I'm now on my fifth day of starting Zoloft, a medication akin to Prozac, used for fighting depression, and, in my case anxiety.
I've been distrustful of psychiatry for decades. Especially the decade after reading THE LOONEY BIN TRIP, in which feminist bipolar sufferer, Kate Millett, finds herself incarcerated not once, but twice, in a mental institution, against her will, by her lover.
Things have changed.
Medications now are cleaner, more targeted, more predictably helpful.
For me, the anxiety is the hectic thing. Depression I've coped with all my life. But anxiety. Jeeeeeez. It's the worst.
Right now, for instance, I'm sitting drawing heavy gulps of air to try and fill my lungs.
Shouldn't the Zoloft be helping?
Well, yeah... in a few weeks. Right now I'm still in the side-effect zone. Which translates to the feeling that I've drunk 40 cups of coffee. I'm jolting around the place, but unbearably tired too. But hey. Should wear off by tomorrow night.
When I got home earlier, I decided a cup of tea in darkness would be exactly the right calming thing for me to have. Hence this pic.
This painting was made using ArtRage 2.11 on a Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc with a cuppa tea to hand. Lipton, if you're wondering.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Roy Blumenthal, Voice-Over Artist, gives you some sample clips of his voice
Here are some of my voice-clips, in case you were thinking of using me as a voice artist.
Thanks to the wonders of ISDN, and the fact that South Africa has a very highly advanced advertising industry, I'm available to do work wherever you are.
The best way to book me is through my agent, Shane Vorster, at X-Factor. Phone
ZA +27 11 884 7515 or +27 11 884 7512. Email shane@x-factor.co.za.
Here they are:
Blue skies
love
Roy
Thanks to the wonders of ISDN, and the fact that South Africa has a very highly advanced advertising industry, I'm available to do work wherever you are.
The best way to book me is through my agent, Shane Vorster, at X-Factor. Phone
ZA +27 11 884 7515 or +27 11 884 7512. Email shane@x-factor.co.za.
Here they are:
Roy's Voice -- Character -- Home Tech Expo (with Jannes Eiselen in HardSell mode)I'm looking forward to... uh... I'm listening forward... fast forwarding... uh... I'd love to do voice work for you!
Here I play the 'Sound Engineer', with Jannes Eiselen playing 'The Hardsell Announcer'. (Book Jannes through his agent, Leads. Phone ZA +27 11 782 1162. Email info@leadsartists.co.za.
Roy's Voice -- Soft-Sell -- Karinna's Sparkling Water
This is me sounding soft and calm, lending some colour and class to a bottle of water.
Roy's Voice -- Corporate -- Action Mortgage
This is a straight corporate read, very close to my normal speaking voice.
Roy's Voice -- HardSell -- Hot, Sexy, Now!
I do a muscled hardsell on this spot. It's an alternate take on 'Hot
Sexy Now' which also features in this series of voice-pieces.
Roy's Voice -- Sexy-Sell -- Hot, Sexy, Now!
Here I do a sultry sexy-sell version of 'Hot Sexy Now', an alternate take to the hardsell version.
Roy's Voice -- Comedy Hardsell -- Interlink Airlines
I play both voices in this spot... the 'Singing Santa' and the 'Announcer'.
Blue skies
love
Roy
Tags:
Friday, July 28, 2006
2006-07-27 Illustration Friday -- Clean
The topic for Illustration Friday this week is 'Clean'.
Which gives me the excuse to paint my bathroom. And to reflect a bit on clean starts in relationships.
I'm working through a book called PARTNERING: A New Kind Of Relationship, by Hal Stone & Sidra Stone. It's awesome.
Their main premises are:
1. An individual is made up of several selves... primary selves and discarded selves.
2. We attract into our lives people who 'carry' our discarded selves.
3. We manifest different selves depending on context, and what self our partner is presenting to us.
4. These selves interact differently with each other.
5. Being aware of which self is communicating (in both you and your partner) clears the way for compassionate and unloaded commuication and loving.
6. Being presented with your discarded selves is a gift to allow you to reclaim them, and operate from a place they call 'the aware ego'.
7. Integrating these selves gives you balance, and allows harmonious relationship.
I wrote 'S' a long email last night, trying to offer her a glimpse of the turmoil within me. Parts of me reallllly love her and want her. Other 'selves' within me are irritated with her, angry with her.
I wanted her to see that this is NOT a simple, cut-and-dried case of 'we're not a good match'. Cos we ARE a good match. We've got powerful stuff to teach each other and learn from each other.
It's weird. I'm about a quarter of the way through the book, and it's like a weight has been lifted off me. I've been trying to be perfect for 'S'. And I've kind of expected and demanded that she be perfect for me.
Now, I'm sitting here feeling grateful to her for showing me the parts of myself that I need to get back in touch with. Cos those discarded selves she 'carries' are the bits I threw away through co-dependence and abuse as a child.
If you want to start cleaning up your relationship, I seriously recommend that you get this book.
This painting was made using ArtRage 2.11 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc. And no... the water wasn't running while I painted.
Which gives me the excuse to paint my bathroom. And to reflect a bit on clean starts in relationships.
I'm working through a book called PARTNERING: A New Kind Of Relationship, by Hal Stone & Sidra Stone. It's awesome.
Their main premises are:
1. An individual is made up of several selves... primary selves and discarded selves.
2. We attract into our lives people who 'carry' our discarded selves.
3. We manifest different selves depending on context, and what self our partner is presenting to us.
4. These selves interact differently with each other.
5. Being aware of which self is communicating (in both you and your partner) clears the way for compassionate and unloaded commuication and loving.
6. Being presented with your discarded selves is a gift to allow you to reclaim them, and operate from a place they call 'the aware ego'.
7. Integrating these selves gives you balance, and allows harmonious relationship.
I wrote 'S' a long email last night, trying to offer her a glimpse of the turmoil within me. Parts of me reallllly love her and want her. Other 'selves' within me are irritated with her, angry with her.
I wanted her to see that this is NOT a simple, cut-and-dried case of 'we're not a good match'. Cos we ARE a good match. We've got powerful stuff to teach each other and learn from each other.
It's weird. I'm about a quarter of the way through the book, and it's like a weight has been lifted off me. I've been trying to be perfect for 'S'. And I've kind of expected and demanded that she be perfect for me.
Now, I'm sitting here feeling grateful to her for showing me the parts of myself that I need to get back in touch with. Cos those discarded selves she 'carries' are the bits I threw away through co-dependence and abuse as a child.
If you want to start cleaning up your relationship, I seriously recommend that you get this book.
This painting was made using ArtRage 2.11 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc. And no... the water wasn't running while I painted.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
2006-07-27 Roy Blumenthal Self Portrait After Chatting To 'S'
Just had a long chat to 'S' on the phone. She's in Cape Town. I'm in Joburg. When she left to drive down, we parted under a cloud, and we're not really sure whether or not we're still a couple.
It's kinda on the table that our parting was actually a breakup, and that we were maybe a bit too sore to admit it.
At the same time, we're not sure what it is. Could be a breakup. Could be a break. Could just be us dealing with some of the stuff that we didn't deal with before.
When our relationship started, it was amazing. We were the ideal couple. Partners. Making love all the time. Having fun. Teaching each other things. Learning from each other. Giving each other space.
Then she moved into my place, and suddenly the co-dependent hooks kicked in. And we were enmeshed in something that was work, not fun. And hard work at that. With tears and arguments.
We're both going through a period of self-growth. I'm dealing with issues of child abuse when I was growing up. I've also just gone onto Zoloft, a Prosac-like drug, to deal with my anxiety and depression.
So who the hell knows?
'S' asks, 'Are we MEANT to be together?'
And my answer is, 'It's a Hollywood notion, the idea that two people can be 'meant' for each other. Relationships are invented things. Co-created. They have problems as well as joys. They're 'meant' only if the two parties decide to partner.'
So I may be flying down to Cape Town on the 1st of September. Or I might just waste the ticket, and not do it. We'll know through time.
This drawing was made in ArtRage 2.11 using my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc.
It's kinda on the table that our parting was actually a breakup, and that we were maybe a bit too sore to admit it.
At the same time, we're not sure what it is. Could be a breakup. Could be a break. Could just be us dealing with some of the stuff that we didn't deal with before.
When our relationship started, it was amazing. We were the ideal couple. Partners. Making love all the time. Having fun. Teaching each other things. Learning from each other. Giving each other space.
Then she moved into my place, and suddenly the co-dependent hooks kicked in. And we were enmeshed in something that was work, not fun. And hard work at that. With tears and arguments.
We're both going through a period of self-growth. I'm dealing with issues of child abuse when I was growing up. I've also just gone onto Zoloft, a Prosac-like drug, to deal with my anxiety and depression.
So who the hell knows?
'S' asks, 'Are we MEANT to be together?'
And my answer is, 'It's a Hollywood notion, the idea that two people can be 'meant' for each other. Relationships are invented things. Co-created. They have problems as well as joys. They're 'meant' only if the two parties decide to partner.'
So I may be flying down to Cape Town on the 1st of September. Or I might just waste the ticket, and not do it. We'll know through time.
This drawing was made in ArtRage 2.11 using my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Fiona Long reciprocates with a portrait of me
Yesterday I painted a portrait of Fiona Long, a British artist I came across on Flickr.
Today I found a surprise in my inbox... this awesome watercolour portrait of me by her.
Thanks Fiona. It's delicious.
Today I found a surprise in my inbox... this awesome watercolour portrait of me by her.
Thanks Fiona. It's delicious.
Tutorial: How to Test Your Art Materials for Colour-fastness and Longevity
Your artwork SHOULD be around in one-hundred years time. How certain are you that yours will survive the ravages of exposure to ultra-violet light? Be sure you're using archive-quality materials, and you're well on the way to ensuring your work's longeivty.
This is a quick tutorial on how to test your art materials for colour-fastness.
I recommend that all artists try this. You'll be amazed at how poorly some of your favourite inks and pigments survive.
1. Do two almost identical paintings of something. These are really just scribbles. Not art. Make sure you have some ultra fine lines, some splatters, and some densely coloured areas.
2. Put the date on both pieces.
3. Put one piece in an envelope, and put the envelope in a drawer, away from light.
4. Tape the other on a window that gets the midday and afternoon sun. The pigment should be facing the sun.
5. Go back two months later, and compare the two pieces.
One other thing... you can add a THIRD page to this test... make one on cheap typing paper, and the other two on acid-free art paper. Put one of the acid-free ones in the envelope, and the other two in the window.
You'll see that the acid-free paper 'helps' the ink stay fresher. Cheap paper degrades the ink.
Jackson Pollock's paintings are at this moment crumbling, and being restored flake by flake by experts. The paint he used was substandard. The materials he painted on were substandard. If he were a lesser artist, it would not be economically viable to actually restore the works.
Technorati Tags: art, archive, craft, printing, painting, drawing, royblumenthal, roy blumenthal, blumenthal, coffeeshopschmuck, coffee-shop schmuck, coffee shop schmuck, tutorial, howto, lifehack, hack
This is a quick tutorial on how to test your art materials for colour-fastness.
I recommend that all artists try this. You'll be amazed at how poorly some of your favourite inks and pigments survive.
1. Do two almost identical paintings of something. These are really just scribbles. Not art. Make sure you have some ultra fine lines, some splatters, and some densely coloured areas.
2. Put the date on both pieces.
3. Put one piece in an envelope, and put the envelope in a drawer, away from light.
4. Tape the other on a window that gets the midday and afternoon sun. The pigment should be facing the sun.
5. Go back two months later, and compare the two pieces.
- If you used ballpoint pen, you'll notice that it takes about a month for ballpoint pen to fade to a very pale yellow line, no matter WHAT the manufacturers claim about colourfastness. One month more, and there is NO evidence that a line existed at all.
- If you used genuine pigment-based India Ink, you'll notice that those lines haven't changed in the slightest.
- If you used cheap student paint, oil or acrylic, you'll notice that almost ALL of the colour has degraded badly, especially the reds and blues.
- If you made digital art, and printed it out on an inkjet printer, you'll be horrified. Totally horrified.
- If you printed your pics out at a professional photographic studio on actual photo paper, you'll be quite pleased, but not over the moon.
- If you specified to your digital print expert that you were looking for archive-quality, pigment based, UV-resistant inks on an acid-free paper, you'll be grinning from ear to ear, and understanding why it costs so much more.
One other thing... you can add a THIRD page to this test... make one on cheap typing paper, and the other two on acid-free art paper. Put one of the acid-free ones in the envelope, and the other two in the window.
You'll see that the acid-free paper 'helps' the ink stay fresher. Cheap paper degrades the ink.
Jackson Pollock's paintings are at this moment crumbling, and being restored flake by flake by experts. The paint he used was substandard. The materials he painted on were substandard. If he were a lesser artist, it would not be economically viable to actually restore the works.
Technorati Tags: art, archive, craft, printing, painting, drawing, royblumenthal, roy blumenthal, blumenthal, coffeeshopschmuck, coffee-shop schmuck, coffee shop schmuck, tutorial, howto, lifehack, hack
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
2006-07-25 Fiona Long At Her Exhibition
I thought I'd do a very rough sketch-type painting of Fiona Long, an artist in England. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Fiona?)
We've been commenting on each others' pics through Illustration Friday, so I figured a portrait would be the polite thing to do. Of course... she may not think so, specially cos it's not a great likeness at all.
But hey.
This painting was made using ArtRage 2.11 on a Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc, interpreting liberally from several pics of Fiona in her Flickr photostream.
We've been commenting on each others' pics through Illustration Friday, so I figured a portrait would be the polite thing to do. Of course... she may not think so, specially cos it's not a great likeness at all.
But hey.
This painting was made using ArtRage 2.11 on a Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc, interpreting liberally from several pics of Fiona in her Flickr photostream.
2006-07-25 Ed Godinho Revisited
I drew Ed ages ago on my palmtop, at extremely low resolution.
So I tried an experiment this morning... importing the small pic into ArtRage, converting it to paint, enlarging the pic, and seeing what would happen if I worked freely into the work with my palette knife, some tubes of paint, and a dry brush loaded with tons of thinners.
This is the result. And he looks darker and meaner and altogether more frightening than he did in his earlier incarnation.
I'm moderately happy with the result. It certainly has a better feel than the old version. And I'm very happy with the painterly nature of the pic. I'm also quite happy to do away with my linework in favour of squishy paint.
Does this pic work for you?
This pic painted in ArtRage 2.11 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 based on an original drawing of Ed by me.
So I tried an experiment this morning... importing the small pic into ArtRage, converting it to paint, enlarging the pic, and seeing what would happen if I worked freely into the work with my palette knife, some tubes of paint, and a dry brush loaded with tons of thinners.
This is the result. And he looks darker and meaner and altogether more frightening than he did in his earlier incarnation.
I'm moderately happy with the result. It certainly has a better feel than the old version. And I'm very happy with the painterly nature of the pic. I'm also quite happy to do away with my linework in favour of squishy paint.
Does this pic work for you?
This pic painted in ArtRage 2.11 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 based on an original drawing of Ed by me.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
2006-07-23 The Waiting
Self explanatory, I suppose. It would be good to see 'S' again when I fly down to see her in September. Assuming we haven't broken up by then.
This painting was made using ArtRage 2.11 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc.
This painting was made using ArtRage 2.11 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc.
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2006-07-23 To Run From the Sun
Sitting at Mugg & Bean in Parkhurst, painting.
'S' and I have been taking a short 'no contact' break from each other since Thursday night. She's in Cape Town now with WE WILL ROCK YOU. And we're kinda deciding whether or not the 'break' is actually a 'breakup'.
So I'm driving myself crazy with anxiety, and have consequently opted to visit the big wide world in an effort to counteract cabin fever.
Hence this strange painting, depicting a dude fleeing from warmth and love, at the same time avoiding being burnt alive. Three guesses who the dude is.
This painting was made using ArtRage 2.11 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc.
Tags:
'S' and I have been taking a short 'no contact' break from each other since Thursday night. She's in Cape Town now with WE WILL ROCK YOU. And we're kinda deciding whether or not the 'break' is actually a 'breakup'.
So I'm driving myself crazy with anxiety, and have consequently opted to visit the big wide world in an effort to counteract cabin fever.
Hence this strange painting, depicting a dude fleeing from warmth and love, at the same time avoiding being burnt alive. Three guesses who the dude is.
This painting was made using ArtRage 2.11 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc.
Tags:
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