Beautiful Antique Japanese Door

After seeing this door, I decided to share some pictures of it. The history of the door has been lost, sadly. All I know is that it is probably more than a century old, from Japan, and it was carved and painted by hand. 

Above: The double doors include barred windows, that allow light and air to circulate. The height of the doors contribute to the effect of grand elegance that the doors possess.

Above: The gold paint creates an interesting, attractive contrast to the brown paint used as a base coat on the door. This photo illustrates the aged look that is caused by the flaking paint.

Above: The hand carving is exquisite, with each part of the design perfect. A lot of care and concentration went into the crafting of this door.

Above: Bird and flower designs create organic curves that seem animated against the stiff, geometric shapes of the door.

This antique Japanese door has a lot of character, and draws a lot of attention. So it should, because the craftsmanship is exceptional, worthy of being admired on a daily basis. This is a beautiful example of art serving a functional purpose.

Hand Painted Ceramic Ashtray

A few years ago I worked for a ceramic arts shop. While learning the different painting techniques, I painted a ceramic ashtray for my sister, using a simple method that I thought I'd share.

Above: The design on the inside of the ashtray.

I chose to use three colors of paint; royal blue for the inside of the ashtray, lavender for the outside and turquoise for the rim. I applied three layers of paint, and allowed the painted ashtray to rest until almost dry.

Above: A close-up image of the design at the center of the ashtray.

Once the paint was dry to the touch, I took a sharp tool and began to score a pattern into the paint. The bisque became slightly soft from the moisture of the paint, and in places I was able "carve" a shallow pattern in to the bisque too.

Above: This photo shows the repetitive pattern scratched into the inside rim. The finished result has an ornate, lacy effect.

Above: The design on the outer face of the ashtray. The ceramic bisque had softened during the painting process, and so in places I was able to score the design into the ceramic itself.

It became more and more tricky to score the paint as it dried. I misted the ashtray with a spray bottle every so often to keep the paint supple. In some areas, you can see where the paint was dry and flaked away as I worked. 

Above: The contrast between the dark blue and the white is what gives this ashtray its appeal.

*Tips*

• This method takes a little bit of practice to get right, but luckily, if you don't like the result that you're getting, you can start over. Just dip the bisque in warm water and wipe gently with a cloth to clean the paint off. If you think you might need to use this method to start again, try to avoid scoring the bisque itself.
• Use dark colors for a more vivid contrast
• Keep your work area clean and free from dust. The damp paint is a magnet for floating debris.

Pointlessism: A New Artform?

Sometimes I get an itch to take pictures of stuff, any stuff. It doesn't matter what it is, I want to take a picture of it.
I'm not sure what drives meto do this. I'm not a professional photographer, and my subjects are so obscure that the photos that result from these manic must-photograph-everything missions are pretty, well, pointless.

Anyways, I thought I'd share, to at least give the images some purpose. Perhaps now you too can sit and stare at them and wonder what on earth the point of them is.
I've decided to dedicate these photos to an entirely new art form, Pointless Art. You've heard of Pointillism, right? Well, now there's Pointlessism.

End of pointless preamble. Here they are:

Above: Taken in Paarl at the home of a couple who fly hot air balloons for a living. There were so many other things to photograph, interesting things like squirrels and dogs and people, hot air balloons and whatnot, but what did I take a picture of? Half a wine glass, an eighth of a plate and a shrubbery. What possesses me, I wonder, to make this pointless Pointlessism?

Above: Bubbles on the side of a water glass. Need I say more?

Above: The tassles on the skirt I was wearing. This photo session was a real winner. I was too lazy to get up, so I simply photographed everything in my near vicinity.

Above: The bedspread, part of the above photoshoot.

Above: Another snap from the same shoot. (Taken in year one of my relationship with Matt - for those of you who noticed the chain mail relationship bracelet.)

Above: A pucker where a tree branch once was. Relevant to the world at large because... Erm... I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Above: Grass. Because I'd already photographed everything and everyone else within a 50m radius of the car.

Above: My proudest Pointlessism so far; rusted machine parts. Yes, folks, we have discovered the very  heart of Pointlessism, the inner workings, if you will. The moment where your brain scrunches up like a toddler's face on the verge of a good bawl, when your very soul starts to suck its thumb and cry Why? Why?

Because:

It's Pointlessism, that's why.

Playing with Facial Expressions

Above: Click for a larger image 

Sometimes I like to draw facial expressions, just to keep those drawing muscles in shape. For this exercise I chose an older, male face to work with. A moustache can be a really interesting character feature to work with, as can wrinkles. 

Honestly, young characters are actually quite dull. Viva la facial feature geriatricism! 

A Handful of Character Designs

Here are some of my old character designs. I studied 3D animation in college, and worked in a traditional animation house as a clean-up artist. For about 4 years, I drew in every spare moment that I had. These are just a few characters that I've hung on to out of the hundreds of scribbles that I've thrown away.

Electrotoad, 2003

Lives in a pond of machine oil in an abandoned WW2 air hangar. Catches an airplane for lunch one day and is dragged off on a marvelous adventure in which he falls in love with a zeplin, and is nearly eaten by a "crane". 

 Penelope, 2003

The only child of a dragon Goddess and a phoenix. She can breathe fire, live in fire and turn into fire.

Trevor, 2004

This is what I felt like, trying to get my foot in the door of the animation industry - like the dorky little kid trying to play with the bog boys. Poor Trev. He tries so hard...

I'll try dig up a few more. It's kinda fun to discover these old characters.

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