On my easel… New steampunk nude!
“We’ve only just begun…” The placement for this figure was an enormous challenge as there are large steampunk wings coming in later. I have less than a month to finish this piece so it’s going to be a hard slog to get it all done to the quality I want!
There are times I wish I could save it as it is. I really like the way it looks now, but I can’t wait to see it finished either! Ah well, that’s what photographs are for!
The finished work will be appearing in a very cool steampunk show during Loréal fashion week so stay tuned!
What is it about a nude that’s offensive?
At my local shopping center there is a massage place. The poster in the window has a nude woman’s back and the prices extending down her spine. It’s a cute concept until you get to the lower region.
This woman has buttocks, but no dividing line.
You can see where the heal tool was used, and you know that even with some shapes there is no way that this woman was born without a buttcrack.
In Japan, anime with nude breasts can be shown on any channel at anytime- providing the nipples are removed.
In many countries the tiniest bikini (an inch covering the butt and nipples) is enough to satisfy propriety while nudity or g-strings aren’t.
The details, it seems, must be covered or removed.
This makes me wonder. Is it the breast that’s “offensive” or is it the nipple? Are buttocks a problem or just the crack? Why are they offensive? Is it because the are the functional part of that zone? Or because they are the defining characteristics of those dodgy areas? If nipples are the offender then why are men’s acceptable?
Consider this an open forum, I want to hear your thoughts on these questions!
Seven – 8×8 Oils on Canvas
Seven 8×8 Oils on Canvas
$150
Currently at ArtBoy Gallery
I love the Borg. I think they are one of the best enemies introduced by Star Trek. they are so..human. they appropriate from everywhere to add to their perfection. they take our distinctiveness and add it to their own. they augment and corrupt rather than create, but everything they do serves to create more drones operating on the hive mind. The borg are captives, taken and converted. their memories shared amongst every other borg and their identity lost. their original species is lost. all that remains is the drone.
In Voyager they introduced Seven of Nine and converted her back. it was a long, slow process involving the stripping away of her borg components and extricating her from the hive mind. in doing so, they turned her from one of the most interesting borg, a princess in training to be a queen, a real tough bitch, into a robotic pin-up. there is fan art everywhere for Seven of Nine. she became a fanboi fantasy and one of the sexiest characters to come out of Star Trek. Everyone paints her as she is better known, corsetted with the small, cute, borg accessories. I wanted to show the original Seven of Nine. I painted her at the cusp of becoming human, as she works with Voyager. I wanted to remove the sexiness and show the indecision, the corruption, the raw human underneath. I think many fan art pictures of her focus on the sexy and in showing her as a human remove her personality. I wished to show her as a borg and show her humanity in that.
Come see this painting and other Sci-Fi themed works this Friday at ArtBoy Gallery! FanBoy vs ArtBoy: Science Fiction Opens Friday night 6-8 and runs through to the 4th of December. I will be at the opening and I’d love to see you there!
Warp – 13x19cm Watercolor on Paper
Warp I
19×13
Watercolor and Pencil on Cold Pressed paper
It’s been a challenge creating and uploading these small artworks, but a real pleasure as well. the color and delightful shapes of the human form just continue to thrill me. this one is available on my website, along with all the others at http://www.jennierosenbaum.com and they’re only $50 each!
Profound – 19×13 cm Watercolor and Pencil on Cold Pressed paper
Profound
19×13 cm Watercolor and Pencil on Cold Pressed paper
Every Day for 50 days I will be posting a watercolor for $50. stay tuned to my 50/50/50 project on my website, on my Facebook page, or on twitter!
Look, even I paint men from time to time! this project is really helping me expand my horizons in terms of models, and in terms of seeing. I’m exploring color, shape, halftomes, lines and more but mostly I’m just explaoring the joy of the human figure. check out all my works to date on my website!
Looking for small, unique gifts? these watercolor nudes will brighten up your holidays! buy them as a present for yourself or for someone special. they are ideal for slipping into a card or framing in a set or on their own. they work beautifully in small spaces. these works are colorful, bright and unique. show your individual flair this holidays and give the gift of original art.
Crouch III watercolors and pencil on paper
19×13 cm Watercolor and Pencil on Cold Pressed paper
On my website I am publishing a new watercolor every day for 50 days. These watercolors make perfect Christmas presents and are small and bright unique original and affordable artworks! Each one is 13×19 cm and is painted on cold pressed paper. Each is signed by me and ready to frame!
I am really enjoying this challenge as I go forward, it’s a wonderful way to beat back my winter blues and stave off the spring lethargy. I am also challenging myself by painting different types of nudes and stepping outside of my comfort zone in terms of color, lighting, angle and so on. Revisiting different poses several times, I can really focus on the anatomy and the minutae of light and shadow and form. This is a technical excercise in seeing as well as a joy to explore!
Did I mention that each one is only $50? That’s 50 works, 50 days for $50 each! You can see and buy them all on my website, and watch Facebook, or twitter for more 
I will also, of course, be publishing a couple here.
Suspension WIP – 24×30 Oils on Canvas (detail)
Suspension Work in Progress
Oils on Canvas
Filigree and Lace and Cogs oh my. I’m keeping the lace lighter and airier than last time, a contrast from the steel filigree goggles and the heavy cog above it all. This was last weeks work, blocking in the background, glazing details and starting the massive cog undertaking. the figure is almost complete, it’s really about the detailing now. I have yet to use any black, a complete change for me. deeper tones have been blended using umbres and paynes gray or ultramarine. they are creating some very alive warm and cool blacks. I’m paying a great deal of attention to temperature in this piece, even more than I usually do, as it seems that slightly different hues go a long way towards making metal look convincing.
I have a lot of projects coming up at the moment, so while I will be continuing this series (I do love it so!) I will be working on some other things as well.
Suspension WIP – 24×30 Oils on Canvas
Suspension 24×30 Oils on Canvas
So I have begun the massive process. the work is further along than this now, but I have been slack in photographing and uploading my WIPs. I’m too busy working to catalogue it all! we have also started putting up a ceiling in my studio. this should help protect against the australian summer, and protect my neighbors against all the singing and swearing that emerges from my studio.
Flip 2 – steampunk Daz render
Flip – Daz Studio 4 Render
I love this pose so much I just have to keep playing! It’s odd how something changes with the angle. At the moment I am doing some watercolors and exploring the same pose from different angles, it’s really fun to see how much mood can change.
I will probably start posting those next week.
Figure: Victoria 4 *free*
Character: Reby Sky
Morphs: Morphs++ NGM for V4
Wings, Helmet, Harness, Boots and Hair: Apteromata Flight
Textures: Acherontia Atropos Flight
Bad things come in groups- farewell to some modern masters
This has been the year for losing iconic artists. These things come in threes, and I hope we have done our dash. M.F.Husain, Cy Twombly and now Lucien Freud. Two of these artists I have discussed on this blog, one at length. That doesn’t mean I don’t admire Twombly’s work, just that it didn’t fit into my niche. Edit: I started this post last week, since then we have also lost Margaret Olley. I guess the rule of threes leaves something to be desired.
These artists have taught us all about solidarity, about production and about being a truly great artist. Here is what I have learned from these greats:
1. Paint, paint and paint some more.
All three artists were extremely prolific. They did not get to the level of success they had without painting constantly and diligently.
2. Paint what you want to paint.
Each one received ridicule and derision at some point for their works, technique or subject matter. They rose above it. Nothing was more important than the art.
3. if you don’t like your situation, change it.
Move, change your allegiance, don’t wait for change to happen- be the catalyst for change.
4. Respect your peers.
Respect other artists, pose for them, inspire them as they inspire you and don’t fear giving back.
5. Know the rules- then break them.
Once you know the rules, you know what you should, and should not do. You know how to bend them and even how to break them. If you don’t know the rules, you risk breaking them in the wrong way. There’s so wrong it’s right and so wrong it’s wrong- the difference is knowing the rules.
These work for all careers, not just for artists. The art world is lesser for these losses.
Gears – 30×20 Oils on Canvas
Gears 30×20 Oils on Canvas
$1000
I’m not quite sure what I want to title this, it appears I will be doing more gears and cogs so Gears (the working title) may not be appropriate – other thoughts were Russet and Pedestal. what do you think?
I really am loving the Steampunk Burlesque series, I’m pushing everything to the hilt and improving with each piece, they are lots of fun and a huge challenge. I’m planning an exhibition of these pieces so stay tuned for further details!
Rebirth – 10×8 Oils on Canvas
Rebirth 8×10 Oils on Canvas
$200
Currently at ArtBoy Gallery
The painting of Last Weeks render. Volume is trickier on a small canvas. I’ve been getting better and better at visible light thanks to my steampunk paintings, but I was not prepared for returning to miniature. There is something wonderful to creating a smaller work. Large paintings are epic and protracted, smaller ones have their own challenges (see those fingers) but they are faster and fun in their tight control.
if you like control.
which I do.
Death – 8×10 Oils on Canvas
Death 8×10 Oils on Canvas
$200
Currently at ArtBoy Gallery
The painting of Last Weeks render. I’ve taken a little of my usual artistic licence with the render, it’s deceptively tricky to do a very dark backlit piece and make it look convincing. A blend of comic art and my own technique combined with my love of unusual lighting.
Even more free nude models!
free nude models at Daz|3d
Update to my free nude models (and other stuff) post – Daz are now offering all of their base models for free!
go here for all the free models you could want for artistic reference.
for the bundles including morphs, characters, hair, clothes and more check out this link
Personally I am very excited about this because it gives me the opportunity to start looking at a series I am interested in pursuing in protest of the new legislations currently under debate in Australia. that’s right, no sooner do I start one series that another pops into my little pea brain and I get all excited about that one instead! don’t worry, I am still painting my burlesque series.
and no amount of free will be cheap enough for me to clog my runtime with The Girl.
earliest nude sculpture termed pornography?
Side and front views show the six-centimetre, 35,000-year-old ivory carving found in Germany’s Hohle Fels cave. (H. Jensen/University of Tuebingen)From photography to the internet, a characteristic sign that a new medium is going to succeed is that it is exploited by pornographers. And that, it seems, is not a recent phenomenon. A find reported in this week’s Nature suggests that sculpture, too, brought the smut-makers in early. Nicholas Conrad of the University of Tübingen, in Germany, describes what is probably the oldest human statue yet discovered. It is 6cm tall. It is carved from a mammoth tusk. It dates from about 35,000 years ago. It was found in a cave in south-western Germany. And it is, not to put too fine a point upon the matter, obscene. As 35,000 years ago is reckoned the moment when modern man, Homo sapiens, arrived in Europe, this discovery adds to the evidence that human thinking—or male thinking, at least—has hardly changed since the species evolved.[From Palaeolithic pornography: Unveiled | The Economist]
What a wonderful example of unbiased reporting! lets forget for a moment that this is the oldest human statue found to date. lets forget that its an interesting example of a fertility idol, with evidence that it was worn as an adornment, let’s forget that any insights into early artforms give us so much understanding into where we came from and how art has evolved – no. let’s focus n the fact that she is nude and has big boobs and big thighs. yes, that is the important part of this discovery.
This discovery, termed Venus of Hohle Fels, is fascinating to me, this is from a period where female representation was almost unknown. this figure is tiny – 6 cm long. and very detailed for the size it is. yes, it is a fertility idol, yes it is sexual, as fertility idols are. but why is that ever so much more important than the discovery itself?
for a better article about this discovery and what it means, I recommend Ivory carving may be oldest sculpture of human form
Free Nude Models! (and other stuff)
Victoria 3 and included updo hair
The key to using Daz Studio is the content. Daz makes use of created models, much in the same way poser does, but for free. the main models usually cost money, however you can get a surprising array of free content online. so much in fact that you never need to buy any if you don’t want to!
lets break down the type of content first. for ease of use and explanation I am going to deal specifically with the Daz created models and items created for them. there are other options out there which I will link to later but for now it’s best to work with the same thing. I am not going into clothing in this series of tutorials because I don’t really use it. we are looking at using Daz as an artist’s reference and I think clothes get in the way of that!
Models. models are the 3D figures themselves. they can be humans, animals, fantasy creatures, clothing, hair, props but they are the backbone of what you are going to use to create. in their raw state they are white or have a basic texture applied. to add realism, you need to add texture.
Free Hair:
Flexy Hair for Victoria 4 and Renella Hair for Victoria 3
Fit Flexy Hair to Aiko 3
Fit Flexy Hair to Michael 3
Fit Renella Hair to Aiko 3
Fit Renella Hair to Michael 3
Hair fits enable you to use hair you have for one character on another. this really expands the use of your hair
Now you have all the models you need to start posing. you have men and women, different hairstyles and some posing props to create your life drawing virtual studio.
Week two in my series on using Daz 3d as a free artists reference
Update! Daz are now offering all of their base models for free!
go here for all the free models you could want
for the bundles including morphs, characters, hair, clothes and more check out this link
New Nude – Shade
Another small painting for the upcoming Small Works exhibition. most of my newer small pieces are still off in Boston so I needed to paint some more, but the joy of these little pieces is they are so fun.
This piece, however, was less fun. I wasn’t as inspired and raring to go as I thought when i started and I don’t know how I feel about it. the light is interesting and I’d like to play with the pose some more but there were elements that were a real struggle, especially on such a small surface that are probably marring my observation of this painting. usually when I’m a little too close to a piece, if I work at it rather than getting into a zen state, I find it hard to separate out the work from the finished product. and that isn’t to say that I don’t eventually fall in love with the pieces that took effort or that the zen pieces are better in some way, I just find it harder to distance myself from the pieces my mind was actually present for. strange but true.
why did Benefits Supervisor Sleeping sell for such a large price?
a critical look at Benefits Supervisor Sleeping by Lucian Freud
So many people are asking – why? why this painting? I have heard (and read) people saying that it’s ugly, that they wouldn’t accept it for free, let alone pay the highest price yet paid for a living artist. so why did this painting fetch this price?
I could go into the fact that the actual piece is huge, that it took two years to paint, that it’s a work by a modern master who has dedicated his life to his painting. Or I could mention the market fluxes such as the fact that Lucien Freud is huge in the market at the moment, that his works have been seeing a surge in prices in the past few years – but what I really want to talk about is the feel of this work and why it is actually beautiful rather than ugly.
Some of you may remember back in the dimdarks when I waxed on at great length about beauty. I quoted my favorite Heinlein quote and I think in this case it applies. Freud painted here, a woman exactly how she is. he pointed out every flaw, every shred of humanity and forces us to acknowledge that – but to also see that that reality is what is beautiful, those flaws are what makes her a person and that as a person she is beautiful. he is saying look at this woman, she isn’t perfect, she has her flaws but she is a work of art – every person holds within them a work of art because we all have beauty. This piece, quite frankly, makes the world a more beautiful place.
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