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.
Too rude? Speech part 3: nude models and artistic merit.
Part one and part two have already been published. This is the third and final part of my 10 minute speech for Sydney University’s Tuesday Talks program. Frequent readers may recognize some passages here, I couldn’t improve on them!
When I initially wrote about the Bill Henson scandal a number of people told me that I would feel differently once I was a parent. As if that would change who I am. I am proud to say that i am now the mother of a little girl and my views have not changed. I believe, as I did then, that if she were approached by an artist to be a model I would support her. That isn’t to say that I wouldn’t do my due diligence on the artist to ensure they were on the level, and I would be there with her. But the decision is not mine, it would be hers.
One thing that struck me about the model known as N, the adolescent in the image seen on the invitations that caused much of the furor, is that when interviewed she discussed all the considerations she made before modeling. She considered how she felt about her body, how she may feel about school mates seeing her in the nude and how she might feel about it years later.
The most important thing to realize is that what you take away from viewing an artwork is not just what the artist puts in, it’s what you bring to it as well.
Your past affects it as much or even more than the artist’s intentions.
Everyone sees art differently which is why it is difficult to judge, and why it should never be stifled.
artistic merit should not become a goto excuse for pornographers, that harms us artists more than anyone – but it must be allowed. we cannot create under a blanket of censorship and we cannot be the artists we need to be without freedom to create. art has the power to challenge our views, to make us think and and to change the world. I believe that the arts are one of the most powerful forces of humanity and should never be denied.
There is a difference, too, between sexual and sensual. There are as many shades of gray as there are stages of undress. Art can be arousing. It should be arousing. It should inspire passion. Not just sexually, but in all things. Arousal and passion are not just the pervue of sexuality, but of life. And art is life
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.
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!
Child pornography and art are different things, Hetty
One of the exonerated Nude Teen Pictures from 2008 by Bill Henson.
Picture by the Daily Telegraph
Bravehearts executive director Hetty Johnston has written to the Baillieu Government asking it to crack down on images such as those created by controversial artist Bill Henson.
But artists say they should not be censored and current guidelines for art are adequate.
A Senate committee has recommended classifications be applied to all media, including art in galleries.
It also called for a review of child pornography laws and for the “artistic merit” defence to be axed from child pornography offences.
Ms Johnston said her group did not oppose art or photographs showing children in real life, but set-up shots of naked children for “artistic purposes” should be outlawed.
“It crosses moral boundaries, and we believe it puts children at risk and it could exploit children,” she said.
Australia’s classification laws are under review and under attack once more.
Hetty Johnston and her band of fanatical cohorts are still not satisfied after Bill Henson’s confiscated works were reviewed by the clssifications board and deemed to be no more hazardous than PG. clearly it isn’t their views that are at fault, but the classifications board itself. when you don’t like the results- change the law. Clearly the problem with child pornography in Australia stems from artists. absolutely without a doubt.
I do believe, however, that the classifications rules do need to be reviewed and repaired. they are exceptionally ambiguous and are not helping us artists in our defences any more than they are helping Hetty. if anything they are already heavily on the Hetty side, but are so ambiguous that it comes down to the preferences and opinions of the board. characteristics such as breast size should not be a factor – breasts do not make a woman. they may as well choose testicle size as an indicator.
While a ban on the sexual depiction of minors will have strong community support, there’s a much greyer area involving adults or even animated characters who look young. Most adult movies (online or DVD) come from America and carry official government statements guaranteeing that all participants are over 18. These cut no ice in Australia. Furthermore, Hentai Manga (Japanese sexual comics) are so popular in Japan that they are freely available for browsing in 7-11 convenience stores and read openly on trains. But they are RC in Australia – potentially a rude shock for Japanese tourists visiting with such comics in their luggage.
Note too, that over the past year, the Classification Board has started using breast size as a criterion in defining child pornography: a less than precise indicator
[From ABC The Drum - Secrets of obscenity: the classification riddle]
I also believe that, more than the classifications system, the constitution of Australia needs to be reviewed, amended and honored. how many Australians even know there is a constitution here? who knows what’s in it? The US Constitution is one of the most powerful pieces of writing in the world. freedom of speech is one of the most honored of the freedoms and is celebrated. yes, occasionally it is abused, but it is such a sacred right that it cannot be denied. it seems to me that Australia needs some inalienable rights of it’s own.
artistic merit should not become a goto excuse for pornographers, that harms us more than it harms Hetty- but it must be allowed. we cannot create under a blanket of censorship and we cannot be the artists we need to be without freedom to create. art has the power to challenge our views, to make us think and and to change the world. I believe that the arts are one of the most powerful forces of humanity and should never be denied.
To thine own self be true.. Nude art and sensuality
One of the reasons i’ve had a hard time writing in this blog lately (apart from being insanely busy) is that i’ve been afraid that i’ve said everything there is to say on the subject of non sexual nudes. I’ve waxed lyrical and vehemently about the difficulties nude art faces because people cannot distinguish nudity from sex. As a nudist and an artist specializing in nudes this speaks very closely to my heart.
Lately, however, i’ve found myself a little trapped. I haven’t been able to explore all the work I would like for fear of being seen as a hypocrite. Because i’ve only presented one side. Nudity does not have to be sexual, you all know my stance on that, but it can also be sensual, and there is nothing wrong with that. As long as it doesn’t break any taboos. (I say taboos because I live in a country that has a new crazy law every week and nothing to protect free expression).
There is a difference, too, between sexual and sensual. There are as many shades of gray as there are stages of undress. Art can be arousing. It should be arousing. It should inspire passion. Not just sexually, but in all things. Arousal and passion are not just the pervue of sexuality, but of life. And art is life.
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.
Rebirth – Daz Render
Rebirth – Daz|Studio Advanced Render
Ah, when switching things around and symbolizing light as a character is there anything better than volumetrics? I didn’t think so. almost an identical pose, similar lighting, Now with added volume! Jean Grey again, for FanBoy vs ArtBoy at ArtBoy Gallery.
Figure: Victoria 4 *free*
Character: Reby Sky
Morphs: Morphs++ NGM for V4
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.
Nude of the week – inverted
This is the last render created with my old iMac! My trusty iMac is no more, the hard drive has died. The good news is that I now have a very sexy new iMac on order, the bad is that I don’t know how much data was backed up in my time machine backups because I had been having problems. The broken hard drive is accessible and I should be able to get my most vital content off it. I’m looking at having to install all of my Daz 3D content all over again! I just did that! Ah well. As long as my photographs are safe i’m happy. A lot of my data is backed up somewhere, but I would prefer non compressed.
This render came to me in a flash, then the pose came together very easily. I discovered these goggles in my runtime and was just so excited! They are fantastic! Here you can see one of the problems of 3D though, her hair just isn’t sitting right.
I have at least a week before my new Mac arrives. Luckily I have a few works to be getting on with, and my iPad for keeping up to date. I should be able to last!
You can’t force artists to classify their art
There is talk in Australia, once again, of limiting artists rights. I am likely to offend people with these statements and I don’t care. Ratings classifications don’t belong in the arts. Frankly they barely belong in movies. Most people fail to notice them with regards to tv and movies and still they complain.
Bill Henson is once again exhibiting. This time in Melbourne. I was waiting to discuss the exhibition until after I had seen it In Person but this latest wave of protests have brought me out of my studio and indignant once more about the treatment of artists in this country.
After the press tried and failed to get people riled up about the latest exhibition the right wing nut jobs have taken a stand saying that thhe only thing that will protect the fair and delicate citizenry of Australia from the tyranny of artists is to force artists to undergo the same classifications procedures that movies and tv shows do. Here are some of the reasons this won’t work.
1. Classifications are expensive. Production houses can afford it, individual artists can’t.
2. When the classifications board reviewed henson’s work and came back with a PG rating the protesters were enraged. Even though this was something they requested. They won’t be happy regardless.
3. The ratings system in Australia is fundamentally flawed. Ask any gamer. It isn’t flexible enough to cover art.
4. How do you classify something as subjective as art any way?
5. By increasing the costs for artists you will be raising the price of art for all. In this economy this will probably drive the market further down and for ce more galleries to close.
6. This will fundamentally shift the way australian artists create. It will engender self censorship, make artists less likely to create for fear of the process, the costs and the issues. They may not create their best work, stick to safe things and in the end this may hurt the arts industry more.
I am not unreasonable. By all means make the classification board accessible to all artists to help in disputes, or even to prevent them for the artists that can afford it. But making it compulsory for all artists is irresponsible and despotic to say the least. In the States a bill like this would never reach the floor, here, well I only hope more sensible heads prevail.
Nude of the week – lace
I am currently painting this. If I thought, for one moment, that copper pipes were bad, well, let me tell you, lace is no picnic to paint! It’s funny, this is such a simple pose, but getting the feel just right took weeks of painstaking work. The painting is practically flying by in comparison! Except for the lace. I am enjoying it though, this entire series is a huge challenge and delightful fun. It also looks like it will be extended into a full exhibition later this year!
Nude of the week – aviatrix
Aviatrix – 20×30″ oils on canvas
$1000
http://www.bit.ly/jraviatrix
Here she is! The completed Aviatrix. I have to admit i am thrilled with the way these pieces have come together. As usual, the more I paint the more inspired I get and this series is pushing me to improve and tackle new things. No sooner do I start on one than I get inspiration for another!
Time machine, the event I created these paintings for went very well. Sadly I couldn’t attend, even though I held out hope until the last minute! The photos are outstanding. I only had the two paintings but they received such a wonderful reaction that I am inspired to continue and put together a steampunk exhibition with some other artisans.
Nude of the week – pipes, steam punk burlesque nude render
Pipes – a steampunk nude Dazlstudio render
I have yet to photograph the finished aviatrix yet so here is the render of the painting I am currently working on. it’s working name is pipes, but I don’t have a title for it yet. Sorry I didn’t post this last week, I had a migraine and couldn’t move. I painted, because I paint every day, but even that was a struggle, it was painting and sleep for pretty much a week. Ah, the glamorous life of an artist!
I’ve been obsessed with inverted poses lately. This one kept ringing in my mind for ages, I have sketch after sketch as I tried to refine it and bring it to the surface. I may be doing more as I work out this latest itch! I get poses stuck in my mind like a song and the only way to fix it is to paint and paint and paint!
Products used
Figure: Victoria 4 *free*
Character: Reby Sky
Morphs: Morphs++ NGM for V4
Chair: Girl Play
7 reasons why life models are better than virtual models
Life models vs virtual models: round 2 (round 1 is here)
Last week I wrote about all my reasons why I prefer using 3D models for my painting reference over live models. This week I thought I would flip the tables and write about the limitations of 3D and why a life model can be better.
1. Speed. if I change a light in a live model situation it doesn’t take another two hours to check that the shadow is better. It’s instant feedback.
2. Brains. Mindless bots are just that. I can control every aspect of my model but I can’t just tell them to raise their arm a little more, or assume a contraposto pose, or cock their hip a little. It doesn’t work that way. A live model will just do what I tell them to do.
3. Rigging. I’m at the mercy of the rigging on my model. They try to make the most natural model they can, and they are improving, but Victoria 4 can’t bend quite as naturally as a human. It really requires a good grounding in anatomy to fill in the gaps.
4. Hair. No matter how good the hair model is it just won’t move quite like real hair.
5. Collisions and gravity. Flesh interacts with itself and moves when it touches something, It’s subject to gravity, It pushes aside and wrinkles. 3D technology is improving, with things like weight mapping and so forth, but it isn’t the same. You need a good understanding of the human body and how it moves to ensure you get realistic gravity.
6. Imperfections. Humans have them, it makes them human. 3D models don’t.
7. The learning curve. Many people don’t have the patience to learn how to get the results they want from 3D, it’s easier to hire a model, it’s hard to have to do all the thinking for your virtual model and move them how you want, it’s frustrating and slow and repetitive.
7 reasons why virtual models are better than life models.
Life models vs virtual models: round 1
Something someone said to me the other day made me think of the many reasons I choose to use 3D as reference material for my art. In my mind, 3D has so much potential for artists, in so many ways. I often laud the cost savings of using virtual models as opposed to real ones, but that is such a small part of why I use it now. I have models lining up to work with me, I spend a lot of time and money on my 3D and I frequently bang my head against the wall while working on a render. So why do I prefer it? You see, the beauty of 3D is that it is based in reality, but only limited by your imagination.
1. It’s always available. Unless you live with your model you are going to have to wait for them to get to you- losing valuable inspiration time!
2. It’s patient. Even the most professional model won’t sit in their pose while you adjust the lights, the surface textures, the colors, the room, their skin, for hours and hours. And hours and hours. Then go away for a day and come back to it and tweak it for a few more hours.
3. It’s forgiving. I don’t want to offend my model of the day by telling them that I need to add a little more here or shave off some there, and If I change things up in the eventual piece it’s not going to create an issue. I know most models won’t care, but I always worry offending people- and worry gets in the way of art. There is no place for misunderstanding in 3D.
4. It’s flexible. I can have a model hovering in a backflip for as long as I need, I can freeze a moment in time while I tweak the lighting and the colors, the volume and the mood. I can use any angle, I can make the pose very mundane or I can take it beyond the realms of the human norm and distort and abstract things while still maintaining a sense of reality.
5. It’s quiet. I’m introverted, I need privacy in my studio and i’m very demanding. 3D allows me to do what I need to without worrying about feelings or being interrupted. I can be my own, caustic self without feeling like I have to put on a front. It also means that the only person I talk to is myself, and I talk to myself a lot! It gives me space.
6. It’s..3D.. A lot of you may be thinking that I could achieve a lot of these with photographing the live model and using the photograph for my reference. And you would be right, but photographs are a limited painting resource. The reason so many pieces taken from a photograph look flat is because they use a 2d resource. Now I can hear you thinking, ‘but isn’t that what render is?’ And yes.. But days later when i’m trying to work out what that dark blob is or where the arm went because I changed the angle of something I can virtually walk around the model and see. I can rotate it, change it up as often as I like, and everything is crystal clear. I don’t have to try to re-create it, it’s there exactly how I left it.
7. It’s a guide. The render is not the finished piece, it’s a path along the way.
It really is the best of both worlds! As long as you have the patience and understanding to make it work. It’s harder than life models in a sense, but, for me, it’s the best choice. This may be because i’m a control freak who prefers mindless bots that do my bidding, it may be because i’m a geek and it’s cool and requires no human interaction but mostly I think it’s because I can take my time and get the exact results I want, how I want. It’s my process and it works for me!
Why is female nudity more acceptable than male?
@naturistnews: @minxdragon why is female nudity more acceptable than male nudity? Why is nudity considered shameful?
I was asked these questions via twitter, and there was no way I could answer them in 140 characters or less and do them justice, in fact, I don’t think I could satisfactorily answer them in an entire blog post! I will try it in two.
I think female nudity is generally more acceptable than male nudity for a number of reasons. largely, however it seems to come down to aesthetics and homophobia.
Despite all our efforts to the contrary we still live largely in a patriarchal society. While males dominate industry, advertising and the media there will still be a slight locker room mentality. While nudity remains mainly sexual in the minds of the general public, it will be more acceptable for that locker room mentality to gaze upon nude women than men.
Many men fear nude men, but women do not fear nude women. I do not know why this is. It could be media and advertising, it could be that we grow up seeing semi nude women constantly or it could just be that there is a homophobic backlash still in effect.
Women are more aesthetically pleasing than men nude. It’s the truth. No matter the shape of the woman she is beautiful. Men are interesting nude, but not necessarily beautiful. There is an inherent charm in the swell of a hip, the curve of the breast. We have been taught since ancient times to revere the female figure.
Nude of the week -Motive- a nude world of Warcraft painting?
Motive is the finished painting for the upcoming exhibition Fanboy vs Artboy in Artboy gallery in prahran.
I want to take a moment to tell you a little about the story of this piece and why I chose to do something so different.
I play World of Warcraft. I love it. I’ve played the series of games as far back as I can remember. Throughout the original games is woven a love story filed with all the classic intrigues of an opera.
Jaina Proudmoore was with Arthas Menethil, son of the king, everything was happy, she’s a Mage, he was a glorious paladin. But the relationship didn’t work out. And slowly but surely Arthas started to go insane. There were outside forces to be sure, demons, beguilements, a spear and magic helmet – sorry, I meant a magic sword and helmet, and Arthas became the Lich King. Terrifying and loathsome.
Meanwhile, there was a standstill kind of war between the humans and the orcs. The leader of the orcs was Thrall, mighty shaman and respected leader. during diverse adventures he was rescued by Jaina from the grips of humans and dragons and together they built a friendship, and perhaps a little more.. It’s alluded to, but never seems to come to fruition. Now Thrall has gone off and is single handedly holding the world together at the center of the maelstrom.
Now, i’m not saying that Jaina is the reason Arthas went mad, nor am I saying that she ever really did have a relationship with thrall, but, it’s all rather…interesting… If you ask me! And what is Jaina’s motivation anyway?
I wanted to return to classical composition for this piece, I rarely get to work on anything different and I decided it was time to let my inner geek out for a bit of a play. I wanted to see Thrall, bent like atlas, I wanted to see him with the weight of the world in his hands and on his shoulders. I wanted Jaina above it all, spurning Arthas, seeking Thrall, but he’s too consumed with the troubles of the world. She’s consumed with herself and her desire to help, and Arthas, well, Arthas is being consumed by evil.
do you remember the line in Billy Madison, ‘I drew a picture of a blue duck because i’ve never seen a blue duck before and I wanted to see a blue duck’ that’s what this painting is, I wanted to see what would happen if I painted them all in the nude, classically posed. I wanted to stretch myself, challenge myself and have some fun!
If you are in Melbourne come by and see me, Motive and other game inspired art works at ArtBoy Gallery on Friday!
From the ugly comes poetry
Ugly
This wonderful Poem was written on the wall for my painting Ugly on Redbubble, recently featured in their explore section. I’m always humbled when my work inspires poets and writers, thankyou Ivo!
Loathsome I’ve become.
Acreature so undome.
Wretched and broken.
Cannot find my faith.
Any God will do.
Nothing said is new
Nothing said is true.
Fly away my hope….