What I love apart from the tea parties, the dandiness and the campy absurdity of it all, is Alexia’s awesome parasol/s. I haven’t read the novels in a long time, though am currently starting Blameless, so I couldn’t remember what it looked like—or on that note, what her dresses were like—so I simply fashioned my own.

This took quite a long time (I didn’t keep track) but boy I had fun in Photoshop.  I took a much more Impressionistic approach than previous artwork. I went rather ker-razy with it all, which kind of fits, I suppose.

I modelled Alexia after Édouard Manet’s Woman with a Parasol (1881) and attempted—keyword attempted—to implement the very characteristic Italian face.

Can’t tell you how delighted I was to see SUSPENSE as the key topic. That got my noir love going all sorts of places. Hee!

I referenced an awesome Detective Stories cover from my copy of True Crime: Detective Stories (1924–1969). Tried to be more Impressionistic here, but also just wanted to emphasise that vivid red frame. View in full scale to see the details!

Yeah, powerful stuff.

And because I am such a masochist for Victorian misery, I very much enjoyed drawing up the anguished Jane here.

Tried a different technique in Photoshop here – was trying to loosen up my brushwork. What do you think? Please view in full size!

I bought the blu-ray of the movie recently. I need to get round to watching it, no interruptions (hard to manage). I also need to review Dario Marianelli’s score. So much to do!

That said, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack tonight, which has heavy Romani elements laced into it; then again, so did the first score. I’d already had an idea to draw a dancer, but the nomadic freedom of the Romani people was certainly more alluring in the forefront of my mind, so I just went along with it.

This time I drew out the sketch much more quickly—finished the whole lot in an hour and a half. I like leaving the linework rough but still defined, so there’s still a hint of frenetic energy. I know, I drew it on my moleskine so there’s the unappealing fold in the middle, but I think it’s fine the way it is. The ...]]> I saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows last night, and I enjoyed it immensely—it was campy, fun and tense. And of course, a visual stunner. I loved the side characters, Mycroft (Stephen Fry FTW), Irene, and Simza, while Jared Harris was delicious as Moriarty. The unresolved tension between Watson and Holmes seems to have intensified even further. I always have loved them together—the quintessential bromance, if you will, but the chemistry between Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr is electrifyingly sizzling.

That said, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack tonight, which has heavy Romani elements laced into it; then again, so did the first score. I’d already had an idea to draw a dancer, but the nomadic freedom of the Romani people was certainly more alluring in the forefront of my mind, so I just went along with it.

This time I drew out the sketch much more quickly—finished the whole lot in an hour and a half. I like leaving the linework rough but still defined, so there’s still a hint of frenetic energy. I know, I drew it on my moleskine so there’s the unappealing fold in the middle, but I think it’s fine the way it is. The legs ought to be longer, but I didn’t want her feet to fall off the page, hah!

I am perpetually in a DC Comics frame of mind it seems. When I first saw the prompt word, this just somehow meandered into my mind. I can never get enough of Bruce in a half-dressed state in the comics or indeed any medium, and this is how I see him preparing to slip into his Batman persona—as some kind of fiendish and terrifying demon.

It’s been a while since I drew the male figure (makes me want to take up life drawing class again, heh), so I had to refer to those nifty diagrams of the human form in my drawing manuals. I also have little idea on how to draw scar tissue… Heh. Think I was more interested in using different brushes than making accurate textures.

I spent about 2.5 hours working on this, which I consider very slow. And this despite working very roughly. Originally I had a sketch of Batman holding up traffic lights, one red light and one green light (go figure, Kryptonite!) which would then “ground” Superman. But in the end, I wasn’t too motivated to finish the idea, so I did something simpler with Supergirl instead! :)

First time I’ve ever drawn Kara. I had to model myself to get the reference—I rather like the Wonder Woman-inspired pose.  Also, I pretend the New 52 costume doesn’t exist. Do you like my lame Photoshopped light rays?

Again this was done entirely on Corel Painter 12, but with some colour adjustment in Photoshop. I’m practicing with the oil brushes; I really want to do more blending and glazing techniques. You can see I’ve just begun to experiment there.

You may also have noticed I’ve tweaked a few things with the current layout.

Luckily for me I was assigned to the latter date, so that gave me a while to collate my ideas together, following my marathon completion of my artist book for my elective unit. In a nutshell, I formulated a new question/thesis, emphasising the merits of ornament over modernism, excess over restraint, maximalism over minimalism. The difference being a lot of me mixed into the concoction. I turned to critical theory and other texts to validate my arguments, and I believe I was able to confidently and convincingly articulate my ideas on, and more importantly my passion for, this subject.

I’m ...]]> So, it’s the end of June, and I’m halfway into my Honours project—SCARY THOUGHT. If you don’t know what my project is about, you might want to read this post though my objectives have altered slightly as time’s passed. Now is the perfect time to critically reflect on my progress throughout the first semester. We were given the opportunity to present our process and findings in a quasi-formal verbal and visual (poster) presentation on the 10th and 16th of June. (Well, actually, it made up 75% of our total grade, so it’s a bigger deal than I’m making it out to be.)

Luckily for me I was assigned to the latter date, so that gave me a while to collate my ideas together, following my marathon completion of my artist book for my elective unit. In a nutshell, I formulated a new question/thesis, emphasising the merits of ornament over modernism, excess over restraint, maximalism over minimalism. The difference being a lot of me mixed into the concoction. I turned to critical theory and other texts to validate my arguments, and I believe I was able to confidently and convincingly articulate my ideas on, and more importantly my passion for, this subject.

I’m pretty amazed at just how much I bared my soul to everybody (despite my having known most of these people for well over 3 years it isn’t exactly like we’re close chums); I felt strangely bereaved and liberated. Like OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE, NO ONE WILL LOOK AT ME THE SAME WAY AGAIN! And conversely, NOW YOU SEE THE REAL ME; IT’S NOT ME, BUT IT’S ME. JUDGE ME, I DARE YOU. This project is as my blog title suggests a “part observation, part confession”. I stole this quote from one of my research texts, In Flagrante Collecto, but I’m sure this is not an exclusive sentiment.

Essentially this project is all about my love for kitsch. It enriches my social, cultural, intellectual, physical and emotional experience, and I need to—and want to—highlight this sensibility throughout. Of course, this makes my project an extremely self-indulgent undertaking, but I don’t think this makes my project any less worthy of investigation than exploring the history of type design, or designing a nation’s identity, or discovering more effective modes of way-finding in a city space. What these presentations ultimately made me realise is how diverse our interests are, but we are all linked by a genuine keenness to push the boundaries of art, design, sociological and anthropological discourse. It’s exciting (and terrifying!) to consider where we’ll end up 5–6 months from now…

My poster designs, with my observations and (elusive) goals for next semester:

The great part about this presentation is the scope of feedback I received, from both peers, lecturers and guest assessors. At one point we had 6 lecturers, which wasn’t as daunting as I’d imagined it was going to be. As usual, everyone had something to say about it. Egos flew (haha, I wish). I’ve scanned in notes that I found constructive, funny and … not so helpful. I didn’t post all of them here, but perhaps I will.

FYI, I wrote an entirely new essay with new material, building on what I had already argued, so it’s not like I was cheating… Granted maybe I shouldn’t have read my speech but I spoke with inflection and expression, so with that I hope I could engage my audience and not induce them into comatose sleep…

LOL I sound defensive don’t I.

Way to inflate my ego! But that’s just what I wanted to emphasise.

This was very helpful… Thank you ever so much.

Aha, kitsch WILL be taken seriously!

Making a mockery of minimalism has been frequently mentioned by others, so I will definitely consider this…. though I may not commit to that path. I’m not crusading explicitly against minimalism (it’s beautiful in its own right), but marrying the stark contrast into something kitsch completely undermines modernism’s agenda. I like the subversion.

I know this was by Nat, since she said afterwards I ought to “write porn” (her words!) and that she would “totally read it”! So as not to feel mortified (nah, totally amused), I’m reminded of a quote by Australian romance author, Anna Campbell: “it’s emotional porn!”

More like understanding Saturday Night Fever. :P

I don’t know how much more personal I can make an already deeply personal project! But I am very heartened by that last comment.

I have looked at kitsch’s origins for half a year… I should have mentioned this. I did mention it, albeit implicitly… But I like the alignment of kitsch to what isn’t fashionable, that’s basically what happened to Art Deco, and look now, totally chic art style and movement!

Somewhat disgruntled that a staff ...]]> Last month I went up north to the nation’s capital, Canberra (yes, it’s actually not Melbourne, nor Sydney), to see the Masterpieces from Paris – Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and beyond at the National Gallery of Australia. This breakthrough exhibition (it is the first post-impressionist devoted exhibition in Australia) boasts 112 of some of the most famous works of modern art from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, a major museum of 19th-century art. Selected artists no doubt ring a bell with most people: Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat, Pierre Bonnard, Claude Monet, Maurice Denis, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Edouard Vuillard, among others. I’d been really primed for this exhibition months before (I had previously missed the Edgar Degas exhibition, owing to uni commitments, so I truly was determined to make it this time round!), but as I queued up early that Monday morning I tried not to heighten my already great expectations, especially having travelled so far from home. I’m aware of the criticisms that come with these so-called ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions, but where’s the harm in being swept away in the flurry of mystique, tragedy and exoticism that colours these many paintings?

Somewhat disgruntled that a staff member snapped up my entry pass away as admission (I wanted it to be my souvenir), I quickly brushed the annoyance aside. I could already hear the over-awed and overzealous comments of fellow patrons before we’d even entered the first room. The exhibition itself is not pretentiously or ambitiously designed (think back to National Gallery of Victoria‘s interiors that echoed the eccentricity of Salvador Dali). There are 6 rooms to navigate through: After Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, Cezanne/van Gogh, Gauguin and the Pont-Aven School/Toulouse-Lautrec, Symbolism/The Nabis, and finally Decoration/Rousseau. Altogether a coordinated layout, letting the artists’ vision and unique styles and techniques speak for themselves. NGA has provided a comprehensive online gallery of all works in respective rooms shown, which is awfully good of them, eh?

I suppose what is potentially problematic is the fact that many paintings featured are those that we’ve come to know very intimately through the mass media  (or media reproduction) without having viewed the actual artwork. It’s the Mona Lisa Effect. Finally seeing the real thing leaves you remarkably underwhelmed. In spite of it all, Van Gogh’s Starry Night is always a pleasure to admire in its palpable form, (I first got to see it at NGV‘s Impressionists exhibition in 2004 and it truly moved me then), Monet’s astonishing sense of colour, gestural brushstrokes and his illusory technique are wondrous to view up close; Seurat’s meticulous ‘pointillist’ technique—small daubs of paint juxtaposed together via calculated colour schemes—is frankly mind-boggling; Toulouse-Lautrec’s bold and brassy graphic technique and his affinity for Moulin Rouge prostitutes and dancers are amusing. However, I found that the lesser known artists caught my attention: Pierre Bonnard (possibly my favourite artist from this period next to Renoir), Maurice Denis and Edouard Vuillard, all of whom were part of the Nabis, a Post-Impressionist avant-garde group leading the way in both fine arts and graphic arts, have a strong selection of works featured. Their symbolist work which draws on literature, mythology, philosophy and dreams, capture vignettes of everyday life, using methods established by the earlier post-impressionists. Bonnard’s The White Cat is an adorable example—it has decorative motifs but also abstraction.

I’ve pre-ordered the Masterpieces from Paris catalogue at the “special price” of $39.95. When I was in the NGA shop they had run out of stock. I found that rather short-sighted, seeing as this is one of the most important and logistically expensive events organised. Or perhaps this is an indication of just how huge this show is. Maybe being an indulged Melburnian I’m used to the standards set by NGV. Regardless, I eagerly await my book, if only so I can relive the gallery experience (I can’t very well go back to Canberra like that)

Some of the outstanding paintings that caught my eye:

Georges Seurat was famous for his “pointillist” technique. See it to believe it!

I wrote about Pierre Bonnard’s Siesta – The artist’s studio for my first year uni essay, and have since been a passionate fan of his work. I fell in love with the intimacy and warmth of his colours and subject matter, but there’s a touch of loneliness about it too, which I instantly connected with in this painting, The Man and the Woman [L'homme et la femme]. Or maybe I’m just a refined pervert. Whatever. Us perverts can validate our perversion through art. (Oh wait, not if I’m Bill Henson I can’t)

The pioneer of ‘en plein air’, Claude Monet at his best. I’ve tried to emulate his gestural brushtroke technique and it is HARD!

Maurice Denis explores mythology and decoration in his depiction of the Muses. I love the restrained contours, and the red leafy patterns at the top and bottom.

Another painting by Émile Bernard of his sister Madeleine that depicts everyday life in a profound, idyllic way. I wanted a postcard of this but there wasn’t any!

Masterpieces from Paris is open from 9 Dec 2009 – 5 Apr 2010 at National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.