David Miliband’s nude art under critical and political attack

An emerging photographer took a portrait of David Miliband and his wife in their living room for a competition. she got the idea from a frend and ran down, narrowly missing the scrum of reporters after Miliband announced that he was not standing for the Shadow Cabinet. the photograph was entered into a competition and won. wonderful news for the photographer Naomi Goggin, but unfortunately the focus has not been on her exciting win, but on the cavorting nudes behind her subjects.

Kaisa Two censored by city council

As usual, I say if they were concerned they should have said something during the jurying process as the works were chosen. rather than letting the artist go to all the additional expense and excitement of exhibiting only to have their artwork pulled by a council member. there is nothing disturbing or sexual in this piece, it’s rather lovely (I enjoy chiaroscuro so I love the lighting in this one!).

Kaisa Two censored by city council

As usual, I say if they were concerned they should have said something during the jurying process as the works were chosen. rather than letting the artist go to all the additional expense and excitement of exhibiting only to have their artwork pulled by a council member. there is nothing disturbing or sexual in this piece, it’s rather lovely (I enjoy chiaroscuro so I love the lighting in this one!).

the effects of denying women artists the nude

this sounds like an interesting concept, I don’t know if I agree with a central precept, however, that the nude is no longer central to painting. it’s a crucial part of training and still a key subject, from art history to now there is no single subject that has been covered as extensively as the human body. it’s an interesting parallel to draw, that the lack of access to the nude for women artists impeded their growth as artists. but it is noted that other factors probably contributed as much.

Nude of the Week – Wavelength Daz Render

Wavelength Daz|Studio and Realityrender Reality is a new bridge for Daz|Studio and Lux Render. it’s a physically based render engine, which means that it calculates the actual physics behind the lights, reflections and the way that light actually works. it produces outstanding effects but means that you have to re-learn everything you knew about how Daz lighting works and go back to original photographic lighting concepts. this is pretty cool, and I can see so many applications for artists who work mostly in still life. it creates volumetric glass, proper metallic reflections, and wonderful realistic water effects. sadly it also requires a pretty powerful machine – my computer just wasn’t up for anything more complex than this!

Nude Jerry Hall by Freud sells for 600,000

I found myself wondering why this was such a big deal – £600,000 isn’t actually that much for a Lucian Freud, let alone one of a celebrity – but then I found out the size, 4x6in – a postcard size oil painting sketch. considering the size of Benefits Supervisor Sleeping and the price it set, this is consistent, even quite high.