People want to believe that the act of creation is a magical thing. When I write, I am like some beardy old-word god, hewing the book from some raw piece of literary firmament. When I write, the muse is like a lithe, naked woman, sitting on my lap with her tongue in my ear.

Patrick Rothfuss Author of The Name of the Wind

where do you hang your nude art?

most collectors I have met over the years (of my work and others) hang the nudes they purchase in the bedroom. it seems to be some form of unspoken consensus that that is where nude art belongs.

is this some kind of feng shui for bedroom fu? is it because it is one place where we all feel comfortable in the nude? or is it an expression of embarrassment? are people afraid that their grandparents are going to see a nude in their living room?

I like to think that it’s because the bedroom is the place where we can all shed our cares and our clothes. it’s a nest where we can really be ourselves, divest ourselves of the masks we wear throughout the day.

I have nudes throughout our house. storing works on the walls gives me time to live with my favorites before they are sold and to keep them out of harms way. There are actually less nudes in the bedroom (unless you count my bedside sketchbooks) because they remind me of work too much! I don’t think twice about who comes to the house or what they may think, but then, this is my life. I’m curious, though, where do nude artworks belong in your house? do you have a reason?

OMG COVER UP THE JUNK From Wil Wheaton’s photo stream on Flickr

This statue is a replica of something famous (I can’t remember which one and art history isn’t my strong suit) but while it doesn’t have arms, it had quite the package.

Apparently, if people see a statue’s package on television, Baby Jesus kills a kitten, so the art department painted leaves and used them to cover up the offending hangy-down bits.

I thought it was hilarious that they had to do this, even though the statues were just in the background, and any sane person would be looking at Chris Kane or Noa Tishby.

[From OMG COVER UP THE JUNK on Flickr - Photo Sharing!]

I couldn’t resist posting this when I discovered it on flickr. I’ve been following @wilw on twitter for some time and was leafing through his photostream on flickr when I found this treasure in an album for the recent Leverage episode The Two Live Crew Job. I’ve seen this episode but completely missed the statue and the clearly improvised oak leaf cover up. talk about unnecessary censorship!

Interlaced – 12×12 Oils on Canvas by Jennie Rosenbaum

I’ve begin to run low on my sources for nude quotes. at first I only put in quotes I believed in, and recently I’ve added quotes that I don’t necessarily agree with, just to show all sides and to perhaps play devils advocate. the original pornography quote a couple of weeks ago sparked off a very interesting discussion on facebook notes here and led to the follow up quote the next week.

last weeks quote is one that I originally had misgivings about. it seemed prudish and silly. but I’ve been thinking about it all weekend, and I think it has a different meaning to the one I originally ascribed. I now think it’s actually saying that nudity is mundane, so natural as to be unremarkable. and I think that’s an attitude we should all have.

well, except me I guess, I mean it is my livelihood.

I’ve been searching further afield for my quotes recently. some have come from blogs I read or books or other random sources. I like to change it up. I’d also like for people to submit their own nude quotes to me. you can do that by selecting the contact page on this blog and sending me your quote and a link.

I may even run a competition at some point – what do you think?

Digital Art

I’ve been a little slack in updating these images on my blog. I’ve been adding them to my Facebook Fan Page pretty much as they are done but my foggy brain forgets that I need to add them here as well.

This is the render in response to my original sketch. After creating a quick sketch I ‘flesh’ the idea out with a 3D render of the subject. this is where I can really play with lighting, mood and get the pose just right. The final oil painting is a combination of the two. I’ve been very excited and inspired by volumetric lighting recently (the beams of light like there were dust motes or fog in the air around the model) and am looking forward to getting into the studio to work out how I will produce these effects in oils.

I wouldn’t do nudity in films. To act with my clothes on is a performance. To act with my clothes off is a documentary.

Julia Roberts

Last week I was in kind of a numb shell. one that I’ve tried to appease with retail therapy and mindless facebook games. why do bad things happen to good people?

This is a painting I have been working on for almost a year. I am not sure if it will ever be finished. it’s a highly emotional work created at a very emotional time. I bring it out, work on it for a while and put it away again. I feel that now is a good time to bring it to the light of day. I need to stop hiding it and hiding from it. I created it to try to explore some difficult feelings and to try to communicate them somehow. in my mind it was dedicated to a very special and very strong couple. it is now dedicated to two.

I am very sorry for your loss.

a response to last week’s quote:

Pornogrpahy says more about the societies in which it exists, and is suppressed, than it does about the individuals producing or consuming it.

Peter Ryan

Pornography tells lies about women. But pornography tells the truth about men.

John Stoltenberg

Richard Prince, Spiritual America IV, 2005 -Via Eloge de l’Art par Alain Truong

The controversial nude photo of Brooke Shields has now been replaced by a later version and will go on show from today, according to Tate Modern.

The ‘photograph of a photograph’, by artist Richard Prince, was removed from the show -following police advice – before it opened on 1 October.

In a statement, Tate Modern said this afternoon: ‘In consultation with the artist, Richard Prince, Tate has replaced Spiritual America 1983 with a later version of the work made by him in collaboration with Brooke Shields, Spiritual America IV 2005. The room reopens to the public on Tuesday 13 October.’

[From Nude Brooke Shields photo replaced by 'later version' news - Amateur Photographer - news, camera reviews, lens reviews, camera equipment guides, photography courses, competitions, photography forums]

This is a fairly elegant way around the problem at hand – it fits with the theme of the exhibition and was made in full cooperation with Brooke Shields. it’s also an original work by Prince, rather than a photograph of a photograph. It does not have the same depth as the previous work, however one cannot deny that legally it is a much safer work for many reasons.

Gary Gross, the taker of the original photograph was disappointed that it was removed from the Tate – I guess because out of all of the names in this mess his was the only one that really needed and received publicity.