Julia Roberts from pretty woman - however it got away from me a little but I think it is he better for that...perhaps this what the real character might well have looked like rather than the stunningly beautiful Ms Roberts.

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Blade runner and Tron experience

I am having an out of body experience at the moment...I'm watching American football on the red zone whilst listening to Daft Punk's Tron music on the iPad. At times it seems like I am in game when music syncs with action...very strange.

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Tron

A bit of an up and down day...still I enjoyed making this Dude drawing. Tron Legacy is one of the silliest films made in a while yet it does have certain charm - even if it is all gloss and very little substance.

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Hallaton Hoard conference

Well this is a first - I'm attending an archaeological conference... I wonder what will be the outcome?

I'm on line at:

www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.posterous.com

www.simonmarchini.co.uk

I hope you enjoy

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Nude Man

I have decided that it is time to draw more than just the face. This is a bit a wrench for me as I started this whole art adventure wanting just to be able to capture a likeness. Well I think I am well on the way to achieving that goal, now I want to draw the whole body. It is hard work starting to get a handle on the exact proportions and their relationship with one another and if I am honest I am not too happy with the results. However, you have to start somewhere and if the last 12 or so months has taught me anything...if at first you don't succeed try, try again!

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Catherine Tate

No 2 of the sick bed series...actually that makes it sound as if I was quite ill - I wasn't but why let the truth get in the way of a good story? Why indeed.

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Meg Ryan

I've had a bit of a cold for the last day or so so it has meant that I have been able to enjoy myself sketching. Here is the latest creation - Meg Ryan in her prime...however like us all her prime is slowly fading into middle age...oh the joys of life.

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Hugh Laurie

Not an an animal portrait apart from, of course, we are all animals!

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Giraffe

Next one in the series

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Chimpanzee

Another in the animal portrait series...series ha ha...just something I am doing at the moment.

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Cheetah's Spots

So how do you draw the spots on a Cheetah? I am not sure I know the answer. I know this sounds a stupid question but it is an important one for me. Recently I have started to make generic animal portraits, such as this cheetah drawing. This is just for fun and so the question is just how far do I go with the reality? I love the cleanness of the lines of this cheetah and I feel that any attempt to add spots might distract from this - but a cheetah with out spots is, well not a cheetah. Yet does this matter? I don't know - what I do know is that I like the sleek lines of this wonderful creature and I think I will leave this as it is - minus spots.

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iCloud and Audiobooks

Don't believe the hype - iCloud doesn't seem to work with audiobooks.   In principle you buy music on one iCloud registered product, such as an iPad, and it should appear on all of your other machines, such as and iPhone, iPod etc.  However this doesn't appear to apply to audiobooks as I bought one this morning on my iPad expecting it to appear on my iPhone but it didn't.  So it would seem for some unknown reason audiobooks are outside of the iCloud regime.   I suspect part of  the reason may be bandwidth - most audiobooks are huge, the latest George RR Martin book I down loaded was over 1 GB in size and this would effect a lot WiFi hotspots.  Whatever the reason this doesn't seem to be mentioned by Apple when plugging the benefits of the iCloud.
 

Simon Marchini 

Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk

Blog: http://simonmarchini.posterous.com/

Fotos:http://www.flickr.com/photos/Guthlac

Twitter: http://twitter.com/@simonmarchini

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Elephant

I've been taking my art too seriously over the past few days and in truth it is getting annoying so it was just nice to sit down for ten minutes and knock together a little sketch of an elephant - none of the pressures, self inflicted I'm afraid, to make the likeness just so. Instead it was just for the joy of drawing... And now 'never forget' has just come on the iPod by Take That...suddenly it all seems to fit together. God I am ...well you fill in the gap!

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Autumn

Just a quick thought - one week to go and it will be November and yet the roses in the garden are still blooming - we live in crazy mixed up times.

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Penguin

So what exactly has a penguin chick got to do with iOS 5? Well nothing actually but I just like this drawing I made. Having lived now with iOS 5 for a few days I am starting to understand how it works and it is true it is a lot better than the previous incarnation. Whether it is better than any other OS out there is not really the issue. iOS 5 is more about consolidating Apple's hold on its customer base rather than innovation.

I understand that the new iPhone 4S is flying off the shelves despite its lukewarm reception from the geekology who view products that don't have 20 new amazing features as an utmost failure. Apple have contributed to this by their outlandish hyping of their products. If you ever listen to the late Steve Jobs talk you would think that he had a very limited vocabulary centred around the word amazing. In truth the new iPhone builds on the real power behind the Apple success - iTunes or to put it another way - it consolidates - another unword to some of the Apple fan boys. This is not a particularly radical observation but it true nonetheless. You could not have the success of the app word without iTunes and without the apps then smartphones are well, not that smart.

Viewed from this position then iCloud is the next logical step whereby you can integrate more of your life with Apple and iTunes. Which is why it is surprising that Apple haven't found a way of integrating all the AppleID's - perhaps one day but it really makes it confusing when you update to iOS 5 and put in the wrong ID, as I did, and then find you can't buy anything from iTunes because you haven't used your iTunes AppleID.

After all this nonsense it brings me back to the penguin...

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iOS 5 updated

Well I have done it and it looks a lot more stable than the other day with the iPad ... This is the first photo taken using the volume button - much better way of doing things.

I'm on line at:

www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.posterous.com

www.simonmarchini.co.uk

I hope you enjoy

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iPhone iOS 5 update

Shofar so good...seems to be lot quicker than the iPad Sent from my iPad

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iOS 5 on the iPhone

Just about to upgrade the iPhone to iOS 5 - wish me luck!?! Sent from my iPad

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Getting annoyed with iOS 5

Perhaps I have short fuse these days but this so called simple update to iOS 5 is anything but ... the back up is now taking a lot longer - almost as bad as the early days... if anyone should read this - don't update to iOS 5 for a few weeks. Hopefully Apple might have worked out the glitches!

I'm on line at:

www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.posterous.com

www.simonmarchini.co.uk

I hope you enjoy

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iOS 5 - a bit hit and miss

I am in the process of updating to iOS 5 and at the moment it is a bit hit and miss. My MobileMe doesn't seem to work with the calendar and due to '...high demand we are temporarily limiting the numbers of user moving from MobileMe to iCloud...' so the message says on MobileMe. Deep joy - I thought apple systems just worked seamlessly, actually I know this isn't the case. I decided to update my iPad first just because I thought that. iChat be the case - I think my iPhone will wait a while! I suspect that Stephen Fry's iPhone / iPad etc were updated by Apple especially whilst we of the great unwashed will have to weight a while to get the 'amazing' iCloud and iOS 5 working correctly.

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Frank Skinner

A bit of fun - a combination of real world drawing and brushes - I like this.

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SONY NEX 5N - an unwitting tribute to Steve Jobs

In one of those strange juxta positions that history throws up I received my new Sony NEX5N camera on the day that it was announced that Steve Jobs died. On the face of it there would appear to be no connection but to me the user of the camera and ipad,used to write this, ipods etc the connection became very clear as the day wore on.

Most of my recent technological purchases have been from Apple and I have got used to them just working. An example of this would the wireless keyboard I am using with my iPad - switch it on and away you go - what could be simpler.

Now I know what I am about to say is an unfair comparison but I am going to make it. Getting the camera to work properly was a nightmare by comparison. It was almost like the old days of the PC set up, restart and reset were the names of the game. You can just image what Jobs would have made of the process. Just switch it on, plug it in or connect by WiFi to your computer or cloud service and within 5 minutes you would be up and running.

The way that the camera works would also have been radically different as well. The camera has a touch screen about the same size as the iphone and so it is far to compare how the two function. With the iphone there is a clear vision with the NEX5N it is all menus and sub menus and so on. Once you get the camera to work it is a fine machine and promises to be a first rate purchase it is just the usability is so poor when compared to the iphone, which by the way is a camera as well as a phone etc.

So this is my tribute to Steve Jobs a clear giant of the 21st century, remember Apple only really took off when the ipod was launched so it is far to claim that he is a man of the 21st century. A man who ensured that the mass market computer products were both things of beauty , functional, desirable and probably most important for Apple, profitable. He will be missed in oh so many ways and other technology companies still have a long way to go before they are able to produce functioning products to the same standard as those Jobs helped deliver to the world.

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Amazon’s Kindle Fire: A tablet... (thenextweb.com).

This is an interesting comparison between the the iPad and the Kindle.   I guess the killer app with all these things is iTunes / Amazon.   This means seamless shopping - especially as they are now enveloping cloud computing.   

Can't wait to see what the iPad 3 looks like.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire: A tablet more dangerous to Android than iPad
http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2011/09/29/amazons-kindle-fire-a-tablet-more-dangerous-to-android-than-ipad/?awesm=tnw.to_1B3I8

---
Sent from Zite personalized magazine iPad app.
Available for free in the App Store.
www.zite.com

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Work in progress

I'm taking a breather from my latest drawing of the latest model at the portrait drawing course I am attending. I find the conditions in the classroom less than conducive to producing my best work - too many people and interruptions and if truth be known not enough time to really get stuck into producing something interesting. So I work in the class but also make some photographs that I can refer to after the class. Another thing you don't get in the class is time to take a breather and look at what you have produced - although I suspect that is more to do with me than the constraints of the class. Now to put the kettle on and then scream when I see all the faults I have yet to address.

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Another Version

Here's one I made earlier - this one is more of a likeness I suppose.

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Book Published

A day late but I have now published my latest book.  If you wish to view it then go to:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/2004849/2f1f67de3a042317ae788b1a825fd7f2ac07873f
 

Simon Marchini 

Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk

Blog: http://simonmarchini.posterous.com/

Fotos:http://www.flickr.com/photos/Guthlac

Twitter: http://twitter.com/@simonmarchini

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I ain't no Einstein

Over the past few weeks I have become more interested in tone rather than likeness. I have been told many times that the mind creates an image and in many ways the more you leave out the better for the mind. So I have been looking at shapes and tones within the face and their relationship to one another than striving for a likeness. This has been a very frustrating week so far for me. I started my new art course this week and the work I produced there was appalling. I spent much of Tuesday trying to exercise the frustration built up which fortunately I was able to do. In the process I reexamined a book I had bought some time ago discussing the power of tonal value in a drawing - especially when trying to capture the likeness. As with many things in life some of it made sense and others I will have to think about but there is no doubt that may development is starting to move in new directions. One final thing. I have completed my latest photo book - this time of my drawings. Today I intend to send it to Blurb to publish - lets hope it works out ok.

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Remembering times past and futures to come

It is so strange to hear cutting edge programmes from the past discussing the future and realising that no one really has any idea what is going to happen over the long term. I was listening to a podcast from the archive of In Our Time, one of my favourite radio programmes. This one dated back to early 2000 and was discussing the future of information technology. Bragg was talking to two people who had just written a book on the subject, one with a pessimistic view of the future and one with an optimistic one. The most striking thing was that neither understood how the world would change over the next ten years. One example illustrates this:
In 2000 200 million people had a computer. Now over 500 million people are a member of Facebook alone - something that wouldn't come along for another 3 half years. Neither even mentioned the new driving force in information technology - mobile access to the internet/communication.

So what to draw from all this? Well I suppose the only thing is to realise is that when someone says that something is bound to happen you have just as much chance the opposite happening - a really good example is the latest 'rouge' trader. Banks would have us believe that all their bad habits are in the past and then guess what - they're not - yet we still listen to these people.

That felt better. Anyway, why the drawing of Dominic West? Well last week he portrayed a really evil man - Fred West (no relation to Dominic) - and as I was drawing this this morning something struck me. You might never be able to predict the future with any degree of certainty but you can always be sure that there will be evil in the world. Now there is a gloomy thought to end on.

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Baby you're a rich man

Having just watched The Social Network again I can't get 'Baby you're a rich man' by the Beatles out of my head, in fact it is playing at the moment as I am typing this. Anyway, a question for Facebook - why haven't you developed an ipad app yet? I have the iphone app but this is really clunky when using the ipad.

Anyway, the drawing...just did this by eye rather than using the Colestream method..I like it...hope someone else might.

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Cartoon Drawing

I thought I would try to be a little freer with my drawing today so I tried to make a cartoon sketch - it is harder than i thought.

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Untitled - No Hash Mark

As I came to write this I have discovered that the Apple keyboard doesn't have a hash mark key. I am sure that there must be a way of creating such a mark but I am not aware of that at the moment . Interesting.

The reason why I have called this Untitled is that I am currently working on my next book entitled Untitled. This is the default heading for all drawings etc created in Brushes and I thought I would use this. The book will be a collection of digital images of my drawings created by using the iPhone, iPad and Brushes. I find the process interesting because it is a away to measure my development over the past 12 months. Hopefully it will be completed in a week or so. As they say...watch this space...

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Russian people

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Keira Knightley

Over the past few days I have been working on a whole assortment of little projects, preparing a selection of prints for a forth coming exhibition, research into the iron age buying a new pair of shoes - the list goes on and on. One of the things I have been neglecting is the sketching I so enjoy. Well I have started to concentrate on this again with a series of drawings of Keira Knightley based on screen shots from perhaps her best movie to date, The Duchess (That is, of course if you discount The Bill or Phantom Menace - this is a joke BTW).

One of the advantages of the screen shot is that you can really examine the face and try different approaches to try and capture something interesting. IT isn't like drawing from life but rather a forensic examination of one person's face - the line of the check bone, the relationship of the eyes to the nose and so on. This allows you time to really get to know the face of one person in one instance in time. It matters not that the person is nothing like this in real life it is just the capture of that moment. For me the problem I had was with jaw line - Ms Knightly has a wonderfully pronounced jaw line and trying to capture this was always a problem. I'm not sure I have managed that yet but this is a start.

I am using the Apple wireless keyboard to type this and it is so much more enjoyable than the on screen keyboard...so top tip ... if you have an iPad get a keyboard they become so much more useful things and the Apple keyboard is such a dream to use. Anyway, that is enough of my rambling on - another advantage of the keyboard.

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Keyboard and the Duke of Wellington

I had such a good idea the other day - why not use my ipad for research purposes over the autumn period? It is so much lighter than my lap top and would allow to do most of the things that I would do with my laptop. There was only one draw back - using the on screen keyboard is next to useless for serous typing. The solution of course is to get an external keyboard so this morning I duly traipsed down to the local Apple store and did just that.

So what are my initial reactions? well for a start it is just the standard apple keyboard so i have got to get use to the layout - not quite the same as the PC keyboard i am used to. The next thing is for reasons best know to the ipad/keyboard it will not work with notes. This is not a game changer and may well be down to user error but it is bit annoying all the same. Overall it wasn't a problem to set up and now running does make typing so much easier - which could be a bad thing as I will make even longer blog entries!! (beware the one or two people who might actually read this) Perhaps the strangest thing to get use to is having to combine using the keyboard with the touch screen - no mouse or touch pad to select fields so you have to use your finger - God's own mouse!

Now for the Duke of Wellington. Well there is no connection I just like this sketch I did the other day - hey oh such is life.

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Otters

Been trying to get to grips with an otter's face - an interesting experiment.

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What a pen and ink

Messing about with pen and ink sketches - trying to work out how to develop an approach that makes best use of the fact that is no way of correcting the make you make other than by making other marks. It is at once quick and easy and at the same time needs a bit of working out how to make the most of any mistakes. Good fun.

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Sketching

Having a bit of an off day today so I am just taking it easy and sketching with an ink pen in a small sketch book I bought from Edinburgh - here's the Duchess of Cornwell's husband.

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A tired doodle

When I got back from my trip to London I felt tired but I still wanted to make a little sketch - this was it and I like it.

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BP Portrait Awards - portraiture and photography

Yesterday I was in riot torn London, well that is how the papers are portraying the capital. The reality was that i was in central London and there was not sign of any trouble at all - in fact it was a very pleasant day out - so much for what the papers say!

The first port of call was at the National Portrait Gallery, a wonderful place to get lost in the history of the nation. Anyway I went to see the BP Portrait Awards and as usual with any open competition it provided the viewer with a wider variety of styles and approaches. However, the one theme that came through to me at least was the crises of confidence that some artists had when facing up to the challenge of photography. This was somewhat surprising as it is not new. However, there were a number of photorealistic paintings that whilst were incredible examples of the craft of painting nonetheless left me wondering why? Why produce something that, well, was a carbon copy of a photograph. Of course I don't know that this is the case but that is how it felt to me - indeed it is interesting that the photographs of the works in the catalogue have more of a painterly feeling than the actual works.

So have said what I found unrewarding let me now set out what really rocked my boat. The first painting called 'I could have been a contender' by Wendy Ella. Here we see the artist nude in front of a large mirror painting herself whilst all around the the small things in family life go on. Anyone who has children would really find the humour in this painting - well I did anyway.

The second painting called Holly by Louis Smith. Here we see a reclining nude painted in a classic pose which was meant to be in the style of a renaissance master. Whilst technically this was a very competent work the think that made me smile was the sheer hutzpah of the artist. It had a huge gold frame that was meant to look like a 19th century frame and the whole effect was to make me chuckle - I am not sure whether this is the reaction that the artist might have wanted but it made a really good impression on me.

The next paining was the smallest in the show but it's power knocked me over. Abi by Nathan Ford looks like a half finished oil sketch but it was a simply a beautiful expression of a person - it's power made the photo realistic paintings around it look pale and uninteresting.

However, the best of the show for me was George o'Dowd by Layla Lions. This was a portrait that captured the spirit and life force of the artist formally known as Boy George. The most striking thing for me is was the wonderfully constructed use of colours that made the public personal of George come alive. Simply brilliant.

The only painting that really made really annoyed me was Epic Miritotissa by Paul Beal. This was a series of four canvases series which made up a large panorama of a nudist beach in Corfu. I felt it was too pleased with itself and too self indulgent, the painter had won the BP travel award to help make this painting. I just felt it was far too pleased with itself - again I suspect I am projecting onto the work but then that is all we can ever do.

Overall it was a really interesting show that gave a great window onto the art of portraiture. Sent from my iPad

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Three Graces

I know this isn't a marble sculpture but it this was the name that came to mind when I had completed these three little sketches. They weren't intended to be seen together but rather an exercise in drawing the female form - it just so happens that I drew these three together from a selection of different photographs I have found. As a set I quite like them so they will forever be known as the three graces.

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Geoffrey Rush

Well I have sunk even deeper into the Apple ecosystem - I've bought an Apple TV box. It took a little while to set up - I could only make it work properly when I connected it to my Ethernet system - the WIFI was just too flakey and wouldn't see my iTunes at all. I have no idea why this was but it works ok with the Ethernet.

So why buy the box? Well in part so that I could project images I have captured from the TV onto the screen from my iPhone and iPad and then draw them. This is the first attempt - Geoffrey Rush from the King's Speech. The AirPlay only appears to keep transmitting the image for about five minutes at a time - which is a bit annoying but I am sure there are ways around this - if not then I am sure I can get use to this.

I believe that the icloud, when it is launched, will provide extra functionality to the Apple TV - for example I won't have to phase iTunes up and running on my PC - however we have to wait and see with this. Just as an aside the iPad spell check doesn't recognise icloud yet and insists on replacing it with the word cloud - no doubt iOS , which it does recognise, will fix this!

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Upgrading Web Site

As I am now posting things to my web site on a regular basis for my historical research I thought this would be the right time to update the look of the rest of the web site.  The idea is to reflect the reality of my creative life - my traditional art is taking over.  

So I have updated the banner heading and, after much huffing and puffing, updated the drawings on the web site.  The new 'art' gallery can be found at:

http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk/Gallery/Art_Work/Latest/index.html
 

Simon Marchini 

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Mila Kunis

Lot of blood sweat tears went in this. As usual I didn't think it was very good when I finished it but now I'm sure it is good.

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Oops

I know I shod have checked the website but k didn't and so I travelled to Derby only to find the museum closed. Dohh!

So just sitting around watching the world go by and doodling - such is life

I'm on line at:

www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.posterous.com

www.simonmarchini.co.uk

I hope you enjoy

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Francis Bacon

Whilst I got a great deal out of yesterday's life drawing it was nice to pull in a quick sketch - this time Francis Bacon

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Nude woman

I am really note sure what this says about me but I spent most of the day in the company of a nude woman and didn't notice once. It wasn't as I'd I wasn't looking at her, far from it k spent the best part of six hours examining her in very great detail. It was that I just didn't notice she had no cloths on.

I even had a pleasant conversation with her and still k didn't notice. I suspect you may have guessed by now I have been on my first life drawing class and it is just fascinating how you can forget about social niceties given the right circumstances. No this women wasn't a sexual being but rather a collection of curves and lighting plains and shapes that needed to be understood and recorded - it has been a really strange day.

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Nude man

Tomorrow I am attending a life drawing workshop and so I thought I should do some prep so I have spent part of the day sketching nude men and women - quite an interesting experience - let's hope tomorrows workshop is.

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Messing about

Hardly ground break analysis but all super hero women are well - super. That is they have the shape of some strange female form that frankly is hardly ever seen outside the confines of the cosmetic surgeons table. Anyway, I was looking at a DC magazine this morning and I thought it would be a bit of fun to make my own super hero or should that be heroine. I spent no amount of time trying to make this anatomically correct and this is the result - half ghost women. I think it will be a winner. Actually it was just an excuse to try and create something using brushes - I still don't get the buzz out of this that I used to but it is a bit of fun.

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Back to pencils

I thought I would sit down for few minutes a sketch out a drawing - in this case Brad Pitt. It's a bit too simplistic a likeness but I'm pleased with it. This morning whilst getting stung walking across fields and woodlands I tried to work what types of drawings I like to make and I came to the conclusion is life like portraits. I now this is stating the bleeding obvious but I think it is important to state that. There is something about the human face that I find endlessly fascinating and fortunately I am starting to succeed to make reasonable likenesses.

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Doing battle

I am trying more ambitious drawings and I am not I have quite got the hang of things...still you never learn unless you try.

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Nice to see the UN cares ((tag: "email scam" Nigeria)

Are it so nice to see the creative juices flowing within the criminal community.  No wait it could be true - the UN does have $1.5m dollars waiting for me....I think not.

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Begin forwarded message:

UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES.
Internal Audit , Monitoring, Consulting and Investigations
Division 5H087 Washington,
DC 20233,
United States of America


ATTN:  Beneficiary.


This is to inform you that I came to Nigeria yesterday from United States of America, after series of complains from the FBI and other Security agencies from Asia, Europe, Oceania, Antarctica, South America and the United States of America respectively, against the Federal Government of Nigeria and the British Government for the rate of scam activities going on in these two nations.

Right now, as directed by our secretary general Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. We are working in collaborations with the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). We have decided to waive away all your clearance fees/Charges and authorize the Government of Nigeria to effect the payment of your compensation of an amount of US$1,500,000.00  approved by both the British government and the UN into your account without any delay. We already have your name in our Claimant List as stipulated in article 41 of the Provisional Rules for claims.The Governing Council therefore devised a mechanism for the allocation of available funds to successful claimants that gave priority to the three urgent categories of claims and which, within each category, would give equal treatment to similarly situated claims. Only when each successful claimant in categories "A", "B" and "C" had been paid an initial amount up toUS$1,500,000.00, thereafter other payments commence for claims in oth


In conformity with the Provisions of article 40, paragraph 5 of the Rules, Information concerning the identities of individual claimant will not be made publicly.

See our press release below:

http://www.uncc.ch/status.htm
Now your new payment approved numbers are follows
United Nation Approval No; Un5685p,
White House Approved No: Wh44cv,
Reference No.-35460021,
Allocation No: 674632
Pin Code No: 55674
Certificate of Merit Payment No: 103,
World Bank Released Code No: 0763;

We are conducting a standard Process investigation on behalf federal credit Union Bank, United State Of America, The private banking arm of the international banking conglomerate. This investigation involves, a man Who Came To our Office Claiming To be your true representative. Here is his information for you to confirm to this office if this man is truly from you or not as the government will not be held responsible for wrong transfer.

For Paying Into The Wrong Account.
Name: Mr. Edward Marsh
Bank Name: Wells Fargo Bank
Bank Address: California, USA.
Account Number: 6503809428.

Please reconfirm to this office, As a matter of urgency if this man Is From you. As a matter Of Fact, we have actually been authorized by the newly appointed UN Secretary General, and the Governing body Of The United Nations Monetary Unit to investigate the unnecessary delay of your fund payment. However, we shall proceed to issue all payments details to the said Mr. Edward Marsh, If we do not hear from you within The next Seven working days from today.


I have a very limited time to stay in Nigeria here so I would like you to urgently respond to this message so that I can advise you on how best to confirm your fund in your account within the next 72 hours.

Regards,

Mr. Mark Duke
Investigation Department (UN)
TEL: +234-812-714-9506.

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Camelot part deux ((tags: "Joseph Fiennes", Camelot, portrait, conte"

Well I suppose the secret is out I watch the laughable Camelot TV series. Actually it is only watchable when Joseph Fiennes is on screen. Some how he manages to pull all the other actors around him up to a much more interesting level. This is being somewhat unfair to Actors like Claire Forlani who appears to have a range I was not aware of before. The young actors are there for the eye candy.

Anyway, one of the great things about the series is that it is shot in a very moody fashion which allows me to select chiaroscuro image to make. Such fun.

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The news coverage of the Norway mass-killings was fact-free conjecture

As usual Charlie Brooker has got the analysis right - why do these news channels get these experts to speculate? I suspect because they have hours to fill out and nothing really to fill it. I am also switch to these news channels when something happens so I guess I amass bad as everyone else.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/24/charlie-brooker-norway-ma...

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Battling with Conte

Really trying to get to grips with using the Conti crayons. It is taking sometime to start to understand the techniques available to me. I guess this is what comes with experience - the more you use something the more you understand it and so on. A real feedback loop - still not too bad a first attempt at serious application of the media.

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What a sad waste - RIP Amy Winehouse

It is very sad to hear of the death of Amy Winehouse - such a waste of a wonderfully talented performer.  However, she now joins some of the greats of modern music who died around 27 years of age, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin  and Jim Morrison.  She will be missed.
 

Simon Marchini 

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The history website begins

Well I have put this off for too long so today I have started to develop my history web site.  Over the months and probably years!??! I will be updating the site with the latest results of my research.

The new website can be found at:

http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk/History/index.html
 

Simon Marchini 

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Time to switch off the phone

I'm on line at:

www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.posterous.com

www.simonmarchini.co.uk

I hope you enjoy

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A night of John Williams music

Just about to go in to the Symphony Hall at Birmingham - a night with John Williams - what could be better?

I'm on line at:

www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.posterous.com

www.simonmarchini.co.uk

I hope you enjoy

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Squirrel

Messing about with my favourite pencil at the moment - sanguine by Conti.

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Goofing around

This afternoon for a bit of light relief I started messing around with a 'How to draw...'. Book lying around the house. It was really interesting. Firstly it gave me an idea as to power and simplicity of the Disney art work. The slightest change of mood can be captured with smallest changes. The second is the inventiveness behind the drawings. They have/had to be reproduced by dozens of animators by hand so they had to be simple to draw over and over again. Yet they also had to be able to allow the viewer emote with the character - especially if the character didn't talk - so the drawings had to work really hard. Now I wonder if I am allowed to show these attempts to the wider world? I'll know shortly when the Disney lawyers come calling.

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Meg at 40

Sometimes things can get away from you but in a good way. This drawing was a bit too slapdash and wasn't turning out the way I wanted it to when I realised this is what Meg Griffin would look like when she is 40 or is that 20. Anyway, it amused me.

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Hacking, blagging and politics

Oh what fun we have all had over the past two weeks. We have been able to be really shocked at the antics of News International whilst at the same time refusing to admit it has been our own shameless need for worthless title tattle that has got us here in the first place. We have seen has been politicians trying to rewrite history with, possibly, one of the most shameless speeches by an ex prime minister which just about sums up his inadequacies for the job. No I don't think that his son's medical condition should have been published but, come on, he was the prime minister, not some helpless member of the public, who had the power of the state machine behind him. If he had wanted to he could have made things very difficult for News International but didn't. I was going to say gutless but then along comes his speech and it turns out it was everybody else's fault so, perhaps, he was clueless. I really don't know and thankfully I will never have the pleasure of high office, I would crack at the first problem, so I am really in no position to criticise. I have deliberately not mentioned John Prescott in all this as I might get really angry.

Beyond the immediate fall out a new interesting relationship appears to be forming in the coalition. Back in May Cameron happily dumped on Nick Clegg and the Tories were talking about dumping the Lib Dems. They had just swatted their attempts at electoral reform and were feeling really smug. Now we have the prime minister in the shit over his relationship with News International and it is the turn of the Lib Dems to look on with smugness. We have not seen end of the Cameron/Coulson affair which got worse with the resignation of the Met Commissioner for hiring an ex News of the World hack who, at the time, had not been implicated in the phone hacking affair. Coulson, on the other hand, had resigned over the affair before being hired by Cameron. So it would seem ok for one senior official to resign over the affair but not the Prime Minister.

Now I don't think that Cameron will resign but suddenly Nick Clegg has a lot more power. He is no longer the fag to Cameron's Eton toff but rather he could be his saviour of sorts. After all, of all the political leaders, he is the one with no real News International baggage or dirty washing. Whilst this is all fun and dandy the reality is that in the wider world it doesn't add up to a hill of beans. It is a story about how power talks unto power, an establishment spat, which will probably fizzle out over the next few months until the cost of the public enquiry becomes known and suddenly we are looking at the business end of £100million - just look at the costs of the Bloody Sunday enquiry and double it. And still millions of people are dying the horns of Africa and by the start of the next month America may have gone bust and suddenly this whole thing will be seen for what it is, illegal, shameful and distasteful but something that may well be a foot note of history....or is this me missing the point?

Oh the joys of blogging ... You can be grumpy in the knowledge it has no real effect - no power and no responsibility - actually that sounds like my life so far!

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From the earth wealth - David Manley's opening evening

I'm on line at:

www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.posterous.com

www.simonmarchini.co.uk

I hope you enjoy

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Drawing young people

I find it very difficult to draw young people. Their faces tend to be very smooth and unformed, this is exacerbated by the way that they are reproduced in the mafia ( actually this should read media but the predictive text on the iPad substituted this for mafia - seems somewhat apt!). So back to the point me and the young face. I love the older face because, well, it has more of the world about it. A drawing or painting is always going to be a two way exploration and there is more to explore with the older face.

Here is a case in point - Emma Watson. This is based on a rather appalling photo on the front of the Radio Times. This photo is really washed out, partly photoshop but mainly the way it has been captured - close in with a ring flash - just flushes all the life out. So I have had a stab at the drawing and it works in part but in not in others and this is down to the young face having none of the trials of life scratched across it. Of course this is also my inner Victor being let loose and I am having, what my wife calls, a grump. Well why not I'm reaching the age when I am entitled to be a grumpy old man.

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Conte

One of the joys of being reasonably new at this art malarkey is the joy of discovering new materials. A few weeks ago I bought a set of Conte pencils and hadn't used them until yesterday evening. What a revelation - of course it helps when you have such a fascinating face to draw but this made all the more interesting because of the control I was able to exercise using the conte pencils.

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Scottish Portraits

I have just watched the programme on Scottish portrait painters presented by Peter Capaldi and it sent me back to my day in Edinburgh just two weeks ago. I had hoped to go and see the Scottish Portrait Gallery whilst we were there but unfortunately it was closed for refurbishment and this some what clouded my visit. In truth it really spoiled the day as the same exhibition that was included in the Scottish National Gallery did't really make up for this.

So since I have been back I have been busying myself with my historical research and the truth is I can very easily get totally engrossed with history and I think that has what has happened over the past week. Hours can fly by looking at old maps and trying to work out what went where when. So I have decided to try and rain back on this and get back to making some drawings. Whilst I was away I realised that the only type of drawing that I really enjoy making is portraiture, there really is something fascinating about the human face. I suspect that this might also have something to do with my photographic career as a result of which I am able to create interesting landscape photographs. But there is something about the drawn or painted face that is something special, it may well be the interaction of two people, the craft in making the object I really don't know. This is not to say that photographic portraits aren't fascinating it is just that they don't have the same resonance that a drawing or painting has.

So back to grind of working on the technique and craft of drawing - this is something I enjoy and hate at the same time. Like other crafts the more you do it the easier it gets and the easier it gets the harder it seems as you try and improve.

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A Sense of Place

What on earth does this mean - A sense of place?  I have no idea at the moment but I need to start to think about this as I have to make three images for an exhibition in September.

A sense of place...a sense of place...what does this mean?

I had some grandiose idea a week or so ago but I don't think that will work - mainly because I would have to go out and make some new images which I don't feel like doing.  Then it struck me as I was standing in a field yesterday - why not use the images I am making for my historical research?  This really would be my sense of place as it is all about where I was brought up.  So here is the first one...I think I will call this prehistoric salt road.   This sounds like another grandiose idea again but at least I am making images that I can use.  Oh it is so complex??!! 
 

Simon Marchini 

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