My Beauty Best Teacher

The artist assigned to paint a portrait of someone with brown hair may reach for any brown pigment to represent the follicles in the hope that it will do, the result being the hair looks flat, dull and more like wool than fine strands. How can the artist paint brown hair realistically?

How to Paint Brown Hair on Portraits

Painting Brown Hair Rachel Shirley

• Making blanket assumptions about the colour of brown hair, using any tube of oil paint labelled “brown” to represent anything from brunette to auburn.
• Illustrating every strand of the hair in a linear fashion with a fine sable, resulting in a synthetic appearance that resembles a wig rather than real hair.
• Allowing harsh dividing lines to remain between tonal areas, making the hair appear solid or plastic rather than divisible strands.
• Mixing the brown colour with white to represent highlights, or black to darken it, resulting in dirty grey colours.
• Treating the hair area as a separate entity to the rest of the face, by omitting to illustrate how the hair casts shadows over the brow and cheeks, resulting in a cut out appearance to the brown hair.

• Avoid using generic brown paint to represent the whole head of hair. The brown colour will vary between individuals and even between strands.
• The key to suggesting the soft texture of hair is through blending. Look out for harsh divisions in tonal areas that could draw the eye. Use a soft sable for achieving smooth gradations.
• Highlights are not merely white, but other colours. Some brunettes exhibit blue highlights, others show pinks, violets and even red.
• Avoid using black to darken brown hair. Warm brown hair can be darkened with a little pthalo blue and burnt umber; cool brown hair can be darkened with a little ultramarine and permanent rose.
• There is no need to draw every strand of the hair. It is better to blend the colours of hair and to suggest detail with a fine sable on selected areas of the hair, such as highlights and stray strands.

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• Glazing technique for oil painting
• How to paint children from a photo
• Flesh tones in portraits

Powerline blog has a great post up today- Don't Blame Us, We're Incompetent!

We devoted almost all of our radio show today to the Obama administration's recent foreign policy stumbles--in particular, Hillary Clinton's European apology tour and President Obama's mysteriously insulting treatment of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. We speculated about whether Obama's treatment of Brown was calculated disrespect, or whether the administration simply doesn't know how to host the Prime Minister of our most important ally on a state visit to Washington.

The White House, evidently stung by negative reaction in Great Britain, is now telling the British that the insult to Brown was inadvertent, the problem being that President Obama is "overwhelmed" by his job: Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.

British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a formal dinner, as has been customary. They concede that Obama aides seemed unfamiliar with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister.

But Washington figures with access to Mr Obama's inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special elationship.

Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president's surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk. A well-connected Washington figure, who is close to members of Mr Obama's inner circle, expressed concern that Mr Obama had failed so far to "even fake an interest in foreign policy".

Where to begin? Obama, after two years of expressing smug contempt for the Bush administration, is "surprised at the sheer volume" of work the President has to do. And he's too tired to deal competently with one of the most important foreign officials he will meet during his term in office. So: maybe he should cut down on the late-night White House partying? And why in the world does the White House--let alone the State Department!--not have someone who is "[familiar] with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister?" If true, this is rank incompetence.

To some extent, the Brown fiasco might be attributed to Obama's failure to "even fake an interest in foreign policy." (Just think, by the way, how much work he will have to do when he realizes that as President, he has to deal with both domestic and foreign policy!) But I'm not sure that's the whole explanation.

The Telegraph's story contains this suggestion that Obama's slight of the British Prime Minister may have been intentional, at least in part: The real views of many in Obama administration were laid bare by a State Department official involved in planning the Brown visit, who reacted with fury when questioned by The Sunday Telegraph about why the event was so low-key. The official dismissed any notion of the special relationship, saying: "There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment."

So: was the Brown fiasco intentional, or was it the result of Obama administration incompetence? Or a combination of the two? Most likely, I think, the latter.

Over at the Daily Kos, this is how they are treating the special election in Massachusetts to fill the vacant US Senate seat there-

The bizarre rumors were already circulating about the possibility that there could be a delay in seating Naked Scotty Brown should he manage a win in Massachusetts, I hinged that 'You can already hear wingnuts warming up the pipes and getting ready to howl'- Well, the candidate himself is already howling. Brown is barking at the moon, spinning out his theory, and of course, calling on Martha Coakley to reject the non-existent conspiracy. Brown is nuts.

From London to Cornwall, then to Italy and France, a short, shabby priest takes on bandits, traitors and killers. Why is he so successful? The reason is that after years spent in the priesthood, Father Brown knows human nature and is not afraid of its dark side. Thus he understands criminal motivation and how to deal with it. The Blue Cross — Father Brown is traveling to London to attend a meeting of priests, and he is carrying with him a priceless silver cross, studded with blue sapphires. Flambeau, the thief, plans to steal it. The Secret Garden — Father Brown is called to investigate the beheading of a man, committed in a closed garden. How did the murderer escape? The Queer Feet — Father Brown investigates a death at the Vernon Hotel. The Arrow of Heaven — Father Brown comes to the aid of a man receiving threatening letters, but he is unable to prevent him from being killed with an arrow.

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One of the hotly contested races this year at the Michigan Republican State Convention (held in Lansing on Saturday, August 28) will be the race for the Republican nominee for Secretary of State. In my opinion, there has been little objective analysis so far on the candidates, as I don't consider the liberals working at the major newspapers or the hired hands working for the candidates to be objective opinions, so I am going to once again jump into the void and provide some analysis of the candidates. To prove my objectivity, I will volunteer that when I began writing this blog post I still had not decided who I would recommend, although in doing research for it and looking over my notes from the many debates and functions that I have attended, I feel that I can offer some guidance on who delegates should vote for.

Voters will be able to vote for a Michigan Secretary of State election of 2010 on November 2, 2010.  Candidates for Secretary of State are nominated by political parties at their state conventions. The office of Secretary of State is an open seat because Michigan state term limit laws prevent current Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land from running for a third term, in spite of the fact that she has been doing an amazing job with that office and proved that someday she is going to be an important leader for our state.

Unlike in years past when the Secretary of State race really didn't matter that much, this year it does. The main reason for this is because of billionaire George Sorus and his attempt to corrupt our democracy by corrupting the very nature of elections in our county. As I wrote earlier in Soros Creates Project to Install Secretaries of State Across the Nation in Attempt to Control Vote Counting Forever:

George Soros has created a "527" group called the Secretary of State Project, which can accept unlimited undisclosed money, and will use that money to run attack ads and hit pieces on Republican and moderate Democrats in an attempt to install left-wing Democrats as secretaries of state across the nation. Once Soros has put in place left-wing Democrats as secretaries of state all across the nation, they will be the ones counting the votes, deciding who is a registered voter and who isn't, and supervising the election process.

Joseph Stalin once remarked, "The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." George Soros is setting it up so that across the nation, left-wing Democrats will decide everything for our nation.

SoS Project is also endorsing Jocelyn Benson, candidate for secretary of state in Michigan, whom it lauds as an "[e]lection law scholar and community organizer." Benson is a candidate ACORN would love.

The Story The Wash. Post Won't Report

If you haven't read this already it is a 'must read' Examiner Exclusive by Byron York with Bill Myers contributing to the report. It reads like an episode from Dominick Dunne's TV show Power, Privilege and Justice. It confirms my belief that no 'reign of terror' lasts forever. I'd be interested to hear how you think this drama will play out. The Wash. Post has not covered this story in their newspaper not surprisingly to most of us. The story is only featured in their online blog while all other major newspapers worth their salt across the US are featuring this story as a head liner. I have posted the Examiner story in its entirety as well as links (below) from an article on this same subject by David Lipscomb of The Washington Times newspaper, Mike Debonis of the Washington City Paper, The Hill News, The NY Times, Sacramento news, Sacramento Bee, SCUSD Observer and L.A. Times. 

Wash. Times link

The Hill news

New York Times link
Sacramento news link
SCUSD Observer blog
The Sacramento Bee link
L.A. Times link

In an attempt to copy the old masters, the artist may temper vibrant colors in the belief that an oil painting should look sombre. In other cases, the artist may strive for vibrant paintings and instead finds garish colors. How can the artist paint vibrant oil paintings?

Oil Painting with Bright Colors Rachel Shirley

• Darkening colors with black. For example, adding black to green for foliage or black to flesh tint for shaded areas of portraits. Black and any bright color often results in dirty colors.
• Tempering vivid colors with neutrals in the belief they are always too bright.
• Painting alla prima can sometimes result in an oil painting that lacks depth of color once the painting is dry.
• Over-mixing oil pigments, causing the color mixture to lose its life
• Using too many colors in a mix, such as more than three.

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• Build confidence in oil painting
• Primary color theory
• How to avoid dirty color mixes
• How to glaze with oil colors
• How to paint light and shadows
• How to mix greens
• Demonstrationon on painting shadows

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Last week I heard a speech from this guy on Sean Hannity, and it was great. Daniel Hannan is a Troy Member of the European Parliament (MEP) who represents South East England, criticised British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to his face in a stirring speech, and now the clip of this speech is one of the top clips on youtube.

From Mail Online:

Mr Hannan's assault came after the Premier had given a keynote speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. As Mr Brown looked on through gritted teeth, shaking his head, the Tory lambasted him as a 'Brezhnev era apparatchik' who was ' pathologically incapable' of taking responsibility for his role in the financial crisis. The clip features Mr Brown looking on with a frozen smile, while Mr Hannan warned how Britain was entering the recession in a 'dilapidated condition' with an 'almost unbelievable' deficit. After accusing Mr Brown of losing his moral authority, he finished with the pay-off line: 'You are the devalued Prime Minister of a devalued government.'

The New Road to Serfdom: A Letter of Warning to America.

The portrait artist faced with painting blonde hair may automatically reach for titanium white and vary it with black or dark brown for shadows in the belief that these colors will create convincing blonde hair. Instead, the hair looks muddy and flat. What colors should the artist use for blonde hair?

How Not to Paint Blonde Hair

How to Paint Blonde Hair Rachel Shirley

• Making blanket assumptions about blonde hair in that it always contains lots of white paint, and allowing this to reflect in the painting.
• Darkening pale colors with black or dark brown for the shadows, resulting in dirty darks.
• Applying the dark areas prior to the pales, contaminating the pale colors when they are applied afterwards. In an effort to put this right, the artist may add more white on top, resulting in an overworked painting with dirty pales.
• Painting the blonde color mix onto a white painting surface, which appear dark by comparison. The artist may inevitably make all the color mixes paler, which has a knock-on effect upon the painting, resulting in a washed-out representation of a blonde haired person in the portrait.

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On last Thursday evening , DC Jobs with Justice hosted a Workers' Rights Board hearing at the DC City Council. I was happy to be an invited guest to speak at this event. The purpose of this event was to allow city workers to discuss their concerns about what is happening across the board to city government workers and public services under the Fenty administration. Panelists of city workers testified before the Workers' Rights Board. This board plans to develop an action plan to address concerns from city workers in DC Public Schools, Child and Family Services Administration, and Department of Mental Health. Amongst the recommendations are upcoming meetings with the DC City Council.

"Catastrophe, intimidation, terror. These were common words used to describe DC Mayor Adrian Fenty’s two years in office by over a dozen speakers at Thursday’s Workers’ Rights Board (WRB) hearing. The hearing – which took place at the John A. Wilson Building to a standing-room only crowd of hundreds of residents, workers and activists – was held to examine Mayor Fenty’s assault on DC public sector workers and proposals to cut public services. “I see what is happening right now as a major catastrophe,” said Roger Newell, chair of DC Jobs with Justice. “We need to speak loudly and strongly that working people made this city and stuck with this city through times of crisis. Workers should be respected not attacked and politicians who attack workers should be held accountable.”

Metro Council President Jos Williams said that Mayor Fenty has created an “environment based on intimidation” of workers through the gutting of the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) , abolishment of the Labor-Management Partnership Program and the appointment of School Chancellor Michelle Rhee who “has made it her mission to make every employee at-will.” “The door was closed to labor immediately by the Mayor after taking office,” said Dwight Bowman, AFGE National Vice President for District 14. “The Mayor chose to ignore our efforts to reach out.” Bowman also compared Mayor Fenty’s refusal to address the crisis with the PERB to similar moves by the Bush Administration to destroy the federal grievance process.

Other panelists discussed Mayor Fenty’s assault on DC public sector workers in specific agencies, including the DC Public Schools, the Child and Family Services Agency and the Department of Mental Health (DMH), and its impact on education and public and mental health services. “I have never seen a climate like what is occurring now,” said Jeff Canady, a 17-year teacher in the DC Public Schools (DCPS). “Everyday I run into workers and teachers who have horror stories about intimidation on the job…It is an absolute climate of intimidation and terror that teachers are facing.” Canady argued the problem is not bad teachers but a lack of resources, supplies and support for teachers as well as Chancellor Rhee’s “complete lack of understanding about what needs to be done.”

Candi Peterson, a 16-year veteran of DCPS and active member of WTU Local 6, criticized Fenty and Rhee for the firings of hundreds of DCPS workers which, she argued, created overcrowded classrooms and forced teachers to work in areas outside their certification. “Rhee regularly blames teachers and argues that union contracts and teachers' seniority rights stand in the way of the best education for our children.” But the reality is that her “anti-union tactics support more privatization and outsourcing of public education, the creation of more unchecked charter schools, unsound educational practices, gutting hard-earned job protections and union busting”."

Maria Jones , a parent active in school issues and a 26-year resident of DC, called Rhee’s school reform plan a redistribution of wealth and “children are being exploited and denied a quality education” as a result.

Marketta McCoy – a recently fired investigator at the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) and member of AFSCME Council 20 – said workers are being scapegoated for the recent high-profile failures at the CFSA . McCoy added that the real issue is Mayor Fenty and CFSA management’s refusal to help provide workers with desperately needed resources and a reduction in caseloads. “Management should treat workers with dignity and respect,” said McCoy.

Roy Rogers – an employee of the DC DMH Community Services Agency (CSA) and 1199SEIU member – and Dr. Ray Brown – President of the DC Doctors Council/AFSCME – also discussed the Fenty Administration’s plans to privatize mental health services . “Closing DC CSA will leave the most vulnerable, victimized, voiceless, neediest and exploited citizens of the District without a safety net,” said Rogers. “Why eliminate these jobs now with the current economic crisis which is bound to cause more need for mental health services?” Brown said the privatization plan could affect 4,000 patients and put communities into crisis. “This is a catastrophe,” said Brown adding that the DC City Council must act to pass emergency legislation to stop the contracting out (click here to take action on this issue).

DC City Councilmembers Phil Mendelson and Harry Thomas Jr. briefly sat in with the Workers’ Rights Board to listen to panelists’ testimony. Councilmembers Kwame Brown and Yvette Alexander also made appearances. Mayor Fenty, Chancellor Rhee and other Councilmembers were invited to attend but did not show, says DC Jobs with Justice Organizer Ruth Castel-Branco. “The response to this event was overwhelming,” said Castel-Branco. “We received more requests for people to testify than we could fit into the short time frame we had. It shows that workers and DC residents are fed up with Mayor Fenty’s anti-worker, anti-democractic agenda.” An action plan, based on the testimony and recommendations of panelists, from Workers’ Rights Board members is expected in the coming months. Courtesy of DC Metro Labor-AFL-CIO. "(Posted by The Washington Teacher).

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An artist’s first encounter with equestrian art may produce a stuffed-looking horse, with hair and mane that looks too perfect or stiff and eyes that stare lifelessly. In other cases, the artist may fail to get to grips with the horse’s elongated features, allowing an empty space to stretch between the horse’s eyes and snout. How does the artist paint horses convincingly?

Common Problems with Painting Horses

How to Paint Horse Portraits Rachel Shirley

• Using poor photographic reference, forcing the artist to guess-work areas of the horse’s portrait or body, and allowing the aforementioned dictatorial part of the brain to fill the gaps.
• Using only white to illustrate horses’ eyeballs around the irises and the teeth.
• Illustrating the horse’s hair by linear strokes via a thin brush and using the same brush marks to cover the horse.
• Using premixed pigments such as a particular brown, black, beige or white for the horse painting and using the same colour to illustrate various elements of the horse.
• Leaving areas around the horse’s features blank, such as between the horse’s eyes and snout and the between the eyes and ears, resulting in a two-dimensional impression of a horse.

• Not every contour appears as a line. Sensitive observation will reveal that some contours consist of abstract and subtle shifts in colour and tone. It is wise to half close the eyes in order to simplify these shifts into basic areas and to work from the simple to the complex. Stand back periodically to gain an overall impression of the horse painting.
• Look out for reflected light on the horse’s face. Reflected light is when a shaded area is illuminated by reflections from a shiny surface, such as a wall or mirror. Reflected light might be most apparent around the horse’s snout or ear.
• Horse’s eyes, snout, hair and ears should not be denoted by mere outline. Close observation, will reveal that eyes and ears have rims and tucks; hair has localised shadows and the nostrils are surrounded by undulating flesh.
• The horse palette may possess the most unlikely colours, including blue, violet or crimson. Highlights often contain ultramarine, horse hair may contain maroons, and shadows over the horse’s teeth may require a little earth colour or blue.

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• Books on oil painting techniques
• Demonstration on painting zebras
• Glazing technique for oil painting