Random Musing No. 1

The human eye has a range of 120°, mostly peripheral vision, compared to the camera’s typical 200° or more. That is why the figures sometimes seem distorted at the edges of a photograph. We make up for this seeming deficit by moving our focus (in movements called “saccades”) around a scene to build up a gestalt awareness of its appearance.

A painting, curated by human intelligence, is superior in every respect to a photograph, except for how long it takes to make it. If cameras took three hours to create the exact same image as they do now in a split second, there would be no question as to which medium people would choose when they needed an image recorded.

Old Painting

Going through my garage looking for Halloween-appropriate art, I came across this rather large (for me) oil on linen.

They are, clockwise, starting from the horse, a horse (maybe a mule–no way to tell without the lower jaw), a gorilla (sadly, plaster, the only fake item in my collection; I woud kill for a real gorilla skull), human (I have the rest of the skeleton in the garage), baboon, cheetah (I’m definitely not supposed to have that; I could tell you how I got it, but then I’d have to kill you), klipspringer (a small antelope), and a daffodil to take the edge off.

Camel Skull

24″ x 36″ oil painting. I took photos of it as the painting progressed.

 

This was my annual birthday present to myself. Interestingly, the lower jaw was broken when I received the piece, so I took pictures and wrote the following email to the supplier:

Hi,

I received my skull and while I am overall very pleased with it, I was disappointed to discover that the lower jaw was broken in transit (see attached photos). I repaired it with Crazy Glue, but you should be aware that there was a problem with packing/shipping. If you want to make it up to me, a free ostrich egg would assuage my feelings.

Best,

Marc Clamage

The seller wrote back,

What kind of ostrich egg are you referring to?

I answered,

Oh, you know, one of your 5-6 inch $15 ostrich eggs–can I guilt you into sending me one?

Two days later a package came in the mail. Result:

I should have asked for a stand.

A Couple of New Watercolors

Oil Cans

Honorable Mention