Greetings from earth

The other day I decided after watching a documentary by Steven Hawking that there is a much greater chance of intelligent life beyond earth than I previously thought. I still remain much more pessimistic that it is within our small little solar system however.

The thought that our galaxy is just one of many within the Milky Way which in turn is contained within the universe among of billions of galaxies. I can just about get my head around the fact that the sun is actually 109 times bigger than earth and that Jupiter is a long way away. Beyond that however seems just unimaginable.

World cup blues

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple of weeks you will have noticed that the football world cup is on. Lets get this straight from the outset I am not a football fan in any way, shape or form so the whole importance that the world cup is given (over any other sporting event) is way beyond me.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

A good film in my view is one that is able to get you thinking and stimulates multiple emotions. 'The Boy In Striped Pyjamas' [Mark Herman] does both the above in bucket loads. Based of the story of the same title, it is set in Nazi Germany during the second world war and the main characters are a Nazi commander and his family.

Songs about Sunshine!

Just something sunny on the run up to summer, 6 songs which have Sunshine in the title.

• Berri - Sunshine through the rain
  



• Bill Withers - There ain't no sunshine when shes gone
  



• Katrina & The Waves - I'm walking on sunshine
  



• Cream - Sunshine of your love
  



• Lesley Gore - Sunshine Lollipops
  



• Elizabeth Mitchell - You are my Sunshine
  

Seagull

Whenever I think of the sounds of the seafront I think of the sound of amusement arcades, the waves brushing across the pebbles and the seagulls. I like how fitting this song is with the photo I took a couple of years back on Brighton Pier.

“Seagull, you fly across the horizon
Into the misty morning sun.
Nobody asks you where you are going,
Nobody knows where you're from.
Here is a man asking the question
Is this really the end of the world?
Seagull, you must have known for a long time
The shape of things to come.
Now you fly, through the sky, never asking why,
And you fly all around 'til somebody, Shoots you down.”

Bad Company – Seagull

April Fools

I’m posting this one day late as if I would have posted yesterday no-one would have believed anything I wrote, well that and I just forgot!

I like the idea of April fools day, a day (or half) where people can see the lighter side of life and teaches everyone an important life lesson – to not believe everything your told but also to not take everything so seriously. Even if the person being pranked doesn’t see the funny side. It gets people thinking, the most creative ideas executed well always are great even if you will no longer trust that person like you used to.

The thing with pranks is that they have got to be done in a joking manner and not bring any long term harm. As with everything however people overstep the mark and it can become a genuine act of unkindness. Here people are putting sharp objects into food from a supermarket, I cannot understand why anyone in their right mind would do that.

For me its not something I have ever thought about far enough in advance to plan a proper prank or sometimes even noticed that it was the 1st April until after 12 noon. Perhaps I would have known about it if I had gone into student halls last year. Never mind always next year.

See : http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/ for a list of top pranks

The lost diary

Here's the extended version of my previous post 'Jungle of calm and order'.
I was going to do this in watercolour but as all I had with me was coloured pencils I stuck to them this time. I added a few little dandelions to the tall grass to give it a bit more variety. I tried too keep the warmth of the original idea, unfortunately this doesn't show as clearly in the photograph.

The foreground I wanted to keep sharp so I used a soft 6B pencil to create a dark outline amongst the grass in the very front beyond that it is much more loose. The house and diary make it a little more thought provoking.

Jungle of calm and order

Jungle of calm and order [Pencil Colour]

Keep it real please!

Generally the posts on my blog are supposed to have some sort of positive outlook but every now and again I need to have a little rant. The target of my annoyance (and often is) this time is facebook. Yes I am a member but I hate most things about it!

Mega Cities

"The world's mega-cities are merging to form vast "mega-regions" which may stretch hundreds of kilometres across countries and be home to more than 100 million people."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/22/un-cities-mega-regions

I'm sure it doesn't take a UN report to tell us that when cities keep expanding eventually they will meet but it is a really horrible thought not being able to escape from the concrete jungle for miles and miles.

Pebbles

Pen Drawing [March 2010]
I started this piece to experiment with textures using only a blue biro, I like the depth in the picture however a little scruffy round the edges. Difficulties in creating this piece were getting each of the pebbles to smoothly blend with each one another. Replicating all the different textures especially smooth and continuous lines was difficult to do without making them too dark.

[Original Photo]

Art

I have been drawing and painting for numerous years now and I passed my A-Level art exams after which I decided to continue my art only for personal enjoyment and not have to have the pressure of deadlines and constraints in my work. Art is not about the grades for me it's about the enjoyment and fulfillment.