First Oil Painting – Reflection

I finished my first oil painting over the weekend. I completed it in two sessions, the first consisting of sketching the outlines and painting the basic details. After a few days allowing most of the oil paint to dry I went in there and added the remaining detail.

I did this in a sketch book, recreating a photograph taken at a trip to New York back in 2010. The actual location is on a sightseeing boat circling Manhattan island.

I titled it ‘Reflection’ to make it seem deep and meaningful, but in actual fact its the most straight forward and appropriate title as the reflection of my sunglasses is the focus of the painting.

Trip to Lithgow – Blast Furnace in ruins

Today Charmaine and I together with my brother-in-law and his fiancé drove up to Lithgow, that’s located about 2 hours’ North-west of Sydney centre or about 1 and 20 minutes from our place. Lithgow use to be home to an old iron & steel manufacturing blast furnace. It hasn’t been in operation since the 1920’s and the wear-and-tear of the buildings are clearly visible. In fact little more than crumbling walls still stand. The location is here.
Why did we wish to drive over an hour to see this place? It was suggested to us like a good location for some pre-wedding photos. I took our little camera with us (really crap) just to take some photos for myself and to see whether the place was interesting enough for my brother-in-law to return to with their professional photographer.
Some of the shots came out really well. I then wanted to experiment with new photo editing effects I read about, so below is the result.

 

Cuddles and her Maltese Puppy

Cuddles, our little Maltese had delivered a healthy puppy yesterday morning.  So far it has been an adventure, with the first night proving a challenge. Having to get up every time the puppy cried really drained us both of a lot of energy, but the rush of seeing a new mother caring for her newborn is really exciting and reignites some adrenaline to keep us going.

At first Cuddles was not interested in the pup and left it. She went on a separate dog bed and slept for a few hours. I confirmed with a vet that such a thing could occur. In the mean time I prepared a hot-water bottle wrapped in a towel to keep the pup warm and some warm puppy formula to give it her first meal. Did I mention it’s a little girl?

Finally Cuddles hormones kicked into full gear and her motherly instincts took over. She has been caring for the pup, feeding it, cleaning after it and responding to the deflating balloon like screams nonstop, only when her own feeding time came or when she needs to go to the toilet.

Anyway here are some photos.

Maltese puppy 2 days old

Maltese puppy girl 2 days old

Whelping box

Charlie the father and cuddles together, taken about 2 month prior

Exploding Coke Cans

Sometime between last night and this morning our works’ drink vending machine went haywire. The temperature settings dived below zero and the cans began to freeze. As most people know the cans expand when they turn to ice and can explode.

That is exactly what happened. Several of the cans (one of them exploded when I was taking photos) burst, delivering a eruption of slushy mixture that covered the surroundings.

See the couple of cans at the back right of the picture. They resemble spray cans and if i had to wager which cans would go kaboom next, i would put my money on them.

Cuddles after a Bath

We gave Cuddles a bath over the Anzac public holiday, and removed the tie that held her hair away from her eyes. She looks like a mini sheep dog.

Cuddles after bath

Cuddles after bath

This is how the hair is usually tied up

Cuddles hair back

Caesar Drawing

I am rather proud of this Julius Caesar pencil drawing I did. I used the grid method again. The original picture is found in one of my books. Its actually a sculpture of the man. My next drawing will probably involve some oil paints. I have to give those babies a try.

 

Julius Caesar

British Candy Store

Living in Australia the selection of candy/lollies/sweets (whatever you want to call it) is much smaller than what is available to the sweet-tooth consumer in the US, At least from personal experience having visited the place.

For a few years now I have seen scattered shops concentrating on the niche market of American sweets.

I haven’t come across a British version of the same thing, until today. Only a gobstoppers throw away from where I work, the tucked away shop nostalgically titled for the pommy expats ‘Treats from Home’, gives a small insight into the sugary world available to our head of state and her British bad-teeth subjects.

Just as the American candy shops have over-priced goods ($15 dollar pop-tarts come to mind), there was plenty of the same thing here. However a table that stood in the centre of the store was filled with a plethora of discounted food and drinks, if you didn’t want to spend big and weren’t shopping for a specific item. As an example I picked up a can of ‘Tango Cherry’ & Cherry Diet Coke’ for $1 each.

There was also a wall made out of boxes of chips (or do they call them crisps?) with a variety of eclectic flavours I never heard of. I picked two random flavours ‘roast beef & mustard’ and ‘pickled onions ‘each for $.50, a bargain if you ask me. Notice in the below photo that the pickled onions packet has the branding that reads ‘Walkers’ but looks nearly identical to the Lay’s logo found here in Australia. Not sure if the Brits drink Johnny Walker which eating those chips or how the discrepancy came about.

Finally I also picked up a limited edition Mars bar and another bar referencing the iconic double decker buses.

If you are in Sydney (there is one in Melbourne as well apparently) then head to Pitt St mall in the city. I found it unfaithfully (I work for Westfield) in the glasshouse shopping complex on the third floor. See their website for more info.

Treats from home goodies

Treats from home shop

 

Goats of Maturity

I stumbled upon a really great image titled ‘Maturity Climb’, or another way of putting it a character development cartoon. The original image can be found at http://www.viruscomix.com, but it’s not where I found it originally, so I am not sure what the site is fully about.

The red goats inhabiting the scorched barren land are representations of myopic, self-centred and generally ignorant attitudes. The Yellow goats are those that have awaken from their stupor and are attempting to change themselves, climbing the symbolic mountain.  Finally the green goats that reside on the luscious pasture are those ‘enlightened’ goats that embody the mature traits people should strive for.

Of course we all display some of each, but I think the point is to attempt to channel the green-goat-attitude.

Criticism

I do have to take issue with the wording of the following green goat “Blames self for world”. I think it would have been better to state takes activate approach with world problems.

Favourite Goats

I think some goats stand out with their succinct trait descriptions that evoke real world examples.

The oppose of the goat mentioned above, “Blames world for problems” goat, is a goat that personifies the attitude in people can’t stand most. It’s those individuals that constantly complain that everything is going terrible for them. Their job, their relations, the government is always screwing them around.

I think a sub category of this is people who say “what has the world come to”, implying a degeneration and eminent collapse of society and all that is known around them. I bite my tongue when I hear it but my thoughts race through my head yelling, what about the world! We are technologically, medically and financially better off then we have ever been. The majority of countries now live in a stable, peaceful existence with mature democracies upholding rights and freedoms that have been established only in the last few hundred or even dozen of years. The life expectancy is higher than it has ever been and continues its climb. Just make the most of what you live with and stop complaining.

—————

The next goat is the “knows nothing” goat. Perhaps once again not the best turn of the phrase, but I think the idea was to harken back to the famous Socrates quote that went something along the lines of “I know that I know nothing”, with the implication that true knowledge comes from knowing that you don’t know everything and that there is always more to know.

Conclusion

This is a very well illustrated and thoughtful comic. It gave me an idea to do something similar with another topic.

How many IMDB top 250 have I seen?

IMDb (Internet Movie Database) would have to be the go-to authority on movies. I use it regularly when exploring my choices in films, when I seek extra information or when I wish to read a critical review.

Registered users can vote on movies helping to create a coherent ranking of all the titles (mind you sometimes I feel the ratings are skewed or very bias, but in general they are not bad), allowing others to have an idea of what to expect, and separate the wheat from the chaff. I personally don’t bother getting a movie below a 7.0 ratings unless a friend or someone I respect recommends an exception.

IMDb has a top 250 movies living list, I say living because it constantly morphs. Every year there is a movie or two that does exceptionally well and appears in the hall of fame. Of course there are the grand champions such as ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and the ‘Godfather’ series that can’t seem to get knocked off the hill, or the long standing classics (I haven’t seen yet) such as ‘Casablanca’ and ‘Citizen Kane’ that always remain part of the list.

How many movies I have seen

I wanted to see how many movies I have seen from the top 250 list as of April 24^th 2012. I thought I would play around with the data a bit to get a sense of what I watch.

First of all here is the list as of 24^th of April 2012, I marked which movie I have seen so far and which I haven’t.

Rank	IMDB Rating	Title	Votes	Have I seen
1	9.2	The Shawshank Redemption (1994)	746,193	Yes
2	9.2	The Godfather (1972)	556,803	No
3	9	The Godfather: Part II (1974)	351,312	No
4	8.9	Pulp Fiction (1994)	587,294	Yes
5	8.9	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)	232,755	No
6	8.9	12 Angry Men (1957)	183,107	No
7	8.9	Schindler’s List (1993)	392,553	Yes
8	8.8	The Dark Knight (2008)	681,279	No
9	8.8	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)	525,282	Yes
10	8.8	One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)	315,813	Yes
11	8.8	Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)	379,885	Yes
12	8.8	Fight Club (1999)	566,581	Yes
13	8.8	Seven Samurai (1954)	127,060	No
14	8.8	Inception (2010)	536,953	Yes
15	8.7	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)	547,279	Yes
16	8.7	Goodfellas (1990)	332,347	No
17	8.7	Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)	427,439	Yes
18	8.7	City of God (2002)	247,034	Yes
19	8.7	Casablanca (1942)	216,731	No
20	8.7	The Matrix (1999)	544,339	Yes
21	8.7	Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)	106,416	No
22	8.7	Rear Window (1954)	161,017	No
23	8.7	Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)	327,523	Yes
24	8.6	The Silence of the Lambs (1991)	361,755	Yes
25	8.6	The Usual Suspects (1995)	361,461	Yes
26	8.6	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)	470,917	Yes
27	8.6	Se7en (1995)	427,978	Yes
28	8.6	Forrest Gump (1994)	473,390	Yes
29	8.6	Psycho (1960)	197,705	No
30	8.6	It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)	137,750	Yes
31	8.6	Léon: The Professional (1994)	311,119	Yes
32	8.6	Sunset Blvd. (1950)	73,871	No
33	8.6	Memento (2000)	396,486	No
34	8.5	Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)	197,682	Yes
35	8.5	Apocalypse Now (1979)	231,954	No
36	8.5	American History X (1998)	341,466	Yes
37	8.5	North by Northwest (1959)	120,614	No
38	8.5	Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)	344,479	Yes
39	8.5	Citizen Kane (1941)	174,067	No
40	8.5	Saving Private Ryan (1998)	388,065	Yes
41	8.5	Alien (1979)	250,303	Yes
42	8.5	City Lights (1931)	43,529	No
43	8.5	American Beauty (1999)	407,338	Yes
44	8.5	Spirited Away (2001)	161,286	Yes
45	8.5	Toy Story 3 (2010)	204,685	Yes
46	8.5	Taxi Driver (1976)	231,312	Yes
47	8.5	The Shining (1980)	262,574	No
48	8.5	Vertigo (1958)	121,697	No
49	8.5	M (1931)	53,499	No
50	8.5	Paths of Glory (1957)	60,580	No
51	8.5	The Pianist (2002)	203,154	Yes
52	8.5	Modern Times (1936)	54,258	No
53	8.5	Amelie (2001)	260,068	Yes
54	8.4	The Departed (2006)	385,592	Yes
55	8.4	Double Indemnity (1944)	50,768	No
56	8.4	WALL·E (2008)	292,203	No
57	8.4	The Lives of Others (2006)	117,754	Yes
58	8.4	Aliens (1986)	233,729	Yes
59	8.4	A Clockwork Orange (1971)	264,143	Yes
60	8.4	Life Is Beautiful (1997)	162,955	No
61	8.4	Lawrence of Arabia (1962)	101,334	No
62	8.4	To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)	109,742	No
63	8.4	Back to the Future (1985)	301,590	Yes
64	8.4	Das Boot (1981)	91,722	No
65	8.4	Requiem for a Dream (2000)	271,063	Yes
66	8.4	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)	317,528	Yes
67	8.4	Reservoir Dogs (1992)	299,325	Yes
68	8.4	The Third Man (1949)	64,764	No
69	8.4	A Separation (2011)	49,127	No
70	8.4	The Prestige (2006)	326,973	Yes
71	8.4	The Green Mile (1999)	303,686	Yes
72	8.4	Cinema Paradiso (1988)	66,088	No
73	8.4	Chinatown (1974)	108,462	No
74	8.4	The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)	43,407	No
75	8.4	L.A. Confidential (1997)	221,685	No
76	8.4	The Great Dictator (1940)	54,466	No
77	8.4	Gladiator (2000)	417,254	Yes
78	8.3	Once Upon a Time in America (1984)	105,089	No
79	8.3	Rashômon (1950)	53,253	No
80	8.3	Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)	203,625	Yes
81	8.3	Full Metal Jacket (1987)	220,235	Yes
82	8.3	Bicycle Thieves (1948)	40,844	No
83	8.3	Singin’ in the Rain (1952)	74,386	No
84	8.3	Some Like It Hot (1959)	90,855	No
85	8.3	Amadeus (1984)	133,140	Yes
86	8.3	All About Eve (1950)	45,329	No
87	8.3	Raging Bull (1980)	121,704	No
88	8.3	Metropolis (1927)	56,031	No
89	8.3	Braveheart (1995)	344,001	Yes
90	8.3	Oldboy (2003)	149,399	No
91	8.3	2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)	210,722	No
92	8.3	The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)	78,758	No
93	8.3	The Apartment (1960)	51,970	No
94	8.3	Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)	295,722	Yes
95	8.3	Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)	225,472	No
96	8.3	Unforgiven (1992)	140,650	No
97	8.3	The Sting (1973)	88,775	No
98	8.3	Princess Mononoke (1997)	95,456	No
99	8.3	Downfall (2004)	122,020	Yes
100	8.3	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)	240,293	Yes
101	8.3	The Lion King (1994)	236,857	Yes
102	8.3	Inglourious Basterds (2009)	318,672	No
103	8.3	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)	43,094	No
104	8.3	Die Hard (1988)	272,555	No
105	8.3	Grave of the Fireflies (1988)	52,180	No
106	8.3	The Seventh Seal (1957)	54,765	No
107	8.3	On the Waterfront (1954)	53,993	No
108	8.3	Up (2009)	226,247	Yes
109	8.3	The Elephant Man (1980)	83,012	No
110	8.3	The Maltese Falcon (1941)	65,381	No
111	8.3	The Great Escape (1963)	83,966	No
112	8.3	Yojimbo (1961)	38,760	No
113	8.2	Gran Torino (2008)	233,888	Yes
114	8.2	Rebecca (1940)	46,600	No
115	8.2	Batman Begins (2005)	391,173	Yes
116	8.2	Witness for the Prosecution (1957)	25,677	No
117	8.2	The Intouchables (2011)	29,361	No
118	8.2	For a Few Dollars More (1965)	67,390	No
119	8.2	Snatch. (2000)	267,782	Yes
120	8.2	The General (1926)	26,886	No
121	8.2	Heat (1995)	210,108	No
122	8.2	Blade Runner (1982)	246,817	Yes
123	8.2	Fargo (1996)	217,975	Yes
124	8.2	Wild Strawberries (1957)	30,591	No
125	8.2	Ran (1985)	44,109	No
126	8.2	Sin City (2005)	345,621	Yes
127	8.2	Toy Story (1995)	245,053	Yes
128	8.2	Touch of Evil (1958)	42,146	No
129	8.2	The Big Lebowski (1998)	251,455	Yes
130	8.2	Jaws (1975)	191,696	Yes
131	8.2	The Deer Hunter (1978)	122,188	No
132	8.2	Hotel Rwanda (2004)	132,038	Yes
133	8.2	No Country for Old Men (2007)	288,159	Yes
134	8.2	The Artist (2011)	63,327	No
135	8.2	Ikiru (1952)	21,832	No
136	8.2	Cool Hand Luke (1967)	62,892	No
137	8.2	The Wizard of Oz (1939)	141,289	Yes
138	8.2	It Happened One Night (1934)	33,462	No
139	8.2	Black Swan (2010)	235,303	Yes
140	8.2	The King’s Speech (2010)	171,027	Yes
141	8.2	Scarface (1983)	233,643	Yes
142	8.2	The Sixth Sense (1999)	343,013	Yes
143	8.2	Strangers on a Train (1951)	47,441	No
144	8.2	The Kid (1921)	23,333	No
145	8.2	The Wages of Fear (1953)	19,517	No
146	8.2	Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)	330,544	Yes
147	8.2	Annie Hall (1977)	92,093	No
148	8.1	The Gold Rush (1925)	30,096	No
149	8.1	High Noon (1952)	44,581	No
150	8.1	Platoon (1986)	151,866	Yes
151	8.1	Warrior (2011)	86,110	No
152	8.1	Trainspotting (1996)	217,558	Yes
153	8.1	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)	77,991	No
154	8.1	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)	192,517	Yes
155	8.1	Into the Wild (2007)	173,610	No
156	8.1	Sunrise (1927)	16,023	No
157	8.1	The Grapes of Wrath (1940)	31,763	No
158	8.1	Donnie Darko (2001)	293,715	Yes
159	8.1	The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)	47,646	No
160	8.1	Notorious (1946)	40,710	No
161	8.1	The Thing (1982)	124,486	Yes
162	8.1	Gone with the Wind (1939)	110,726	No
163	8.1	Million Dollar Baby (2004)	214,240	Yes
164	8.1	Casino (1995)	156,592	No
165	8.1	There Will Be Blood (2007)	183,479	Yes
166	8.1	Life of Brian (1979)	133,669	Yes
167	8.1	Les diaboliques (1955)	21,125	No
168	8.1	Slumdog Millionaire (2008)	287,406	Yes
169	8.1	My Neighbor Totoro (1988)	54,123	No
170	8.1	Amores perros (2000)	89,624	No
171	8.1	Finding Nemo (2003)	266,357	Yes
172	8.1	Ben-Hur (1959)	80,156	No
173	8.1	How to Train Your Dragon (2010)	138,691	No
174	8.1	Groundhog Day (1993)	202,224	Yes
175	8.1	The Terminator (1984)	265,781	Yes
176	8.1	The Big Sleep (1946)	37,248	No
177	8.1	V for Vendetta (2005)	348,339	Yes
178	8.1	The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)	22,407	No
179	8.1	Good Will Hunting (1997)	234,739	Yes
180	8.1	Stand by Me (1986)	129,086	Yes
181	8.1	The Graduate (1967)	109,832	No
182	8.1	Dog Day Afternoon (1975)	88,858	Yes
183	8.1	Twelve Monkeys (1995)	233,918	Yes
184	8.1	Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)	20,460	No
185	8.1	The Avengers (2012)	5,739	No
186	8.1	Network (1976)	50,166	No
187	8.1	The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)	226,113	Yes
188	8.1	The Manchurian Candidate (1962)	43,559	No
189	8.1	The 400 Blows (1959)	33,827	No
190	8.1	The Night of the Hunter (1955)	34,198	No
191	8.1	Mary and Max (2009)	39,635	No
192	8.1	Gandhi (1982)	75,512	No
193	8.1	District 9 (2009)	256,830	Yes
194	8.1	Harakiri (1962)	8,548	No
195	8.1	Persona (1966)	25,387	No
196	8.1	The Battle of Algiers (1966)	19,629	No
197	8	Dial M for Murder (1954)	44,845	No
198	8	The Princess Bride (1987)	158,515	No
199	8	The Killing (1956)	34,019	No
200	8	8½ (1963)	41,397	No
201	8	La strada (1954)	24,406	No
202	8	Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)	28,446	No
203	8	The Hustler (1961)	33,773	No
204	8	Sherlock Jr. (1924)	12,250	No
205	8	The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)	15,408	No
206	8	Ratatouille (2007)	211,310	No
207	8	The Wrestler (2008)	150,971	No
208	8	Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)	77,521	No
209	8	Fanny and Alexander (1982)	20,942	No
210	8	The Exorcist (1973)	153,525	No
211	8	The Wild Bunch (1969)	40,345	No
212	8	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)	48,989	No
213	8	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)	173,705	No
214	8	Stalag 17 (1953)	26,342	No
215	8	Rocky (1976)	150,394	No
216	8	A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)	45,819	Yes
217	8	Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)	17,436	No
218	8	Barry Lyndon (1975)	53,136	No
219	8	Star Trek (2009)	224,362	Yes
220	8	Nights of Cabiria (1957)	16,066	No
221	8	All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)	29,278	No
222	8	A Beautiful Mind (2001)	217,280	Yes
223	8	The Truman Show (1998)	254,865	Yes
224	8	Infernal Affairs (2002)	48,325	No
225	8	Roman Holiday (1953)	45,121	No
226	8	Rope (1948)	46,381	No
227	8	Ip Man (2008)	44,801	No
228	8	The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)	30,200	No
229	8	Rosemary’s Baby (1968)	74,738	No
230	8	Tokyo Story (1953)	12,339	No
231	8	Festen (1998)	36,261	No
232	8	Stalker (1979)	31,122	No
233	8	Mystic River (2003)	179,825	Yes
234	8	High and Low (1963)	10,110	No
235	8	Let the Right One In (2008)	99,519	No
236	8	Come and See (1985)	13,091	No
237	8	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)	359,599	Yes
238	8	Beauty and the Beast (1991)	121,410	Yes
239	8	Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)	34,322	No
240	8	Manhattan (1979)	55,247	No
241	8	Monsters, Inc. (2001)	204,771	Yes
242	8	Magnolia (1999)	155,482	No
243	8	Anatomy of a Murder (1959)	22,943	No
244	8	Big Fish (2003)	203,381	No
245	8	Nosferatu (1922)	38,967	No
246	8	Throne of Blood (1957)	15,682	No
247	8	Le Samouraï (1967)	14,829	No
248	8	The Incredibles (2004)	237,534	No
249	8	La grande illusion (1937)	16,032	No
250	8	Shutter Island (2010)	262,141	Yes

Here is a pie chart of how many I have seen and how many I have yet to watch.

250 top movies from 1920 - 2012

By Decade

There is almost 100 years of movies on that list. The oldest being ‘The Kid’ that was made in 1921. Not sure If I will ever watch that one, maybe on Youtube when I have a spare couple of hours.

It became apparent to me that the older the movies the greater the chance I haven’t seen them. You not going to see me rushing to the video store salivating over the Blueray release of ‘the Kid’. So I have culled all the movies older than 1970 to see the ratio of how many I have seen. The pie chart is much more green. A total of 155 newer than 1970.

250 top movies from 1970 - 2012

Here is a breakdown of all the movies I have seen by decade. Much more red as you go back in time.

250 top movies from 1920 - 2012 by decade

Once again, I did a bar graph of movies only between 1970 to present. The graph looks much more healthier with me seeing  a small majority of the movies.

250 top movies from 1970 - 2012 by decade

By Vote

If you look at the original table of all the movies you will notice that there is a vote count. That is how many people voted for that movie to give it its final score. There is a minimal limit that determines when a movie will be eligible to be seen on the list.

Not surprisingly ‘The Avengers’ which is the only 2012 movie on the list has the lowest count at a mere 5000+ votes. The movie may fall of the list as the buzz wains and the opinion of the movie matures like bottle of wine.

I arranged the movies by the vote count and separate it into 100K groups (from 0 to 700K). Not surprisingly the number of votes correlates with the popularity of the film and the likelihood that I have seen it.

See the following charts of all the movies

250 top movies 0 - 700K by vote

Here are only movies with more than 100K votes. I definitely have seen a majority of these movies.

250 top movies 100 - 700K by vote

Final word

Any amateur movie buff would clobber me over the head with a stick if they knew I haven’t seen some of the great titles such as the ‘Godfather’ series or ‘Goodfellas’. The older movie generation may clobber me with their walking sticks for not seeing ‘Casablanca’ or ’12 Angry Men’.

I will get there one day and watch majority of these films. My total movie count is around 500, which doesn’t even scrape the surface of all the great works of art that have been released over the years.

My First Sketches

I decided to dabble with a bit of art. I had a great idea in mind to create something personalised for people I know, but firstly needed to warm up and get acquainted with some of the materials I wanted to use.

I decided upon oil paints, but I don’t recall ever using them, which may be a problem. I am in the process of reading tutorials and techniques by artists just to get a sense of what to expect. Straight away I learn that you need thinners i.e turpentine/linseed oil as part of the painting routine, and that oil paint can take forever to dry. Sounds more difficult than I expected, but I will give it a try.

I already purchased the paint and a bunch of artistic pencils, student grade but it should be sufficient for now. I plan to paint something simple and go from there. But for now I stuck to sketching from photographs.

First sketch is of Charmaine. I drew this by just looking at the photograph and trying to recreate it on paper. The proportions appear somewhat skewed, and I had a complaint from the subject that it makes her look bad, but I thought it was alright for my first real-life drawing.

The second sketch is of me from another photograph. I am eating a White castle®burger and appear to be enjoying it very much. The proportions are much more precise, this was because I adapted a technique of putting a grid on the photograph and then a similar grid (I made this grid 50% larger) onto the paper, that what I can make the contour and all the details in their corresponding place on paper. Obviously if you are drawing something from real life the technique won’t work, but for my purposes it is very helpful.

The shading was done with my fingers and occasional lighting with an eraser.

If I wish to paint I won’t have to draw so much detail of the subjects as the paint itself is what will give the shadows etc. I will post any other attempts later.