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February 28, 2006
February Calendar Girl
I know it's about as late in the month as possible, but I managed to squeeze in my February Calendar Girl. She got such a good reponse over at Renderosity yesterday that I thought I'd post her here.
Naughty bits behind the cut.
This one was done with a neat technical trick. My previous ones (September is the only one posted here) were all done with positive lights on a dimly lit figure, giving it the appearance of a black-light painting or tattoo. This one was done with a negative light, i.e. a light casting a negative amount of light, so that wherever it hit, it sucked the light out of the picture, resulting in black.
Yes, I'm a geek, but I'm a geek who can make make pretty pictures.
Render by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
February 25, 2006
David Hasselhoff, American Icon or Embarrassment
I ran across this, well, this disturbing music video of David Hasselhoff (hat-tip to Jon), and what was most frightening to me was not the image of Hasselhoff snowboarding in a full-body fur parka while holding a salmon in his teeth, but the fact that he's a huge international star throughout the world, except for here in America. He's one of our biggest cultural exports, while our own reactions to him vary from disgust to embarrassment.
That got me to thinking about how we perceive other cultures through the media that we manage to import from them. We see Mexico via the scantily-clad game show bimbos on Telemundo. Brazil is one big topless beach filled with super-models. Britain is a hilarious nation of wacky misfits practicing their silly walks. And Japan is a nation of fetishists who spend their time fantasizing about tentacle rape and young schoolgirls.
Surely there are elements of truth to it, since we are seeing selections of their locally produced and consumed media, so these themes must have some resonance in the nations of origin. But they also reflect on us in that our culture selected those portions to import. Do they look upon these tidbits with great derision only slightly diluted by mild acknowledgement?
The rest of the world has latched onto our vacuous Hasselhoff and are forming their image our culture with him in mind. Thus, I must ask: Is David Hasselhoff America's tentacle porn?
Blog by Dan | Permalink | Comments (1)
February 24, 2006
Civil War? Not yet, or if already, then it's almost 40 years old
There's been a lot of talk in the last 24 hours that the great ethnic civil war has begun in Iraq. Don't believe it. Things are calming down, and most of these pundits have a long history of proclaiming disaster in Iraq.
But yes, the last few days in Iraq have seen a lot of ethnic strife, provoked by what appears to be an al-Qaeda bombing of some Shiite mosques. This is the latest in a pattern of terrorist bombing clearly intended to provoke riots and ethnic fighting. It does not mean that the Sunnis and Shiites are finally boiling over into war. A more likely outcome is that this will drive a further wedge between the Sunni insurgents and the foreign al-Qaeda fighters.
Besides, if you're going to call this a civil war, then the civil war began not this week, nor in 2003, but in 1968 with the Sunni-dominated Baath party coming to power and savagely repressing both the Shiite and Kurdish populations for almost two generations. Of course, the Sunnis before that had been in pretty sad shape for a while too. Oh, wait, I seem to recall something about an ongoing strife between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam for hmmm, what was it? Hundreds of years?
Does that mean the fighting is definitely going to slow down now and not flare up into something bigger? No one can make guarentees, but I don't see it happening. The only thing starting here is another news cycle of Chicken Littles.
Politics by Dan | Permalink | Comments (1)
February 14, 2006
Aggiecon preview, feedback requested
It's getting on time for Aggiecon again, and I'm trying to select which pieces to take. I'd hoped to be a lot further along this time around, but work has been sucking up huge amounts of my time. But still, I have a number of pieces that are on-target for the show and several more that might be, especially with just a little modification.
Thus, I'm including a LOT of images below with a few comments on each and requesting feedback. Mostly though, if you've been to Aggiecon, please let me know which pieces you think would definitely work well there and which would definitely NOT work there. If you haven't been to Aggiecon, I've found that what sells there is mostly SF/Fantasy babes.
Fall From Grace
For this one, I would probably just include the angel portion (i.e. upper left), making it a mostly square piece. It was originally designed to be a ticket, and I don't know if the top-bottom aspect of it works as a wall-piece.
Intercession
This one will go pretty much as-is, though without the title framing. I made it specifically with Aggiecon in mind.
Refuge
MAW suggested I use this one. I didn't think it was quite on-target, but she said, "Just make the horse in the background into a unicorn." I think it might require a little more, specifically giving the girl a more fantasy-style outfit and maybe turning the dog into something a little less mundane.
Invoking Power
I'm on the fence with this one. I'm not sure it's fantasy enough, but it does look pretty cool. In truth, it's one of my favorites of all my work.
False Hope
I probably won't take this one, but I just might. It's a babe in a fantasy setting, but the dark tone of the piece might be a little too heavy for Aggiecon.
Holding a Fairy
I'd originally done this one just as a lighting experiment, but it's gotten good feedback, and I think it would be appropriate.
Sorrow
I did this one as my father was dying, and I didn't consider it really finished. I think I know what it needs now (mostly a lighting adjustment and some extra background details) and am considering it for the show.
Father Forgive Me
This doesn't quite meet the "fantasy babe" definition, but I figure I should include something for the ladies. I'm not sure it really works in that setting though.
Two Sides
This is my signature image, and it actually sold last year, so it's definitely going.
Homesick
This is another one of my favorites, and it's almost certainly going. I think about this one whenever I'm away from my kids.
The Day Her Replacement Arrived
This one is almost certainly going. I've gotten a lot of good feedback on it.
A Long Time Ago in a Bedroom Far, Far Away...
I'm on the fence with this one. It was made specifically with Aggiecon in mind last year, and I think it's damn funny, but as a piece of art it's pretty weak. It was one of my earliest pieces, and it shows.
Guardian
I took this one last year, but I was in a rush to get it done. I was never quite happy with the background (not quite bleak enough), and I understand lighting now to do a better job both with the angel wings and the halo. So, if I take this, I think I'm going to want to rework it first. One comment that I liked from last year's show was, "Hey, check this out, a woman actually wearing real armor."
Don't Tell Me
I'm on the fence with this one. It doesn't really fit the theme, but I thought it might make for a nice, small filler piece if I had the room.
On the Edge
I think this one would take a little bit of work in the background, but even then I'm not so sure. FYI, the inspiration for this was when a friend said she was "on the edge between anger and depression".
Render by Dan | Permalink | Comments (2)
February 13, 2006
Geek Love
One of the online comics I read is Ctl-Alt-Del, and today's was one of the geekiest and most romantic things I've ever seen. Start here if you want to see it in context.
Blog by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
February 10, 2006
Just a quick portrait
Sufficed to say, work has been taking a lot of my time, so I haven't been doing much other than just working. I don't mean that in the metaphorical sense, more of the literal sense. After doing about 12 hour days, 6 days a week, and just a little paperwork on Sunday's, everything else has been reduced to pretty much the essentials. Fortunately, the end is in sight.
Meanwhile, I actually had a little spare time last night, thanks to needing to wait on a build to complete. In that time, I just cranked off a quick portrait render.
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