Cosy Street Completed Sketch

by Lawrence

I liked it because it was a quiet street with no people around, unspoiled. Looks quiet and serene. This took about a week to do, well mayb 3-4 days of actual days I drew. Here is the intermediate sketches from bare bones to semi-shaded.

The completed sketch of the photograph was by Br0kenGlass entitled Cosy City

                                                                                                                  photograph by Br0kenGlass

The Divine Comedy: Inferno (Post 1)

by Dante Alighieri

This is the first part of The Divine Comedy which Dante wrote between 1308 and 1321. It maps Dante's journey down into hell, then to purgatory and ascendancy into heaven; thus the three books Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso.

The original book is in Italian which was then considered vulgar when all other serious writing was written in Latin. But it is a testament of this work that it has survived the ages and now translated to English. There are plenty of translations out there on this, and because the art of translating is not an exact one, one just has to make do with the interpretations of Dante's work (unless of course one would take the trouble to study classical Italian). The version I am reading is translated by John Ciardi and is mentioned not to be written with the most flourish and exact wording, but it evokes the most precise emotions of what Dante means to say, which is why I chose this version.

As of yet I have only read the first section of the book. Even the foreword and introductions took me quite a while to read. I normally do not read these, because there is so much to take in in this book, I figured a proper frame and construct of what I am reading is required.

As of now I have read that Dante has fallen from the straight path and has seen the great light upon the mountain. But his path is blocked by three beasts, that is a lion, a leopard and a she-wolf. Each of these creatures signifying a type of sin. So being turned away from the direct path to salvation (the mountain), he is turned deeper into the forest. In the forest, he meets Virgil his guide who says to him he needs to take the long way round and descend into hell and purgatory before he can come into salvation. But there he shall be guided not by Virgil himself for Virgil is the embodiment of reason, and reason can only take you so far. Into heaven he must follow Beatrice who will lead him there.

This book really has to be consumed very very slowly to take on the full effect of the writing. So it would probably take me a long time to finish this whilst I read other things along the way. But as the title suggests, I shall periodically post to wherever I have read.

Victoria

by Knut Hamsun

I read this short story a moment ago. It is a story about a miller's son, Johannes who falls in love with a girl of the upper class, Victoria when they were children. And all throughout life they struggle with their love for each other and having to deal with the reality of their lives being so different. Johannes grows up to be a successful writer and Victoria was to to be married to a rich lieutenant. After his, Johannes finally was also engaged to a girl he who he has saved her life when she was younger called Camilla. And after all these occurrences, Johannes and Victoria still loved each other.

This is a good light book to read, the words are simple but deep in meaning. Its take of human emotion and logic (or lack of it) behind the character's actions are interesting and very believable. Hamsun captures the irrationality of the human condition perfectly. It is a compact book and is worth a read, and a re-read. That said, it is a very sad book so you may wish to allow some space in between reads because the emotions evoked would not be dampened by knowing how this book ends, as is the sign of any good book. Perhaps it would even compound emotions by hearing a story familiar that one has forgotten and remembered again, like the embers of a long forgotten love.

Cosy Street

by Lawrence

Here's the preliminary sketch.

This is based on Br0kenGlass's photo Cosy City on dA as seen here.

                                                                                                                  photograph by Br0kenGlass

Really like this picture because when I see it I think how nice it would be just to relax and be sitting along a street like that and just....well, if I were actually there I probably would be drawing it too! Anyways it's lovely and I would love to live in a place like that. As it is, cosy.

Here are the shades I did, first with the front block, picture below. I thought the bricks turned out alright. I was really happy with the window, that looked really nice.

 

 Drawing the foliage was a new challenge for me as there were lots of dark areas and the original photo resolution was quite blur. I was actually going for a really exact picture for this sketch, but because it was slightly blurred I had to compromise a bit. But it turned out alright, the experimentation turned out well.

I complete this picture just now and the final sketch can be seen here.

Laura Portrait

by Lawrence

                                                                                         original photograph by Laura Lin

This is a sketch of a girl that I don't actually know, just found the photo on deviantArt and felt like drawing a portrait. Did not come out really good but at least still looks decent. At any rate better than my last one, so am improving. Will hope to get better with more practice. Next one would probably be a scenery sketch.

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

by Ursula Le Guin

Just read this after my friend Dawn has send it to me like a few months ago! Okay, I shall never procrastinate to read whatever she sends me anymore. Because this was wonderful! Absolutely beautiful writing.

This story is a description of a Utopian city with something dark underlining its existence. The story in itself is simple enough. What is amazing about it is its imagery and it wit in presenting something that you feel is too good to believe, and prodding you, and questioning you in what is acceptable and not. It is a wonderful peace with good progression throughout. It flows beautifully. I am glad it is what it is, leaves a lot to the imagination of what Omelas was before and what will happen.

Though if it were to be expanded upon, it would take a lot of skill to pull off that level of wit consistently throughout. Like the movie The Matrix was great just on its own. And the sequels were rubbish, this short story is perfect as it stands.

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest

by Stieg Larsson

This is the third and last book in the Millennium trilogy. Note that this summary may contain spoilers if you have not read the first 2 books (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire) It follows on from where book 2 ended. Lisbeth Salander had just had a confrontation with Zalachenko and is badly injured and so too Zalanchenko. They are both sent to hospital and awaiting recovery upon which they would be awaiting trial. In that confrontation, Niederman had managed to escape and in at that moment still at large. Whilst this is going on, there are powers working deep within the crevices of the Secutiry Police, known as The Section, that look to undermine Lisbeth and would see her again locked up in a psychiatric ward. In all this, Mikael Blomkvist and a barrage of people are trying to build a case to see that The Section's plan does not come to fruition. The result is about 750 pages of nonstop action and political espionage.

I started reading this book 4 days back and could not stop. The writing is realistic to the point that at one point or another one wonder if one is really reading piece of fiction. The plots is so disjointed at times that you really do wonder if these events actually occurred. This halting plot however does not take away the pace of the story, it is well-paced for such a tome of a book. To the contrary, it makes you wonder what is at the next turn as things are just so unexpected. Things however do tone down approaching the last quarter of the book, and I felt it went slightly anti climactic. So again, it just felt so much like actual occurrences.

Adding to the realism is that the characters though numerous, are very believable and moreover one can relate to them and their situations. My favourite character has to be Lisbeth Salander because she is one of the most unique female protagonist I have come across. She is a recluse, uncommunicative but extremely resourceful. The characters in this book are quite multi-dimensional and comple, so not at all cliche.

Some minor criticisms is that as a whole, books I seem to be quite disjointed from II and III in that I could have sat alone. But this was Stieg's first major work of fiction so I guess it was reasonable for the first book to be more self encapsulated, for fear that he was ever allowed to publish the first one. But I would also have liked books II and III to be more self encapsulated whilst maintaining intricate interweaving with revelations from books I and II. But all this is perhaps is just nit picking in an absolutely wonderful trilogy that I would probably re read again all three together.

What a great loss to the literary world it is that Stieg Larrson has passed on. RIP.

Room For Nothing

                                                                                            by my crappy phone camera

I was tidying my bookshelf. I rearranged them by their genres; classics, thrillers, horror, children's books, biographies. I methodically removed all the books and wiped out all the dust on the surfaces. I then replaced them in a better, tidier order.  In the end, there was one whole unfilled compartment. I had more space! I looked at it and thought what I should put there. I was at once excited by the prospect that I could get more books to fill this space. But this excitement subsided as quickly as it came, giving way to a pang of guilt. I have so many books that have not been read. For me to fill this space with even more books would be excessive. The reason I was tidying the bookshelf in the first place was because I did not have enough space!

Now there is an empty space on my shelf. The spaces to its left and right are filled with books, this space in the middle lay barren. I stared at it and felt uneasy. How did I end up with the empty space smack in the middle, not the compartment to the left or the right? The empty space seemed wrong. A compartment should serve a function. An empty compartment on the shelf seemed unclean, blasphemous even. Space is provided to me and I put nothing there? The emptiness just did not make any sense. Other compartments being filled to the brim with books. Why should this compartment be empty? What made you so special? What made you different from the rest? Did you not know that you serve a purpose? To hold things, to keep things in order. This compartment had the tenacity to be empty? If I have an empty space would that mean my life is empty, that I am living a hollow existence? What the hell am I thinking? This is not right, not right at all! The longer I stared at the space, the stranger and more uncomfortable I felt. The roaring voices continued to pound at my mind.

Why? Why? Why...Why Not?

Then all at once there was silence. I stared at the empty compartment. The gaping hole stood out amongst the other compartments filled with books. The empty space that is not filled, does it yearn to be filled? No, it yearns NOT to be filled.  As I continued staring transfixed, calm came over me. Again I asked myself, why is this space empty? Why do I not use it?

But it IS being used, for emptiness. No, not emptiness. For nothing. It is my personal room for nothing. Things will always fill spaces. It is altogether far more difficult to keep spaces empty than it is to fill them. It is totally my choice for it to be filled or not. This nothing space is escape from the encroaching stress and incessant noise of life. It is space for possibilities. It can be anything I wish it to be. It is space for new things and experiences. The room for nothing is my liberation, my freedom. I had room for nothing, so I need to make room for nothing.

...Snowman...

The Witch of Portobello

by Paulo Coelho

This is one of the better books that I have read, certainly after the last one. This story is about a woman and her spiritual journey that brought her from the desolate villages of Romania, being adopted by a well-off family in Beirut, and migrating to England due to war. As she grows into a woman, she ventures on a career in the Middle East then ventures back to Romania to find her roots. On the way she is guided by several teachers to find herself and have a better understanding of the times we live in and how she fits in the the grand scheme of things, or should I say not fit in. Sherine Khalil dies a brutal murder as was said in the early pages of the book so is know secret. But this book is worth the read nonetheless.

This story is told through transcription of accounts by people who knew her, so the opinions are hyperbolic at times and certainly subjective to the person speaking of her. This was a very interesting way of telling a story, through the perspectives of the people who surround her. As always with a Coelho book, the theme is deeply spiritual and talks about life and how people live it. It is both enlightening and impresses upon us to reevaluate what we live for, why we live and how we live. Coelho speaks of universal issues that affect everyone and even if you do not agree with his views, you would at least stop and consider what is being said. In all of us is a struggle for peace, contentment and happiness. The Witch of Portobello speaks of the courage to seek  these things.