http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:darkart42&section=today deviantART RSS for by:darkart42 en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:06:21 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/11221536/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/11221536/ Thu, 28 Dec 2006 10:52:17 PST [link] . Come see me over there!

I also have a personal blog at [link] , where I record the mundane everyday stuff of life, and the random antics of my cats.

Comments are encouraged in both locations. See you there!

]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/9953294/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/9953294/ Sun, 03 Sep 2006 16:09:20 PDT
I've lost track of how long it's been since I've visited DA. My year sorta got away from me. Highlights:
- March. Started a new job and a 10-week watercolor class.
- April. Cat died. RIP FurBeast.
- May. Big art show.
- June. Travelled to WV for BabySister's wedding/baby party.
- July. Did precious little. House invaded by teenagers from afar. Art studio ransacked by a creative 16-year-old with a thing for lime green.
- August. Photographed my other Little Sister's wedding.
- Late August. Adopted new cats, Mischief and Mayhem. Studio is being trampled by puddy paws.

Now it's September, and I'm still doing precious little. I signed up for a 10-week portrait class that starts later this month. I need to get ready for a big art show in early October. That's about it. ]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/7988749/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/7988749/ Sat, 25 Feb 2006 20:25:40 PST
- I'm still job hunting, but something good happened this week and it's so close I can almost taste it.

- I'm taking a watercolor class for the next 10 weeks rather than figure drawing. Finally! Yeah!

- I've been posting art for sale on the big "E", but not every week. Here's the link. [link]

- I've been contracted to do another cover for Yard Dog Press [link] and I'll have a short story in their "Flush Fiction" anthology later this spring.

- I spent a week in Florida. Yeah! ]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/7204518/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/7204518/ Fri, 02 Dec 2005 14:56:51 PST - September was stressful at work, and I travelled a bit.
- October found me unemployed (not by choice, but a welcome relief), searching madly for a new job, and tying up loose ends regarding income, healthcare, etc.
- November got sucked away by the job search and a blue period.

Now it's December. The holiday madness is well underway. I'm still job hunting. The sweetie is off serving Uncle Sam for a few weeks. And the cat and I are having long, involved conversations. I really need to get out more.

The only art I've committed lately has been in the weekly figure drawing sessions, and I'm not entirely happy with the output. I did a few ACEO-size works in September and showed them at two shows in October. I'll try to post some here.

I did spend an afternoon with the camera at the zoo before the weather turned. Not much art created, but I did have a Hitchcockian moment with a herd of kangaroos.... ]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/6382615/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/6382615/ Wed, 31 Aug 2005 21:08:12 PDT
Yes, the quality of your brushes makes a difference. I'll post some practice studies shortly. Both were done with #4 and #2 natural hair brushes. But there IS a difference. The burgundy series was done with cheap brushes. Sure, they were marked "sable", but they were still crap. The purple series was done with Kolinsky sable brushes. (Utrecht Vermeer 221, affordable luxury. [link] ) Oh, yeah. Big difference. I'm a believer. You definitely get what you pay for.

Just for grins, I've been doing these brush stroke studies in the ACEO format of 3.5 inches x 2.5 inches. I'm not sure I understand the ACEO trend, but what the hey -- the practice paper goes further, right? And perhaps I'll eventually get an image or two I can offer for sale. (If you see something you like, send me a private message. We'll talk. I also sell prints and originals posted on my website [link] ) ]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/6105055/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/6105055/ Mon, 01 Aug 2005 19:19:21 PDT
The founders started something because they Believed in it, because they loved it, and they wanted to see their companies grow and benefit the greater whole. They nurtured their companies. They nurtured their people. They turned the seed of an idea into a Good Thing -- A Good Thing With Potential.

And then they entrusted their Good Thing to arrogant MoneyGrubbing Bastards who saw only the Potential for Profit, not the true Potential of the company. And good people lost their jobs, including the Believers, who were kicked to the curb because they clung to the notion that profit wasn't the end all be all.

Don't get me wrong. I was on the street along with the Believers while the MoneyGrubbers looted the assets. Both times. It's harsh. It's a bitch. It's reality, baby. The good people usually get screwed because the bad guys are better at playing the game.

Freedom of Speech is a First Amendment Right granted by the U.S. Constitution. Believe in it. Use it. Guard it carefully and never let anyone take it away from you.

Speak your peace, and remember -- you can also vote with your wallet. If the MoneyGrubbing Bastard is all about the bottomline -- don't give him one. Don't subscribe. Don't buy. Don't play into his numbers game.

But above all else -- be nice and polite at all times. Earn respect through your choice of words and actions, and respect will bring you power. ]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/5757492/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/5757492/ Sat, 25 Jun 2005 21:58:38 PDT
Meanwhile, no art created. Wah! Bought more paint. Yeah! Finished one sketchbook, started another. Go me! Discovered mechanical pencils with the clicker under the thumb. Yummy! Hope to post something soon. ]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/5455128/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/5455128/ Wed, 25 May 2005 07:22:42 PDT
ConQuesT [link] is one of the biggest shows I do every year, in terms of visibility. It's juried. It's my home turf. Just about everyone there knows me, or knows OF me. And I'm a co-chair of the show, so I'm busy all weekend with the set-up, sales, and auction for the show as a whole.

To complicate matters, I've transitioned from digital to traditional media, so this is my "debut" of sorts for my new technique. I have two more days to figure out how to price my originals. With my digital art, I only had prints available, and I have that pricing scheme down.

ConQuesT is also a debut of sorts for "Diva", a chapbook by Mark W. Tiedemann, with my art on the cover, published by YardDog Press [link] So, in keeping with publisher's unique style of "buy my book" marketing, I'll be busy pimping the book at the panels and parties.

I'm also looking at my paintings with a new eye -- those scruffy little puddles of mud actually look GOOD with a double mat and frame. Hmmm....

So, if you're in Kansas City this weekend, come see us at ConQuesT, at the Airport Hilton. ]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/5358210/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/5358210/ Sat, 14 May 2005 17:57:58 PDT ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/5321935/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/5321935/ Tue, 10 May 2005 15:48:51 PDT
April 29 - May 1: Travelled to Chicago for the SFWA Nebula Awards weekend. Toured Argonne National Lab and Fermiab, where I saw the particle accelerators, talked to the physicists. Had a good time with my writer's group and the assembled pro writers. Met Anne McCaffrey and her family. Made a new friend, Laurel Winter. Saw old friends. Toured the Art Institute of Chicago and the Adler Planetarium. Ate good food. Drank good wine. Walked a lot. Got inspired.

May 6-10: Travelled to Virigina for my baby sister's college graduation and assorted dysfunctional family fun. Words were exchanged. Projectiles were launched. And a relatively good time was had by all, at least by our family standards.

Then I drove south along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway to Boone NC for a solo mini-vacation in the peace and quiet of a cell-phone deadzone. Spent a couple hours at Cheap Joe's Art Supply Outlet. Nice people. Pretty colors. Cool stuff. Bought paint and brushes and a souvenier coffee mug. Google their website. They're good peoples.

On my way back to the airport in Charlotte NC, I visited the Carolina Raptor Center and saw the lovely but damaged winged carnivores. Most were foundlings and/or disabled birds, but they still had dignity and grace. Google their website. Again, good peoples. (I never new a barn owl could hiss....)

Then the trouble started... AirTrain held me hostage in the Hell That Is Atlanta overnight. Gross incompetence at every turn. Lies. Always lies. Never fly AirTran. Never ever. EVER. For more venom on this, see my LiveJournal (astein142).

Today, I finally arrived home at midday -- 12 hours late, exhausted, frustrated, starving, and in pain from strange beds and saggy baggy airline seats -- to find chaos at work and a broken hot water pipe at home.

Oh, what fun! Too much fun for any one person. Really.

Now, I need time to use my pretty new paints and fancy new brushes, and get art ready for two shows to be held on Memorial Day weekend.

Wish me luck! ]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/5102153/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/5102153/ Sat, 16 Apr 2005 09:06:14 PDT
I wonder what loss of dexiterity will do for my art. I tend to have control issues and overwork things until they are downright ugly. Hmmm.... perhaps there are some abstracts in my future.... ]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/4989439/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/4989439/ Sun, 03 Apr 2005 15:36:01 PDT ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/4954708/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/4954708/ Wed, 30 Mar 2005 18:02:41 PST
Bad news: The doc thinks the pain in my thumbs is a BAD THING. Duh. If it continues, he'll increase my dose or increase the frequency. Better that than the alternative. You can't really function in this society without working thumbs. ]]> ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/4928766/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/4928766/ Sun, 27 Mar 2005 21:08:28 PST ~darkart42 http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/4773197/ http://darkart42.deviantart.com/journal/4773197/ Wed, 09 Mar 2005 21:21:16 PST ~darkart42