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Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
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So i've been on a baby kick.
we've got SOME TIME so hold your horses but it's been increasingly on my mind.
After seeing Paris and Prince Jackson yesterday that pretty much sealed the deal.
i also think i NEED a little girl.
All my life i've been told i look like Michael Jackson. whip these genes up with my wife and I'm pretty sure i got great shot at brewing some GORGEOUS children.
Of course comes the inevitable name game.
I decided that all great black men have names that start with the letter M, e.g. Malcom, Michael, Michael, Michael, Martin, Marcus etc
So I gave Robin my suggestions for names and her replies went something like this:
Boys:
Megatron: No (had to throw it out there)
Marious : eeeeh maaaaaaaaybe
Maco: No (yes as in the shark!)
Mercutio: No (wtf why not?!)
Maxwell: Yes
Girls:
Gretchen, Gertrude or Guenevere (NOT GWEN NEVER GWEN!). She liked Guenevere the most but i like Gretchen. She thinks it's too granny but i say HEY that's the point! it's throwback! Told her if we have three girls expect the trifecta
Akasha: She all but refuses! COME ON! QUEEN OF THE DAMNED!!!
whatcha think? it's about time i father some US Royalty!
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Comments: Read 38 or Add Your Own.
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oh my goodness. Paris Jackson breaking down at her father's memorial today.
Not a dry eye in this house.
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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. .
Lady Justice, private commission,
16 x 20
Oil on Panel
find more illustration at thewhiteleaf.com
This is a painting I was commissioned to do. The painting will be given to the family of a young lawyer who passed away.
This painting got me thinking in limited colours again and more importantly about speed. I like larger pieces but for the sake of time i'm going to keep tighter deadlines smaller in size.
You'll find detail shots and progress images below.
( clever latin phrase )
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Comments: Read 14 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
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. .
I cashed in my credit card world points the other day and snagged a free deep fryer.
This is most dangerous to cool ratio item i own. It gets what i describe as "deadly hot" within seconds.
Keep all the health jokes and comments to yourself because everyone that has seen this thing in action has had the exact same reaction:
Gleeful delight and squealing followed by, "OHMG!" these french fries are awesome.
This thing cooks what i describe as "damn-good-sporting-event-concession-stand-quality-french-fries" in under a minute. Think i'm exaggerating? come on over I'm making spicy crispy chicken wings this FRYDAY!
On the polar opposite end of the spectrum we snagged the crock pot i've been pining for. So far we've made Mexican Casserole and baked four cheese pasta, both with about a 5-7 hour cooking time. The flavour this slow cooker opens up is unprecedented. I've never seen spices amplified like this. My fridge is busting at the seems with food. The Crock makes meals that feed dinner parties. I keep inviting people over and giving away food but there's still plenty left.
I'm currently gearing up for the 10 hour 3 packet pot roast; that's 3lbs of chuck! Who wants in?
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Comments: Read 20 or Add Your Own.
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. .
My buddy Justin ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) angryblue sent me a nice care package that arrived today. Gorgeous letterpress on this print.
You can find more of his work here angryblue.com and on the t shirts of people you see on the street if you pay attention.
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Comments: Read 7 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, April 16th, 2009
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. .
This is something i've wanted to do for a while. We're packing up to move and my wife wanted me to take a picture of my setup...or should i say HER set up.
As usual one day i came home and my life was a lot easier due to my wife's redecorating/organizing gift. She moved my supplies to this tray and put the paints in these buckets. From there our IKEA addiction took over.
Here's the spread and how one can efficiently oil painting in an NY apt.
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Comments: Read 15 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
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. . . .
. .
Sometimes i see it coming but more often i don't. Just like a bird that's firing around your house it's better to let it settle before you attempt to get a grip on it.
My wife doesn't doodle she decorates!
The above left photo is a corner of our kitchen. I had no idea what she had planned for those hanging baskets when she picked them up but at almost one year of marriage i've learned to stop asking "what are we gonna need that for." That's rookie talk!
First it held coffee, then something else, then something else i can't remember, then i think wine, then we got a wine rack and now it holds, 4 RED glasses, the current RED bottle of wine i cracked open this week, an empty milk glass with reeds and RED something or anothers. Clearly this matches the RED lunch box on the top shelf and the RED outlined bingo spinner she found online. Oh yeah what's that on the microwave? RED and white vintage S+P shakers. As i'm writing this she says she wishes the cabinets were painted something else but we're not allowed to do that.
In the photo on the top right we have the metal shelf that used to be on the right wall of her sewing nitch. It contains an assortment of old vintage sewing stuff that match. Not to mention the plastic containers that used to be ABOVE the cabinets in our kitchen, I have no idea how she got up there i just remember seeing them up there one day and now they're not.
Finally in the third photo almost nothing you see here was here before and I'm sure it won't stay there before our lease is up in a month. I did get her that Panasonic TNT 8 track player for the win.
What's my point here? I understand how and why everything goes where it does but i sure as hell could never put any of this together myself. There's a reason why rich men have black EVERYTHING in their homes. Expensive electronics are designed by men for men because we have no "real" taste in decoration; all men know this. Save for the few blessed with the gift of Jeffery Lewis <3 most men see organizing as putting things in a nice stacked PILE. We see decorating as throwing up a poster on the wall, framed if you really like it, signed and hard to find if you're trying to impress.
I'm learning though. I'm EXCELLENT at keeping things clean and i'm even getting better at putting things back where i found them. The latter gets difficult when where i found them changes so frequently. Nonetheless I enjoy my living, breathing apt of decor. I realized this when i threw a fit this week when we missed Target's sale on a bright RED crock pot. I NEED TO SLOW COOK POT ROAST OVER NIGHT! Today, i used my old World Points to purchase a deep fryer instead of a DVD or some other typical guy electronic toy. As i flipped through my options i couldn't help but appreciate how many home goods they had to offer. I later questioned what demographic i fit into now that I care more about appliances than portable entertainment equipment.
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Comments: Read 16 or Add Your Own.
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Saturday, March 14th, 2009
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Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
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Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
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Friday, February 27th, 2009
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Johnnie Walker Black on the rocks while I start tonight's painting, "see you in my nightmares."
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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Thursday, February 26th, 2009
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Soooooooooooooooo i'm thinking atelier.
Grand Central Academy is here in NY:
The Water Street Atelier
Do i really have the time and or money for this?
am i too old?
someone talk me in or out of the idea of becoming one of these Atelier guys.
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Comments: Read 11 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, February 19th, 2009
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. .
Holy crap!
the wife txt me saying UPS package arrived yesterday. I opened it to find that there's a certain friend out there who wanted to take my oil painting spread up a notch.
We're talkin TWENTY Mother Eff'n Holbein oil colours, 3 fresh tiny brushes, an Atelier drawing book, Williamsburg Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep and a Gamblin shirt that reads, "Galkyd Rocks!"
Hawt Damn!
I have a prejudice against Williamsburg paint of 1950's, deep south proportions. That single tube of paint is comparable in price to my current oils combined so i'll show leniency.
20 Holbein artist colours? wtf man?! That just changed the whole game:
Tri3's Pallet two days ago = minor
Tri3's Pallet today = MAJOR!
The Classical Drawing Atelier book is sick reading. With a buzz word as popular as "atelier", if you're an artist in NY and you don't know someone that isn't up on Atelier you shouldn't be calling yourself an artist. Some suggestions for your new title would be: common house fly, belly button lint, eff'n JOKE!
Atelier isn't the end all and be all of art, it certainly has it's criticisms but demands respect. I admire those that have the privileged of drawing for literally TEN hours a day at least 5 days a week for two years.
With artists like Jacob Collins and Steve Assael peppered through out the pages i'm going to have fun learning from this gift.
To my loving friend who just changed my game, i got your back. just you wait this gift-arms race has but just begun!
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Comments: Read 29 or Add Your Own.
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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
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I'm not so much a "no excuses" person as much as I am a "just be honest with yourself and others" person.
First of all you're not fooling anyone you're just taking advantage of social etiquette. I personally believe most people know what truth someone's excuse is covering up. We're just too polite to call people out. We also do the same thing ourselves when it's convenient so wouldn't that just be the pot calling the kettle black?
Excuses cover up peoples real feelings because the truth leaves us vulnerable. We should expose our vulnerability. once we admit a weak characteristic we're much more likely to actually do something to change who we are. Hopefully we change into something we want to become instead of fabricating a more intricate excuse.
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Comments: Read 9 or Add Your Own.
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Sunday, February 15th, 2009
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I have my Pidge and Hunk models. Concept sketches to come.
I'm thinking 18 x 24 per painting.
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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Saturday, February 14th, 2009
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Hundreds of photos for reference
Countless concept sketches
Six oil paintings
Five lions and pilots
One Defender of the Universe.
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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Friday, February 13th, 2009
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People should stop saying, "I'm too busy to create art" and should start saying what they really mean, "I don't have what it takes to create art."
For now on when people ask me, "what do you do for a living." I'm going to respond with, "Why do you ask?"
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Comments: Read 20 or Add Your Own.
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Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
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. .
. .
a couple shots of me in the Brooklyn Lab Brewin up something yummy. As always you can follow the progress here thewhiteleaf
updates later tonight.
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Comments: Read 11 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
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Friday, December 19th, 2008
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Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
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Using, whilst, proceeded to, and "said" in reference to something you mentioned earlier, makes me think you're an idiot.
you don't talk like that so don't pretend you can write like that.
( example )
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Comments: Read 16 or Add Your Own.
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Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
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So there's a member of this apt that is all about the Twilight series. Rest assured it's neither my wife or myself. Over the holiday weekend I saw a commercial for this film for the first time. I dropped my jaw and yelped, "THEY'RE OUT IN THE DAY?! I THOUGHT THEY WERE VAMPIRES IN THIS MOVIE"
Answer: "oooh uuh yeah well they sparkle when under 'direct sunlight' and they can walk around in the shade. Sunlight will not kill them."
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! That is not a vampire!
Half vampire perhaps, undead? maybe. Full vampire? No way in hell.
I roll my eyes at some vampire game changes but i'm fine as long as there's some serious intelligence that went into the new rule.
Examples:
Silver is a toss up but i loved Dracula 2000's explanation. Judas was the original blood sucker, died during twilight thus will never see the sun again. Sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver so now it's more than a bit iratating to his skin.
I.W.T.V stake through the heart won't get the job done but you bet your ass cutting their head off and or setting them on fire will. MAKES SENSE!
Blade, this is probably my least favourite vampire series probably because it reminds me of tribal tattoo's and everything they represent. Blade was a Day Walker and it was a damn big deal! He was basically the super-hero of vampires but the man still craved blood and could die. checks and balances.
A Vampire in the sun is a virtually untouchable rule and SPARKLE in the sunlight? what the hell is even the point of that? They may as well hand out candy and groom your hair instead of suck your blood.
The worst part about this vampire daylight crap is the flagrant disrespect to the many vampires that lost their lives to sunlight.
RIP Claudia. you're rolling over in your ashes and i apologize for the injustice.
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Comments: Read 49 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
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. .
I took these for my parents who haven't seen the apt at all. Robin, Kristi and I are going to NH for Thanksgiving and i wanted to show them the place. I haven't shown any pictures so i'll post these. It's a work in progress of course but here goes :D
( welcome to my crib )
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Comments: Read 16 or Add Your Own.
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Monday, November 24th, 2008
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
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