#''[E]very portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist not of the sitter.

[fataldrum]

Dorian Gray is queer art, period.

Apparently Netflix has decided to make an adaption of The Picture of Dorian Gray with Dorian and Basil as siblings. Unless they're planning to go the gothic horror incest route, they've completely missed the point of the relationship between these characters.

If you haven't read the book, Basil is a painter who becomes infatuated with a beautiful young man, pouring his feelings into a painting. Dorian becomes jealous of the painting's beauty, realizing that he will never be as young and unspoiled as the version of himself on the canvas. He finds himself wishing that the painting could age instead of him. His wish is granted, allowing him to stay young and beautiful until the end, with his moral and spiritual decline reflected only in the painting.

I cannot overstate how queer this book is. Dorian is so beautiful that their first meeting inspires a wave of existential terror in Basil. Dorian changes Basil's entire understanding of art and beauty. This book is so queer it was used as evidence at Wilde's sodomy trial.

The existence of the portrait itself is tantamount to a confession of queer desire. Basil tells his friend, Lord Henry, that he can't exhibit the painting because "I have put too much of myself into it.”

Lord Henry (who will later lead Dorian into a life of vice) laughs, but Basil explains:

“[E]very portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. [...] It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself. The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul.”

This is how he describes meeting Dorian:

When our eyes met, I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror came over me. I knew that I had come face to face with some one whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself. [...] I have always been my own master; had at least always been so, till I met Dorian Gray. Then—but I don’t know how to explain it to you. Something seemed to tell me that I was on the verge of a terrible crisis in my life. I had a strange feeling that fate had in store for me exquisite joys and exquisite sorrows. I grew afraid and turned to quit the room. It was not conscience that made me do so: it was a sort of cowardice. I take no credit to myself for trying to escape.”

Notice that turn of phrase--it was not conscience but cowardice that made him attempt to flee. Why would conscience factor into his decision? Because he felt shame at his reaction to Dorian's perfect, beautiful face.

Lord Henry is shocked to discover Basil cares for something besides his art.

“He is all my art to me now,” said the painter gravely. “I sometimes think, Harry, that there are only two eras of any importance in the world’s history. The first is the appearance of a new medium for art, and the second is the appearance of a new personality for art also. What the invention of oil-painting was to the Venetians, the face of Antinous was to late Greek sculpture, and the face of Dorian Gray will some day be to me.

Basil goes on to confess, "I see everything in him. He is never more present in my work than when no image of him is there."

Lord Henry still doesn't understand why there is too much of Basil in the painting, so Basil explains:

“Because, without intending it, I have put into it some expression of all this curious artistic idolatry, of which, of course, I have never cared to speak to him. He knows nothing about it. He shall never know anything about it. But the world might guess it, and I will not bare my soul to their shallow prying eyes. My heart shall never be put under their microscope. There is too much of myself in the thing, Harry—too much of myself!”

Lord Henry asks how Dorian feels about Basil, and his response is absolutely tragic.

The painter considered for a few moments. “He likes me,” he answered after a pause; “I know he likes me. Of course I flatter him dreadfully. I find a strange pleasure in saying things to him that I know I shall be sorry for having said. As a rule, he is charming to me, and we sit in the studio and talk of a thousand things. Now and then, however, he is horribly thoughtless, and seems to take a real delight in giving me pain. Then I feel, Harry, that I have given away my whole soul to some one who treats it as if it were a flower to put in his coat, a bit of decoration to charm his vanity, an ornament for a summer’s day.”

Any adaptation that ignores the way Dorian's existence and beauty utterly destroyed Basil is doomed to be shallow and insipid. This is not just a book about a magic painting. It's a monument to queer longing.

[vodoriga-art]

I'm going to be asking a lot of artists I follow this question, but how did you develop your style? It SEEMS like most people find their style and stick with it forever, just making improvements and iterations. I tend to work in a lot of different styles because I enjoy doing that, though I know there are things I gravitate towards as well. But I wonder what your journey was and how you got feedback and improved while staying true to what you enjoyed?

Interesting question!

I never really think about style when making a piece, I don’t worry about making it match the rest of my portfolio, it’s just that the things that make up my style are things that come most naturally to me when I don’t think about it.

✦ TL;DR: My style is a combination of: the different mediums I use (including tablet and PS brushes), the fact I’m scatterbrained and unlikely to finish if I take too long, the aesthetics I like seeing, what feels good physically (movements that feel good to make with my arm and hand), and rhythms that feel innate and come naturally. I really believe that the things that make up your, or anyone else's style, are already within them, they just need to be brought out into view through making art.

Longer thorough answer with images below 👇

✦ I’d say that I “developed” my style by doing what feels comfortable - the shapes of my lines are I think influenced by the fact I’m “lazy” and don’t like erasing, which isn’t a problem in digital, but I used to do a lot of traditional art in ink, and not to mention etchings where I definitely can’t erase without wasting a bunch of time.

✦ My line art looks the way it does because it’s basically a cleaned up sketch, because I don’t have the patience to do both, or line art that was done without a prior sketch, just trying to make lines as good as I can on the first go knowing that any parts that end up feeling off will be painted over later. The brushes I've been using for years also play a role here.

✦ The way I paint digitally, as in colors are not often blended, and often the transitions between colors are made up of blobs of color or even something resembling hatching, stems from:

1. When I started art college, I realized I was waaaay slower than everybody else when it comes to painting, and in order to finish a full body real size portrait in time there was no way I could do it with blended shadows and realism (in high school I worked mostly in pencil, going for as much realism as possible because that's what was expected). So I started constructing planes from these blobs, only going into more detail if time allowed. The goal was to make something that can pass as finished in as little time as possible and then refine it later if possible. Sadly I don’t have much college work to scan as an example (some fruits are below). Quickly this became not just a way to finish a painting in time, but a part of what made my painting mine. I started doing it in charcoal, and in digital even when there was no time limit.

2. Digitally I used to paint with a brush with didn't always match the color on the palette, and the very slight color difference in each stroke or blob was interesting and something I started doing intentionally, and in traditional acrylic painting as well.

3. Long story short, the way I work in one medium influences the way I work in others. So it feels that choice of mediums (digital, acrylic, tempera, charcoal) leads to a style that can be reproduced in all these different mediums.

4. If I had any photos of my (unbaked, unglazed) clay works from sculpting class you could even recognize my style there as well. So we can assume that clay sculpting also influenced my 2D art as well.

Some examples of the non blended colors in different mediums (digital, acrylic, acr., tempera, digital):

✦ Obviously the things I find visually attractive and interesting - shiny or glossy surfaces, interesting pointy shapes, subtle differences in tone, dramatic lighting - will be things I reproduce and emphasize in my art consciously or subconsciously, and those will make a style across different mediums.

✦ A mostly consistent color palette is a part of style as well. I gravitate towards the colors I find pretty - grays, browns, reds, gold, pink, and shades of off-white.

✦ As for feedback, I didn't get a whole lot of it from my art profs (which is one of the reasons I dropped out), but one thing is they encouraged my choice of color palette and gloomy mood, and my messy process. My friends say the most recognizable thing about my art and what they call my signature is the little sparkle shapes I love to use. Not that other artists don’t use sparkles but when I put mine on at the end it feels like one really conscious choice that I make that makes the finished piece feel really mine ✨

✦ Another thing people noted about my art are the solid black areas I sometimes use as pure black cel shading, sometimes as kinda random blobs - I feel like line art needs to have a certain “weight” to look good, but as my lines are mostly the same weight, and often very light and sketchy, I add the black areas to compensate for that lack of weight across the piece. In my head this genuinely feels like weight, and if a piece feels too light in my head/hands, I add weight via flat black areas. I don’t know if that makes sense but it does to me and leads to a style. In pieces without lines it adds weight that's missing because of a lack of contrast or details elsewhere.

✦ And last but not least: The artists I admire and who are an inspiration have and continue to influence my style on a conscious or subconscious level. Either in regards to coloring, composition, shapes, or whatever. Leyendecker and Schaeffer are two pretty obvious ones I think. Mike Mignola and Chris Bourassa (the artist of Darkest Dunegon) also include flat black shadows and planes in their art.

All these things I feel like aren't going anywhere even as I improve, nor do they impede improvement or would hold me back if I decided to completely switch mediums or themes. They are so at the core of my craft(s) I don't think I could change or ditch them without great effort and even then it would be hard to stick to something else.

Basically I guess do what feels good and don't overthink, chances are even when you think you switch between wildly different styles there's something tying them together. At the same time, if there's an element that you really like, nothing wrong with consciously incorporating into your style(s), like I do with sparkles.

[primofate]

Questions and Answers (If you have any questions feel free to use the askbox and I’ll answer them here)

1. Can I order it if I’m from so and so country?

GOOD NEWS! PAPERBACK IS NOW AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE! 

Turns out it just needed some time to process.

Link to order on Amazon is here.

2. Is the smut chapter 16.2 included in the paperback/ebook?

No the smut chapter is NOT included. I wanted the paperback and ebook to be minor friendly :) 

3. When will your giveaway end?

17th February 2023 10pm PST

Giveaway post is here

Continued below the cut

4. If I reblog the giveaway post a lot of times will it help?

No. You only need to reblog it once. Basically I’ll put all the usernames into the lottery/lucky draw system, then when I draw a name I’ll check if they reblogged it. If they unfortunately didn’t reblog the post they won’t be considered for the giveaway. 

If you have been a long time follower of mine your username will be added into the system maybe twice or three times.

5. Can we have more details about the two extra chapters in the paperback/ebook?

The two extra chapters take place after the war. The chapters are called:

A Quiet Moment - This chapter explores how the relationship between Scaramouche and reader has changed. There is a lot of fluff involved. The illustration that comes with this chapter is my favourite one in the book.

The Travelling Astrologer - This chapter is sort of an episode with some humor in it. There’s a misunderstanding between Scaramouche and reader and they just try to navigate it in their own chaotic way. 

6. Can we have more details about the illustrations in the paperback/ebook?

I don’t want you to regret your purchase and I don’t want to mislead anyone about the illustrations so I’ll give more detail about this. There are a total of 6 illustrations. Not including the cover. I do admit that the cover illustration is probably the best one. 

Inside the book there are 3 different SIMPLE portraits of Scaramouche, all in different styles since they’re from different artists.

There are 2 “scenario” illustrations. The first one is the painting of Scaramouche that reader made for his birthday and the second one is from the extra chapter A Quiet Moment.

The last illustration shows an outfit change for Scaramouche.

And that’s the 6 illustrations altogether.

7. Is the book limited/will it stop selling after a while? Is there only a certain amount available for sale? Is there a certain date to buy it?

No. It’ll be there for sale forever (unless something unexpected happens). There’s no certain day to buy it. It’s available now.

8. What happens if the winners of the lucky draw live in a country the book doesn’t ship to?

The book ships worldwide. If something unexpected happens with your address, e.g. you live in a very isolated place, making it impossible to ship the book to you, then I’m afraid the best thing I can do is buy you an e-book copy. 

Note that once the book is shipped to a winner I’m no longer responsible for it, it’s the couriers job then to make sure it arrives. I’ll be in contact with the winners and will try to make sure everything is in order.

[sitp-recs]

2022 faves - art edition

This is what happens when a workaholic gets free time in her hands. Somehow “I haven’t read enough to make a list this year” became “let’s do four instead”. Clearly this got a bit out of control and it’s very incomplete with Erised still going on, but I want to give a shoutout to all these incredible artists for making my year a whole lot better and for spreading so much joy all around ✨

Drarry:

🎨 After Date + Asleep by @immortalacorn (E)

🎨 Auror husbands + HBD Draco + Merry Christmas by @bluebutter-art

🎨 Auror Partners + Gay Panic by @longdaytogo

🎨 Birdwatching for Beginners (MA)

🎨 Celestial Bodies by @sweet-s0rr0w

🎨 Close to Fine + paint me a wish on a velvet sky by @getawayfox

🎨 Dramatic + Reading by @to00fu

🎨 Every Feeling That I Get by @sugareey-makes-stuff

🎨 Lover’s Falls by @slytherco (E)

🎨 Fashion icons by @crapfaerie

🎨 Fool Me Twice by dustmouth

🎨 Immerse Your Soul in Love + Is tú mo Rogha by @maesterchill

🎨 In the Shape of Things to Come + Blood by @kryptidfox

🎨 Kiss This by @chuckalart (E)

🎨 Light in the Dark (MA)

🎨 Mermaid Drarry + Engagement by @trashcanprince

🎨 Merry Christmas by @emmesse-art

🎨 Merry Christmas (NYM Cover) by @gugugo

🎨 Monster by @pato-roldnart

🎨 Number Twelve + Wedding Day by @lilbeanz

🎨 Pirates!AU + Picnic Romance by @caroll-in

🎨 POC Drarry by @roughscribs

🎨 Potions Class by @beebox-illustrations

🎨 Rainy Tokyo + Kept in Cages by @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm

🎨 Routinely Yours (MA)

🎨 Scarf and Renaissance by @vantqe

🎨 Sleeping Drarry and A Melody of You & Me by @babooshkart

🎨 Snapshot of Moments (MA) E

🎨 Swimming in the Rain + Dead Ends by @melcarrianna

🎨 Tangled + Crystal Visions by @julcheninred

🎨 The sound of your heart (MA)

🎨 The Unspeakable by @peachbabypie

🎨 Us, In Lieu by @lyrablack1883

🎨 Warm Hands (MA)

🎨 Weasley Barn by @fictional

🎨 Whatever You Want by @snarkyships-drarryside

🎨 Worried + Kid Drarry by @reebeex

🎨 Yule Ball by @umboloae

Rarepairs:

🎨 Draco/Neville comic by @caroll-in

🎨 Ginsy and NSFW Dron by @bluebutter-art

🎨 Linny + Pavender Wedding by @babooshkart

🎨 Medieval Linny by @upthehillart

🎨 NSFW Jegulus by @carlav-blogs (E)

🎨 NSFW Wolfstar by acreatureofhabit (E)

🎨 Pansmione by @missmrah

🎨 Pirate!Ginsy by @getawayfox

🎨 Snarry + Harrymort by @mrviran (E)

🎨 Tiny Home - Dronarry by @slytherco (E)

Character study:

🎨 Body positivity + Trans Blaise by @lilbeanz

🎨 Cissa + Draco by @beebox-illustrations

🎨 Draco Hairstyle Meme by @slytherco

🎨 Marauders by @longdaytogo

🎨 Portraits + Harry & James by @bluebutter-art

🎨 Regency AU by @missmrah

🎨 Silver Trio + HBD Harry by @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm

🎨 The Happy Ending by @umboloae

🎨 The Malfoys + Swordsman Draco by @emmesse-art

🎨 y2k Draco by @kryptidfox

Bonus:

💌 Origami Secret Santa by @crazybutgood

[nightcourtreader]

Hi<3 hru?

can I rant with you a little? I feel like you're the most reasonable person in this fandom (and this platform) haha or maybe we share same opinion idk but:

I am so tired of seeing this fandom painting Feyre be bad at everything... her talent in painting? "not very good she didn't have a teacher or anything" (mind you I'm an artist and self-taught). her being a high lady? "she can't even do her job she a bad ruler" her being equal to Rhys and powerful as fuck? "Nesta is way more powerful than her" her being beautiful in Rhys' eyes? "no everyone say Elain is more beautiful than all of them" Feyre being a mother? "oh she will be a bad mom and can't raise her child" to the point I've ppl saying Eris (ERIS OF ALL PEOPLE) who apparently had 6 brothers and knows better than Feyre how to calm a baby and we all know both Feyre and Rhys won't let him get near him at any scenario. or how there's fanfic where Gwyn is the one telling Feyre how to pull it together and calming Nyx and Rhys just sits there and agrees with her... it's funny how ppl want to show Feyre as a incapable mother so some ppl like Eris and Gwyn should come and save the day.

I love Gwyn don't get me wrong (and I'm neutral about Eris since it's obvious he's a another version of Rhys lmao) but to show a softer version of them through bringing down Feyre pisses me off... and in none of this Rhys is portrait as a bad father... interesting! or how I've seen more fanart with E/riel and Nyx more that Feysand and Nyx is bothering me to no end. them babysitting him or a older version of him have a sleepover in their house or them literally raising him bc apparently Feyre is busy being a high lady and doesn't have time to spend it with Nyx. and no one say Rhys is also there being a high lord and have a job like Feyre ruling their court no...

and it won't stop on her being a bad mother she's also a bad painter and that rages me. we have Azriel going through continent to buy her paints, Cassian watching her paint and cries over them and Nesta she also cried when she saw Feyre had a painting of her and lets be honest if Feyre was a bad artist Nesta would've already told her in cabin but she said nothing and let her paint on everything. or how Mor loved what she did to the Cabin but everyone only focus on her drawing on the walls without permission and make fun of it. or how they have always something to say about sjm bad writing means they look deeper in it but never notice the artistic way Feyre describes things...

but we don't see anyone saying Nesta is a bad dancer or Gwyn a bad singer or Elain's a bad cook... Like ever... I've never seen it at least!

it's funny how they bold their fav Character through bringing down another... and think sjm would or doing the same :)

Hiii 💜 trust me you can rant to me all you want! Thank you 😂

I always found it crazy how Feyre was the only character to be made fun of about her hobby. I know people say oh it’s a joke, lighten up, I just thought it was funny. But is only funny to a certain extent, you know?

There are people literally shitting on Feyre for painting. And I think that comes down to not liking the character. You don’t have to like her, but making up lies because you don’t like the character is crazy to me. Like people have to realize that SJM is writer not an artist but I think she did pretty with describing Feyre and her painting.

And like you said. Why is it that Elain is so good at baking even tho she just picked up the hobby in acofas but Feyre is a bad painter. Why is nesta so good at dancing but Feyre is a bad painter? Why is Gwyn such a good singer but Feyre is bad at painting? We see that Azriel also sings, why is he a good singer already and we haven’t seen him sing yet?

Cassian AND nesta said how much the black dress Elain wore to the court of nightmares was an ill suited dress for her. If they can critique Elain’s fashion choice, why haven’t they critiqued Feyre’s painting if she’s so bad? I could have sworn nesta was upset because there wasn’t any paintings of her in the river house.

It has been stated by numerous characters that Feyre is a damn good painter. It doesn’t matter if she’s self taught and so is my nephew who is a teenager and he can outdraw my on my best day.

People get so upset about the cabin but nobody cared. Mor even brought her more paint to encourage her to continue! If it’s Rhysand’s cabin, then in turn it’s Feyre because what’s his is hers and I think Rhysand made that pretty clear. I can even see the IC in the cabin making little drawings around Feyre’s painting like Mor did to mess with each other and add more color to it and laugh about it later.

With the whole Feyre not being a good ruler thing kills me because she just literally got into the role in acomaf. They had a war in acowar where we couldn’t see her be a ruler but Feyre was actively helping in the war. She saved prythian twice by defeated amarantha & rebuilding the cauldron. She saved the damn rainbow of velaris! Nobody was over there but her. She even talked about the paperwork side of being a high lady in ACOFAS, but this is the same novella people say they don’t like.

Tarquin just got to be a highlord in acotar but he’s such a great ruler? Why people are acting like Feyre can’t be further taught? She just got into the role. She’ll be fine.

I do think if nesta had her full power before she gave it away she would have more power than Feyre, some people also have a hard time understanding that nesta literally didn’t want that power and she stated that she slept with numerous men to keep that power away/at bay. But now since she doesn’t have as much of her power I think that Feyre and Rhys are once again more powerful than she is.

I get it that Elain is the most beautiful sister but all the sisters say the same thing about Azriel, does it make Cassian or Rhys less beautiful? Cause I could have sworn nesta didn’t think Rhys was ugly and she didn’t even like him. Aelin saw Rhys and she said he was beautiful too. So why does saying Elain is the most beautiful Archeon sister take away the beauty from Feyre & nesta?

The whole she a bad mother thing is just crazy because we haven’t even seen Feyre be a mother at all in the series! Just because we got that one scene at the end of acosf, that doesn’t tell us anything.

SJM said in CC3 the acotar characters are going to be very protective of Nyx, if they are so protective with him why would he be around Eris when they don’t even trust him? Eris is allies with the night court at best. We’re not even sure if eris himself even help raised his brothers because based off reading it’s clear that the autumn court siblings are not close (they are all killing & hurting each other) and they had a fucked up upbringing.

I love Gwyn but Gwyn is only 28, I know she defended the children in sangravah and I have no doubt my girl will be a good mommy, but I don’t think Gwyn is the right candidate to tell someone what to do when it comes to a baby.

Having Nyx was something Feyre and Rhys wanted. SJM is a mother to 2 kids and just recently had her second one, so I’m pretty sure she’s excited writing Feyre as being a mom herself, so why would Feyre be a bad mother? Feyre knew how she grew up, she literally has all the chance and opportunity to give Nyx the opposite of what she had growing up, so why wouldn’t she?

If they’re only attacking Feyre since she’s supposedly going to be a bad mother and not Rhys then that tells me all I need to know, they don’t like Feyre.

I get being a new mom is hard and trying to balance work can be difficult and no I’m not a mom personally myself, but it has proven time and time again that first time moms and moms who have more than one kid can take care of their mother duties and work at the same time and still be a good damn mom but for some reason Feyre can’t?

[blackswaneuroparedux]

A work of art is a curious object. Isn't it infectious? . . . We - we the beholders or listeners or whatever we are - undergo a change analogous to creation. We are rapt into a region near to that where the artist worked, and like him when we return to earth we feel surprised ….Something has passed. I have been transformed towards his condition, he has called me out of myself, he has thrown me into a subsidiary dream.

- E. M. Forster

Portrait of E.M. Forster by Roger Fry (1866-1934). Dating from 1911, it was painted when Fry and Forster were neighbours in Surrey and was painted at Fry’s house in Guildford. The two men had become close friends some years before – Forster had included a character called Rankin based on the painter and art critic in an early draft of his 1908 novel A Room with a View. According to Fry’s biographer Matthew Sturgis, the picture came about as “an upshot of their happy friendship” and was painted at a time when the artist, “steeped in the Parisian experiments of Post-Impressionists, Fauves and Cubists”, was striving to “introduce something of their daring simplification and anti-naturalism into his own art". The faceting and angularities of Forster’s head (which Lytton Strachey called “triangular”) in the portrait were believed to be derived from Picasso’s 1909 portrait of Clovis Sagot, a work which Fry had included in the seminal exhibition dedicated to Manet and the Post-Impressionists held in London in 1910-11.

Earlier in 1911, Fry had been in Turkey with Clive and Vanessa Bell and had sent home a mass of textiles, mostly from Brusa, some of which featured in the portrait. Forster wrote to his friend Florence Barger that in the picture he appeared to be “a bright healthy young man, without one hand, it is true, and very queer legs, perhaps the result of an aeroplane accident, as he seems to have fallen from an immense height onto a sofa”. Forster, who actually bought the picture after it was shown in Fry’s solo exhibition at the Alpine Club Gallery in 1912, later gave it to Barger and it remained in her family for over 50 years without being shown in public. In 1984 it passed through London dealer Anthony d’Offay and it eventually came up for auctions via Bonhams in 2020. It was eventually sold for a record £260,000. The price for the portrait raised the bar for the Bloomsbury school at any auction.

[mlleclaudine]

Born into slavery, he rose to the top of France’s art world

by Sebastian Smee - The Washington Post, July 12, 2024

Guillaume Lethière’s epic life is the subject of a stunning new exhibition, in the U.S. before it travels to the Louvre.

Guillaume Lethière, “Woman Leaning on a Portfolio,” circa 1799. (Frank E. Graham/Worcester Art Museum/Bridgeman Images)

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — During the most tumultuous period in France’s modern history, Guillaume Lethière was one of its most venerated artists. His story is epic. Charles Dickens or Alexandre Dumas (who delivered a eulogy at Lethière’s funeral) would have struggled to make it sound credible. Pity me, your poor reviewer.

He was the third child (“Le Thière” is French for “the third”) of an enslaved, mixed-race woman and a White plantation owner. Today, his paintings — some of them cinematic in scale — can be found in museums in the United States and Europe, including the Louvre, and also in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Among his smaller works is one of the most tender and beautiful portraits I know.

Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of him. But be aware that in Guadeloupe, where he was born in 1760, Lethière has long been celebrated. According to Esther Bell, the curator of an extraordinary new exhibition about Lethière, there is an auto-body repair shop in the coastal town of Sainte-Anne bearing the name “Guillaume Lethière.” Nearby, in the center of a busy rotary in the French neighborhood — previously the site of the plantation whereLethière grew up — is a huge steel sculpture in the shape of an artist’s palette alongside two enormous paintbrushes. Shapes cut out of the steel reveal the face of Lethière as he looked in an 1815 drawing by his pupil, the great neoclassical artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

This summer, you might see Lethière’s loveliest portrait (scholars think it probably depicts his stepdaughter, Eugénie Servières, herself an accomplished artist) blown up on highway billboards advertising “Guillaume Lethière” at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., through Oct. 14. The exhibition will travel to the Louvre in November.

Guillaume Lethière, “Lafayette Introducing Louis-Philippe to the People of Paris,” 1830-1831. (Tokyo Fuji Art Museum/Bridgeman Images)

Researched and developed over many years by Bell, the Clark’s deputy director and chief curator, with Olivier Meslay, the museum’s director, and accompanied by a 432-page catalogue, the exhibition tells the story of Lethière’s improbable life.

To understand his significance, it’s not enough just to look at his paintings and drawings — although these are very good and earned him accolades aplenty during his lifetime. You need to consider his own complicated proximity to the world-historical events through which he lived.

Born into slavery (or so it’s assumed, given his parentage and the telling absence of baptismal records), Lethière was brought to France by his father, the French king’s public prosecutor in Guadeloupe, in 1774, when he was 14. He began training as an artist in Rouen. Thanks to his father’s influence, he was already close to serious power by his late teens.

Guillaume Lethière, “Académie,” 1782 (Beaux-Arts de Paris/RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, New York)

But of course, staying close to power is not easy when the personnel keeps changing. Like others of his generation, Lethière had to steer a course through the last days of the Ancien Régime, the French Revolution, the Terror, the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, European conquest, imperial collapse, a brief Bonapartist revival, a restored monarchy, and finally, just before Lethière’s death in 1832, a constitutional monarchy.

What makes him uniquely interesting is that he managed all this while also navigating the shifting implications of his illegitimate, mixed-race origins in Guadeloupe.

Lethière was neither smarmy nor sycophantic, but he knew how to ingratiate himself to others. He “won the esteem and friendship of everyone by his honesty, his politeness, and a frank and loyal character that never wavered,” wrote Francois-Guillaume Ménageot, the director of the French Academy.

Alexandre Clément, after Louis-Léopold Boilly, “Reunion of Artists,” 1804. Guillaume Lethière is shown at center. (Clark Art Institute)

Lethière and his mother, Marie-Françoise Pepeye, were both emancipated by his father, Pierre Guillon. But it was many years before changes to the law allowed Guillon to recognize Lethière as his son. Lethière and his sister were named as Guillon’s heirs around the time Napoleon seized power in 1799.

Even so, years later, Lethière had to defend himself against an embarrassing challenge by a distant cousin, who claimed he was the rightful heir. This was in 1819, when the artist was at the height of his renown. The courts eventually found in Lethière’s favor — but not before humiliating references in the press to the esteemed painter’s “naive and modest genealogy.”

Louis-Léopold Boilly, “Guillaume Lethière and Carle Vernet” circa 1798. (Stéphane Maréchal/Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille/RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, New York)

Moral and political complexities choked almost every aspect of Lethière’s life. There’s no doubt, for instance, that he was an abolitionist. And yet he benefited financially from his father’s plantation, which depended on enslaved labor.

Although Lethière never returned to the Caribbean, he cared deeply about the fate of its people. He supported the revolution in Haiti, which began in 1791, just before the French monarchy was abolished, and welcomed the French government’s decision, in 1794, to end slavery in all its territories.

When, eight years later, Napoleon reinstated slavery in the colonies, brutally suppressing an attempt at resistance in Guadeloupe, Lethière was surely disappointed. But by now he was in with the Bonapartes. He painted portraits of, among others, Napoleon’s Caribbean-born wife, the Empress Joséphine, and hitched his fortunes to Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother.

Guillaume Lethière, “Joséphine, Empress of the French,” 1807. (Franck Raux/Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon/RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, New York)

In 1807, Lethière’s friendship with Lucien Bonaparte led directly to his appointment as director of the French Academy in Rome — an immensely prestigious post. There he reinvigorated the academy andoversaw the training of dozens of France’s best artists — among them Ingres, who made a series of stunning drawings of Lethière’s family (included in the show), and a female pupil, Antoinette Cécile Hortense Lescot, who went on to exhibit more than 100 paintings in the Paris Salon.

Ancient Rome was of intense interest not only to France’s revolutionaries, who looked to republican Rome as a model, but also to Napoleon, who of course saw more upside for himself in Rome’s imperial period. Art played a huge role in establishing these lines of pedigree.

Guillaume Lethière, “Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death,” circa 1788. (Clark Art Institute)

The French Revolution had broken out while Lethière was a student at the same academy in Rome. At the time, inspired by his environs, he worked on a major canvas, “Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death.” In a carefully structured, frieze-like composition, he depicted the founder of the Roman republic, Lucius Junius Brutus, looking on stoically as his sons, who had plotted to restore a monarchy, are decapitated.

Lethière returned repeatedly to this subject and to another episode from ancient Rome, “The Death of Virginia.” We can perhaps imagine the painting’s special significance for him when we understand that its subject — a father killing his daughter, at her own request — hinges on the dishonor of being enslaved.

Guillaume Lethière, “The Death of Virginia,” circa 1823-1828. (Rebecca Vera-Martinez/ J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)

Versions of both paintings enjoyed great success when they were exhibited in Rome and London. But in Paris, tastes were changing, and by the 19th century’s second decade, romanticism was on the rise. Lethière’s neoclassical style began to fall out of favor.

Winning the 1819 inheritance case seems to have inspired Lethière to turn his attention back to the Caribbean, and in 1822 he painted one of his most audacious canvases — an enormous (approximately 11 by 7 feet) painting owned by the Musée du Panthéon National Haitien in Port-au-Prince. It shows two generals, one mixed-race and the other Black, swearing an oath to fight together for the freedom and independence of the people of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti).

Guillaume Lethière, “Oath of the Ancestors,” 1822. (Gérard Blot/Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien, Port-au-Prince)

After a risky and clandestine sea voyage, Lethière’s son personally delivered the painting to Haiti’s President Jean-Pierre Boyer in Port-au-Prince. Two years later, France’s Charles X grudgingly recognized Haiti — but only in return for an indemnity payment that would cripple the young nation for decades.

Unfortunately, the recent civil strife in Haiti has prevented the painting from traveling to the United States. Lethière himself intended the painting for a Haitian audience and, according to Bell, who has tastefully installed a reproduction of it in the exhibition, it “encapsulates Lethière’s fidelity to his place of origin.”

The Clark show immerses us in several decades of political tumult that continue to reverberate today. It has much to say about other French artists and writers with ties to the Caribbean. So it is much more than just a monographic exhibition. For all the stately arrangement of the Clark’s galleries and the superficial stiffness of Lethière’s neoclassical style, the exhibit is like a pinwheeling firecracker, blazing out light, knowledge and cultural energy, and deepening our understanding of a remarkable inheritance.

Guillaume Lethière Through Oct. 14 at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., and then at the Louvre in Paris from Nov. 13 through Feb. 17. clarkart.edu.

[joseopher]

WHAT IF TRISTAN KNOWS THE KEY TO STOPPING CALLUM'S POWERS

So we all know this scene after the "what we had was significant speech":

"They didn’t speak for several minutes. It was the first time that Callum could recall not being able to sense something intangible about the room or the feelings within it. He realized later that it was because he was the one feeling things."

Callum feels so much his powers stop working. Now what if Tristan saw this and realized what was happening.

We all know Tristan is very observant, proven in these lines:

“In the moment I asked,” Atlas interrupted, “you identified this painting as a portrait of the artist’s lover.” He gestured again to the painting behind him. “You saw a number of things, of course—far more than I was able to distinguish from my brief foray into your observations—but you looked at this nondescript portrait of a nineteenth-century Society benefactor and interpreted the details which led you to conclude what you were looking at, which no one but you would have seen.”

And especially so with Callum as they are so close. For example, he literally sees through Callum's bullshit and knows that his whole "Libby is never coming back" thing is because of him:

“So, yes,” Tristan concluded with a jerk of the muscle beside his jaw. “I know this is about me.”

SO WHAT IF TRISTAN SEES THAT CALLUM IS FEELING ANGRY BUT ALSO RAW PANIC AND INFERS THAT SOMETHING IS OFF WITH HIS POWERS! ESPECIALLY BECAUSE CALLUM IS SO UPSET YET DOESN'T USE ANY MANIPULATION!

Obviously, he would have to test it a few times to be sure. But I'm just imagining Tristan connecting the dots that if Callum feels too strongly he can't use his powers and just have a blast.

I M A G I N E:

TRISTAN AND CALLUM FIGHT AND TRISTAN JUST STARTS FLIRTING WITH CALLUM ON A WHIM TO GET HIM TO FEEL SOMETHING NOT EXPECTING IT TO WORK, BUT IT FUCKING DOES WORK.

NOW TRISTAN FINALLY HAS SOME POWER AGAINST CALLUM AND JUST ABUSES IT AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY HE GETS!!

[jonthegiraffe]

Virtual sketchbook 1 assignment

1. WRITING AND RESEARCH

1. One little-known fact about me is I love to work out and do art in my free time though I am in no way talented or have done art for very long. 

2. 

A) The artist's name is Kehinde Wiley and focuses on detailed portraits with usually floral backgrounds of black men and women.

B) He was commissioned to make a portrait of former President Barack Obama. 

C) I could not find out why the Portrait of Tyesha Flemons was made or who she is but I did find out that it is an oil painting and is at the Stephen Friedman Gallery.

D) Kehinde Wiley was put into after-school art classes when he was a child. This is because his mom wanted him to stay off the streets. 

E) In his artwork, he tries to replicate the old masters which were European artists before the 1800s.

3. It has changed the way I look at it since I now know some background information. The first time I looked at it I thought it was just some random portrait of a famous black woman. Turns out his art is more about colored people as a whole. I think since he gives a piece of extraordinary art by someone who is not famous it gives more of a look at more common people who are not celebrities with some exceptions like former president Barack Obama.

(My sources)

https://kehindewiley.com/Links to an external site. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kehinde_WileyLinks to an external site.

2. ART AND WRITING

This is a variation of The Great Wave off Kanagawa. the medium that was used was ink. In the original, there is an array of colors so some of it must be colored ink as well instead of just black. It serves the purpose of giving my room more personality. I do think it is very beautiful due to the colors, the detail, and the composition itself.

3. WRITING A SELF-PORTRAIT

I am a 22-year-old white man and I work out, play video games, and do art for fun. I do not currently work anywhere as of the moment because I just got laid off. What makes me uniquely me is that I really care for wildlife and love to do art mostly because of the process and feeling of doing it, and I have a deep sense of dedication to the people I care about. When I look at art, I think I can sense the detail, For example, When I look at The Great Wave of Kanagawa, If you look closely, you can tell the men are about to brace for impact.

4. ART PROJECT (SELF-PORTRAIT)

[wweeird]

eyyy how'd you get so good at drawing

but no for real, how you draw portraits is amazing. I adore the way you're able to suggest things without actually defining features super well. Being able to do that clearly shows mastery in knowing how to draw people's faces and that is very impressive. I can tell you've done a lot of work to get to this skill level!

But seriously, can we the people get some tips on how to get to this level? Any tips? Thanks so much! Keep on creating!

hey, thank you so much! I love drawing people and hearing such words is the most pleasant thing ever… As it happens, I’ve been thinking on that issue for some time already (not on getting better at drawing peoples’ faces particularly but on how to increase all drawing skills in general) and I’m not really sure that I’ve got a decent answer right now (but I think that you can somehow read others’ minds, heh)

things that I’ve already figured out:

your perfectionism is your worst enemy. You don’t have to draw all those faces in detail, it’s not even interesting to do sometimes — all that you need is an energy burst, a f e e l i n g that you can transmit to others through drawings and through the process of drawing itself. It means that you need to focus only on the things that are important in that particular moment  — it could be arms that you’re going to neglect at that point, at another point you will harshly draw the eyes and only vaguely outline the mouth. 

never stop experimenting. It’s the most important and at the same time probably the most cliché thing to say (if we don’t count ‘practice more’). You always need to be in the state of search for something more. My last discovery was that there are plenty of different ways to hold a pencil, not just how we’ve been taught at school. When you change the position of your arm your point of view is also changing. This kind of stress makes you feel really uncomfortable at first but then you find yourself ready to find other ways to solve these problems (btw, I suppose this method won’t work with a stylus  for digital tablets although I’ve never tried) 2.1 live sketching (when you draw not from your head or photos but from real people/things you see around you) is actually very good — people are usually very agile (of course they are — they’re alive), they won’t keep one pose for ages so you’ll have probably 2-5 minutes to make a sketch, which is perfectly enough to kill your perfectionism and widen your drawing comfort zone at the same time. (be careful in cafes! people tend to be suspicious when you take out your sketchbook or, for example, glasses, in my case) It’s also helpful for studying perspective. If you can’t help but use references, try using a timer. There’s a cool website where you can practice sketching poses and where you only have a few minutes for each pose (something like quick-poses-dot-com)

observe more things/people around you, as well as other artists’ works, that goes without saying;

practice more (: I’m sorry I know that’s a bit annoying but it’s true. Don’t think that somehow you can be transported in the state when all your drawings are incredibly beautiful (unique and exquisite, as insta-scammers would say) — that doesn’t happen. You’ll always have a ratio: some shitty paintings to one-two decent or beautiful ones. The percentage of drawings-you-wish-you’ve-never-drawn will get lower, but won’t totally disappear, at least I don’t think so. So no need to be afraid, accept the possibility of never-ending mistakes and just do your thing, keep at it. There are plenty of reasons to draw in life.

phew, I hope I was at least a little bit helpful! still trying to comprehend all of this myself. and thank you and thank you again!

[kanthonyficrecs]

Masterlist: Modern AU (T)

updated 4/29/24

Take Me Home by Kendal_Lynne Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: “Spend the night with me. One night, no strings. If it’s bad, we never speak of it again” he says, before smiling wickedly, “But it won’t be.” “You’re that confident?” she asks, the words out of her mouth before she can stop them. He merely quirks his eyebrows in response.

take me home, country roads by Moomin_94 Rating: M Status: Complete Summary: Kate Sharma was an artist looking to get away from the city and the recklessness that built in her chest until she couldn't avoid it, and the very last person she expected to feel drawn to was the forest ranger next door, who looked at her with a disapproving frown and answered all her questions with a grunt. But there's just something about him that she can't stay away from

take my hand, wreck my plans by emmaswoodhouse Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: Kate and Anthony are maid of honour and best man at Edwina's wedding, chaotic feelings ensue.

take my hand, wreck my plans (that's my man) by yetanotheremptypage Rating: M Status: Complete Summary: If two months ago you’d told Kate Sheffield-Sharma that she would be sitting in her flat with Anthony, Viscount Bridgerton, on the couch across from her and a positive pregnancy test sitting on the coffee table in between them, she would’ve told you that you were insane.

Talk It Up by INTPSlytherin_reylove97 Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: The Bridgertons attempt group therapy, only for matters to go from bad to worse.

Tamil Lessons 101 With Kate Sharma by TheViscountessWrites Rating: G Status: Complete Summary: The One Where Kate Insults Anthony in Tamil And Teaches Him How To Speak It After They Start Dating

Tennis Court(Ship) by ramarro Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: “Champagne? Come on, how can you say no to that?” Kate needles him. Tom laughs. “Sure, Kate, let’s get a drink,” he agrees. “Just make sure you have enough money left to pay for the rest of your lessons. I’m not letting you off that easily. Let me grab my stuff.” As he leaves she catches sight of Anthony down the hall. He raises an eyebrow as she walks over to him. (A threesome fic.)

Terrible horrible no good very bad day by Honeybeebunches Rating: M Status: Complete Summary: Kate is having an awful day. She meets a man that is both the cause of, and solution to, her grumpy mood. Violet hires Kate to paint a portrait of Anthony, many misunderstandings ensue. Sibling relationships are repaired.

Text Book by WillowPointe Rating: M Status: WIP Summary: Anthony is raising his three younger siblings, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth after a tragic accident left them in his care. After a conversation with his youngest sister, Hyacinth, he decides that it's time for him to settle down. He has his list: dependable, sweet, and good with children. However, what he never expected was to fall in love with Hyacinth’s primary school teacher, Kate Sharma.

thank u, next by Moomin_94 Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: Edwina has decided it's time for Kate to get back on the horse, metaphorically and literally, and sets Kate up a tinder profile, a little fish called Anthony gets stuck on the hook

The Affair of a Lifetime by CherriesOnTheCake Rating: M Status: Complete Summary: When he offers Kate his hand she takes it and then as quick as a flash she's writing her number on it. He memorizes it before the ink even dries on his skin.

The Bane of My Existence by the_loosest_moose Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Kate Sharma and Anthony Bridgerton both have high stress jobs. When friends/family force each of them to attend a week-long silent meditation retreat to relax, neither takes it seriously (or is very happy about it). After a few flirty exchanges between them, things get steamy, and they try to make the most of their otherwise frustrating week.

The Caregiver by WaterlilyRose Rating: G Status: Complete Summary: Kate falls ill at work and, when faced with possibly spending the night in hospital, states that her co-worker (arch-nemesis/naughtiest-dream-come-to-life) can look after her. It's not like she's expecting him to look after her for real. Pity that Anthony Bridgerton is just as stubborn as her.

The Club by RosesAtDawn Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: “‘The official rules for the ‘We Hate Anthony Bridgerton’ club’,” he reads aloud, and Kate’s stomach drops.

The Cluedo Incident of ‘19 by gingerbat Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: Or: That time Bridgerton Family Game Night left five of the spouses contemplating the idea of divorce.

The Consultant by lookingforthestars Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: It doesn't matter that he broke up with her ten years ago. They were barely together, after all. He's the best person for the job, and they're both mature enough to keep it professional. Obviously.

the florist who loved me by beautifultropicalfish Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: A look at the various Bridgerton group chats as Anthony meets one Kate Sharma.

The Hope That Keeps You by Helena K Wayne (PyroPitseleh) Rating: E Summary: Kate Sharma loves football because her father loved a certain West London club, so she made it her job. Anthony Bridgerton loves football because his father loved a certain West London club, so he bought it—or at least some of it. They’re all supporting the same side, so there should be nothing but harmony, right? It’s not like they unnecessarily complicate everything for no reason.

The Literature of Love by anonpls Rating: NR Status: WIP Summary: Greg and Hyacinth can't stop raving about their new English teacher. Anthony is suddenly very interested in re-reading his 8th grade literature syllabus.

The man in the window by iwishyouwouldstop Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Kate is very excited to get home and watch her show. If that show happens to be a very hot neighbour who likes to do nude yoga is that any of your business?

The meeting place by Destroyedrecord Rating: M Status: Complete Summary: Anthony doesn’t know what took hold of him. As soon as he set foot in the restaurant, Benedict already waiting for him at their usual table, he knew. At the table facing him, a woman raised her eyes from her dish and smiled softly at him. And Anthony smiled back.

The Metamorphosis by folklauerate Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Anthony wakes up small. A crackfic.

The MILF in 2B by folklauerate Rating: E Status: WIP Summary: She’d hoped her new neighbor would be polite. Willing to water her plants if she paid them. Generally uninterested in her life. By her fifth brownie, it’s clear to her that Anthony is likely to not be that type of neighbor.

The Miseducation of Kathani Sharma by lookingforthestars Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: “You don’t have to be so tense,” she tries. “I’m not going to get you in trouble.” Anthony laughs – a rough, sardonic chuckle that sends a pulse straight to Kate’s core. “It’s not really up to you.”

The Muse by Sarasunshine413 Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: University art professor Benedict brings home his muse, 4th year law student and model Kate, to Aubrey Hall. Kate is stunned to realize that the guy she hooked up with over summer break is Benedict's older brother.

The One with the FaceTime call by LoveIsStrong Rating: G Status: Complete Summary: Anthony receives a call from his family on his birthday

the other man by folklauerate Rating: G Status: Complete Summary: Tom and Kate get married. Kate’s having an affair. Nothing ends well.

The Set Up by folklauerate Rating: E Status: WIP Summary: Kate's an Oscar winning actress with no time to date. But when her new friend, HRH Prince Colin, insists on setting her up on a blind date, she reluctantly says yes. The last person she's expecting to see at dinner is his brother, King Anthony of England.

the story of us by irishseeker Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: Five times in their lives Kate Sheffield and Anthony Bridgeton were just friends and one time they were more.

The subtle art of letting go by sharmaandcorgis Rating: G Status: Complete Summary: It takes them 59 minutes to convince Anthony to go. or The Bridgertons realize how much their older brother has done for them and decide it is time he follows his dreams.

The Unicorn by Honeybeebunches Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Kate becomes a third to a charming, attractive couple. She’s only looking for casual fun, but as their families become more intertwined, can feelings really be left out of sex?

The Universe Laughs at Anthony Bridgerton by TeaBrigadier Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: In a world where the first words your soulmate will say to you appear on your arm, Anthony is horrified by the less than romantic words that appear on his eighteenth birthday. His soulmate is a menace and he has no interest in ever meeting her.

The Viscount Who Fucked Me by tall_wolf_of_tarth Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to find some man who knows how to use his mouth and get the virginity problem out of the way, without dating him.

The Way I Loved You by Stars_of_Kyber Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: Kate's new boyfriend is perfectly fine, but she can't help but miss the crazy ride that was her relationship with Anthony Bridgerton.

The Yellow Tulips of Texas by folklauerate Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Kate runs into a store to get out of the rain, and runs right into a southern gentleman. (or Texas!Anthony and New Yorker!Kate fall in love)

there be fury on the waves by royalwisteria Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: Kate means to sail and win the Fastnet Race with her sailing partner, Benedict. Or, if not win, do well. Unfortunately, he comes down with mono the week before, and Anthony volunteers to take his place.

there’s many different ways that you can kill the one you love by folklauerate Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: She doesn't know why she doesn't lie, only that she can't, not to him, so she says--"It doesn't matter what I want." (The Kate POV to "the other man"/Tom and Kate and Anthony cheating oneshot)

They’re My Better Half by Mx Kate B Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: At some point after her marriage she had lost sight of who she was, trying to conform to something she thought her husband had needed, and it was starting to feel like a weight on her back that she dragged with her everywhere she went.

Three Cities by ramarro Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Kate and Anthony have a holiday fling before she moves to Berlin. It's not the last she sees of him.

Three's Company by folklauerate Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Kate and Anthony have Simon over for dinner and a movie. They're just being good friends--after all Simon is going through a breakup and who better to be there for him than them.

Through The Window, To Your Heart by NoelleBerry Rating: E Status: WIP Summary: As the recipient of a recent promotion, Anthony finds himself moving away from home at his mother's insistence. What he comes to realize, is that his newfound free time will be spent obsessing over the mysteriously beautiful neighbor. There’s just one problem: she's much, much younger than him.

Ticket to Paradise by folklauerate Rating: E Status: WIP Summary: Edmund Bridgerton is getting married--within a week. Anthony and Kate know they need to stop him, before he makes the biggest mistake of his life--and they've got to team up to do it. The only issue? They're divorced--and they can't stand each other.

till the day i meet my maker by cyclothimic Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: Anthony occupies a small position in the government, and Kate makes doing his job so much harder

Time Is Running Out by kateandanthonyaremyparents Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Kate's leaving to travel the world. Does Anthony find the courage to tell her how he feels before she's gone?

Tipsy and Smitten by ms_eyra Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: Anthony Bridgerton aka her boyfriend was drunk and pelting pebbles at her window at freaking 1.00 am in the morning. She might have been amused at the sight any other day, but today with Mary and Eddie staying at her place, it was a disaster. They didn’t know about Anthony or their relationship, hell they didn’t even know that Kate was dating anyone.

To Be of Disservice by magicalmenagerie Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: Kate works at a restaurant. Anthony is a customer. They can’t seem to avoid each other, no matter how hard they try. Or, five times Anthony has to endure shitty Italian food (among other things) in the name of not-love

to breathe such vows as lovers use to swear by ZeGabz Rating: T Status: Complete Summary: Kate Sharma inspires Eloise Bridgerton to revisit her own lost love story. Anthony Bridgerton might have something to say about that.

To Knock on the Side of the Hive by tendereye Rating: E Status: WIP Summary: Anthony simply intends on surviving his family holiday, especially after meeting the B&B’s owner, the instantly antagonizing Kate Sharma.

trail magic by juniper5x5 Rating: M Status: Complete Summary: Anthony goes backpacking. He meets Kate on top of a mountain.

Two in Tents by PenguinofProse Rating: E Status: Complete Summary: In which Anthony takes the whole firm on a corporate team-building weekend featuring tents, and things get rather out of hand.

Two Little Menaces by Anonymous Rating: G Status: Complete Summary: Miss Wynter finds two particular children entertaining from her very first day at Aubrey nursery.

[thesinglesjukebox]

TYLA - "ART"

We'll need to frame this one...

[7.44]

Alfred Soto: Ari Lennox and Victoria Monét have recorded similarly tasteful conceits in recent months, and if "ART" sounds as if Tyla hasn't thought out her conceit — she's a work of art painted by her lover, or is she painted on by a lover, and either way, is that cool? — she sounds as convincing. The rattling percussion creates a mild erotic simmer that warms up come-ons like "fresh out the gallery/can you handle me?" [8]

Kat Stevens: Is Tyla exploring art as an emotional outlet, a conduit for shared meaning in our humanity? The evidence for that is lacking here, while the clinical, understated tones of the Cassie-does-amapiano backing point towards formalism and modernism over expressionism or romanticism. Yet Tyla does not push the boundaries of a constrained medium, nor does she delve deep into the layers of societal collapse that surrounds us. Instead, the lyrics lean into audience-focused consumption: Tyla is merely art to be displayed, a pretty Rococo portrait to impress the neighbours. Reclaiming capitalist objectification might be the ultimate goal of 21st century art but it leaves an unsatsifying aftertaste to this feminist. Luckily for Tyla, Aristotolian mimetics tells us that true art is about making populist bangers, and "ART" does indeed bang. [6]

Mark Sinker: A joke I like from old TV sketches is when the gorgeous model eagerly skips across the room to look at the canvas and discovers the painter is some rigorous modernist and it’s all yellow and black zigzags or whatever. De Stijl me like one of your Dutch girls. Tyla is very caught up in her notion here, and this song does not skip across the room. It sounds beguiling enough, but it discovers nothing. [6]

Katherine St. Asaph: One Cool Trick to Troll the Artists in Your Life! [6]

Nortey Dowuona: Tyla has such an arresting soprano that whatever kind of loose, wispy chords and heavy bass log drums you place before her, she can ride them, gently sculpting them to her use. Sammy SoSo, architect of "Water" (and "Me Pongo Loca" by Kali Uchis, "See Me Now" by Nasty C, "Playing Chess" by J Hus, and "Bare With Me" by Ms Banks — maybe a remix with her of this pls) leads the background vocals over light, airy synths but leaves them in the distance. Tyla leans on them for support, making her a stronger presence. Tyla you will always be loved but not famous cuz that is dangerousss. [10]

Ian Mathers: In retrospect I gave "Water" something I'll call "the gentleman's [8]," here meaning "if I'd first heard the song maybe a week earlier it would have been a [10], easy." "ART" only confirms that hindsight, because this is a very solid [8] and I feel a bit silly giving both songs the same score. Such is the agony and the ecstasy of the Singles Jukebox. [8]

TA Inskeep: A fresh-sounding blend of amapiano and smooth R&B that's subtly hip-shaking but also pretty damned sexy (though not as much so as "Water," which I wish I'd blurbed, an easy [9] for me). Pray that Tyla sticks with this groove and doesn't get sucked into the UK dance music machine, because this is where she belongs. [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Doesn't go down as easy as "Water," largely because the lyrics and delivery are clunky. But there's an appeal to that, how in Tyla's desire to entice, she sounds most at ease when going back to basics: "I'll be your A-R-T" is, yes, an evocative message as simple as A-B-C. [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: An interesting exercise in expectations: if I encountered this in the wider world, shorn from the context of being a single off of an immensely hyped-up album from an artist who made one of this site's favorite songs of last year, would I still love it? Part of me wants to say no – the things that truly endear "ART" to me, like the way Tyla's voice intersects with the backing vocals or the soothing hum of the organ as it mixes in with the kick drum, are features that only reveal themselves with slightly closer inspection. But "ART" has enough in the way of immediate appeal to draw you in even if you've never heard "Water," the depth of Tyla's hooks pulling at me from even a moment's listen. [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #133

When did you last drink coffee? I've never truly drank coffee, just tried it a few times and thought it was disgusting each instance.

When did you last cry? And why, if you feel like sharing. Yesterday, a little bit. My sister posted something on Facebook that's happened at work over the past week or so, and it just warmed my fucking heart so much and reminded me yet again my sister is a real-life superhero, like very literally.

What was the last beach you visited and when? Carolina Beach, more than likely. Maaaaaaany years ago.

What book do you plan to read next? The next WoF book is Darkness of Dragons, the last book in this specific arc.

What fictional character/s remind you of yourself? Uh the first one that actually came to mind was Violet from The Incredibles haha, primarily as a teenager though. As I am now, I majorly relate to the character Clearsight in the WoF series, probably more than any other fictional character I've encountered. I resonate quite a bit with Kiara from TLK too, always wanting peace and to follow her heart no matter what.

What's in your fridge right now? List as many things as you can think of. Uh there's milk, yogurt, cheese, water, I'm sure lunch meat, lettuce and I think other veggies, condiments, etc. Our fridge is actually pretty full right now, definitely more than usual.

If you could have any artist, living or dead, paint your portrait, who would it be? Absolutely Nana Qi, much more popularly known as puffygator in online spaces. She makes THE cutest art I've ever seen absolutely anywhere, I am a ginormous fan of her work and I think if anyone has any chance of making me look even REMOTELY cute, it's her, haha. I basically BEG you to check her out.

Do you smell anything in particular right now? No.

Do you make enough money to live comfortably? [can be in combination with a spouse] I personally make zero money, so. My mom doesn't though, we're technically considered impoverished. We survive solely off her disability right now. I'm trying so damn hard to find a job so I can actually be financially useful.

What is one thing you like about your appearance? Don’t say nothing! I just like my hair, or at least how healthy it is and its general style. Not happy with the color right now, but.

What would you like to tell your father? I wish I saw you more. It's not just his fault, though.

What would you like to tell your mother? Thank you for absolutely everything you do to keep me safe, happy, and healthy.

Whose was the last wedding you went to? Bethany and Spencer's as the photographer.

What is your greatest fear? Living alone on the streets.

What is a chronic health issue you deal with, even if it’s minor? I think depression is the longest-lasting and the one that has most heavily affected my life.

What was your college major? If applicable. It changed between Game Design, Photography, Wildlife Biology, and then Art/Photography again.

What new place have you been to recently? Nowhere, lol. I basically never go to new places.

What are you a geek about? Meerkats, Silent Hill, tarantulas, snakes, Rammstein if u didn't already kno, Shadow of the Colossus, other stuff. But those listed are the primary topics I can think of where if you bring them up I will share E V E R Y T H I N G I know under the sun about them lmfao

What is something you have no patience for? Anti-LGBTQ+ opinions and behaviors. Like you are immediately JUST garbage to me.

What celebrity would you want to go out for a meal/drinks with? None realistically, bit too personal an occasion for someone I don't personally know at all. Well, unless it was like, Bindi Irwin lmao, I would take basically any opportunity to get to know her and be friends. It'd be a lot less awkward of an idea because she's not a celebrity that I "like" in a romantic/sexual sense, either, I just think she's fucking incredible and such an icon of love and goodness.

Are you happy with your weight? Hell fucking no, sick and tired of it.

When did you last hold a baby, if ever? Whose? Over three years ago when my niece Emerson was born.

How many cats do you have? One.

How many dogs do you have? One.

How many other pets do you have? One (champagne ball python).

How old were you when you got your driver’s license? I haven't yet, and I don't really think I ever will just with how fucking terrified I am of driving; it's just a fear I don't think I can conquer. I COULD NOT survive killing someone if I was involved in a car crash, like I'd just straight-up fucking kill myself. My panic makes me a dangerously passive driver, and people who know they can't drive in a safe, confident (NOT to be confused with aggressive) manner don't need to be on the road. I'm very well aware of how inconveniencing it is for others that I can't drive, especially with where I live (public transport really isn't a regular or widespread thing), but I'd prefer to not kill or cripple somebody.

What year did you graduate high school? 2014.

What is the first number of your zip code? Two.

How many of your grandparents are still alive? Zero.

What is your favorite number? Honestly don't really have one. I like the dark myths of the number 13, but I don't have a strong fondness for it or anything.

How many kids do you want? IF I have children, I can't visualize a world where I have more than two.

How many apartments have you lived in? As an official, legal resident, zero, but basically two.

What age do people say you look? Very early 20s. Actually the artist who did my new tattoo thought I was like, literally 19 lmfao thanks I guess

Do you feel like your family accepts you for who you are? For the most part. I'm confident my mom fully does, but idk about the others.

Do you feel like your friends accept you for who you are? Yes. I have more liberty in picking my friends; if my friends that I choose aren't willing to accept me, uh bye, our "friendship" is a waste of time.

Who is the best doctor you’ve ever had? The psychiatrist that very literally turned my life around when I began my partial hospitalization program. I stayed with him for many years until insurance made it so I could no longer see him. This is actually what resulted in me being hospitalized again last March; I was so devastated and scared of leaving the ONE mental health professional that REALLY made a difference for me that I became suicidal again. He is an incredible professional with what seemed like a totally unending well of medical knowledge. In the same hospital, when I did the PHP a second time, the therapist that most regularly worked with me was my favorite I've ever had as well; I totally desperately wanted to stay with him once the program was over, but sadly he worked exclusively in that. I wanna emphasize I've been seeing psychiatrists and therapists since the 7th grade (who are around 12 or 13, and I'm 27 now), like I've seen SO FUCKING MANY, so calling you my favorite carries an insane amount of weight.

Have you ever been flipped off by a random stranger? Yes actually, while driving. It was a truck of teenage boys and when they (illegally) passed, multiple of them stuck their hand out the window to do it. My mom was fucking furious lmao, she did it right back.

Do you have a lot of people blocked on Facebook? Not many that I have a personal problem against; most are actually people my mother has asked me to block for a variety of reasons so they have no tabs on my family's lives. Then there's random people who've sent random suspicious or gross messages.

Do you consider yourself spiritual? To a degree. Like I do believe some sort of soul/"essence" of us exists, but that's the end of it. I know nothing about that realm or even if it really exists at all, and I worship nothing or hold nothing as truly holy or whatever.

Do you consider yourself religious? Absolutely not.

Are you afraid of spiders? No, not really; I actually love spiders, especially tarantulas, but I'm not going to pretend that if a big spider just randomly went down my arm I wouldn't freak out for a second, just because I hadn't been expecting it and most of my life I was scared of spiders, so the instinct to be startled is still there.

Are you afraid of snakes? I absolutely adore snakes with all my heart.

Does everyone in your family know your sexual orientation? Not exactly; I think everyone knows I like men and women, but I'm sure there are family members who'd still call me bi because they don't know I later realized I was really pan, AND I know there are a number who don't even know what pansexuality is lmao.

What is one thing you find offensive? Using the word "retarded" to insult someone's intelligence. My respect for you will fucking PLUMMET.

Do you often post about politics on social media? I share lots of political posts, yes.

Would you ever want to go back to school? I just can't do that. I've dropped out three times already, I can't keep pouring money straight down the drain.

What are three things you are naturally good at? Writing, bonding with animals, and I suppose seeing things in an artistic way?

What are three things you are NOT naturally good at? Socializing/talking confidently, asking for help (this does depend though), and thinking more with my head than my heart.

Is your dream to get married and have kids? No, my dream is to be happy with and proud of myself and feel like I made even a tiny difference in the world. I'd be bummed if I never do get married, but it's not my dream.

Where do you hang your towel to dry after showering? It goes in the laundry basket.

If you were the opposite sex, how would you style your hair? Idk, it'd very likely depend on how I look as a whole. I do know I love guys with long hair though, so I'd probably at least have longer hair... maybe. Part of the reason I keep mine short now is because I was bad at brushing it even nearly enough, so I'd probably have that problem as a man too.

Last person you hugged? It was either Girt, his mom, or his sister before leaving his place on Saturday.

How is the weather right now? It's sunny and WAY too motherfucking hot; my weather app says 86*F right now, disgusting.

Are you missing someone? I miss Girt really bad.

What is the wallpaper on your cell phone? Lock screen is artwork of Till Lindemann with the "Engel" wings prop, home screen is insanely cute meerkat artwork.

What do you have handy at your bedside? A lamp. If Girt's staying the night that's also where I put my phone.

What is your dad's middle name? John.

What is your mom's middle name? Marie.

First thing you'll save in a fire? If my mom is in there, I'm making sure she gets out first. If she's not, then I'd probably run and get Venus out of her terrarium first and then immediately look for Roman. I think I'd go for Venus first just because she's in a cage and is also a ball python so she wouldn't be going anywhere and is therefore super easy to find, while I'm sure Roman would probably be frantically running around or like paralyzed in a hiding spot. Really I wouldn't be surprised if Roman found a way out himself if there's an open window or door, being a cat. Deep hatred for this question btw lmao

[mikeyscontextuals]

Evidence Of Visual Research.

Hey everyone! Welcome back to yet another post, this one containing, as mentioned, some Visual Research for you!

Fernando Pessoa, as many said, was known not only as the greatest Portuguese writer, but as the best two, three or four Portuguese writers!

Pessoa pioneered the usage of Heteronyms:

Het-ero-nym:

."In literature, the term heteronym sometimes refers to a writer's creative alter ego or persona. This usage was introduced by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935)."

What Are Heteronyms in English Grammar? (2019). Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/heteronyms-words-term-1690926.

There is a saying that goes like this:

Pessoa isn't just the greatest Portuguese writer of all time. He is the two, three and four best writers in Portugal.

This is due to his usage of Heteronyms. His three main and most famous heteronyms are such names as:

-Alberto Caeiro (Sensacionalist);

-Álvaro de Campos (Futurist);

-Ricardo Reis (Neo-Classic Author).

Souza, W. (no date) Heterônimos de Fernando Pessoa: quais são, estilos. Available at: https://mundoeducacao.uol.com.br/literatura/heteronimos-fernando-pessoa.htm.

I went through the very important aspect of his Heteronyms so that you could understand that shattered personality can make for a big visual aspect in this work.

An artist to back this up through his work is none other than our own Aldous Eveleigh! With an extense catalogue on his website, solely about Fernando Pessoa!

aldous and more (no date). Available at: http://www.aldouseveleigh.com/aldouss-gallery/pessoa-ngg/.

What interested me the most in these examples, straight from Aldous' own gallery, was the noticeability of the shattered, confused and eery facial features, body composition, color placement, that in my opinion demonstrate a clear intent to portray these different alter ego's present not only in Pessoa's work, but in Pessoa himself.

Another artist that needs to mentioned for this work, is Pessoa's own close friend and colleague at the time, Almada Negreiros (as mentioned on a previous post). With the nationaly known "Fernando Pessoa Portrait", that can be found in Lisbon Museum/Municipal Hall of Lisbon.

Tavares, L., Tavares, L. and Completo, V.M.P. (2023) Almada Negreiros e os retratos de Fernando Pessoa - publicado na Nova Águia 21. Available at: https://escrita-fone.blogspot.com/2018/04/almada-negreiros-e-os-retratos-de.html.

This portrait depicts Fernando Pessoa in his most natural form, exactly how you'd find him if you just so happen to run into him, cigarette in hand, writing on a Café. By his side sits the second issue of "Orpheu Magazine", the pioneer for the Modernist Movement in Portugal, made by Pessoa, Negreiros and several other partners of the time.

I also found an Artist whose paintings really caught my attention. Mic McAllister, an artist formed in Columbia College, doing Arts. Her paintings, due to their composition, give me a feeling of lack of identity, provoking feelings of existencialism in oneself, much like Aldous' work in regards to the use of color, to the odd shapes and odd construction of the figures.

And that's all for today folks! This is what I had to present to you today! Hope you enjoyed and maybe even learned a tad!

Have a good one!

[angelinaaspires]

1. my assigned art: The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai 

 

 1) This piece of art was originally created in the form of a woodblock, but is now displayed in many different forms. 

   2) The style of this piece is known as Ukiyo-e, which is a Japanese art style that typically depicts landscapes and nature.

   3) This piece is very popular still because of it's unique beauty, and historical impact on the western acceptance of Japanese art and culture.

   4) it's estimated that there were around 5000 to 8000 prints made in the beginning of its creation.

   5) The art piece is said to have inspired Claude Debussy's musical composition "La Mer".

My first reaction to seeing my assigned art piece, was immediately recognizing it. It's a well-known painting that depicts the ocean and its beauty, today this image is very popular among the younger generation. There is a lot of familiarity associated with this because many of my friends have prints of it and even tapestries. I wouldn't say the art changed for me after the first time looking at it, but I did start noticing more of his character and smaller details. The more I examined it the more I noticed the style, and emotion that carries through. 

 

2. For the second prompt (Art and Writing) I chose a very important piece of art that I have displayed in my room. It’s a print album cover of my favorite album by one of my favorite artists. The album is Stranger in The Alps by Phoebe Bridgers. The album cover is a piece of art that was created by Angela Deane who’s most popularly known for her vintage style ghost inspired photographs and artwork. In this particular piece it’s an old picture of the singer as a child with a ghost painted over her. I think the beauty in this and what originally attracted me to it is how widely perceived it can be. I personally think it represents how she felt invisible and or secluded during her childhood. The music that is in this album has a very melancholy and vulnerable sound. It’s a truly unique style of music and many of the songs feel personal to me and my own life.

3. (Writing a Self-Portrait)

1. I am 17 years old.

2. The gender I align with has always been female.

3. I was born in Maryland and lived there until the age of 8. I’ve always loved Maryland and the people there, many of my family members still live there today!

4. My ethnicity is pretty wide spread, but I’m mostly English, Northwestern European, German Scottish, and Irish. I really adore my roots and even through my family hasn’t kept any ethnic traditions alive I still enjoy exploring my culture.

5. For fun I typically spend time with my family or friends. I love the outdoors and I try to spend as much time as I can in nature. My favorite hobbies include reading books, cooking, getting creative with my makeup and drawing.

6. Sadly I’m not a member of any organized group, but I have been before, I used to be on my old schools newspaper editorial.

7. I have been working at an Italian ice shop for almost two years now called Jeremiah’s! It’s a really great job and I have many friends there.

8. I would say a defining part of my identity is my unique upbringing, I was an adopted at the age of 8 by my aunt and moved to Florida. I had a completely new home and family. The change has impacted in so many ways over the years but I’ll continue to appreciate my opportunities!

4. (Self portrait) what I am fascinated my in my daily life is how fast time flys. I have always been a really sentimental person and held onto objects or pictures that might seem unimportant to most but they hold so much importance to me. The photo I chose represents this, it’s a picture of me blowing out my 16th birthday candles at my favorite Thai restaurant. I love this photo because it’s slightly blurry and it gives nostalgic feeling. I think it represents me because of its simplicity and warm tone.

[d4rm4nd4]

How do you as an artist feel about AI generated art? I’ve seen so much of it lately on here and twitter and IG and I feel like it’s a dangerous thing.

Hey nonnie! Thanks for the nice question. Short answer is: no, I'm not worried abt it in the slightest and neither should you💜

Here comes the long answer. Please bear with me and allow me to use some irl examples. Short disclaimer: I'm in no way a market expert or career couch and this is my personal opinion and observations.

When years ago I was entering Foreign Languages faculty, all the internet gurus and influencers were screaming that learning languages as a main occupation is useless and soon machines gonna translate everything for us. Now, much time later, phrases like "did you do it with Google translate" became a swear, derogatory term among translators and related specialities.

Have automated AI translation programs became important part of the workflow now? Indeed, but they didn't manage to steal the work from real people. The results still need heavy proofreading, checking and etc, not even mentioning things like poetry that mostly needs manual translation, and person doing this job still needs to be perfectly fluent in the language. AI still haven't "conquered" the market and pushed human element out, but became an optimization tool.

Now many web designers and clout chasers saying all the artists will be left without work because of AI art, blowing things out of proportion to get more attention (surefire ways to attract people online - fear, hate, lust, cute baby animals).

Some of the AI generated results are pretty impressive. MidJourney kicks absolute butt when it comes to complicated backgrounds, Dall-E 2 perfectly gets all the keywords from request, and there's a new one - based off Octane Render that specifies on realistic lighting - coming out in New Year which I'm extremely excited about.

But the resulting pictures STILL need extra work put on top of them. It may impress people online at the very beginning as a fun toy to test each own's "artistic abilities", but companies and people with taste still would need professionals to work with those AI results same way translation market did. Because those programs cannot trick human eye yet. Our brains still can perceive repetitive patterns in those gorgeous AI backgrounds, and human faces made in My Heritage still have uncanny valley effect because they're eerily symmetrical. Or remember that Twitter drama where anime AI program drew girl with 6 fingers and poor OP didn't notice that?

AI doesn't understand emotions, symbolism, storytelling and many other important art things. Yes, it will generate catchy icons for phone apps like no problem and junior artists in big enterprises like Tencent would have to learn something else. But I don't see AI creating storyboards, comic, movie concepts, complicated portrait paintings/illustrations and animation fully without human involvement any time soon. I don't even mention complicated 3D render with textures for character concepts.

AI makes a wonderful tool to save time or do the work that you don't like to do. So I'd rather try to benefit from it. Here's an example of work made with MidJourney, it was fast and I had tons of fun. IMO the key is staying up-to-date, working on one's unique style, skills and nurturing your visual library - no AI would ever compare to a human mind 😄 sorry if answer was too detailed but I hope you found something useful in it!

Nice vid on it: