Extremely Florida

Best:

Rep. Alan Grayson speaks for me too.

Worst:

GOP Weekly Meetings at a Gun Range?

"A South Florida Republican said it was a mistake to shoot at a target with the initials of the Democratic Congresswoman he is trying to unseat. Candidate Robert Lowry made a brief statement to a local newspaper but refused to speak further Friday about the incident, which happened Tuesday during a weekly GOP meeting held at a gun range."

- As reported by Matt Sedensky

A friend pointed out that there was no mention at which end of the gun range they were meeting...there's always hope.

Video Mimics Classical Oil Painting

I do love a shortcut.

It took me months to paint this portrait of Gwyneth.

As you can see by a small selection of stages below, there are a LOT of layers and a lot of drying time in this painting.

The entire process and how I did it - step by long painful step - explained in detail here.

- OR -

You can watch this little video I found on youTube by EclecticAsylumArt.

EAA's stages of electronic painting with MS Paint mimic the method of classical oil painting I often use.

He begins with a drawing.

He blocks in big flat shapes and determines light, medium and dark areas.

EAA also determines the general feeling of the overall color scheme.

He begins to define the general light and general shadow on the face.

When light meets shadow, the character of the halftone is determined. i.e., does light move quickly into shadow or more slowly thus making for a more gradual halftone?

He begins to work realistic light and shadow. And adds defining details over the background shapes.

Ta da!

EAA's painting took a mere 2 1/2 hours. And it looks pretty darn good to me.

I am humbled by the speed and flexability of digital software.

Here's the entire video from youTube:

I was (and still am) amazed at how close this video is to the reality of working in oil paint. I wonder if a digital artist could make up and use an Old Master's working palette?

In the hands of EAA, MS Paint* appears to be a good teaching tool...for oil painting!

*Note that since I have a Mac, Corel's Painter 11 is more likely to be the program I'd use. I'm going to have to seriously look into this program (and a Wacom Tablet).

Still Lifes Redux

Other than weep discretely into a paint rag, "what to do" when a painting doesn't sell?

Out of a batch of small still lifes I sent to a gallery, these two paintings didn't sell. I set them aside and took a couple of weeks to figure out what to do.

Red Grapes Still Life

Oil on Linen, 8" x 10"

From long (and sometimes painful) experience, my best advice to others is:

Have a plan - don't pick up your brush until you're clear about what you need to do.

If you cannot figure out how to correct your mistakes - let the painting sit - for however long it takes - until you figure it out.

Sometimes I have painted myself "into a corner" and in frustration set the painting aside. Even a year or so later when I look at it again with a "fresh eye," I'll know exactly what to do to fix it.

I spent all morning making the grapes look more edible and building more light on the fruit and the cloth.

Lemons Still Life

Oil on Linen, 8" x 10"

I had originally painted a bug into the background of these lemons. It was way too realistic (and more than a little creepy) so I spent the afternoon painting over it. (But I did keep the little spider in the lower left).

I also spent some time building more light on the lemons and the cloth.

I think they're improved.

Painting small still life can be a nice break from painting portraits.

Karen Wells

Barack Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize

I'm purring like a kitten in a butter dish over this delicious news.

Here is today's press release out of Oslo:

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play.

Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations.

Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future.

His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.

For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman.

The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."

After eight grim years of Bush's "peace is for sissies" attitude, I wanted to print it all.

I am inspired to know that just one courageous person of good will can begin to turn things around and make a positive difference.

I have my hope back.

The BAD News:

Wingnuts throw their usual and predictable collective temper tantrum.

The GOOD News:

Banging their heads against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

The BEST News:

They cannot take the Nobel Peace Prize away from President Obama and they're gonna have to learn to live with it.

Other than this silly group of GOPers, here's an example of how the rest of the world sees it:

"The Nobel honor is a tribute to Mr. Obama's commitment to tolerance and dialogue between states, cultures and civilizations. It confirms the return of America into the hearts of the people of the world."

-French President Nicolas Sarkozy

I'd say that Sarkozy nailed it.

And This Family Has Health Insurance

45,000,000 million of us don't have health insurance.

This family DOES have health insurance - but CIGNA denied care anyway - and her daughter died because of it.

Hilda and Krikor Sarkisyan visit CIGNA headquarters in Philadelphia to confront CIGNA CEO Edward Hanway about CIGNA's denial of coverage.

What sane person would have us trust a health insurance company with our precious lives?

A Billionaire Speaks Candidly

Seeing the other side can help us put things in their proper perspective, eh?

Satire-Challenged GOPers often get confused and back the "Billionaires for Wealthcare" group. HA!

The Colbert Report Has a Good Idea!

Send all of your unpaid medical bills to Senator Max Baucus.

In the past 5 years he has received $3,244,105.00 from the Health Care Industry - so he's got the money.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Send Your Medical Bills to Max Baucus
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore

To Contact Senator Baucus:

Sen. Max Baucus

511 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

(202) 224-2651(Office)

(202) 224-9412 (Fax)

Gone Phishing

Tough to believe, but there are scam emails targeting artists.

Sometimes they're downright goofy, and sometimes they're a wee bit creepy:

HELLO WELLS,

I AM VERY INTERESTING IN BUYING YOUR (Elizabeth Brewer Wells oil on linen)IN WHICH I SAW ON THE INTERNETS.

I WILL WANT YOU TO LET ME KNOW ITS LAST PRICE,,,,SO THAT I CAN MAKE ARRANGEMENTS ON HOW THE PAYMENT WILL BE MADE TO YOUR BANKING ACCOUNT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

EXPECT YOUR FASTEST RESPOND OF YOU SO I WILL ARRANGE TO SEND MY PEOPLE TO PICK UP ARTWORKS AT YOUR LOCATION.

SIR RAY,TERRY.

ESQUIRE

Send "his people" to my studio? Eeeeew, I don't think so!

However temptimg it might be to sell the portrait of my husband's Grandmother (above) for "last price" big bucks - I smelled a rat and passed on "Sir Ray, Terry Esquire's" generous offer.

The funniest scam-thing I ever read on the Internet was "The Porcine Princess Chronicles" by Brad Christensen. I found his post on the Cyber Museum of Scams and Frauds.

These photos above are from Brad Christensen's hilarious exchange with a scam artist claiming to be a filthy rich and pretty twenty-seven year old Princess named Maria Ojo Ofem of the Ogoni Kingdom in Nigeria. She emailed him "because she wants to invest $23,560,000.oo with him.....and he manages to drive "her" nuts.

Like the rest of us, Brad Christensen has been deluged with every type of "URGENT" offer imaginable from scam artists.

But unlike the rest of us, he decided to fight back by conning the con men.

With humor and imagination as his weapons, Christensen preyed on the scammers' abundant supply of both greed and ignorance.

Check it out. And have a good laugh.

Seriously, please don't ever fall for these art scams. Some are more sophisticated than others but they all have the same general flavor. I figure I get about three art scams per week.

Here's today's toxic tome that just popped into my inbox:

Good day to you.

I am so excited that I came across of your work on internet search,I am interested in purchasing these creative artworks from you.....................

Apples,Hopeful sky,Cherries,Meadowlands #4 and Pear still life

Let me know their various prices.and how much discounts are you going to give?I will be happy to have these selected artworks hanged in our new home in South Africa. As well, I want you to take out the shipping cost.I have been in touch with a shipping firm that will be shipping other house decoratives.

We are traveling from our Dallas home to our new apartment as soon as possible.On Paying for the artworks,I will be glad to pay you with a Money Order or Cashier`s check in US funds that can be easily cashed at your local bank,please let me know on how to proceed for the payment of the creative artworks.

I will await your advise on how to proceed.Have a wonderful day.

Take care,
Joan Morgan

Sometimes these email art scams are so unintentionally funny that I laugh 'till I cry. And I'm sorry I didn't save any of the howlers to post here.

Just hit the delete button when they arrive. Times are tough all over and I can only imagine how desperate the economy is where these scams originate.

Watteau to Degas: French Drawings

At the Frick, NYC

October 6, 2009, through January 10

Frederik Johannes Lugt (1884–1970) was a Dutch art historian, connoisseur, and collector. Sixty-four of his finest works are featured in the exhibition.

Included are drawings and watercolors by well-known masters of the French School: Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, David, Ingres, Degas and others.

Exhibition Catalog shown above.

And just in case you aren't interested in French drawings, the Frick is one of my favorite museums and has an astounding collection.

If nothing else, stop by to see these three Vermeer paintings.

I think that Vermeer is the Painter's Painter.

Yum.

Curator "finds" a "new" da Vinci!

"Explore the Hand of Genius," now at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta Georgia.

If you cannot be there in person, you can access their interesting website for an introductory video, highlights from the exhibition, as well as time-lapse video of the installation the Sforza Horse Monument outside the Museum.

The recent cleaning of Andrea del Verrocchio's The Beheading of St. John the Baptist (1477–1483) relief has enabled a detailed examination of its individual components.

A guest curator, recently proposed that two of the figures (marked with arrows) were created by Leonardo da Vinci and not Verrocchio.

The figures in the relief were created separately and attached to the silver background, making it possible for more than one artist to contribute to the composition.