Three weeks worth of Illustration Fridays. Whoopsies!

Voices

I grew up with Enid Blyton, and I love how the Magic Faraway Tree could speak to the children through its leaves and branches: “wisha, wisha, wisha, wisha!”

Rambunctious

So sue me. I thought of Joker.

Similar

For the indecisive person, this is a nightmare.

So… I haven’t been to an art gallery in a long time. I think the last time was NGV’s Art Deco. That’s a long time in my book. For me, it’s a good way to chillax and rejuvenate some of my creative vigour, and usually an excuse to hang about the NGV Shop (which I love).

The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra is hosting the first (and biggest) Edgar Degas exhibition in the country from this Friday! I wouldn’t have known about it if I hadn’t been watching the 7:30 Report while doing the dishes tonight. Oooh I would really love to go. I missed out on the huge Warhol and Picasso exhibitions in Queensland, but I should really love to see some more Degas. I’m a real sucker for the Realist and Impressionist movements (although Degas himself hated the term “Impressionist”). I suppose I could make it a day trip. Airfares with Tiger Airways are usually cheap (I’ll never forget my $10 trip to Hobart) and I imagine I could stay a night and get home the next day, if it came to that… But I suppose I’d want to sight-see just to take advantage of being in the …

Ever since I was a kid I’ve been taught the value of thrift, and despite my sometime dalliances with overspending, I am generally a fiscally responsible person—I baulk at the idea of paying $100 for a pair of jeans or the brand name of an ordinary-looking shoe when I can get something similar for far less, and I am wary of blindly following stocktake sales’ supposed slashed prices. So, it comes as no surprise that we loves teh flea markets! Not just for the bargains, but for all the quirky, weird things that you encounter! It’s brilliant for those days when you’re having creativity drought. I love retro kitsch, and there is no better place to find it than at a flea market (or a car boot sale, or a trash and treasure, or a second hand market, or the Sunday market or a thrift market, or whatever you like to call it). Apparently the world’s largest flea market, not counting eBay (hah!) is in the US, spanning from Kentucky to Alabama, 450 miles wide (about 724km, that’s almost the distance from Melbourne to Sydney!). God I would love to travel along there. It’d be like a road trip plus …

(I initally meant to post this on the 1st October. Go me.)

Brideshead Revisited

Up until this point I always assumed Evelyn Waugh was a woman, but this is the name, in fact, of a man. And I had no idea that the mini-series adaptation was held in such high regard. I got “free” tickets for an advanced screening at Nova, thanks to my delightful affiliation with the Monash Golden Key Society. Honestly, I paid $93 to join them; I should get the money back slowly but surely, no? In any case, I’m glad I didn’t technically pay for the film, because it was a bit of a disappointment. My appetite for visual candy was more than satisfied, however, probably to the point of gluttony. It is a sumptuous, seductive film for the senses. But for the mind? Maybe not so much. The protagonist, Charles Ryder, a modest painter is introduced to a world of decadence, wealth and opulence through his growing relationship with Sebastian Flyte at Oxford. He is swept away by the grandness of Sebastian’s home, Brideshead. What follows is a series of events that lead Charles into the closing, controlling grip of Brideshead itself, and the choices he makes …

Have I mentioned how much I adore the 60s Batman series? There is not enough love for it. And I do love me some camp kitsch. Sure, it takes the mickey out of the Golden/Silver Age comics (but even they were camp), but hey, this is the Swinging Sixties we’re talking about here. Who ever cared for darkness and angst? It’s the era of free-loving and psychedelia! Even the Bats ain’t safe. I wish a DVD box set would be released but no, DC are too damn proud to even consider it, and Fox are well, just being difficult. DAMN YOU EXECS, I WOULD TOTALLY BUY IT! As would many others, I’m sure! I’ve managed to find several episodes on YouTube and other video-sharing sites, but it’s just not enough.

Oh well. There’s always the movie, which incidentally is the HOLY SPECIAL EDITION. LULZ. That’s EPIC WIN already. But the movie doesn’t have Julie Newmar (aka Catwoman), whose seductive manner and beautiful figure is greatly envied by me. Her costume is actually one of my favourites; even though it’s really quite simple, and well, figure-hugging (wouldn’t work with me, that’s for sure), the tactile texture of the fabric—it’s all shimmery like …