the Foxy Muppet

Salutations! This is why my blog is 18+. The following images are NSFW, unless your work has something to do with a nude body.  This art is hand drawn by me and based on photography for Freshmen magazine's February 1993 edition. The model is Paul Marsden and the photographer is "Bel Ami" (George Duroy). I've taken figure drawing classes in college, and I myself have been a nude model. This training helped me to start drawing from eye and develop beyond the illustrative style I had at the time. In the past, I only used graphite and charcoal. I used theses two pieces to experiment with powdered pigment to add color.  "Paul 1" was a stronger play with color. I allowed my graphite work to be darker and used bolder colors, exaggerating the blonde hair and using a more saturated blue in the shadows on his skin. The green background was used to create a dark negative space. I found that the color combination made this piece feel colder, like a...

Some people reading this may already be aware, but my partner and I are now officially engaged! We made our first public announcement on July 5th, the 6 year anniversary of our official meeting. (We had a chance encounter once before, but that's a story for another day.) We've actually been engaged since I was in the hospital in 2015, but we've kept it under our hat and only told select people. Initially, it was about our commitment to each other and a way to encourage me to recover so we could live a long life together. Our engagement was also partly for protection. There have been many horror stories of gay couples dealing with hospitalization and estranged family members using blood relationship to legally divide the couple, and my parents have been trying to divide us since day one. We've just decided to finally take that commitment to the next step, so announcing the nature of the commitment has to be done before actually tying the knot. Gay marriage was lega...

I've planned different blog posts for a while, and sharing music has been a part of that vision. Here in Oregon, we recently finished a legislative session in which the Republican minority senators fled the state and law enforcement in order keep environmental protection legislation from passing. (Side note, I don't know of a job that wouldn't fire me for nine days of "no-call no-shows", but I digress.) The West Coast of the United States has experienced some frightening fires lately, and I am growing concerned about what will happen if steps aren't taken to put our planet before our greed. It's at times like this that Anohni's "4 Degrees" gets stuck in my head. It is a reference to a study of climate change and the expected impact it would have on our planet and the species that share this space with us. I decided today to give my heartstrings a tug and play the album that "4 Degrees" came from, and now I want to recommend it...