Point of Exquisite Suspension

Thoughts & life experiences of a Chicago area graphic artist

02 December 2023

Perspective Drawing Techniques

 Using elastic band and other ways to depict perspective:



21 November 2023

Hal Jordan Green Lantern Cameo in Daffy Duck Feature

 

 

This is a stub that I hope to expand later.



16 November 2023

Dog Thorsday Tribute

 

My dad's hunting dog Thor circa 1967

Thor and I. I didn't hunt with Thor but I gave him his daily meals.

Thor, a Blue Tick Coon Hound was one of my dad's hunting dogs that I helped feed and care for. I never saw him in action but my dad said he was a good hunting partner.


11 November 2023

Epic Pokemon Battle for the Ages

 

This post will embed mentions of the penultimate Pokemon battle
that earned Trainer Ash Ketchum his World Champion title.






10 November 2023

Marvels Movie Mini Musings

 

Terrific Triad of Tremendous Temerity

Please forgive my waxing alliteratively at the outset of my movie notes for Marvels. I'll stop for now. But I can easily say the film earns my praise for its themes of collaboration, inclusivity and creative, well-placed levity.

And I also loved Goose, the non-cat, who was quite the scene stealer. I found it easy to suspend disbelief and snarky criticism to just enjoy the ride. It strove for emotional connections, reconciliation and restoration. These are not popular goals these days. I believe Marvels will stand the test of time and become a classic.


Marvel's Three Muses

Reports on ticket sales are a bit lackluster for Marvels. However it still was in the top spot for its opening day.

I agree with social media posts like this one:



03 November 2023

Transcendent Value

 


Have you ever thought about how the actual simple wooden chair in the painting above by Vincent Van Gogh was probably worth just a few dollars while his painting would easily command a bid at auction in the millions of dollars?

Granted, in today's dollars a simple wooden chair with a woven seat would not be super cheap if bought new  (on Amazon).

And a small-print copy of the painting is worth around $180.

Still, it's small change compared to the millions of bucks an original painting of that chair by Vincent Van Gogh or even another celebrated artist would fetch in an auction house.

This “exchange” says a lot about the transcendence of conscious perception and its awareness of the beauty of simple things --not to mention the value that awareness has in our lives.



02 November 2023

Musk the Raging Choker

 


My caricature of Billionaire Social Media Despoiler Elon Musk is in response to an incisive article in The Atlantic about the ruination of once-respectable-and-useful Twitter.

Some excellent excerpts include:

“I used to go on Twitter, laugh at the posts that flowed across my feed, and think about how I was watching the logic of the free market at work. The idea that the most hilarious posts were generally getting the most likes and retweets—even though I knew there were algorithms at play—struck me as democratic and sort of nice. Now the logic of the market has given way to the logic of Musk.”

And:

By many measures, X has shrunk in influence and value under Musk’s leadership. The site is hemorrhaging users: Although Musk has tried hard to increase engagement on his own tweets, The Washington Post reported that 30 percent fewer people are now actively posting to the site. Musk bought the company—which had been public since 2013—for $44 billion. According to The New York Times, stock grants that the company handed out on Monday indicated that it is worth closer to $19 billion now. Musk himself said a few months ago that ad revenue was down 50 percent.”

There is a paywall to the article. But plenty of other sources cite Musks utter failure to maintain all that was good about the now hollowed-out platform.