Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.121

Welcome back.

This week we will be continuing with our Sonoran area scene, using the photo seen directly below.



When last seen, the painting appeared as it does in the photo directly below.



Since that time, I have continued to work on the painting.

After our last installment, it was suggested by a professional artist that I might try doing an underpainting of a contrasting color. This technique is said to produce a quality of greater depth in a painting. As I am untrained, I have never intentionally painted in an underpainting for this purpose. I decided to attempt underpainting here to see for myself. Having a tube of red handy I painted it around the preliminary brushstrokes. The result is seen in the photo directly below.



After that, I painted in the sky, or at least the preliminary blue which will receive some attention later on. It is seen in the photo directly below. In fact this is the point where I have left the painting for this week.



I'm not sure that underpainting will have much impact, if any at all. Come back
next week and we'll see if there is any difference. See you then.

As usual, please feel free to post photos of your own work in the comments section below.

Tribal Council

Up for your consideration is long-standing Senator Trent Lott, overdue for undeserved retirement. Winning reelection, he has now determined that it is finally time to leave. Money talks and it is apparently shouting to him in his future role as a lobbyist. He could have left earlier before the sham election and done his long-suffering constituents a favor but that was not in the plans. Apparently he did not want his successor determined by the people of his state in an election. Too bad.

Senator Lott is hereby ejected from the island of Left Blogistan. The tribe has spoken.

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.120

Welcome back.

This week we will be starting a new cycle. We'll be staying in Arizona but will head south toward the Sonoran desert area. Our subject is seen in the photo directly below.



This will mark the first time that I've ever attempted to paint the large iconic Saguaro cactus. Wish me luck. Once again, I'll be using acrylics. This piece will be painted on an 8 x 10 canvas.

As usual, I'll start this project by placing the main elements on the canvas. This is always my greatest concern because it will set the path for everything that follows.

I've done the initial brushstrokes in blue because it seemed appropriate and, well, it was handy. The current state of the painting is seen in the photo directly below.



Next week I'll start to fill things in. See you then.

As usual, feel free to post photos of your own work in the comments section below.

Tribal Council

Tom Kean, former governor of New Jersey and co-chairman of the 9/11 commission, has now officially endorsed Senator John McCain.

John McCain understands the nature of the terrorist threats that continue to confront us all. Senator McCain has been in the forefront of every effort that has been taken in the aftermath of September 11 to enhance the security of the American people. ...

Umm, so falling in line with the Bush agenda (for disaster) now makes one qualified on matters of terrorism? Talk about lowering the bar.

We here at SLB emphatically disagree with Governor Kean. As such, the Governor has our official endorsement to be booted from the virtual island of Left Blogistan. The tribe has spoken.

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.119

Welcome back.

This week we will be continuing with our Grand Canyon painting derived from the photo seen directly below.



When last seen, the painting appeared as it does in the photo directly below.



Since that time I have continued working on the painting. There are actually many changes, some of which may not be readily apparent. There's good news and bad news here. The bad news is that I accidentally smeared some red paint on the sky and had to repaint some of it for purposes of overall consistency. The good news is that it actually seems a bit enhanced, a bit more dramatic. A happy accident, as Bob Ross would say.

Also changed are the midground buttes and shadows. These changes may not be readily apparent. The changes are incremental, really more of a tweaking of the forms and some of the highlights. The result of these small changes is a more consistent and somewhat more natural scene.

Finally, there is the foreground on the lower left. It is now complete with rocks of a color appropriate to their closeup positioning. The red is more saturated as well as the shadows. The scene is now complete.

The completed painting is seen in the photo directly below.



The entire sequence of this painting is seen in the series of photos directly below, from start to finish.











That's about it for now, I'll see you next week with something entirely new.

As always, feel free to post your own work in the comments section of this thread.

Gas Mileage: Back To The Past

Sitting in traffic in my Mazda, sandwiched between a Hummer H3 and a Jeep Commander, I had plenty of time to contemplate how we had arrived at our current state of affairs. Behemoths continue to plague the roadways, posing both a danger to other motorists and a waste of precious resources. Despite the gas rationing of the 70s, we have returned to our gas guzzling ways. But apparently it hasn't always been that way.

As a devotee of things vintage, I had occasion to come upon the following ancient advertisement for the 1950 Nash.



More than 25 miles per gallon for that old barge?!! Surely this was mere puffery, overstatement by some long defunct Madison Avenue ad agency? A little googling brought up this piece contemporary to the time of the ad. The comparison of 1950 vehicles yielded some surprising results. Reading down a bit, it seems that the old Nash did indeed live up to the claims of the ad.

On a basis of gasoline mileage alone, the Studebaker Champion placed first with 26.551 miles to the gallon, the sweepstakes-winning Mercury second with 26.524 mi., and a Nash Ambassador third with 26.424 mi. Next, in order of ranking: Nash Statesman, 25.522 m.p.g.;...

In fact, the two large Nash models both performed as advertised. True ad copy?!! Strange indeed.

I wondered how a large 57 year old automobile would compare with a modern vehicle, replete with modern electronic enhancements.

Toyota lists gas mileage figures for its basic 4 cylinder Camry as 21 local and 31 on the highway. The average would be about the same as that 57 year old Nash, 26 miles per gallon.

The old Nash manages to pull off this feat while being longer and carrying nearly twice as much luggage space. The length of the Toyota is 189.2 inches, the Nash is 201 inches. Luggage space for the Toyota is 15 cubic feet, the Nash is 28.8. (Note that all of these figures are taken from the ads of the respective manufacturers.) Given recent new restrictions on gas mileage claims, one must assume that Toyota's figures are fairly close to accurate.

So what has the passage of 57 years brought us? Apparently, very little.

Perhaps we must still await the arrival of a waste-powered Mr.Fusion to power a flux capacitor.

Tribal Council

Vying for the award for Most Spineless Public Official with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid is Jan Martel, president of the United States Bridge Federation. Ms.Martel has taken issue with the actions of a team of women who represented the United States at the world bridge championships in Shanghai last month.

It all started with a sign.

At issue is a crudely lettered sign, scribbled on the back of a menu, that was held up at an awards dinner and read, “We did not vote for Bush.”

Sez Ms.Martel:

“This isn’t a free-speech issue,” said Jan Martel, president of the United States Bridge Federation, the nonprofit group that selects teams for international tournaments. “There isn’t any question that private organizations can control the speech of people who represent them.”

And so, sanctions are being sought by the Federation.

The federation has proposed a settlement to Ms. Greenberg and the three other players, Jill Levin, Irina Levitina and Ms. Rosenberg, who have not made any mollifying statements.

It calls for a one-year suspension from federation events, including the World Bridge Olympiad next year in Beijing; a one-year probation after that suspension; 200 hours of community service “that furthers the interests of organized bridge”; and an apology drafted by the federation’s lawyer.

It would also require them to write a statement telling “who broached the idea of displaying the sign, when the idea was adopted, etc.”

And of course, all rights to first born children would be handed over to the Federation.

Now, it is apparently a "crime" to disclose one's voting record.

For presiding over this farce, Ms.Martel has received the unanimous vote of the entire SLB staff to be ejected from the virtual island of Left Blogistan. The tribe has spoken.

Eye In The Sky

I just heard an old song and the lyrics seem to have new meaning. Or was the Allen Parsons Project simply endowed with a far-seeing vision. Eye In The Sky is the song. The current administration, with its domestic spying activities, seems oddly indicated by those old lyrics.

I am the eye in the sky
Looking at you
I can read your mind
I am the maker of rules
Dealing with fools
I can cheat you blind
And I dont need to see any more
To know that
I can read your mind, I can read your mind

What do you think?

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.118

Welcome back.

This week we'll be continuing with our new Grand Canyon painting from the photo seen in the photo directly below.



When last seen, the painting appeared as it does in the photo directly below.



Since that time I have continued to work on the painting. I have completed the sky, painting over entirely the prior preliminary brushstrokes. I have attempted to capture the spirit of the simple sky in the photo. The large dark cloud underbelly is at the top, two wispy dark clouds take up residence in the far distance. The lower right sky hosts the only cloud with white, similar to the photo.

I am now ready to start the foreground.

The current state of the painting is seen in the photo directly below.



That's about it for now, see you next week.

As usual, feel free to post photos of your own work in the comment section below.

Tribal Council

Consumer Product Safety Commission Chief Nancy Nord, despite being under increasing demands after several recent recalls of Chinese products, has opposed legislation that would add funding and personnel to the agency.

Her explanation:

...Nord says she opposes separate provisions in that measure that would extend protections to whistleblowers and make it easier for the government to make public reports of faulty products.

Umm, yeah. Public disclosure and protection of whistleblowers might lead to the downfall of western civilization, or something like that.

Of course what is really happening is that Nord is putting the political agenda of the Bush administration, the worship of industry and reluctance to put into place much needed protections, above the safety of the American public. Apparently, any additional cost to industry is bad even if dangerous products are the result.

Accordingly, it is the unanimous decision of the entire SLB staff that MS.Nord is voted off the virtual island of Left Blogistan.

The tribe has spoken.

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.117

Welcome back.

This week we'll be continuing with our new Grand Canyon painting from the photo seen in the photo directly below.



When last seen, the painting appeared as it does in the photo directly below.



Since that time I have continued working on the painting. I have painted the deliniation of the buttes, particularly the one on the lower right. That butte is a slightly lighter color than the rocks behind it.

The buttes have also received details some of which carry into the blue shadow areas. Some details are done in a lighter color, some darker. I've used a red right out of the tube for the dark areas, notably the details that carry into the shadows. Hopefully those details in the blue shadowed areas can be seen on your computer monitor. They were hard to capture in a photo.

The current state of the painting is seen in the photo directly below.



That's about it for now, see you next week.

As always, please feel free to post your own work.