joe randel's art dump

So I hope that everyone had a good Valentines Day.  Mine was quite nice.  I draw a homemade card for my wife and I also made some for the kids too.  After work we all went out and had dinner out.  Yup, very nice indeed. ^_^

I also thought it would be a good time for some art history.  The painting above is called Cupid and Psyche in the Nuptial Bower, (1792-1793) and was painted by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, and Irish painter in the late 1700’s.  It’s based on the story of Cupid and a beautiful woman named Psyche.  Many sculptures and paintings are based on this story but I picked this one as I thought it has certain appeal to it. I like how Cupid seems to be trying to convince Psyche of something, but she’s hesitant.  But in that hesitation there is a small bit of her that wants to be with him.  She knows that if she looks into his eyes she will fall for him.

That or she’s looking at his wang.

So tonight The Walking Dead started up again.  My wife and I have been waiting for it to come back on since it ended in the fall.  We’re kind of on the fence about the show though.  We really liked the first season, but then it was a really slow 1/2 season.  I guess we’ll see how this shapes up and if we’ll continue to follow it.  We really wanted to like this one.

I’m not a huge tv buff but I do have a list of favorites.

• Fringe – I loved X-Files, so this is right up my alley.
• Amazing Race – Been a fan since the beginning.  I love seeing different parts of the world.
• Survivor – Started watching back in the 2nd season.  Can’t seem to stop.
• Modern Family – Funny, awkward and sometimes painful, but still fun.
• New Girl – Zooey Deschanel is just too cute not to watch.
• Top Chef – I love Iron Chef (Japan) and this one is just as good and more down to earth.
• Canada’s Worst Driver – It’s like a train wreck you can’t turn away from.
• Canadian Pickers – My Dad make repo furniture and deals in some antiques this appeals to my interests on a personal level.

What shows do you follow on tv?

Here’s a gripe that I don’t think I’ve posted yet.  Bathroom doors.  Specifically, those that keep them closed regardless if someone is in there or not.  See, for me this gripe, this teeth grinder, started when I began to date my wife.  Her family keeps the bathroom door(s) closed all the time.  So if I had to us it I felt like I had to do a head count around the house.  Of course I could have knocked (and I did that too) but I felt like I shouldn’t have to.  Although that seems to be more an issue with me then anything else.

Anyway, bathroom doors needlessly closed.  Grrr! There are times though when I can totally understand why it would be closed.  Baby safety, dog destroys bathroom, maybe the bathroom is really messy.  No, scratch that last one.  Just get off your ass and clean it.  Grrr!  I keep my bathroom doors open, the right way… the way they should be.

How’s your feeling on bathroom doors? Open or closed? Or is there any other strange house traits you’ve come across when you visit people?

Woo!  I made it through another year!  As of today, I’m 35 years old.

…

Dang… I’m 35 years old. o_O It’s strange when I sit and think about it.  I mean, I’m a 35 year old man.  I never would have imagined the things that I’d be doing at this time.  When I was young I figured when you got old you got boring.  Watch the news every night and read the paper the next day.  Sit around with other adults and talk or play cards.  You know… adult stuff.  But instead I draw porn in my spare time and love it!  Not only do I still play video games, I make them too!  I don’t feel like I should be 35 at all.  Not sure what age I should feel like, I guess I just feel like… me.  And I’m happy with that.

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The other day my son asked if he could play my Mario Kart DS.  I said sure, I had no problems with that.  Later he calls me over to show me what he doing in the game.  I instantly noticed that certain drivers where missing.  After a quick investigation I discovered that he had gone and erased all my data for the game. o_O All the karts… gone.  Drivers… gone…  Everything was as if I just took it out of the box.  Sigh… oh well.  It’s not a big deal.  It’s only a game, and I wasn’t mad.  A little sad, but not upset.  So, we’ve begun the task to try and unlock everything… again.  It’s not the first time he’s done this.  He erased my daughters Zelda: Minish Cap save game too.  She was mad about that for sure.  See, he’s only 4 and just starting to understand words.  He knows “yes” and “no” and he knows how to press buttons, but always not the purpose of said button.  Oh, well.  He didn’t mean to and it would ridiculous to punish him for such a trivial thing.

Have you ever lost a game save due to a niece, nephew or sibling?  Or, have you ever deleted one on purpose just so you could find everything all over again?

One thing that I’ve always been interested in doing but I’ve never tried my hand at is sculpting.  Well, that’s not totally true.  I did have to do some sculpting in college.  Once during Art Fundamentals and another as a part of  life drawing in my Classical Animation class.  We had to sculpt out a human skull, let it harden and then apply the muscles of the face.  I don’t remember what I got on it.  I think I did okay.

I do like the idea of trying my hand at a sexy sculpt.  I think it would be lots of fun, and probably frustrating too.  I do have some Sculpey that I bought a few years ago.  I wonder how long that stuff keeps for.  I also looked for some tutorials on what’s the best way to start, but I haven’t found anything yet.  I know I should try and learn some 3D, but trying my hand at a real 3d sculpt appeals to me more at this point.