never-ending gallery

[Geoffrey]

https://youtu.be/Xxh-jLKaET4
IT HURT ME TOO - MARVIN GAYE & THE VANDELLAS
(analysis by leonard cohen)

DRUMS SHUFFLING: SHNN shnn shnn SHNN shnn
ELECTRIC INSTRUMENTS: Zunga zunga zunga (a promise of incessant regular sex pumping)
MARVIN: I could have left zunga zunga zunga (he's got all the time in the world - he's traveled a long path to tell this cruel story) and said (electric pulse breathing) I told you so
VANDELLAS: told you so (a battalion of black girls, his officers recruited from bombed gospel altars, they ambush me with unspecific hatred and white teeth)
MARVIN: I could have told the whole wide world he leave you sad and blue
VANDELLAS: sad and blue
MARVIN: Shaid I coov ran VANDELLAS: Ahhhhhhhh and said ahhhhhhhh it's good for you ahhhhhhhh to geh now ahhhhhhhh (STOP!)
MARVIN: But I know when it hurt you
DRUM: Smack!
MARVIN: don't you know it hurt me too?
VANDELLAS: hurt me too (they had soared away into universal love suffering but now they are back in uniform, more precise now, as if they had vowed to guard themselves against a fatal emotional excess, chop / chop / chop /)
DRUMS CLIMB FIVE STEPS. MARVIN WHEELS OUT OF HIS CORNER FOR THE SECOND ROUND. THIS WILL BE TO THE DEATH. THE VANDELLAS ARE READY TO SUCK-MURDER THE VICTOR.
MARVIN: I could have said that you had it coming to you (Who are you Marvin Gaye? You have a strange command. I think you have been through some ordeal and have learned too much. You are the king of some slum block and you have handed down Laws)
VANDELLAS: coming to you (they take off their luminous bras and drive to fearful heart like a squadron of kamikaze)
MARVIN: When you walked out and turned your back on me
VANDELLAS: back on me
MARVIN: I pleaded Baby (his strength is established, his troops are in razor order, now he can weep over us) Ohh No! Please Plea Please! VANDELLAS: Ahhhhhhhhhh Baby don't go! Cause I knew he would hurt you (back to superior narrative style) DIDACTIC DRUM THUMP Don't you know it hurt me too?
VANDELLAS: hurt me too Ah Ah Ah (step down the marble stairs to lift his head)
MARVIN: He said he had you dancing on a string (in some sad locker-room where all male lovers recreate, Marvin has heard the details of the lay)
VANDELLAS: Ahhhhhhhh (Revenge! Revenge! but don't we still bleed, Sisters?)
MARVIN: As far as love goes you were
VANDELLAS: Hah! (they purge their hatred with this exclamation)
MARVIN: just another fling Oh I oh oh oh I may be a fool (but we know you're not, nor am I, for we deal with sacred material. Oh, God. All states of love give power!) to love you the way I do
VANDELLAS: the way I do (a sweet punctuation. Now they are women waiting for their men, soft and wet they squat on balconies looking for our smoke signals, touching themselves)
MARVIN: Don't you realise even fools have feelings too? So baby
VANDELLAS: Ahhhhhhhhh
MARVIN: C'mon back (a command) and let me dry (a hope) the tears (the real life of pity) from your eye (one eye, darling, one eye at a time)
MARVIN AND THE VANDELLAS WHIP THEMSELVES WITH ELECTRIC BRAIDS Cause I would never hurt you
VANDELLAS: I would never hurt you
MARVIN: No no I would never hurt you
VANDELLAS: I would never hurt you
MARVIN: Cause Baby when it hurt you
DRUM: Swak!
MARVIN: Don't you know it hurts me too?
VANDELLAS: hurt me too
MARVIN: It hurts me so bad
VANDELLAS: hurt me too
MARVIN: I never desert you
VANDELLAS: hurt me too
MARVIN: It hurts me so much stronger
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old sketch

"the enemy of creativity is the pursuit of perfection” - geoffrey wren (ha ha ha!!!)

[Geoffrey]

i looked for you in everyone, and they called me on that too.

the light is on the left side of your head - van morrison (ballerina)

https://youtu.be/ZdB5N4meH9g
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everybody knows that you're in trouble, everybody knows what you've been through

[Geoffrey]

[solongleonard]

i looked for you in everyone, and they called me on that too.
face study.jpg
the light is on the left side of your head - van morrison (ballerina)
that's not appropriate dinner conversation, dottie.jpg
https://youtu.be/ZdB5N4meH9g
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
everybody knows that you're in trouble, everybody knows what you've been through
distress.jpg

get that ugly fucker off the screen!

whoever she is, she may have beauty in her soul, or wit in her pants. but do we have to look at her?

part of her face is familiar, maybe she has an "everybody nose".

She was born as T Genstein "‘A man thought he was the only person in the world until he looked in the mirror’." After that cracker they renamed her as Wit tgenstein. She took that philosophically.

[Geoffrey]

solongleonard wrote:
>get that ugly f***** off the screen!
>
>whoever she is, she may have beauty in her soul, or wit in her pants. but do we have to look at her?

it is possible for anyone, even princess diana, brad pitt, isabella rossellini or elvis, to humorously contort their faces and appear less than attractive. being a portraitist, or having studied a little physiognomy, one learns to differentiate between a weak and a strong countenance. for a man to appear intelligent there are several aspects to look for, but the singular most important feature is his chin. it is essential that it reaches the same vertical plane as the lips, as occurs on the particular person above, to whom you refer. it is an interesting face, containing much character, certainly nothing its owner should feel bashful about - quite the reverse. to emphasise my point, i have just sketched yet another example of a good well-formed profile with excellent contours. take care, dear friend - and remember to always walk proud

"a poem is nothing but information. it is the constitution of the inner country."

[Geoffrey]

i would like, if i may, thank everyone who has made this 'gallery' one of the most popular in jarkko's forum. mathematics is not one of my strong areas, but in the two years since this thread began i think it has received something like a thousand 'hits' per week - a reasonably good result. once again, thank you, and please stay as safe as possible while we go through this awful pandemic!

i studied all night in his school

"everything would be different if everything was different" -leonard cohen MTV interview 1993

it should be noted that i indulge in a habit of correcting leonard's facial dissymmetry, though i think it is of little consequence. one would need a keen eye to spot it, and in any case it's normally mostly visible only when he is viewed straight on. cranial changes during infancy - which is not uncommon - may have caused his left ear to be a little lower than his right, for example. genetics can also play a part, we must remember. also, in his later years it became more and more apparent that his left eye opening was slightly smaller than his right, a condition called ptosis (drooping lid?) - caused by a weakening levator muscle. there are other facial imbalances, and some of them could be described as charming (the way the left-hand side of his mouth lifts during a smile, for example), but such traits are usually only consciously observed by an astute person accustomed to studying a person's features.

the reason i tend to ignore leonard's facial peculiarities is because people scrutinise paintings or sketches more than they would a photograph, thus any uneven characteristics are considered artistic errors - and it's unfair to blame me for mother nature's quirks. photographs are seldom questioned. the big shadow under a person's nose can resemble a hitler or chaplin moustache, the philtrum shadow above the lips can give the impression of a nosebleed, yet in a photograph all is happily accepted and goes virtually unnoticed. a pity such details become less hidden in a sketch.

[Geoffrey]

"if art doesn't surprise, it's not art" -geoffrey wren

two sketches, one coffee & one coffee with pencil

[LisaLCFan]

...it should be noted that i indulge in a habit of correcting leonard's facial dissymmetry, though i think it is of little consequence. one would need a keen eye to spot it ...
such traits are usually only consciously observed by an astute person accustomed to studying a person's features...

I've always thought that Leonard's facial dissymmetry was actually very obvious (and thus it always vexes me to see published photos of him that have been reversed -- i.e. like mirror images -- because the asymmetries are on the wrong side!). It is my understanding that very few people have perfectly symmetrical faces, or bodies, for that matter, as the measurements of left and right sides often do not match precisely.

I wouldn't say that I am accustomed to studying a person's features, because that seems to suggest a deliberate action for a specific purpose, however, I am extremely observant and thus tend to notice all the little details.

Oh, and I really like the coffee and pencil portrait of Leonard!

[Geoffrey]

dear lisa.

portraits are challenging, because hands and faces are notoriously difficult, but as with everything; practice (plus a little luck), goes a long way. i believe you when you write I am extremely observant, so if you have not already tried portraits, perhaps you should. it is questionable whether there is any such thing as originality, but that is a big subject. my personal philosophy is to not worry too much about anything, but just use intelligence, speed, and do whatever comes to mind, see what happens. you must not feel any pressure from me, merely mild encouragement, but any portraits you make, as well as anything else, would always be worth seeing.

using coffee is an interesting experience, and the brushes clean out afterwards with warm water no matter how hard they've become. i did a number of coffee pics some time ago, a very popular medium. one just fills a cup halfway with instant coffee powder, pours in a little boiling water and mixes to a fluid paste, like liquid tar, before letting it cool. pour into an airtight receptacle and it will keep more or less indefinitely. when using it dries as quickly as acrylic, repeated coats make darker, added water lighter. so many different shades, cheap and effective.

no obligation to reply, i just felt like sitting at the computer to relax for a minute or two before tidying the apartment. it's a complete mess, and someone is coming to visit me. thank you for writing, especially for the kind comment at the end of your message

coffee, pencil and water

[LisaLCFan]

dear lisa.
...if you have not already tried portraits, perhaps you should.... you must not feel any pressure from me, merely mild encouragement, but any portraits you make, as well as anything else, would always be worth seeing...

Thank you! I haven't tried portraits in years -- I did a few as a teenager, drawings mainly -- "people" were my thing for a while back then, not just portraits but whole people, too. As always, I shall keep your suggestions and encouragement in mind! Cheers!

Oh, and thanks for the instructions on making coffee paint!