Best birthday ever!

MERRRRRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE :)

Hope you all got what you wanted!

Far from an insult, this is an enlivening portrayal, celebrating the immense depth of the man that was (apparently) Jesus Christ. Bless his vast bowel.

If you're offended, you should probably calm down, then click here. and here. And here too.

Then pray for me. I like that. It gives me a tingly feeling.

Visualising the modes... Phrygian

Four weeks later, and one tone up from the Dorian, I finally bring you the the Phrygian, which is essentially a natural minor with a flat 2nd (orange):

Sometime in the near future I will bring the Lydian.

This is Africa time.

Last figure drawing of the year

Still haven't got back to the art shop, so it's H and 4B pencils in A4 Moleskine. Cropped in to show my somewhat sketchy (pun intended) line work.






Happy Holidays! Travel safe, and remember: Christmas is not really Christmas unless you've been slapped by a nun.

The vectorised nipple effect (a rehash).

Simple: Live trace old moleskine drawing. Offset path a few times. Scale offsets. Apply gradients fills and effects.
Digital print A0 and block-mount: Christmas presents for the family?

Figure drawing

I kept it simple this week with an H and a 4B. Ran out of paper so started an A4 Moleskine. The model kept moving. Sore teeth kept me from snacking. Had been up til 4am working. Concentration was waning.

25 minutes each:







Never thought I'd long so much to chew.

Last week's figures

Last weeks figure drawings. I'm back on white paper. I need to get to the art shop, but I might not be leaving the house this week. Getting the braces put in tomorrow morning, 9.30. 18-24 months. I need a cigarette.

3 min each (soft pastels):



25 min each (ditto):






I'm quitting tomorrow proper. wearing braces + smoking cigarettes = not fucking cool.

Visualising the modes... Dorian

So I pried myself away from the B-string just long enough to bring you the Dorian mode. The Dorian represents a minor scale with a regular 6th interval.

You can see in this visual of the wave forms, compared to the previous Ionian/major scale, that the 3rd (yellow) and 7th (crimson) intervals are a semi-tone flatter, or at least dotted. The 6th (violet) is the same.

If you played all the white notes on a hypothetical piano in your mind, using D as your root, this is (in some strange sense) what you'd play:

If you move up the white keys and root on the E, you'll be in the Phrygian mode, pronounced much like the offspring of a fridge and a pigeon. Until then...

Happy Friday! I love the rain :) And Other Truths is arriving today. Tears of joy.

Figure drawing

Couldn't get into the zone this morning. I've got one thing on my mind - my new (well, second hand...) 5 string fretless bass. I brought her home yesterday. She's beautiful. I can't even do her justice yet, but I will soon.

3 min:



30 min:







Mmmmmmm.

Bit off more than he could chew

Mozzie commits accidental suicide.







No Tabasco in this blood. Just the RAW Sessions...

More some day.

Figure drawing

In the spirit of Movember, last night I shaved most of my goatee away, leaving a nice fat moustache. I also left a soul patch so it's not too top-heavy. I went into the class this morning feeling a little self-conscious, but nobody noticed. So far so good...

Otherwise, maybe it's not a bad idea to skip a week - today wasn't bad.

3min:



25 - 30 min:






The mo will stay on for the month, though it may well get shaved off on the 24th. With the braces it might be a bit much.

Visualising the modes... Ionian

After the first music visual I posted recently, I thought I should clean up and expand the concept a little. I figured the best way to expand might be to try to distinguish the modes. So I reformatted the waves slightly, and started by defining the Ionian, which is the mode that represents the basic major scale. If the red lines in the diagram are 'C' then the spectrum between them represents the rest of the white keys on a piano (D orange to B crimson).


Music is happiness. The Dorian coming soon...

A sleeping Miu

Figure drawing

Not my best morning, but such is life. This model is an older lady (I didn't ask...) but in pretty good shape for whatever age she happens to be. Otherwise, still fumbling around with the pastels. I'm gonna have a breakthrough soon. I can feel it.

Oh yes, there were these 2 hens sitting at the table next to mine today. They were chatting away about the kids' exams and how crazy some of the exam schedules are cos little Robbie, who's grown up sooo much by the way, has to write two subjects on the same day! Then the drawing started and it was otherwise quiet and now I was trying to concentrate on what I came there to do - draw the naked ape in front of me - and still it flowed, this painful dribbling outlet of small talk, like cold coffee being slowly dispensed upon my forehead. I hollered SHUT THE FUCK UP! Well, in mind I did. When I did politely ask them to snap it, they snapped it. But it was awkward. I felt the glares.

3min mofos: was off to a good start

Supposedly 30 min but I'm certain they call it early. Fuckers.

The last drawing got cut short and I really didn't finish. Bummer, 10 more minutes woulda made all the difference. And less glaring.

Musical masturbation

Unkempt male gets carried away in his undies.




Crack.

Another RAW Sessions with Sony Ericsson character identity. A couple more coming at some point...

Thursday... figures.

Still plugging away at the pastels... feisty motherfuckers.

3 min each:

25 minutes each:

A little heavy on the texture...

And again...

Nothing the smudging of loo paper wont' fix...

Had to leave early again. Back to the dontist. *cringe*

Figure drawing

See what happens when you skip a week? All goes to shit... Still messing around with my grand weakness: colour.

All crops of pastel on A2 Canson paper, 20-30 minutes each. The quickies just weren't up to standard this week.









Ziza and the Solo's played our first live show last night at Tanz Cafe. It was awesome. I'm still feeling buzzed.

Music to your eyes...

I've been under the influence of music quite a bit lately. This is my first attempt to visualise it. Hope it's not completely wrong. Looks pretty either way :)

Ziza & The Solos live at Tanz next Wed...

Ziza & The Solos featuring The Dreamgirls. Wed 7 Oct at TANZ CAFE.


Yip, that's me on the bass... my hands are already sweating.

Mi&u

I started sketching my kitten while she eats. This was the first worth posting. About 2 minutes tops as she chomps away, taking a break to throw me a skeef now and then. Her name is Kitty Miu, but pretty soon she'll just be Miu. She sleeps a lot, when she's not tearing up the Hennings' old lounge suite. Melts my heart...

Figure drawings from thursday

Last week one of the regular models brought in her (small, bronze, waxed and chiseled) beau. Apparently they had been practising the poses in a not-so-giant mirror somewhere, as they didn't want to be caught fumbling around up there on the day. I laughed quietly at his tangas. I also muttered 'Get a room' once. Not without reason I'm sure.

3 min pastels:




Still experimenting with the hard colour pastels on A2 colour paper.

30 min or so each:

This looks awkward. He kept moving his hand.


No likeness whatsoever.

Playing more with complementary colours here. I quite like where it's going.

Happy Sunday. I must work now, like a good heathen should.