These are the observational drawings i have been doing over the summer. the top one is with water soluble graphite and a bit of white paint and is a close-up drawing of broken shells. below that are the ones i did on a course at central saint martins in london. only thing is that the 2 of the woman lying down are A2 sized whereas the others are A1. the tutor there said that i should also include a couple of experimental, incomplete ones, for example the bottom one which is a continuous line drawing done without looking at the paper, part of which is done with my left hand too! i have others too and i would like to somehow use them as a project but i havent quite thought of how...?

I was looking at Falmouth art college and what the requirements are for the portfolio and it says that you need to include "an essay relating to art and design issues" but it doesn't specify further. it seems quite vague and i have no clue how long it should be or how specific the title should be along with a few other questions..?? Mr M, do you know what type of essay it is supposed to be?

These are some of the pictures that i took in New York. i was really inspired by all the tall buildings and the way that things change appearance when you look at them from a different perspective (appearance being my word). i took interest in the way things change when you look at them from very close up and the picture of the homeless woman is also related to my theme, but i will explain that further in my book...

these are some of the photos i took of barges and my brother. i have a few more but these are the most interesting to me. even though i haven't done much photography, i think i've managed to get a really nice light. i'm wondering whether i could develop this into a project.. i could maybe mix and mingle some elements of the photos and make a small painting, but i think i would like to keep the photos as the main focus of the project. i like the way that the barge-people put the randomest things on their barge-roofs (or rooves?) like bicycles, tyres, bricks, building materials. i think it might be quite fun to live on a barge...

the 3 pictures below are from life drawing yesterday. the top one was a 15 minute pose, the middle a 10 minute pose and the bottom was 20 minutes. the female ones are a couple of older drawings. i have decided that i will use male figures as well for the stuff i am doing now- white figures on abstract backgrounds... you'll see soon...

Apart from the work i have been doing on those colourful abstract things, i have also been working on another project which is tied in with the exhibition that i went to see - 'Exactitudes'. I have taken photos of a couple of my friends, 'modifying' their faces with sellotape and cling film. im in the process of making them digital, and then i will manipulate them on photoshop; making them black and white or changing other things....

i have decided on a new word that i will use throughout my next project (maybe include in this one as well). it's cacophonous. i had to look it up :)

these pictures are very small sections of a double page in my book that i did with lots of thick white paint, thin colourful paint dripping down the pages and coloured tissue paper layered on top. in my book it is almost figurative (of a horse head) but taken out of context it becomes completely abstract which i really like.

just a photo of J i randomly came across that i took a while ago. i really like it, probably just because of that beautiful bag...

crazy/scary man eating live scorpions, yes they're alive and plural - MUST WATCH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q2r1UfjKBM

(hope the link works seeing as im not the biggest computer genius)

the words i chose to base the research for my new project on were strength and gender. in Paris, i looked a lot at the human form, in particular in sculptures such as those from the Rodin museum as well as the d'Orsay museum. not only is gender present in human, but i tried to apply gender to objects such as architecture, shapes and colours.

i also looked at different sculptures and paintings of horses, as a representation of strength. i was interested in looking at other types of strength too, such as strength of colour and strength of contrast.

below are a few photos i took in PARIS

this is my final idea for my painting. it will definitely change as i go along though.

This is one of my experiments on photoshop. it's actually broccoli!!

Lisette Model's exhibition in Trastevere

thursday morning post is jokkeesssss