I Made Another Garden

I  Made Another Garden ~ poem by Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy

I made another garden, yea,
For my new love;
I left the dead rose where it lay,
And set the new above.
Why did the summer not begin?
Why did my heart not haste?
My old love came and walked therein,
And laid the garden waste.

She entered with her weary smile,
Just as of old;
She looked around a little while,
And shivered at the cold.
Her passing touch was death to all,
Her passing look a blight:
She made the white rose-petals fall,
And turned the red rose white.

Her pale robe, clinging to the grass,
Seemed like a snake
That bit the grass and ground, alas!
And a sad trail did make.
She went up slowly to the gate;
And there, just as of yore,
She turned back at the last to wait,
And say farewell once more.

I may be posting a little too frequently you may think of late. May be it's because I'm grasping at the last days of my holiday before I am for the last time returning to uni for another year.

The poem above partially appeared in the novel Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. The same author of The Time Traveller's Wife. I finished reading the book at 1:30am this morning and what am I to say but I have not formed an opinion of whether I like or dislike the story as of yet. It's the type of story that leaves the reader feeling rather empty. All I can say is that the first two paragraphs of this poem which appeared in the novel sums up the story perfectly. It's a nice poem even though it is about one who is so heinous.

Another new one ~ N. P. Harris

N. P. Harris, 2012.

I think I'm on a roll. Like the universe has aligned in some strange way causing a burst of enthusiasm to course through me. I've come around to completing a work in progress that has been very much neglected for well over half a year. You may remember the post Insanity...Jeez. In fact a quick read and I see that I had started this portrait long before such an entry. Ha! Well the insanity has very well ended, that, I am proud to say.

Well the subject is of course Neil Patrick Harris. This drawing is very well one of my best to date. I was very thrilled with the proportioning when the face began to emerge on the page when I first started. The toning came very naturally on the page. The black back drop was probably a mistake. It's the first time a chose to shade in the background. A bit more patience at the end when I shaded in the lower right corner was definitely warranted but I was too excited to get it over with. The hair is sketchy but unnoticeable because the focus is clearly the centre of the face ripple outwards.

I did at the beginning worry that the face would not fit well on the page. This is the first male portrait I have done and men have extraordinarily big foreheads. That, I did not realise until I had already set in the eyes, nose and mouth. I thought the forehead was going to be cut short at the top of the page. Luckily it all turn out well. I'm really happy with having made room for the top of the suit and tie. These elements add an effect that takes the portrait to a whole other level. A personality. An identity. It's Barney and nothing suits him like a suit. Cheesy, but, I had to say it.

One last thing I confess. I had a rule when I started my adventure into portraiture. I was not to ever draw crushes. This rule prevented a few portraits from creation for which I am grateful of. But this rule, I broke here. However, crushes are short lived and finishing this drawing more than half a year later, no longer is. And from the result, I am happy I broke the rule. It is one of my best.

New drawing ~ A. Milano

 

A. Milano, 2012.

It's been a while since I've had anything completed to show. So I was quite thrilled when I managed to muster up enough focus to finish my first portrait in months. This one I have to say I started last month during my spout of watching the entire series of Charmed. Of course, I made a remark about the comics a few weeks ago, which if you connect the dots, the reason I chose to do a drawing of Alyssa Milano was more of a "shun it" to the comic pencilers working on the series.

Although, the subject was a little more difficult to capture than I had expected. Or that I may have lost my touch because it's been a while. But the result as seen above is, I must admit more like a caricature than a life-like portrait. Boo! However, I'm still please with it. Notably the hair. Very please with it indeed. The caricature nature of it stems from the chin and jaw (lack of fine shading maybe), and extends to the crooked closed mouth smile. Ahh, lips and smile lines are such a subtle craft to capture. The slightest exaggeration and you have an oddity appear.

Anywhose, you can check out more (though there aren't many) of my work at http://uwardnas.deviantart.com/. That is if you don't notice they have appeared in my posts already.

Late-rs for now!

On Your Own ~ Part One

Buffy Season 9 issue #6

No monkey business around here.

Cover One. My first reaction was: Yay! It's Spike! My second reaction was: Oh, it's Phil Noto, dang! Thankfully the comic was not by him. I just don't have  much appreciation for his style. Take the cover for instance. Spike's expression look familiar? Well it should if you've see the series, if you've seen the posters of the series and if you've seen the distasteful comic Old Times you've seen this exact photo tracing of a face combined with poor rendering type of drawing. Not to mention that bold black outline around the figures that just screams awful. Basically we see Spike shoulder to shoulder with Buffy. He raises an eyebrow at her and she gazes but at him while she is in post-poof of a vamp, the flicks of vamp dust fly about.

Cover Two. Well here's an interesting cover. When I first saw it I thought the comic had already begun and I'd been conned out of a second cover. Alas! It wasn't. An African American woman in a black leather coat threatens to throw a stake at a blond vamp carrying a limp female victim in his arms below a full moon but starless night. It's of course a  glimpse of the past of Nikki the vampire slayer and her long battle with English punk vamp Spike in his evil days. A very in your face cover by Jeanty.   

It's a new arc so we open fresh. We open with the past. New York 1973. There is only one slayer in the world and she isn't Buffy. The Slayer Nikki we find is fighting a vamp and she's losing. Don't worry it's not Spike. We've already seen that. We find out she's pregnant and on drugs. No she's not high. It's that stupid "Cruciamentum" where a slayer he beefed up with drugs that wipe her clean of all her super human strength and thrown into a house with a hungry, tortured for weeks vamp. Well, in this case it was a city rooftop. Rent's too expensive in New York, I see. The treat is we get to picture the Watcher Crowley, previously mentioned but never seen in season 7 of the show. Pallid faced, grey hair and crow bar moustache. Dresses a lot like Giles did too, that is, when we first met him. Must be customary Watchers attire.

I was wondering how Nikki's tale ties in. And then it did so seamlessly as the conversation of 1973 drifts into the issue at hands for our troubled Slayer. It's a delicate conversation between Buffy and Dawn, and Jeanty draws it beautifully. The close up of Buffy's sad eyes with her mouth muffled by something soft. Then the next panel a side view of her sitting on her bed, legs crossed cuddling a pillow tightly to her chest, half her face buried in it. Dawn sits at the foot of her bed comforting her. The colours are soft with pastel indigo sheets, pinks and greens with mahogany brown.

Skip along and we see 'guys night' about to happen. We find out that Spike is still a permanent resident of the bug ship as it glowingly hovers on a vacant lot in town to drop off Spike. Pretty with the swirling dust and golden light rings.

A bit more of the past and we see a wonderful panel of the Washington Square Arch in New York. The sky is illuminated in the colours of the aurora borealis with a full lit moon and sparkling stars and street lamps to complement the skies glowing in blues and greens. Under it all the Slayer and her Watcher discuss the serious matters.

Lastly would be my favourite. The last two pages of this issue is a beautifully coloured scene by the pool at Buffy's apartment. Yes, it's not the drawing in the panels that amaze it is the colour. The scene opens with a panel depicting Buffy sitting on the edge of the in ground pool with her legs in the water. A inflated beach ball floats on the surface of the pool. The water glows a brilliant blue from the underwater pool light. It illuminates the liquid in a cool glow and all within the vicinity. A black coat is just in view standing beside Buffy. It's Spike come to receive his share on the secret. The conversation is a long one and the end a surprising one.