Signs of the week

I've ridden public transportation in many of the great cities of the world, and as a visitor, have spent lots of time checking out the information displays.  You don't want to miss your stop or end up on the wrong train, so systems that tell you what's ahead are much appreciated.

Although Paris and London, my two most recent great-city-transportation experiences, have good maps and markings, I have to give points to Tokyo for their in-car displays.  These are all digital, appearing in sequence on a screen above each door.

First of all, they number the stations on the line, a useful practice I don't believe I've ever seen elsewhere.  Here we are nearing the end, approaching Inaricho station G-17.  We'll be there in one minute; three minutes to the next, and five minutes to the last.

The display toggles between Japanese and English.

The doors open on this side.

We're in car 3, which is going to stop just a bit before the exit, so we'll turn right when we hit the platform.

It'll take some doing to louse up this train ride.

"Demo at Jackson Hole 2015 4" --- Sold

This is my last demo on the workshop at Jackson. The purpose of this demo was showing how I approach to paint medal objects. My key of painting metal is trying to use as much as transparent pigments and reserve the opaque colors for the high light area only.

This painting was sold on the workshop. However, I do still have a demo painting still available, which is a rose painting I did plein air at Durango CO. If you are interested in that one, please click here to get information and purchase.

London museum report 7 -- National Gallery / the old masters

The National Gallery has seven Rembrandts and two Vermeers (and the very next day I got to see a third Vermeer across town) so you can get your quotient of Really Great Art in a few minutes.  That is, unless you plonk yourself down to commune with Rembrandt himself in one of the self-portraits. I do that whenever possible -- heaven is a museum with a bench in front of your favorite painting.  And I particularly love looking into the eyes of the artist himself, which happens so many times with Rembrandt; maybe he was too cheap to hire models.  Here he is as a young stud, quite satisfied with himself, as he had every right to be.

Rembrandt, Self Portrait at the Age of 34, 1640

Here's his girlfriend, looking quite alluring in a bra-less fur outfit and nice jewelry.

Rembrandt, Portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels, 1654-6

Rembrandt, An Elderly Man as Saint Paul, 1659

Both the Vermeers feature a virginal, the early harpsichord popular in the late Renaissance.  The instrument came in a case and was placed on a table. Apparently it didn't matter whether you stood or sat, or whether the keys were high or low relative to your body; all that technique would come later.

Vermeer, A Young Woman seated at a Virginal, ~1670-2

Vermeer, A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, ~1670-2

Kicking the puppy

Several people commented about my "marketing strategy" -- buy my book or I'll kick this puppy.  So far no death threats have come my way, but it occurred to me that many of my readers may not get the joke.  I was referring back to a famous moment in journalism when the National Lampoon ran this cover:

"If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog."  It was pretty cheeky for 1973, and if the internet had been around it would have been described as a meme.

Other magazine editors glommed onto the concept and tweaked it:

2007: "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, Dick Cheney Will Shoot You in the Face"

2015:  Greek prime minister Alex Tsipras, "Send Money or I'll Shoot"

2009:  didn't even bother to change the headline, except to substitute "shoot" for "kill"

2011:  the image alone makes some people remember the original caption, so it's useful for editorial cartoonists to depict blackmail situations.

For everybody who was a journalist, or a journalism aficionado, in the 70s, the meme has a great deal of staying power and requires no explanation.  My nostalgia overwhelmed my common sense, which should have reminded me that not everybody was a journalism aficionado in the 70s.  And animal lovers should note that I threatened only to kick the puppy, not shoot it.

I still want you to buy the book.

Location Design!

Environment layout with pov roughs to give a feel for the look and story moments of the location.