Systems are down!

My computer died on me 4 days ago so I've been living hell. This should teach me to make a backup of my hard drive more regularly. I think the last time I did one was about 4 months ago. This time I should also remember to make a backup of all my email. Auuuugggghhhhhhhh!!!

Street Art

Here are a few more samples of street art that you can encounter while walking through some of Wellington's alleys. I think I prefer the ones that are made on paper rather than the stencil one. Paper tends to degrade or break up with the rain eventually and leaves the wall "clean" whilst the stencil art is permanent. The quality of the pictures may not be the best, taken with my iPhone.

Half time

After this last photo, I still have to work on 10 more shots that are worth putting up. Sometimes it's very difficult to make a selection out of +700 pictures. It's been really fun working on this project and we've enjoyed it so much that we're planning on having a second photo shoot. We don't know exactly when but hopefully it will be soon.... maybe some time after the next 5 or 6 weeks. Jen is busy with school so we have to wait until she finishes the term. :(

During this time I'll go back to drawing.

Defy

4 more Jennifer Eccles pictures

Jeans & Mischief

Crossed legs

Happy & Captivating stare

Tattoo 2

A few months ago I entered a post called Tattoo in which I made an illustration of a girl with an Angry Teddy Bear tattoo. During the photo shoot of the other day, I asked Jen if she could pose for me so that I could reproduce a similar image. Here's a comparison between the illo and the picture. Hmmm.... I might make another version of this same photo.

To be continued.....

UPDATE:
Here is the other version.

Photoshoot

This weekend I was finally able to have a proper photoshoot with my favourite model. We had planned this for a long time but for some reason, we were never able to set a date. You can imagine my joy when after almost two years of having thought of the idea initially we were able to make it happen. The fact that the day was overcast and that we didn't have the proper lighting didn't damp our enthusiasm. We worked around all these things and were able to come up with some really good results. I think both of us are proud of what we ended up with. Here are just a few of the final shots I've selected.... and boy was it hard to select just a few. There were so many of them that I had about 150 that I considered to be good!!! Anyway, I'll post the other shots as soon as I retouch them. Until then, enjoy these!

Hellboy meets ATB

We're back!

We'll always have MX kid!

Remembrance

More powerful than words.

Street Art. Good vs Bad

I went through all the postings I had done so far and in one entry I mentioned that I had uploaded some street art. Oh boy! I must have dreamt it since I couldn't find a single post regarding street art. So I've decided to show some of the pictures that I have taken around Wellington in which you can get a taste of some different styles of street art.

Whilst putting these images up, I found myself with the dilemma of "is this good or is it bad?" Let me explain. I think that the examples shown here are very good when it comes to creativity and the way people take existing elements and transform them in order to communicate something extra is really clever. Yet, should we pardon the defacing of public buildings or private property if the creation shows a different and unique perspective on how we see things?

The above images shows a really cool character design skill and you can see the showdown between two of the most iconic heroes we have as kids. Cowboy vs Spaceman. Even Pixar made a movie where we have a similar confrontation. These examples were made on paper and plastered on an old building. Is this visual pollution? Only those who walk along this area can really see these representations of art. People who drive by are almost blind to their presence. At least we know it's temporary, come the rain and the images are gone. Does this excuse the artist from putting them up? Would we be able to see his/her creations if they didn't use this way to "showcase" their work?

The example given here is very creative as well but I'm sure that nobody would like to see their logo transformed into a caricature of some sort. This can really be considered as destruction of private property. Maybe, had the same idea been reproduced in another medium, we would be able to catalogue it as something different.

I think the best examples of street art are the images that follow. Even though they have been transformed form their original form, they still convey the function they were created for but they also include something which we can all relate too. These pedestrian crossing signs have become more than just a sign, it has it's own personality and people can even find a way to identify with them. I agree that they are not temporary but I think I can find a way to forgive this fact in the name of art.

Another typical winter Welly day

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.

Escribir, por ejemplo: «La noche está estrellada,
y tiritan, azules, los astros, a lo lejos.»

El viento de la noche gira en el cielo y canta.

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Yo la quise, y a veces ella también me quiso.

En las noches como ésta la tuve entre mis brazos.
La besé tantas veces bajo el cielo infinito.

Ella me quiso, a veces yo también la quería.
Cómo no haber amado sus grandes ojos fijos.

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Pensar que no la tengo. Sentir que la he perdido.

Oír la noche inmensa, más inmensa sin ella.
Y el verso cae al alma como al pasto el rocío.

Qué importa que mi amor no pudiera guardarla.
La noche está estrellada y ella no está conmigo.

Eso es todo. A lo lejos alguien canta. A lo lejos.
Mi alma no se contenta con haberla perdido.

Como para acercarla mi mirada la busca.
Mi corazón la busca, y ella no está conmigo....

Blind

The man with no fear. So they say about DareDevil. One wonders if we do not blind ourselves in order not to have fear. Sometimes, in different stages of our lives we will find that there's a problem and the easiest thing to do is to ignore it, turn a blind eye. That doesn't get rid of the problem, it just postpones it. We might be able to walk away from it but in the end we'll have to come face to face to it. The more we run away from it, the bigger it gets. The more difficult it is to solve. The confrontation escalates.

Different paths we may take in order to try to escape it. There may be some that seem easier and will take us away from our troubles but it's only a temporary solution. In the end, these paths lead nowhere except to more problems. If we don't accept that there's something wrong, if we don't do anything about it a an early stage, we're most likely to make things worse.

The only solution is to really look into the eye of what is causing the pain, grief, tribulations and do something about it. When we realize that confronting the problem will make things easier in the end, even if it's hard to do, then will we be rid of fear. We may be scared but we are the only ones to control our fear. Let us not blind ourselves.

I've brought pain to whom I love and all because I didn't do anything about my own problems and just let them get out of my control. I thought I could deal with them by ignoring them but it wasn't so. I truly apologize and will not let this happen again. Accepting my mistakes and doing something about it will hopefully help me become better. I am blind no more.

New Dawn

The image isn't the greatest I know, after all it was taken with an iPhone and not a proper camera. Yet it depicts how I feel now, a new dawn is approaching, it's time to move on and encounter new things that life brings with the promise of a new day.

Iron-ATB

When we see Ironman we see a hero with no defects or weak spots. He's cool, sleek and powerful. What hides beneath the impenetrable mask?

In reality, the outfit is just an exoskeleton. Inside the shell, there is a man with all his feelings bottled up. Do we not sometimes don our mask in order to hide our true feelings in order to avoid getting hurt? People might see us as an outgoing person with not a care in the world but the truth might be completely different. We might be hurting inside and have no real desire to go through what appears to be an uneventful day. Hanging out with friends and doing different activities helps to keep our mind distracted but we still feel hollow... incomplete. How many people can really see what's going within us?

Do we just use the armor as a crutch in order to affront the day? Does wearing the armor help us feel better? Are we like Tony Stark in the way that by using the shell we can feel invincible only if it lasts a few moments? We know that in the end we are vulnerable. We can't deny that it is a defense mechanism, we've been hurt before and we become more weary of the next situations in which pain may be inflicted. Can we heal from the exterior inwards? Maybe having a stronger exterior image helps us build more confidence. I highly doubt it. We can fool others but we can never fool ourselves.

I truly believe that we have to heal inwards first. While this slow process takes place, I'll be using the exoskeleton for a while hoping that I can heal soon and don't become addicted to the mask. After all, is it not better when we can show everybody who we really are? Being our true selves gives us freedom.