(Edited on September 2, 2008, 12:31 pm)

Really great drawing!

Awesome, emi! You can paint anything and make it looks special!! ..and , ooh, yesss, I've seen this dog, also. I don't know about General Patton's dog, but I have see this breed. Great work. :)

This is so cool emigre! Yes, I would agree with George in that this is a bull terrier for sure. You did an excellent job capturing this one.

Awesome draw Emi :D I love the way you've accented the muscles with different tones here, and the reflection on the floor is great too :D Excellent draw! :D WOOHOO! :D

My grandad had a bull terrier just like this when i was a lil kid, i used to vsit his farm every week and it was a vicious little thing used to nip your ankles and chew your wellington boots.His name was jip and it used to have a big round stone ball it used to roll about in the kitchen, and if you didnt roll it for him to fetch he would get grumpy and start barking

"Wow"! This is a great picture! That is definitely a "bull terrier". He looks like the dog that played in a movie about two dogs and a cat, who got lost hundreds of miles away from their home....and they had to find their way back home. It was a great movie....and they all made it back home safe and sound!!

He looks like General Patton's dog! Good job!

Bull terrier yes :) and no i have no dog :) i even think those are a bit scarry ;) merci all :)

This is a wonderful drawing. The coloring and shading throughout showing the dogs muscular portions to it's body is my fav. part of this. The stance too. And the reflection as it stands on the ground is really a nice technique. Beautiful!

spuds! he is missing his black eye. very nice, love the reflection, great draw emi.

Awesome looking dog. I was asked not to long ago to draw one of these. They are interesting looking to say the least.

my sister looked like this.

She's beautiful. wow.

Wow is right. What a beautiful girl. And an amazing piece of art by you Grace. Perfection. Not a flaw anywhere.

Most amazing! A masterpiece indeed!

Wow, that is lovely. Great work.

this is very stunning. I like the close view and the soft shading. Her eyes are memorizing. Have not visited in a long time, looks like there is a little bit more activity here, which is great.

Thanks, Gillie. Nice to see you dropping by. I had been trying to draw again then summer came and I'm too busy gardening. Have you been drawing anywhere? Do one! I went through the studios and just sort of randomly bumped stuff to the top that I liked. A lot of them were yours.

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Very cool and I love the angle for this painting as well. You do so well with these types of perspectives. Great work!

Fantastic as always Ems .. Your so clever with the angles in your work :)

Wow, nice and large painting and great perspective. Awesomely done!

You are without a doubt, the "Queen of Interesting Perspectives"!!!! :D Fantastic drawing Emi, he looks like he is 100ft tall!!!! Don't ask me how many meters that would be ;) I hope at least that he is a Red Sox fan?? I'm always surprised and subsequently astounded by your draws on here Emi, keep us guessing as to what you'll do next! :D

"Wow"!! This is a very "cool" draw.....I like the angle that you drew of him. That would be very difficult to do...and you did a great job with this!!

Dang, this view is awesome, wow! I love the way we are looking upward. And to think you did it in this time is amazing. The eyes, the way you have them looking outward in the field is my favorite part other then this view from down under. Amazing work on this, love it!

I'll ignore the Red Sox ;P comment and just say SUPER! Awesome coloration, too! ;)

Merci :)

This is great. It looks almost retro. The angle that you did this in is fantastic. Really nice work!

I haven't drawn in awhile.. Lost interest on this pretty quickly though.. Oh well .. Better luck next time.

It's sweet...and nice to run into you again. :)

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Oh good. Now there are at least two of us at work to get Sunny to believe what a special vision and imagination she has. The posture of this figure screams things to me: The tension in her shoulders says 'confusion, insecurity, anxiety'. The loose, relaxed position of her legs and hips says 'self acceptance, confidence, well-being'. This seems to incorporate, in a physical sense, what it's like to be a young, female human; difficult and confusing and wonderful and exciting. To me, the crow represents the ever-present spectre of mortality and death over youth and beauty.

YIIIIKES!! You see!! ^^ You got ALL THAT out of this!!?..the voices of experience! This is what happens when I draw out of myself, i try not, but they become pieces of me, even though they, it, them, those, that, whatever the case may be, is nothing like me, it's still a personal piece! ARG!!..Thank you for everything you two had to say. It's all, for the most part, spot on and that is damn scary! The original title for this was The Maker of Regular Confusion..but I changed it because I thought it too clairvoyant. >< The end. ^^

Ok, I'm seeing a girl finding pleasure with herself and the crow representing her imagination flying away with thoughts of her excitement. Maybe that isn't what this is, but that is what I see. I've looked at this a few times before commenting. I thought, maybe I'm not seeing what this is supposed to be, but keep seeing the same thing. Whatever it represents, it is lovely. I love her face, eyes and lips and the black dress with the beads draping down are very nice here. Love the strap of her dress falling down her shoulder too.

It wasn't really meant for you to see anything in particular, other than maybe an abstract thought. LOL! or not so abstract!
Art IS about emotional response, right?

lol! That was great, REE.

(Edited on July 10, 2010, 2:40 pm)

I dont think horsefeather would copy your style if it was rubbish. Your draws are like a comfy pair of slippers to me , i dont really comment about my slippers much but i do enjoy wearing them :p

Wellll.. wadda.. know. hmmmm, comfy slippers, i have to give it to ya, never heard THAT before... and I think I see..YUP! There's a warm fuzzy in there somewhere. Maybe sometime, you'll shuffle over to something I draw and say hey. ;)

Great one Suntan.

I forgot that I drew this. hmmmm..

I've just been going through the studios and randomly bumping stuff to the top when I see something I really like. Hope you don't mind.

It's so lonesome in the saddle since my horse died.

this is GD outrageous. i love it.

:-) thanks. It's a manifestation of some grief I was feeling. Drawing is good for getting through rough patches.

Your drawing style has always intrigued me Grace. You can pull off this loose style and have it say so much and yet you can create a masterpiece full of detail and do it better than anyone I have ever known. I love the look on his face, I wouldn't cross his path. LOL

marvelous, from the thumb, i thought it looked like martin landau, but in its larger version, not so much. It is so loose and free, I like this a lot.

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That's beautiful! I love how the background conveys motion!

Thanks, Grafight. I did a fairly quick drawing of the birds. I would so like to have that ability to draw with quick, calligraphic, sumi ink strokes. But, let's face it, I don't practice enough. Then I played with the background for a long time to get it to look the way I wanted. Painted a detailed forest but found it too distracting. I'm so pleased you noticed the aspect of movement because that's what I was trying for.

Just flat out gorgeous.

I keep drawing all these figures confined to a box. I wonder what that's all about...

May be a seasonal thing, idk, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of tension, weariness perhaps?..she looks resigned to the fact that she is contained for now. Awesome.

I never thought of seasonal...but considering the winter we've had, ya know...mayBE.

It does make sense that it could be a seasonal feeling. Actually I feel this way quite often since the onset of my hubby's illness. We now do IV treatments at home along with everything else. So I am confined to the house right along with him. Hey...maybe I was a Ballet dancer in my former life. That would explain all my aches and pains. :) (Edited on June 4, 2010, 3:00 pm)

I'm sorry to hear you and your husband are still struggling with his illness, Kute. When I was drawing this I was thinking of a dancer who is contemplating the toll that dance has taken on her body as she ages. I think ballet is especially hard on dancers.

Yes, Kute..so sorry to hear. It has been a long time now for you both. I hope things can improve for you both.

Well, she is dressed in leotard and tights..I've read of some dancers who have had to face hip and knee surgeries/replacements. Much do to the continuous rotation of the joint but also for hyper-extension of the legs..some have had tendons severed to enhance that very high, long extension. Hence, when their career is over (or before) it's time to pay up. I'll wager a bet, for most of them, it was all worth it.

GOLDEN GINKGO AWARD for w/e Dec 8, 2007. Congratulations!

I did not name it..it is not mine but an image borrowed from a fashion class...That it looks nothing like, I might add. lol. In the picture i have, the woman is soft, has a sophisticated air about her, and beautiful. hmmm..may go to the vast waste land of many before her..I'll have to see. ha! :)

This is reaaaallly gorgeous. I think my favorite of yours!

When I saw the thumbnail on the Portal page I tried to guess who did this and couldn't. I thought maybe Bakenius but I know he's away in Prague until the 30th (which is why the Golden Ginkgo Award will be late this week. I told him we'd wait for him to return to pick one.) To me it's like a character from one of those exquisitely costumed British period piece productions-Masterpiece Theatre or a Merchant Ivory film. She looks like a tragic 1920's heroine--maybe from a Henry James story or Edith Wharton. And she's got Grace Kelly magical golden hair, too. Love it all.

i'd pick this as a GGA

OH YOU GUYS!! =D Flattery will get you everywhere!!...or at the very least not a victim of the delete button. hehee.

Seriously, thank you very very much. It such fun to see all your individual thoughts about her. My thought is..of course.. there is plenty i am not happy with. (am I EVER going to be happy about my work???!) I mean look at her neck! Last weekend I watched "MODIGLIANI" with Andy Garcia and I am not over it. Please see it if you can, it's so good. Beautiful, dark, sad (crying!!)...and somehow, I ended up with such a long neck on this. hmmm, i wonder why.

I have my movie finder expert on the lookout for that movie, Suntan, since you mentioned it before. Sounds like something I'd really enjoy, too. Thanks for the heads up.

There is something so special about this picture. It works, as an entire composition, there are elements of it that are technically masterful and places where I think I can see that you were struggling with it. But something transcends the technical aspects and just shines out of it. Congratulations, Suntan. I'm so glad Swan 'broke the rules' to draw attention to this picture and give it the credit it deserves. (yes, I know it was not drawn during last week but I decided to make an exception here. I don't think it's even written anywhere, is it? that the GGA must come from the previous week only, although that has been the tradition. I think that I'd like, in general for that to be what we do for picking the GGA but I also think that if someone wants to honour an earlier work of art that's okay with me. Anyone have thoughts on this?)

I agree, Grace. I've seen excellent pieces of art go by that I thought should have gotten more recognition, because a different one was chosen that week. (I didn't realize i chose outside of my week, incidentally)

No need to feel badly at all, Suzie. I've always asked people to pick from between certain dates as well and would have reminded Swan except that we went away for a couple days on a whim and I didn't get a chance to address it. There isn't really an archive section, as such. It's just that when we, as admin, mark a picture as archived, the site programming doesn't automatically delete it. This site is programmed to delete work after it reaches a certain number (I think it's 1000 pictures) UNLESS it is marked 'archived'. I think we have enough voting with the Jam contest. And the percentage of our membership who bother with that (maybe 10% ?) is so small that I don't think it merits asking Noel to do another big chunk of programming. I know I have been remiss about archiving--I forget all about it sometimes. If anyone wants a picture of theirs or someone else's to be in the permanent Ginkgo Collection I am happy to mark it archived. Just ask in the comments.

OOooOOMY!! ...and OOooGosh!! lol...First, thank you, swan, for picking this piece for the GGA! I was delighted and so surprised. I worked myself on this one, I think you can tell, even if not from the piece itself, but also from my time spent on it. As you all know, (i think) I'm not one that is able to spend a hunk of time on a work...it's my patience, you know, as well as my skill level. All is a struggle. So I'm VERY grateful for the recognition from swan and you all. Thank you again, swan. Your explanation of why you chose this was very appreciated. I gained much from reading your reasons. I wish I could find this piece from the original artist and show you just how lovely it REALLY is. I've given the handout back to the art teacher and who knows what hands have it now....those fashion drawing classes have many students in them and it could be on a collage somewhere...but I will try. :)

Secondly, let me say, that should there be further discussion between the admins and the admins decide that swan should go back and choose within the time frame, I would in no way be upset...on the contrary, I would understand fully. Just as I understand, Suzie, that your feelings do not reflect on this piece of work of mine. :)

That all said, this, too, will be figured out...and in the end, I will remain very happy. Thank you. :D

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As always, the hair is great Sun. The contrast between the bright warmth of the hair and the cool pale of the skin is nice too. I hope that a little time in the sun will give her skin a little warmer tone to it! I see she has some color on her bottom lip, so I guess there is hope yet! ;)

It makes me think of maybe Tahitian olive-coloured skin tones in the shade so that the colour looks desaturated. And I love how it looks like a brilliant ray of sun is hitting the top of her head, the angle and cropping but my favourite thing is that wonderful, internal happiness in her smile. The way that vivid orange is slightly edged with yellow is so yummy.

Thanks to you both! The hair actually started out as a sun with reds, oranges and yellow rays, but as I went, my mind wandered and ended up here. I'm not thrilled with the more shadowed side of the face, but I couldn't get it and played enough for this time.

See you soon! :)

She is so pretty, I love her green skin and hair is out of this world. I love it too. Makes me almost wish I was green.

Thanks, Kute :)

Wow Sun, this has so much going on. I think my favourite part of this is the tips of the hair over her right eye and then the shadows (either the eyelashes or shadows from the hair) on her right eye. I also think you did anawesome job on the tip of the nose, so cute!

The shading is top notch work! Love the firey light effect of her air.

Thanks very much, gillie and Jester!...and Jester, great seeing you here! Hope to see you drawing sometime soon! :)