Issue 0005

Written By G C
From the Editor

Even though it's only been a couple of weeks, it feels like it's been a month -- and not just because it's June already. A lot has been happening that's been keeping me moving and busy, but I'm thinking of it as a good thing because it means that I physically just don't have time to wallow and bum around. Some medical appointments and other life admin aside, there have also been some fun things, including a BBQ and a research trip to the Miso Paper Pop-Up Event, at which I'm proud to say I showed a huge amount of self-restraint (so of course I got myself a treat after lol).

Since this issue is also doubling as my monthly forecast post, here are a couple of updates (which you can skip if you're just here for the tangents).

I ran my first successful outdoor sketch group in town this past Saturday! The weather gods smiled upon us and there were actually folks who attended and sketched with us, including a first-timer and a seasoned sketcher. (This is actually my second attempt at running this sketch group. The first time, nobody came and it rained. πŸ₯²) A random person walking by also showed interest in joining future events! This is a huge step for me in getting back to doing more local workshops that I had started doing last year but unfortunately got waylaid from that, so I'm hoping to keep up the momentum here.

It also brings me so much joy to see how people from all walks of life can be united by the very human activity of art. Whilst this is also something I will continue to try to do online as well, I find that the in-person experience is still just so hard to replace. That said, please keep an eye out because whatever I cook up, I will obviously be sharing with you all first and foremost!

The upcoming month (Happy Pride, by the way! πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ) will continue to be a busy one, as I'm also taking a week-long impromptu trip to Vancouver in the middle of the month. It'll be a relatively short trip considering I basically a day on either end due to travel time and timezones, but I'm hoping to make the most of it. I've been feeling like I need a break from my usual routine as it feels I've been a bit stuck, so I'm taking this chance to give myself time to (re-)think through the direction I want to take this job as an artist.

It does mean that the physical rewards will be sent out a bit delayed, but to make up for it, the cut-off for signing up to get this month's rewards will be until the end of the month! Still working on the sticker preview but it should be posted soon and there'll be more details in there as usual! Also maybe a new extra-special something...? πŸ‘€

With the rambling done, I thank you again, each and every one of you, for continuing to show your support and for following along with me and this journey. πŸ’–

Art Fundamentals

The past few weeks have again been light on the studies due to an unusually packed schedule. Still managed to watch a couple of lecture videos, and even started a "Daily-ish Painting" practice which unfortunately also had to get backburner-ed due to Life Thingsβ„’. Still hoping to keep it up though, and do at least half an hour a day of just drawing/painting something new.

I made a quip about The Dress in this daily-ish painting post, but the concept of light and how it affects colours is actually something that was touched upon in the Book Illustration course I am taking on Schoolism. The phenomenon of perceiving colours differently depending on the illuminating conditions relates to colour constancy, and is a very tricky concept to capture in art. In fact, colour and light by definition go hand-in-hand -- it's rare that you'll see colour theory without mention of light.

The contemporary master James Gurney describes it in detail in his book Color and Light, which is on the must-have list of books for pretty much all modern artists, but there's also an excerpt on his blog as well. In particular, the following image is a great example of colour constancy: in both paintings, the colours of the squares indicated by the arrows are actually the exact same.

(Image: James Gurney)

Using this concept, I took the original blue, pink, and white of the Transgender Pride flag and adjusted them to the yellow lighting scenario of my painting (using layer modes which may be considered cheating but that's not the discussion at hand). Here's a snippet of the resultant colours in the painting next to the original colours:

So since the light is meant to be yellow, the colours have also been shifted yellow. But when you look at the full image in context, (hopefully) your eyes will still register them as blue/pink/white, not green/red/tan (or whatever you wanna call those colours lol).

tl;dr Brains are weird. Β―\(ツ)/Β―
Books and Reads

Current Reads

πŸ“• Start With Why - Simon Sinek

This has been sitting on my bookshelf since my gainfully employed days, and only because it was pretty much "required reading" at my company at the time. I never actually read it while there (go figure), and since I'm on a self-imposed book ban for a while, I figured I might as well give it a shot.

It's very much a typical tech-entrepreneur/MBA-wannabe/business-'expert' airport book, and definitely falls into the category of "should have just been a blog post." Repetitive to the point of sounding like one of the essays I'd write in high school with extra fluff just to reach the minimum word count, it's been an easy read only because it hits you over the head with the same message, over and over and over and over again.

Admittedly, the core message is fine enough -- the WHY of what you do is what differentiates success from failure, but we tend to focus on the HOW and WHAT. But almost halfway through and I don't think I've gotten much more than that the author is an Apple fanboy who apparently had a minimum page count requirement with his publisher.

πŸ“˜ Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin

If you think this sounds familiar, it's likely because it's a world-wide bestseller, and I was actually lucky enough to find a used copy at the charity shop for a quid or something. (And I technically got it last year before my book ban so it's not cheating!)

So far I'm only a few chapters in, mainly because it was a lot harder than I expected. This is a 'me' issue though, so I'm withholding judgement until I actually get through the book. But it's been paused because it gave me wartime flashback of some of the most awful personalities I used to work with, and props to the author for making it just that much more realistic. I may need to relegate this to a daytime read as well.

Recently Finished

πŸ“— Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway - Susan Jeffers 3/5

Think I've said enough about this one. Ending got really woo-woo, but the core of it still stands, I suppose. Honestly, the title is all you really need to know.

πŸ“— The Giver - Lois Lowry 3/5

This is one of those books that, for whatever reason, was not included in my school curriculum. By chance, I picked it up from a pile of books in the communal area of my previous flat a few years ago. I needed something light and easy to read, so I dug this out of the back of the shelf and gave it a try. (Unrelated to the actual story, but it turns out the copy I have is an ESL edition printed in Germany.) My initial thought: How the hell is this marketed as a kids' book?! It felt like a cross of 1984 and Handmaid's Tale, but of course since the main character is a juvenile, it must clearly be for kids, right? </sarcasm> Interesting concepts, and I suppose it does the job of making kids think critically. I'm almost glad I didn't read this when I was younger though.

Articles, Blogs, & Papers

As a side note, Mozilla announced that they are shutting down Pocket, which is what I've been using for years to bookmark articles and things. I'm gutted. On top of that, I've turned off news highlights on my phone for my own Mental Healthβ„’. So this section may be a little more sparse in the future once I comb through the backlog.

Total Tangents

Podcasts

Almost caught up with Ologies once again, but also still have a few encores that are in the backlog. Speaking of backlog, and because it's Pride Month, may I recommend the two-parter on Neuroendocrinology? Not only is it highly informative, even if you think you know things, but it also is definitely an episode that you can and should share with those who may not be so much in the know. By sharing our collective knowledge, perhaps we can better this primitive species of H. sapiens, after all. If you're looking for something a little more art-focused but still in the vein of helping our fellow humans, the Activism Art panel that Alie chaired at Wondercon was a fantastic listen. (Please note the brief content warning in this though.)

Once again, I branched out a little and listened to something that isn't from my usual subscribed podcast series because I feel it's important not to trap myself in an echo chamber. Whilst I still likely won't subscribe to the actual channel, this episode of Diary of a CEO with Dr Anna Lembke about dopamine, how it links to addiction, and how we're all being affected by this in the modern era, was a fascinating listen. It's a long one but they have done an excellent job of bookmarking 'chapters', so I recommend skipping to the parts that stand out to you if you're not keen on the whole thing.

On the more topside of our heads, check out this Every Little Thing episode about the history of the hair scrunchie and how the name came from...a cat?! And if you're anything like me and wonder every time you draw a portrait, how those courtroom sketch artists do their thing, this episode has you covered.

Videos

Thank You!

I did warn you that this would be a long one! But if you indeed have made it this far, thank you so much for taking the time to read, and I hope it has stirred some curiosity in you. Let me know if there is anything that has been on your mind lately and let's have a conversation!

G C
Previous

Issue 0006
Next

Issue 0004