Concorde - from way back

Oh they don't make them like this anymore!  Concorde paid a visit to East Midlands Airport, I think circa 1986, for the grand opening of a local theme park.  Needless to say that the theme park didn't survive but the aircraft was something.

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Going through some of my old stuff

One of the pleasures, and pitfalls, of building a new computer filing systems is that you come across interesting images that you have completely forgotten about.  This is a case in point.   There are probably no prize to be awarded for this image but I like it.

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Bloody Apple!!

I know this is something that was bound to happen but I have found something that didn't just work with the Mac! Printing. With every windows machine I have connected to my home network they have detected the network printer - the iMac didn't. I suspect this has something to do with the network software being Windows based rather than Apple's, which I believe is Bonjour, however you would think that Apple would be aware of this and come up with some simple solution. However this wasn't the case and so I had to find the IP address of the printer from looking at the settings only old windows laptop. As soon as I entered this into the Apple system bingo the iMac saw the printer.

A bit annoying but it refreshing to see that perhaps everything in the Apple garden is not all perfect - in fact I quite like that.

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First problem with the set up

I suspected this might be a problem....my mac won't / can't see my network printer! I thought I had stopped having to rummage around in ICP etc. Perhaps this was to much to hope.

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Starting life with my iMac

I know the apple users who might come across this post will have the told you so look but setting up my iMac has been a breeze. I could retort that the reason for this is that the Apple system is a closed system and so on but that really misses the point. I moved to Apple for life style reasons rather than any real conviction that Apple Macs were superior computers and one of the life system choices was to not have any computer hassles any more. So far so good.

One final observation - I didn't realise I had so much desk space until now!

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Dark knight rises

What a movie !!!!!!

I'm on line at:

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Bye bye DOS, Bye Bye Redmond...

Hello Cupertino I think Im going to cry....

Yes I have taken the plunge and decided to join the Xerox PARC rip off artists.  I'm getting an iMac!   Actually circumstances well beyond my control have forced my hand so I have taken the leap that I have been thinking about for sometime now.

I suspect the iMac wont arrive much before this time next week, again these enigmatic circumstances but this does give me time to work out exact what I am going to do with around 1.5 TB of data from my previous PC.  I think I might have a solution but need to ruminate on this over the week end.  

This really is a big step for me.   It is one of those momentous moments.  I have been working and swearing at a GEM (this does date me)/MSDOS/Windows environment since 1988.  Now this is longer than most people have used a PC and so it is with some sadness I have to move.  In truth I am looking forward to the new challenge ahead and I am sure that after a few months of bedding in and teething problems, within two days of owning my first computer I had deleted the system disks - which was fun! I will see what all the fuss is about with the Mac.

One final thought.   I won't have to learn to use the Apple keyboard as I already have one which I use with my iPad, i.e. to write this email.  To that is one task completed - check!

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Sir John Falstaff

I've continued to watch the excellent Hollow Crown series on BBC 2 and one of the characters I've been inspired to draw is Falstaff.

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Strangeness of a Laptop

As my PC is poorly sick and away in PC hospital I am having to rely on my now ancient laptop.   By ancient I mean nearly 5 years old.  It doesn't have the power of the PC but it does the job.  I have connected it to my PC's monitor to allow me to use it as a PC and I have to say I quite like the set up.   Now if my PC's illness proves fatal ie not cost effective to fix, then this may well be the set up I move to.   We'll have to wait and see.

Simon Marchini 

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

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Let us sit on the floor and tell of...

Oh poor old me my ageing PC has had to be taken in to the service people as it has had a serious wobble. Hopefully I'll have it back by Friday.

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Sneak Peek: iPad 7 Features Unicorn horns

This makes as much sense as all the speculation floating around the Internet!

Sneak Peek: iPad 7 Features Unicorn Horns, Levitation [SUNDAY COMICS]
http://mashable.com/2012/07/15/sneak-peek-ipad-7-features-unicorn-horns-levitation-sunday-comics/

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Superhero Vamp - Loving you is sweeter than ever

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Tracks of my tears...its my party and I'll cry if I want to

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Problems with Posterous

Over the past few weeks it seems that Posterous is taking longer and longer to post items. To test this I am going to post this and lets see just how long it takes. It is being posted at 16:24 BST.

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Jenny Saville - "...the best painter of the female nipple..."

I'm not sure whether Ms Saville would appreciate Waldemar Januszczak's description but it is very apt having just seen the exhibition at Oxford Modern and the Ashmolian. If you get the chance to see the exhibition then it is worth it.

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Gregory Euclide's breathtaking whiteboard drawings

Incredible drawings...beats using the white board for system's and process maps or was that just me?

Gregory Euclide's breathtaking whiteboard drawings
http://boingboing.net/2012/07/10/gregory-euclides-breathtakin.html

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This is the First Photo Ever Uploaded

Only 20 years ago... My I'm getting old!

This is the First Photo Ever Uploaded to the Internet
http://www.petapixel.com/2012/07/10/this-is-the-first-photo-ever-uploaded-to-the-internet/

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Working with brushes - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Another experiment with the use of colour using brushes. This time I think I have been a bit more painterly and especially like the way that the under painting has come through.

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Why do Klingons have such good hair?

It must be something in the conditioner they use but Klingons do have really well looked after hair. I have been having some fun again just messing around with brushes - nothing series but I like the result.

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I DON'T CARE IF ANDREW MURRY WINS OR LOOSES

I DON'T CARE IF ANDREW MURRY WINS OR LOOSES I DON'T CARE IF ANDREW MURRY WINS OR LOOSES I DON'T CARE IF ANDREW MURRY WINS OR LOOSES I DON'T CARE IF ANDREW MURRY WINS OR LOOSES I DON'T CARE IF ANDREW MURRY WINS OR LOOSES I DON'T CARE IF ANDREW MURRY WINS OR LOOSES!

There I've said it. I don't wish him any harm or anything like the I just don't care. We seem to have a media. To day who jump on to any band wagon and flog it to death and they don't seem to think that anyone else might have a different view.

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Just messing around with Lieutenant Torres

I'm in one of those moods this afternoon so I thought I would just have a dabble with brushes and produced this....

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David Bailey

Boy this took some work but I think it finally worked. I think I have started to change my style to a far more powerful feeling.

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John Byrne

There are some face that are made to be sketched and John Byrne's is one of them. This is a bit cartoonish but Bryne has that sort of face. Oh and by the way he is also an incredible artist, playwright and generally sickeningly talented person.

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Worf

This is the Worf or Mr Wolf (Lwaxanna Troi's name for her). I just had a blast making this.

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Drawing Mr Wolf

Well that's what I'm just about to try to do...silly I know but someone's got to do it.

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Mitt Romney doesn't understand... (newstatesman.com)

A bit bitchy but true....

Mitt Romney doesn't understand Venn diagrams
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/world-affairs/2012/07/mitt-romney-doesnt-understand-venn-diagrams

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Building and dismantling the Windows advantage

An interesting article but it does not account for the inertia within large corporate structures.   I have had some experience of this and it can take years for the implementation of any significant change.   The roll out of training for the move from a Windows environment to another one is difficult, no matter what Apple might say.   An example would be how to print.   A very simple function but fraught with all sorts of problems if the user doesn't know exactly what to do.

Of course it is different when using an iOS machine.  Here the interface is much easier, and the user probably already has sufficient skills to quickly understand any functionality.  However, this again has all sorts of problems for any IT dept trying to ensure that similar functions are available - consider the problem of printing from an iPad - great if you have access to a iPad comparable printer but I am reasonably sure that most corporate environments don't.  There may well be expertise out there that is able to write the software to allow the interface but it is just another layer of complexity for no real gain.  You only have to consider the problems that RBS/NatWest have gotten themselves into over an upgrade to see the issues involved.

Maybe one day windows will become a less dominating OS and the world will see the advantages of working in a OS x environment but quite honestly I cannot see the advantage for large companies to swap as the move does not deliver any significant advantages whilst causing huge problems. This is especially so when most corporate user hardly notice the environment they are working in as they operate specific applications within the environment.

Building and dismantling the Windows advantage
http://www.asymco.com/2012/07/04/the-building-and-dismantling-of-the-windows-advantage/

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Ho ho ho

This must be something of a record...the rumours start in the late summer...now it seems that is not the case...who knows if this true other than Apple and they never will say.

Apple is planning to launch a thinner iPad this summer
http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipad-iphone/news/?newsid=3367310

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Henry Bollingbroke

Well I watched the first of the Hallow Crown series of plays, Richard 2nd, last night and was blown away by the wonderful acting, directing and overall majestic production. This really was the BBC at its best. So this morning I thought I would draw the next player, although he was much a part of Richard 2nd as the usurped king himself, Henry Bollingbroke. This started of as a straight portrait of Jeremy Irons but turned into something different a more world weary drawing.

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More Edinburgh Photos

I usually develop photographic images using Photoshop - this time I thought it might be interesting to do something in Lightroom

Simon Marchini 

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

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Olympic Edinburgh

I found the whole London 2012 promotion in Scotland a little bit strange.  I know what they are trying to say, that the games in London are for the whole of the UK but really it is not.  They are the London games and I suspect that most people in Scotland see them as such.

Anyway, this is the first photo that I have gone out and created from scratch with a real camera in a long time - around six months if I recall correctly.  It was actually a lot of fun.  Perhaps I should do some more?

Simon Marchini 

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

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Melodramatic Henry 5th

Still working through my Shakespeare thing - here is another rendition of Tom Hiddleston's Henry 5th - a bit more melodramatic.

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Tis the Season for the Kings - Tom Hiddleston - Henry V

Over the next few weeks I am going to OD on Shakespeare. The BBC is showing three new productions of Richard 2nd, Henry 4th and 5th. Deep deep joy!

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Slower than 3G...oh and the sub is shining

Well we might have have great(ish) views from the top of the hotel across the rolling Scottish hills but the wifi up here really stinks. I sent this photo to myself so I could access it on my iPad and it took forever for it to download - much much longer than for the email to even arrive on my iPad, hotel WIFI, than on the iPhone, 3G network. In the end it was quicker to take this photo with the iPad camera than wait for it to download on the iPad.

Oh hum! Anyway, as I write this I am being blinded by the sun streaming in through the window - so not everything is bad with the world. Let's see how long this takes to post!?!??

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Me and Homer

A quick sketch outside the Glasgow Boys permanent exhibition - not very Glaswegian!

I'm on line at:

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http://simonmarchini.posterous.com

www.simonmarchini.co.uk

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Another day another gallery

Kelvin grove here we come

I'm on line at:

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www.simonmarchini.co.uk

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Article: Lords reform: elected peers bill exposes deep rifts within parties

It is so depressing how an unelected bunch of place men ( yes they tend to be men) seem to think they are better than an elected bunch of place men( yes they tend to be men).

This will all end up going nowhere because there are too many vested interests ( which retiring MP wouldn't want to be a lord - John Prescott anyone)

I feel so depressed sometimes about this country.  One final thing...why should there be any bishops in the Lords?

Lords reform: elected peers bill exposes deep rifts within parties
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jun/27/lords-reform-elected-peers-bill?CMP=twt_fd

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Then it drizzled

Believe it or not but the rain stopped for a while in Edinburgh - so we went to Stirling where, guess what, it was raining!

According to the William Wallace visitors centre there are great views from the monument - however not today!

I'm on line at:

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I hope you enjoy

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12 months later and it's still raining

12 months ago I took a very similar photo ... very damp National Gallery in Edinburgh. As you can see nothing changes!

I'm on line at:

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

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Just driven to Edinburgh

Well I'm exhausted - been on the road most of the day apart from a two hour lay over at Fountains Abbey. The hotel is functional and as we've been here before is what we expected. I'm looking forward to my bed later on so that I am fresh to explore Edinburgh tomorrow. The plan is to go over to Glasgow on Thursday but the over head signs on the A1 warn of heavy rain on Thursday - what that means in a Scottish context only time will tell!

Hey oh let the fun?? Begin.

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Welcome to sunny Edinburgh

Nothing like a mist and drizzle to say summer. Still could be worse an hour ago it was throwing down with rain. The only good thing is that as we are on top of a hill we are unlikely to be flooded!

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Orbitz Shows Mac Users Pricier Hotel Rooms

Now I'm not sure whether PC user are cheapskates or Mac users just don't care that much...but clearly someone has noticed

Orbitz Shows Mac Users Pricier Hotel Rooms Than PC Users [REPORT]
http://mashable.com/2012/06/26/mac-users-orbitz/

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Happy birthday Benjamin

A wonderful birthday cake made by Laura

I'm on line at:

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

www.simonmarchini.co.uk

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Straight Line Lebron

This is third attempt at making a portrait of Lebron James and I think I have finally got somewhere. I have also been able to make the iPad camera almost capture a reasonable image - it still is really rubbish though. This time I tried to concentrate on using straight lines wherever possible and given James' face is very angular I think it works really well.

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One thing then another

This started out as a portrait of a well known NBA star, and the actual drawing on paper does indeed look like the aforementioned star. However, something got lost in digital capture - oh the wonders of the iPad camera. Anyway, the result of all this is another image all together being created which I think is really quite interesting.

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New Digital Paintings by Russ Mills

Just wonderful portraits 

New Digital Paintings by Russ Mills
http://www.123inspiration.com/new-digital-paintings-by-russ-mills/

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Art Thief Casually Lifts Expen... (gawker.com)

Oops

Art Thief Casually Lifts Expensive Dali Painting Off Wall of Upper East Side Gallery
http://gawker.com/5920478/art-thief-casually-lifts-expensive-dali-painting-off-wall-of-upper-east-side-gallery

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MacBook Pro Retina Display (macperformanceguide.com)

So perhaps things aren't so wonderful in the Mac asphere after all.    

MacBook Pro Retina Display — Screen Burn-In
http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2012/20120623_2-MacBookPro-Retina-glitches.html

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The Microsoft Surface Vs. The ... (cultofmac.com)

Do I detect a whiff of...it seems only Apple is the only company that is allowed to produce new and interesting products.  You just have to love those fanboys !

The Microsoft Surface Vs. The MacBook Air: Oooh, So Innovative [Humor]
http://www.cultofmac.com/175204/the-microsoft-surface-vs-the-macbook-air-oooh-so-innovative-humor/

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Congrats to the Heat

Well they've done it and finally won the NBA Championship Not five nor Six but one. Just wonder how many they will win after all. Anyway, over the past few weeks I have become more and more interested in graphic novel art work and so I though I would try and draw Lebron James only problem is this looks like James in a few years time when perhaps is superb body is now not quite as slim as it was. This of course is one of the fun side effects of trying to draw things with a pen and ink - very difficult to correct errors.

Anyway, congratulations to the Heat and LeBron James.

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Jimmy Carr row: ok for Jimmy Carr to be put through the shrewder but not the PM

Seems like the PM is happy to moan about other people's tax affairs but won't let the public know about his own.  I think there is a strange smell rising....

Jimmy Carr row: No 10 set to shelve plan to publish ministers' tax returns
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jun/21/jimmy-carr-ministers-tax-returns

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Messing around with the iPhone

There is a purpose to all this - isn't there always?   Possibly - anyway the iPhone.   There is no two ways around it the iPhone is one of the most awful cameras I have had the mispleasure to use.   Now this is strange for me as I used to rave about the crudeness of the images and this was true with the 3G where the poor quality added to the interest of the image.   There is only one camera worse than the iPhone camera and that is the iPad camera.   

I know that the iPhone is now one of the most used cameras anywhere and of course there is a reason for that - there are so many of them around but the quality of the jpeg produced by the camera is not that good.   That being said I have made many images with the camera on the phone and when used for ref purposes they are fine.  Just don't use them to make anything serious.

So here are 4 examples of the images I have made with the iPhone.

Simon Marchini 

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

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Life Drawing - Well done Zite

I suppose you can't have everything.  I use the news feed site zite a lot, perhaps too much.  The site, in common with a number of other such sites, is it goes out into the internet and finds news items that you might be interested in given a set criteria which you set.  One of the criteria I have set is for drawing and so this is one of the news items/sites it has produced for my information.

Yes it is about life drawing but some how I think things got lost in translation! 

Life Drawing
http://www.helpfulhunks.com.au/drawing.htm

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Apple store v independent retailers

So perhaps Apple isn't the great white knight after all .... Hope my prejudice isn't showing too much.  Seriously,  Apple are a wonderfully run company producing fantastic computers etc and making vast profits as a consequence.  They are not some fluffy loveable little puppy of a company.

Arizona’s iStores close up shop as another Apple retailler bites the dust
http://9to5mac.com/2012/06/20/arizonas-istores-close-up-shop-as-another-apple-retailler-bites-the-dust/

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Examples of Illustration

There are some really talented people out there.

Examples of Illustration and Hand Drawn Artworks
http://www.graphicmania.net/examples-of-illustration-and-hand-drawn-artworks/

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Work in Progress

This is the largest canvass painting I have done and I have another session to complete it. I guess you could say this is the under painting only I really like the looseness. However, I do have to resolve the two right feet!

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Learning things about oil pastels

I have had these oil pastels for a while now and have not really got to grip with them. So today I thought I would have another go and this is the result. There are things I would improve but overall I think it is not a bad attempt - especially when compared to what I had done in the past.

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Brushes Painting...oh no it's not

Just cannot create anything at all using Brushes anymore. These two sketches were made using a pencil and pen on paper - so much more rewarding.

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iPhoneography, the worlds #1

Some really great photos

iPhoneography, the worlds #1 iPhone photography blog, bringing you the latest news, reviews and events - iPhone Journal - This week "Through the Lens of an iPhone"
http://www.iphoneography.com/journal/2012/6/17/this-week-through-the-lens-of-an-iphone.html

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Helicams, Timelapse and 3D

A fascinating vision of where photo journalism is going. 

Getty To Capture Olympics With Helicams Timelapse, 360-Degree Cameras and More
http://www.petapixel.com/2012/06/16/getty-to-capture-olympics-with-helicams-timelapse-360-degree-cameras-and-more/

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Blue lady

I really like this - although the iPad camera doesn't really do it justice.

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AGGHARGH!!!! Please no more Apple Hype

I suppose I only have myself to blame. You see I use Zite, a service that brings together news items about subjects I have told it I am interested in. Today, all the stories were Apple related - I don't think I can take much more.

Yesterday I was in my local Apple Store and the sale person had the expression of someone who was about to explode with excitement about the arrival of the new MacBook pros. I just cannot understand this totally pointless bowing down to a computer manufacturer. Don't get me wrong Apple has introduced many incredible products over the past few years but innovation seems to be being replaced with consolidation. The products now are a little better but not game changing. The last real game changer, in every sense of the word, was the iPhone and that was 5 years ago. Take the iPad. I had a first gen iPad and really liked it. I bought my wife a second gen and was impressed but not enough to buy one myself. I now have a 'new' or third gen iPad and to be frank I haven't noticed a huge difference between the two. Yes the 'new' has the much vaunted, and in my view overblown, Retina Display and faster chips but for day to day use there really isn't that much difference. The main reason for my change was that the first gen iPad wouldn't/couldn't run some of the stuff that the third gen could.

Whilst I am on the subject would it be possible to stop all the pointless speculation about what the next iteration of the Apple product is likely to contain. All of it is wrong in some way or another and only seems to exist to give the numerous Apple tech blogs, brought to me by the aforementioned Zite, something to write about. Apple's products are very nice but when I use Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop on a PC or Mac I am not in the slightest bit interested in the OS I am just interested in productivity and from this stand point it doesn't matter whether you use a Mac or Windows system.

So could we please stop all the Apple hype. They produce great products but really it is not worth all the fuss. There are far more important things in life.

I feel better for that and I know that it will change nothing but there we go.

Sent from my iPad by someone who has bought three iPads, 3 iPhones and Apple TV

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Working through an idea

I have a rather silly idea going through my head at the moment and this is the first product of the idea.  The idea, much as it is, is to work text into an illustration or graphic drawing.  This one is really just a doodle but you have to start somewhere.

Simon Marchini 

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

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Thinking about next week

I'm trying to work out what to paint over the next two sessions - so I'm looking for ideas and trying them out - this is based on a Edward Hopper sketch/painting.

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People don't want to buy a quarter inch drill they want to buy a quarter inch whole...

Just read this and I really like the idea...I'm easily pleased

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An hour in the studio

Another Friday another painting - whilst my colleges on the course try to paint the whole women in just over an hour I decided to just concentrate on one feature, surprise surprise the face! However, this is little more than the first initial daubs but it has enough about it to make it interesting. The photograph was taken in appalling lighting conditions, way beyond the capabilities of the iPhone so I'm not sure how true a likeness it really is. Nonetheless it has one or two interesting touches.

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Conti portrait part 4:....I think?

I must admit I'm starting get a bit bored with this whole project but I think I will carry on for a little longer.

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Conti portrait part 3:

I have found solutions to some problems whilst other are still awaiting a solution - brings back memories of my project management days. Such is life.

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Conti portrait part 2:

I think I have done enough for one evening - time to think about where to go from here. As for the earlier portrait of Angelina Jolie I decided enough was enough and left it alone.

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Conti portrait part 1:

This may take several days or perhaps just one but this is the start - I'm excited to see how it may turn out - not sanguine at all about this (I'm sorry but I just had to write that!)

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Part 1 & 2 together - Angelina Jolie

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Going back to basics - part 2 - Angelina Jolie

Now is the most difficult part - just when you think you have started to capture a likeness now is the tie set things down and reflect on what you have produced so far. What things work? What things don't ?

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Going back to basics: part 1 - Angelina Jolie

I know this is a tired old cliche but it is exactly what I am doing. I felt I needed to revisit the basic skills of capturing a likeness and so it has been out with the reference books a reread the lessons on proportion. This is stage one - next will come the appliance of shade to give the portrait substance. I have learnt a lot or perhaps learnt stuff I should have known - either way the exercise is very useful

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