Happy New Year!!!

From the entire SLB staff, wishing all our readers a very happy new year! May everyone have a healthy, happy and prosperous 2008!

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.125

Welcome back.

This week we will be continuing with our 8x10 Sonoran area scene, using the photo seen directly below. I'm using my usual acrylics.



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



I've actually completed the painting. Let me set forth the changes.

To the cacti I've added yellow highlighting to the right of each as well as blue shadowing to the left. They now have a rounded three dimensional appearance. The yellow highlighting on the mountains has been enhanced to be consistent with that of the cacti.

Shadowing has been added to the ground beneath the cacti serving to firmly root each into the composition. The blue I've used is the same as that used on the cacti, once gain, providing consistency or continuity. The ground has been left wit simple shadows and highlights.

The large cloud is now lit from the right, as it should have been all along.

The final painting is seen in the photo directly below.



I'm very pleased with this one and have even splurged and ordered a decent frame (# 6300) that I should receive in a week or two. I'm happy with the results of underpainting and will use it in my future work.

That's about it for now. Next week I'll be starting a new piece. I'll see you then.

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

Happy Holidays!!!

From the entire staff of SLB, happy holidays to all, whatever yours might be!

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.124

Welcome back.

This week we will be continuing with our 8x10 Sonoran area scene, using the photo seen directly below. I'm using my usual acrylics.



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. This week I've finally gotten to the cacti featured in our landscape. I've painted in the green body color and blue shadowing to the left on each one. They are starting to have a three dimensional look to them. I will enhance the colors a bit in the weeks to come.

Also receiving attention is the valley floor. Both the foreground and background
now appear in mottled purple. This was achieved by painting blue over the existing red. I'm starting to see why underpainting can be so useful. This section will change a bit but in a way that will make use of the underlying paint.

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



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

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

Tribal Council

Some things speak for themselves.

Link

HOUSTON — A Texas higher education panel has recommended allowing a Bible-based group called the Institute for Creation Research to offer online master’s degrees in science education.

The action comes weeks after the Texas Education Agency’s director of science, Christine Castillo Comer, lost her job after superiors accused her of displaying bias against creationism and failing to be “neutral” over the teaching of evolution.

The state’s commissioner of higher education, Raymund A. Paredes, said late Monday that he was aware of the institute’s opposition to evolution but was withholding judgment until the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board meets Jan. 24 to rule on the recommendation, made last Friday, by the board’s certification advisory council.

The entire SLB staff agrees that the membership of the Texas panel should be ejected from the virtual island of Left Blogistan. The tribe has spoken.

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.123

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. Although I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, I felt that the changes are instructive.

I've done further work on the hills to the rear. They are now closer in color to the blue that is seen in the original photo. It actually took a few tries to get the color right. I've also repainted the highlighted areas on the upper edges to go along with the new body color. I'm much happier with the result.

Work has also been done on the cacti. I've overpainted them in a much more appropriate green color. There will be some further changes but I'm fairly happy with the color. What is interesting is that the red surrounding the cacti appears a bit less intense even though it has not been altered in any way. (Or perhaps it is just my aging monitor!)

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



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

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

Tribal Council

Up for your consideration is White House press secretary Dana Perino. Notwithstanding her status as administration tool, Ms.Perino displays a shocking lack of knowledge of what most would consider relatively recent American history.

Link

"I was panicked a bit because I really don't know about . . . the Cuban Missile Crisis," said Perino, who at 35 was born about a decade after the 1962 U.S.-Soviet nuclear showdown. "It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I'm pretty sure."

Umm, yeah, Dana, something like that, Cuba and missiles. How exactly does such an individual rise to such a high and prominent level?

You've made it far too easy, Dana. You've been voted off the virtual island of Left Blogistan. The tribe has spoken.

Calling Bullshit (or not)

Wholly unremarkable, she is a thin, blonde forty something woman. Well, wholly unremarkable except for the too bright blonde-from-a-box hair. And her trademark clingy leggings that are perhaps a bit too clingy for her middle-aged thighs. And that she heads both the town division of the kid's soccer league and the PTA. That's where the problem began.

In addition to heading the local division, she actually coaches one of the teams. Her team has perenially been the subject of speculation. It seems that it has almost always had a winning lineup of young players, often many of the same ones from prior years. As such, her team always placed at or near the top of the final standings at the end of the season.

Now, there was a time where I thought myself alone in believing that the random system of player selection had been manipulated. As head of the local division, she would be in a position to put together her own roster. Given the record of her team's successes, I felt that there was little doubt as to what had occurred. But my son, the 8 year old boran2 boy, a member of another team in our division, was having fun and that was paramount. I kept my thoughts to myself. However, as the season wore on I found that I not alone in my views. In fact, I found company in a small legion of other league parents. No one acted on these concerns.

The matter was subsequently brought into sharper focus when Madame boran had occasion to speak with the boran2 boy's coach at a birthday party for the coach's son. They chatted for some time and eventually came around to speaking about the soccer league. The subject of Ms.PTA's team came up. It seemed that he too believed Ms.PTA had manipulated the roster to include many of the best kids in the league. It was his suggestion that she write anonymously to the sanctioning body to state these concerns. He had no intention of doing anything himself.

Upon discussing this with Madame boran, I indicated that I would be more than happy to write and sign such a letter, no need for anonymity. She was not comfortable with this. Madame boran does some volunteer work on the PTA website and has occasion to need input from Ms.PTA. Madame boran wanted to think it over. Subsequently, she stated that she preferred that I not write the letter.

Why did I bore you with this tale? What I take away from this story is that getting people truly motivated to change the functioning of our government would be difficult indeed when they won't even call bullshit on a kids soccer league. Better just remain anonymous.

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.122

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.



In last week's installment, I received an education about underpainting courtesy of links provided by several commenters. After studying some of those I repainted the red on the sky area. I then painted over it in blue without totally obliterating the underpainting as I did the first time. I did note that the second red underpainting came out darker thatn the first time.

As to that sky, I painted a cloud to the right side with a bit more definition than is seen in the original photo. I may change it to have a little more contrast between the blue and white before we are done.

I continued on to the background mountains. The darker body color went on first, the yellowish green highlits were painted afterwards. Here too, a bit more contrast may be needed. I intended to have the body color a bit bluer.

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



That's about it for now, see you next week when we'll have some progress on the cacti.

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

Tribal Council

Once again we find ourselves seated around the Tribal Council campfire contemplating the decision of whom to eject from the virtual island of Left Blogistan.

Up for your consideration is Tom Shindell, director for organizational development of the Texas Education Agency. It is said that Mr.Shindell has requested the resignation of a science teacher of long-standing duration.

NYT Link

HOUSTON, Dec. 2 — After 27 years as a science teacher and 9 years as the Texas Education Agency’s director of science, Christine Castillo Comer said she did not think she had to remain “neutral” about teaching the theory of evolution. ...

But now Ms. Comer, 56, of Austin, is out of a job, after forwarding an e-mail message on a talk about evolution and creationism — “a subject on which the agency must remain neutral,” according to a dismissal letter last month that accused her of various instances of “misconduct and insubordination” and of siding against creationism and the doctrine that life is the product of “intelligent design.” ...

Her departure, which has stirred dismay among science professionals since it became public last week, is a prelude to an expected battle early next year over rewriting the state’s science education standards, which include the teaching of evolution.

This revives a debate which was to have ended long, long ago. But apparently evolution, despite ample fossil evidence, is still the subject of denial by some.

Although Mr.Shindell was not the sole moving force and is likely only another agency automaton, he will get the vote this week.

Farewell Mr.Shindell. The tribe has spoken.