Sarah Moon

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

This is not my kind of favourite style, by  miles. But I cannot help being impressed by the realism, the typical "it does look like a photo" effect. He died in 1905 when art had already gone in other directions so he must have been quite old fashioned even then. Curiously Wikipedia says in the matter:  "Bouguereau’s career was a nearly straight up ascent with hardly a setback.^[17] To many, he epitomized taste and refinement, and a respect for tradition. To others, he was a competent technician stuck in the past. Degas and his associates used the term “Bouguereauté” in a derogatory manner to describe any artistic style reliant on “slick and artificial surfaces”,^[17] also known as a licked finish. In an 1872 letter, Degas wrote that he strove to emulate Bouguereau’s ordered and productive working style, although with Degas' famous trenchant wit, and the aesthetic tendencies of the two Impressionists, it is possible the statement was meant to be ironic^[18].

Bouguereau’s works were eagerly bought by American millionaires who considered him the most important French artist of that time.^[12] But after 1920, Bouguereau fell into disrepute, due in part to changing tastes and partly to his staunch opposition to the Impressionists who were finally gaining acceptance. For decades following, his name was not even mentioned in encyclopedias."

But I don't think he was that bad and he should be mentioned in encyclopedias and to make a point here his own self-portrait.

Liu Bolin...The Invisible Man...

 

This guy paints himself... no trick photography ... no photoshop ...he just paints himself...

 

 

Last pic is simply brilliant…..Couldn’t spot him

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New theory on origin of universe and stuff [Greg Laden's Blog]

I could get used to this!

This is probably the sole reason for me to wake up every morning.

God, I really need to shave.

go after her...

Artbreak: flowers by gabrima

I got mentioned on the BBC Have Your Say!

Not by name, but someone mentioned me on the BBC Have Your Say about whether or not it's worth going to university!

Now, I've never met Mike Novak, but he seems to know me better than my own family. I read this and thought hey! I am mediocre! I did go to university because mum and dad shovelled me into it! I am incapable of competing in the real world! I was pretty impressed by this - even though we live on seperate continents, I feel like there's a connection here on a cosmic level, so well does Mike know me.

I'd only disagree with him on one point: I did feel like it was worth going to university. If you failed to stand out at school and are destined to thrash around ineffectually in the work place, then getting a mickey-mouse degree at a mickey-mouse university is essential. It gives three years of blissful sociability among people whose inability to succeed is matched only by your own. It's three years of doing something you're good at, regardless of how unproductive it is (in my case, reading fictional books and saying things about why these people who didn't exist did these things that didn't happen).

It's three years of happiness before you're condemned to a life of broken dreams, nudging an optical mouse around a messy desk while staring blankly into an Acer EyeFUCK9000.

Invitation

Best Beatbox Ever