Inktober & No. 345 of 365 Days of Art - 'Starlet'

345. 'Starlet' - 'Starlet Moonshine'

Another InkTober drawing catch-up. This time, it's day 5 and is also theme number 345 - 'Starlet' - from my 365 Days of Art list. 'Starlet Moonshine' is the name of the character depicted. It's rather fitting that I called her that, as she looks rather tipsy in the picture!

Inktober & No. 28 of 365 Days of Art - 'Something Pink'

28. Something Pink - 'Do You Think They See Us?'

I'm trying to catch up with posting my InkTober drawings, as it's now day 8 and I've only posted 3 so far (oops!). This drawing is for day 4, but is also number 28 (something pink) from my 365 Days of Art list as well. The flowers are orchids and the insects were supposed to be the gorgeous little creatures known as orchid mantises, though they ended up looking like some alien hybrid form of one instead. So now this picture is taking place on another planet.

Inktober & No. 255 of 365 Days of Art - 'Camouflage'

255. Cephalopoda - 'Camouflage'

This was my drawing for yesterday's (day 3) InkTober challenge; it's a colourful little cuttlefish! I used purple, blue, light green, yellow, and black fineliners, plus a silver rollerball pen for the edging of its frill. This also counts towards my 365 Days of Art themes list, as I can cross off number 255: Cephalopoda. 

Inktober & No. 309 of 365 Days of Art - 'Pixie Dust'

309. Puppets - 'Pixie Dust'

For InkTober day 2, I once again looked to the 365 Days of Art list and decided to try and cross off number 309, 'Puppets' this time.Again, I used black and red fineliners ranging from 0.1-0.7mm, a silver & gold rollerball pens, but also used a green felt tip for the vines because I couldn't find the pen I was looking for at the time. 

Obviously no masterpieces are going to be created here, but I'm having fun with it and getting used to drawing with pens at the same time, so it's worthwhile!

Inktober & No. 14 of 365 Days of Art - 'Mr. Cimim'

14. Design a character based on an animal/mythical creature

This year, I decided to participate in InkTober, a yearly event in which you do an ink drawing for everyday for the month of October. I don't usually draw in pen and ink, but wanted to take it as an opportunity to improve this year. 

Yesterday, was the first day and I chose to also incorporate it into the 365 Days of Art challenge that I have going on this blog. This one is for number 14, "Design a character based on an animal/mythical creature"; I chose owls and mimic birds. I used fineliners between 0.1 - 0.7mm (in black, red and blue), a black 2mm fineliner (for thick lines and the background), and a silver rollerball pen for highlights. 

This is Mr, Cimim. He's an unusual, man-like creature, with bird talons for feet, four eyes, and a beak for a nose. He lives in The Forest of Unknown Visions and disguises himself with bird feathers and the head of a giant horned owl. He also constructs wings made of mimic bird feathers and spiderwebs, as he is able to absorb some of the attributes of each of the animals he clothes himself with. 

Mr. Cimim feeds exclusively on the one-eyed laughing snakes that live within the depths of The Forest of Unknown Visions. He lures them with mimicked songs that charm them up from the darkness, before striking them with his talons and ensnaring them within his sticky web wing. 

He then closes his second set of eyes and hypnotises the other snakes with the blue pigment and cloud reflections in his top set, ensuring that he is not bitten. Then he is free to extend his 20m long, scaly  legs legs down to the forest floor and calmly stalk away.

Art & Photography - 'Sweeping Ghost Fans'

Sweep: 'Motion'

This week for the Delightful Aberrations challenge, I went back to photography and used the prompt "sweep". Rather than taking the word to mean something related to a broom, I decided to use the meaning of the motion instead.

Sweep: 'Ghosts'

The photos were both taken by using "bulb mode" (basically, manual control of the shutter), which allowed me to capture the movement more easily.

Art & Photography - Fruits of the Flesh

Ideology: 'Fruits of the Flesh - Rapture of 15 Underground & the Heavenly Ensemble'

For week 20 of Delightful Aberrations art & photography challenge the photograph of the"art" piece above was my submission. I decided to go the "art" route this time, and used the "ideology" prompt. This also counts as number 120 on my 365 Art Projects list: Religious Artifacts. 

Bonus - Ideology: 'Miniature Sinners'

I tried to represent the 15 fruits of the flesh, which humans are said to fall prey to, according to certain Christian ideology. 15 is also the number that represents either humans or Satan (or many other things), depending on which part of the Bible/which Biblical teachings you reference. Everything in the picture has specific meaning, but you can interpret it as you like. Even if you just want to interpret it as pretentious nonsense. ;)

Painted and "named" crosses

I began with 15 wooden crosses, each approximately 5 centimetres (just under 2 inches) high. Then I painted them black with ink, and wrote a version of the fruits of the flesh on them, creating a set.

Little jewel pots

Bedazzled and...classy

After that, it was time to add the "decorative sin", via jars of jewels and some Milliput.

Then it was time for the fun part - making the little sinners!*

*Disclaimer: This blog does not condone sinning. Obviously.

Unpainted, setting

Then, I molded them into the shapes/creatures I wanted them to be and left each one to set around its designated cross, making sure that I was still able to remove them for painting once they hardened.

Un-crucified. Temporarily, at least...

Painting them didn't take as long as putting on the crosses' glittery jackets, but their size and fragility made it a somewhat fiddly task. I also decided to repaint some of those pictured above.

The finished 15

Following the completion of the "sinners", the wall was waiting for them to perform on it along with a few old friends.

Lit with house lights & a torch

The photo to the left was not the one I selected to use as the photo on Delightful Aberrations. The main difference between them is the lighting. However, looking at it now, this one seems better than the one I selected!

These little darlings are still up on my wall and probably will be for a while until I can find somewhere better for them to reside.

More photos of some of the individual crosses under the cut below:

Films: Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad flyer & tickets

Today, I went to see the film 'Suicide Squad', which is to a certain extent based on the comics of the same name and the animation 'Batman: Assault on Arkham'. Being a fan of Batman villains/anti-heroes - though none of my absolute favourites were in this - I've been looking forward to the movie for a while. Also, my friend, Miseria, came to see this with me, and their favourite character from the comics was in it and I'm pretty sure Killer Croc's never been in a live action version before (besides perhaps extremely briefly in 'Gotham'), so my friend was happy!

I will try to keep this spoiler-free, so sorry if I'm vague about anything.

The initial reviews of the film were extremely poor, but after watching it I honestly don't see what the big problem was. I thought it was good! It was an action film, yes, but it had a decent storyline too and it made sense. Perhaps having the Joker & Harley Quinn sub-storyline slightly detracted from the main plot a little at times because the had to give screen time to setting up that relationship.

So, Harley Quinn and Joker: I don't really enjoy these two as a couple usually. In the animation,  [slight spoiler of 'Batman: Assault on Arkham' coming up here] Harley has been away from Joker and has actually realised how abusive and horrible he was to her and doesn't love him anymore...at first. Until he convinces her to go back to him again. [End of spoiler] I have no problem with Joker being like this, because he's a villain. I don't like that he does it, but as a character, I don't have a problem with him doing it. He's not supposed to be a nice guy. He's not "nice" to anyone at all actually. But in 'Suicide Squad' their relationship is somewhat changed. 

Harley Quinn poster

Well, you can't really say he's "nice" to Harley I guess, but at the same time, he tries to protect her and anything he does to her he does to himself as well (pretty much). This is not usually how this relationship is portrayed. Usually, she's just his and he likes having her around to manipulate and use because it's fun or useful or he gets attached to her. He doesn't care about her feelings much - or even at all. So I have to take this as a different version of these two, because it's really not like them. (Though Harley does have sudden outbursts about "sociopaths", and I think maybe in a scene when she's talking to El Diablo about his past she gets so angry with him because of her previous experiences with Joker, too...). 

Joker poster

Aside from that, I thought it was great to see all the characters that haven't been in live action before brought to life (as I said, technically Croc's been in 'Gotham', but it was for such a short scene and they never actually called him by name). I was pretty pleased with the selection of rogues that they chose.

Killer Croc poster

Enchantress poster

My personal favourites in were Enchantress/June Moone and El Diablo, which is unusual for me because I normally like characters that don't have supernatural powers, like Riddler, Scarecrow, and Mad Hatter. To be honest though, I quite enjoyed all of the characters in 'Suicide Squad', and even the ones I didn't like (Amanda Waller, I'm looking at YOU), were good in their roles. My friend's favourites were Croc, Enchantress, and Captain Boomerang (his pink unicorn toy appealed to them :P).

El Diablo poster

Captain Boomerang poster

The film seems to have had a lot of negative reviews already but I enjoyed it and If I had to give it a rating it would be 8.5/10.

Photography - Red Hands & Noisy Flowers

'Red Hands'

For week 17 of the Delightful Aberrations photography theme challenge I chose the word "intensify". With the first set of photos, the shadows were "intensifying". I didn't adjust anything afterwards in that set, just took photos of shadows of my hand on a red mat, with varying levels of natural light coming through the glass of a door window.

'Changing the Volume'

In the second set, I again used natural light, but used the same photo four times and adjusted the vibrance of the colour to make it "intensify" from left to right. The third photo is the original.

Photography - Curly Whirly

'Ant Curler'

These two image were the submissions for week 16 of the photography challenge at Delightful Aberrations. The theme I used was "curl" and I took the picture above with a Samsung compact camera and a the one below with a Canon 750D.

'Whirly Swirly Curly'

They aren't particularly wonderful photographs, but oh well (spot the ant in the first photo!). At least I got something done, and you can see my wonderful swirly sunglasses! Now I'm looking at them, the arms actually resemble question marks a little bit, haha!

Photography - Cheap & Cheerful

Cheap & Cheerful 01

I mentioned in my previous post, I've gotten a little behind with posting my photography challenge pictures from Delightful Aberrations, here over the last three weeks. So today I've decided to do something of a catch-up and will be posting weeks 12, 13, and 14. This is the last of the catch-ups, week 14, for which I used the prompt "cheap". The wider theme I decided upon was "Cheap & Cheerful", which is why I used bright colours, pennies & one yen coins.

Cheap & Cheerful 02

Cheap & Cheerful 03

Cheap & Cheerful 04

Photography - Candlelit Horrors

Phobia

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've gotten a little behind with posting my photography challenge pictures from Delightful Aberrations, here over the last three weeks. So today I've decided to do something of a catch-up and will be posting weeks 12, 13, and 14. This is week 13, for which I used the themes of "candle" and "frighten". 

The set of pictures was vaguely supposed to represent different types of fear. There's not much else to say about them, except that I used a candle that faded from reddish-purple at the bottom to white at the top as a light and that they're self-portraits.

Candlelight Grin

It's Disgusting

NO!

Shock

Photography - Biotecnology

Biotechnology

I've gotten a little behind with posting my photography challenge pictures from Delightful Aberrations, here over the last three weeks. So today I've decided to do something of a catch-up and will be posting weeks 12, 13, and 14. This is week 12, for which I used the prompts "grass", "hole", and "interactive". 

The original photo I took was this:

I darkened the veins and added some more, plus drew on the blades of grass/tubes going into the "holes" in my hand. Then, I took some photos of some computer components that my friend had lying around:

And added elements of them to the picture. I then changed the levels and colour balance of the overall picture and the photomanipulation was complete! The result wasn't particularly wonderful, but at the same time, it was a quick experiment and so I'm not that disappointed with it either.

Music Музика 音楽 Musik Musique Musica Музыка

Spot who's missing...

I haven't done one of these "music surveys" here before and probably won't do one again. However, as I rarely post about music at all, I thought I'd do this and give a little window into the kind of thing I spend my time listening to. The title of the entry is the word for "music" in the language in which each of the bands/artists in I listened to sang. In case you're curious, the order goes: English, Bulgarian, Japanese, German, French, Latin, and Russian. One of the groups, Sui Generis Umbra, is actually Polish, but their vocals are usually in either English or Latin, so the Latin represents them.

Rules: You shuffle your music player and answer the questions!  (I skipped repeated bands/artists, because as some of you will know, I have a lot of music by certain bands and hardly any by others).

Ladytron

Song #1: Black Cat - Ladytron

What’s the first line in the song?

“Слушай ме / Мненията забрави” 

(Slushaĭ me / Mneniyata zabravi // Listen to me / Forget your despondancies)

How long has this band/artist been around?

Um, since 1999 or 2000 I think.

Do you have a specific memory associated with this song?

Not really.

Can you relate to any of the lyrics? 

Yeah, I really like the lyrics actually. You can read a translation of them here.

On a side note, this band usually has a different lead vocalist, and their lyrics are normally all in English, but this song has their backing vocalist, Mira Aroyo, on lead vocals. She's Bulgarian and the lyrics to this song are are as well; she sounds good!

Do you like any other songs by this band/artist?

Yeah, I like a lot of their songs. I was actually listening to another of one - 'Evil' - before I started this.

MALICE MIZER

Song #2: 白い肌に狂う愛と哀しみの輪舞 (Shiroi Hada ni Kuuru Ai to Kanashimi no Rondou / The rondo of sadness and love driven crazy by the white skin) - MALICE MIZER

Does any part of this song make you laugh?

No, unless I'm remembering the film it's on the soundtrack to. (It's essentially a very cheesy silent vampire film, set to this band's *very good* music. I still love the movie anyway too though! :D)

What is your favorite lyric in this song?

"The life breathing in the pitch-black darkness / The limbs sized by the transient sleep /  And, these shadows are overlapping each other / Tonight, the peal of thunder invites you to the new encounter"

Strangely enough, I just happen to like the only lines that are in English the best, on this occasion.

Have you ever seen this band/artist live?

No, sadly not, and they've disbanded now so I'm not likely to now either. I've seen a few of the other projects (DALLE and Eve of Destiny) of their ex-guitarist before though.

What is the first song by this band/artist that you remember hearing?

I think it was 'Illuminati'? (Note: They had a different vocalist at this point. Also, this PV is definitely NSFW. It's much different to the song & PV I linked to above! You've been warned :P However, I love both).

What kind of mood does that song put you in?

Well, I love this song, so it puts me in a good mood. Also it puts me in a silly, ridiculous horror movie kind of mood too. But more an 80's kind this time.

Grausame Töchter

Song #3: Glaube Liebe Hoffnung (Faith Love Hope) [sort of NSFW, I guess?] - Grausame Töchter

Does this song make you think of a certain person?

Grausame Töchter's music in general always reminds me of my friend Rina, because she's really the only other person I know who likes this artist. That probably sounds weird now though, haha.

Where is this band/artist from?

Germany.

If someone just randomly said the lines from this song to you, how would you react?

"I like that song" ...I guess? Depends who it was and how/why they were saying it, to be honest! 

Are any of the lyrics in this song suggestive in any way?

Yeah, sort of, but not as much as on some of their other tracks. (It doesn't matter to me either way, I'm just making an observation :P).

Mylène Farmer

Song #4: Regrets - Mylène Farmer (with Jean-Louis Murat)

What is the 7th line in this song?

“ L'amour cachait” ("Love hidden")

Does the above line have any special meaning to you?

No.

Would this song be suitable to play at a wedding?

I guess if someone wanted to come and interrupt the wedding because they were in love with the bride/groom & regretted not being with them or something? Maybe?

Have you seen the video for this song? If yes then describe it.

Yes, I've seen it. It's shot in black and white and Mylène Farmer & Jean-Louis Murat are walking around what looks like a park, arm in arm. They look sad at first, but then start to be happy and sort of "playful", then it cuts to a scene of them sitting together on a gravestone, because they're actually in a cemetery. After a while, they stand up and hug and then Mylène disappears off into the distance, since she's dead, and Jean-Louis leaves with some flowers she gave him/he brought for her grave.

merry go round

Song #5: 注文の多い料理店 (Chuumon no ooi ryouriten / The Restaurant of Many Orders) - merry go round

Would you be embarrassed if someone caught you singing this song out loud?

I'm not sure "signing" is the right word to describe it on this song...it's more speaking very quickly most of the time (not rapping). But no, I probably wouldn't be embarrassed. Depends who it was though I suppose.

What is the 4th line in the song?

”「銃と弾丸は持ち込まないようにしてください。」”   ("Juu to dangan wa mochiko nai you ni shite kudasai" / "Please do not bring a gun and bullets")

If you had to give this song a rating, what would it be: G, PG, PG13 or R?

For this song, PG I guess? But I think I want to say PG13 or R just because it's this particular band and I know what they were usually like. On second thoughts, G. :P (The ratings we have over here are different anyway).

Would you be shocked if your parent(s) liked this song?

My mother likes some of the music I listen to, but she doesn't like anything by merry go round at all. So I'd be surprised if she liked it, yes.

Do you find the singer of this song attractive?

Yes, their vocalist, Kazuma (真) (I think he still goes by that these days; this band are no longer together), had/has an aesthetic that I appreciate.

Bauhaus

Song #6: Stigmata Martyr - Bauhaus

Can you play this song on any instrument?

No, but then again, I've never tried to either.

Have you ever seen anyone that looks like the singer of this song?

I've never really noticed anyone looking like Peter Murphy, no.

What is the funniest or most clever lyric in the song?

I don't think it's particularly funny or clever, but it's very descriptive and conveys the story using only a short amount of lines. So, there, that's what I think is most clever about it.

Has this song been in any movies?

It was in 'Night of the Demons' (1988).

Sui Generis Umbra

Song #7: the leprosies of sin [kind of NSFW as it's a fan video set to the film '300'. It was all I could find for this song.] - Sui Generis Umbra

What kind of mood does this song put you in? 

It gives me a lot of energy, for some bizarre reason. It's a track I really enjoy.

Replace the 4th word of the song with the word “Beaver”…..

“It's your fault. Beaver” (Okay then?)

Does this song make you think of someone?

Not really, no. That's a good thing I suppose!

Do you know anyone that hates this band?

No, I don't. I know a few people who like them though.

Roman Rain

Song #8: Пентаграммы (Pentagrams) - Roman Rain

Is there a certain memory that you associate with this song?

Actually, this song reminds me of flat-sitting my sister's old flat in London for a few weeks, with Miseria, a couple of years ago. The single this song is from had just come out, so I listened to it a lot whilst we were there. Of course, Miseria is not really into Roman Rain, but they didn't mind me listening to it...at least, I don't think so! Anyway, lots of the memories I have of that trip, I associate with this song, which is a little strange because of the lyrics, but oh well!

What is the 12th line in the song? 

“Гудбай любовный герой!” (Gudbay lyubovnyy geroy! / Goodbye, romantic hero!).

If this band/artist came to a town near you, would you go see them?

Absolutely, this is one of my favourite artists/bands! But he's/they're from Russia and he's/they're not that popular, so it's not ever likely to happen, unfortunately. On another note, Roman Rain's current support backing vocalist is an artist called ElisaBat Muse, whose solo music is also very good. You should give her a listen too!

Have you ever kissed anyone when this song was playing?

No.

Is there anything political about this song?

I'm pretty sure there's not, but my Russian isn't great, so don't take my word for it.

IAMX

Song #9: I Come With Knives [vaguely NSFW] - IAMX

What is your favourite lyric in the song?

I really like all the lyrics actually. But maybe:
"The monotony / And the rising tide / Is under my skin, is crawling inside / Adrenaline to rewire my mind / I'm only human, I come with knives"

or

"Kinder und sterne küssen und verlieren sich / greifen leise meine hand und führen mich / die traumgötter brachten mich in eine landschaft / schmetterlinge flatterten durch meine seele / in der mitternacht" (Children and stars kiss and lose themselves /quietly grabbing my hand and leading me. / the dream gods brought me to a landscape / butterflies fluttered through my soul / at midnight).


Is this one of your favourite bands/artists?

Yes.

Have you ever sung this song out loud?

Yes, but only the bit in German. (I get that bit stuck in my head a lot; it sounds like a nursery rhyme or something).

When is the first time you ever heard this song?

I don't really remember. Whenever it came out. A few years ago, I guess?

Dernière Volonté

Song #10: Les rêves de dorian (Dreams of Dorian) - Dernière Volonté

Replace the last word of the song title with the word “Sparta”…..:

'Les rêves de Sparta' ('Dreams of Sparta' ...okay then...)

Does this song get played a lot on the radio?

I don't listen to the radio, but even so, I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

Where is this band/artist from?

France.

Would this song be appropriate to play at a funeral?

It depends what kind of person you were, I suppose...