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An article/rant/annotation to an illustration. A #Hackney bar and its flies.
This picture is not as sad and blue as it might at first seem, I promise.
It is early in the week and the pub becomes the territory of the most outspoken drinkers. Raised somewhere between Churchill and Harold MacMillan, a night such as this is time for them to spin out a yarn of nostalgic fantasy. Encouraged by the lack of a crowd and with space to fill, statements start to fly.
In the opening rounds the barman athletically hits back with factual blocks and reality-check haymakers; statistics and personal experiences are given. Two histories cross examined, one where 1982 means Thatcher and the Falklands, the other renders Reagan and the AIDS crisis. Stoicism and national pride vs mental health and realism.
In the latter rounds the barman is fatigued, swaying on the backbar, glasses begin to stack up as form begins to drop. The older men seem stronger than ever.
The barflies come in close now, they scrutinise his generations work ethic and make wild political comments on poverty, immigrants and the minimum wage.
The barman is close to sheer bloody despair, he maintains his defence and focuses on breathing while maintaining his professional stance.
But at the end of the night the barman knows HE will ring that bell, they will politely leave and they will return again in a week and maybe, just maybe there will be a change, common ground or maybe at least polite silence.
But what these interactions have given despite the salt in the eye is community and an exchange between generations, culture and class of those participating. No home is ever straight forward, no relative without their good and bad traits and in a world where we often slide into echo chambers online or in our physical environments, the pub is still a place where society is family, face to face, pint to pint. Or maybe it's just a room with alcohol on tap?
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It’s my first digital portrait! I’m still figuring things out, so please, PLEASE send advice and criticism this way! I’ve always been fascinated with faces and portraits, and experimenting with colors and brushes have always been a blast! So please help!!!
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Here's a portrait of Yuko Shimizu that I'm working on for an IlloStories project (check the group out on Facebook).
I took her pose from one of her photographs, then used colours, patterns and textures that were inspired by her artworks.
This could be a front page for a book about her, or maybe a page for when her story reaches this point!
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Inspired by the Neo-Classical period, I pushed myself as an artist to portray subjects in an idealistic fashion combining drama and artificial lighting. The subject is my sister who modelled as a reference, enabling me to control the shadowy effect over her face. The dim lighting and dark background resonated with the period style, focusing on the facial parts that are visible. The end result looks like she is emerging from the darkness. A somber atmosphere is illustrated through visual expression.
Adding the fast drying oil on the brushes improved the blending of the colours on the canvas which was especially useful when it came to applying strokes on the face smoothly. Visit https://www.martiaposts.com for more
Progression 5 of 6. At this point his face is nearly done and I’ve begun to fill in the shirt. There is still more shading and fine tuning and details needed on to finish off his face, but at this point in a drawing I like to begin filling in the other details to keep some cohesion to the overall piece.
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I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to paint a design on a rather large gorilla! I am so excited to do this. It's taking an age but getting there slowly. When he's all done he will be going on show at Paignton Zoo.
![Pen 20 Minute Doodle [Dog]](/images/uploads/square/30304_nobodysupportart_1552340861.jpg)
