RedOrc
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I believe it is "The Streets of Ashkelon" by Harry Harrison.
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Bobnearled = Bobinder
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I believe it is "The Streets of Ashkelon" by Harry Harrison.
Thanks for that - I read it many years ago so couldn't be sure who wrote it.
A Homecoming (but not a queen)
"Cheer up, sleepy Jean.
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen?"
(from 'Daydream Believer' by The Monkees 1967)
Okay, question time. Who has featured the most in Bobnearled pics so far? Well that's obviously Alice Kiss, but who has featured in the greatest number of different Bobnearled series? The answer is Irina - she first appeared as a rough sketch in 'Seditio Sicarii 24' and reappeared in the solitary 'Seditio Sicarii 22' manip - one of my very earliest manip efforts, simply because she had no background. She featured yet again in the cold-blooded recipe of '(d archive) Circus Excavation site souvenir', as my only cut-out paper crux doll to date (has anyone tried putting this together?) At this time, having no background, as I say, she was just another anonymous rebel.
'Seditio Sicarii' was the title I used for my crux drawings series, since it had connotations of rebellion against the Romans in ancient Judaea. The Sicarii (assassins or dagger-carriers) were not only seditious but openly rebellious. It has been suggested that the name originates from a place called Iscaria, allegedly the home town of the archetypal traitor, Judas the Iscariot (history has not been kind to him.) Whatever; for obvious reasons, the Jews were forbidden to arm themselves with weapons under the Roman occupation. The Sicarii were notorious for entering garrison towns with their daggers concealed beneath their cloaks. They would contrive some public disorder to get the troops out, stab as many as they could and melt into the crowd in the resulting confusion. Little wonder that the Romans, professionally trained for open warfare, hated these perpetrators of urban guerilla-style hit-and-run attacks.
I had hoped to complete a more finished drawing of my defiant Sicaria, but she stubbornly remained a sketch, drawn from a rather poor quality reproduction of a leaping bather modelling a bikini. I thought a well-finished drawing would be my best improvement on that. But then I got into manips and overworking things in Paint, so I figured at least she might be worth some experiments. In the course of these, she body-doubled in 'Fatvm Ominosvs 1' (still a solitary production), which exploited the crux pose and the low elevation evening sunlight - the shadow on her upraised left arm is actually her nose and upper lip! I really wanted to do 'Fatvm' in sepiatone, but the grass bank is such a dense green, it would only emerge as deep red in my sepia process. No matter, the colour version gave me the opportunity to add the sunset, making sure the sun was well off stage left to make sense of the shadows! I'm still uncertain whether the title means ominous destiny or fatal omen, but they're sufficiently similar for tempting a crux fate by such nude antics in open country.
Moving from 'Fatvm Ominosvs 1' to the starring role in 'Via Appia 16' was straightforward, and I had speculated sufficiently on her personal assets to render them in Windows Paint. I was also planning the Ivdaea Capta series at the time, and with minimal material available for the launch, I used her face on the sampler poster, 'Ivdaea Capta Preview', together with Iohanna's staring eyes (I had just rushed her through Windows Paint to remove her clothes too!) 'Ivdaea Capta' (Judaea conquered) is the legend which was minted on the celebratory Roman coinage after AD 70 following Titus' successful suppression of the Jewish Popular Uprising, or 'Rebellatrix'.
In 'Ivdaea Capta 1' there was less debut than deja vu for Irina, since she was back in Judaea, crucified in front of the same cliff face where her original Seditio Sicarii sketch expired. Wanting to get the ball rolling on Ivdaea Capta, this was a quick fix for the first picture - I pretty much pasted the manip Irina over the sketched one in 'Seditio Sicarii 22'. But this confined me to the monochrome of the original. So for the second picture in the series I started from scratch and rediscovered the original cliff in colour. I put a late evening sky behind it and gave the cross a long shadow, since the lighting is by the setting sun off stage left. I was concerned that the red rock face would swamp the girl's golden sunset-illuminated skin, but on completion it complimented her better than I could have imagined. Still without Photoshop, every picture of Irina to date was produced either with a pencil or in Windows Paint, and she has starred in all my crux series except 'East of Eden'.
Back in Judaea, Irina acquired her name as a homage to the old master crucifixion paintings set on Jerusalem's Golgotha. Rather than the familiar biblical reference, I wanted a traditional 'INRI' titulus which would make sense of the period and location. So, apart from blatantly 'anagramising' her name, she became 'Irina Nata Rebellatrix Ivdaeorvm', crucified either as 'a daughter of the Jewish rebel' or for a crime 'born of the Jewish Popular Uprising', depending on how you want to translate my latin. Just an ordinary girl who seems to keep getting into extraordinary trouble - no way would she get a crown of thorns!
"Cheer up, sleepy Jean.
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen?"
(from 'Daydream Believer' by The Monkees 1967)
Okay, question time. Who has featured the most in Bobnearled pics so far? Well that's obviously Alice Kiss, but who has featured in the greatest number of different Bobnearled series? The answer is Irina - she first appeared as a rough sketch in 'Seditio Sicarii 24' and reappeared in the solitary 'Seditio Sicarii 22' manip - one of my very earliest manip efforts, simply because she had no background. She featured yet again in the cold-blooded recipe of '(d archive) Circus Excavation site souvenir', as my only cut-out paper crux doll to date (has anyone tried putting this together?) At this time, having no background, as I say, she was just another anonymous rebel.
'Seditio Sicarii' was the title I used for my crux drawings series, since it had connotations of rebellion against the Romans in ancient Judaea. The Sicarii (assassins or dagger-carriers) were not only seditious but openly rebellious. It has been suggested that the name originates from a place called Iscaria, allegedly the home town of the archetypal traitor, Judas the Iscariot (history has not been kind to him.) Whatever; for obvious reasons, the Jews were forbidden to arm themselves with weapons under the Roman occupation. The Sicarii were notorious for entering garrison towns with their daggers concealed beneath their cloaks. They would contrive some public disorder to get the troops out, stab as many as they could and melt into the crowd in the resulting confusion. Little wonder that the Romans, professionally trained for open warfare, hated these perpetrators of urban guerilla-style hit-and-run attacks.
I had hoped to complete a more finished drawing of my defiant Sicaria, but she stubbornly remained a sketch, drawn from a rather poor quality reproduction of a leaping bather modelling a bikini. I thought a well-finished drawing would be my best improvement on that. But then I got into manips and overworking things in Paint, so I figured at least she might be worth some experiments. In the course of these, she body-doubled in 'Fatvm Ominosvs 1' (still a solitary production), which exploited the crux pose and the low elevation evening sunlight - the shadow on her upraised left arm is actually her nose and upper lip! I really wanted to do 'Fatvm' in sepiatone, but the grass bank is such a dense green, it would only emerge as deep red in my sepia process. No matter, the colour version gave me the opportunity to add the sunset, making sure the sun was well off stage left to make sense of the shadows! I'm still uncertain whether the title means ominous destiny or fatal omen, but they're sufficiently similar for tempting a crux fate by such nude antics in open country.
Moving from 'Fatvm Ominosvs 1' to the starring role in 'Via Appia 16' was straightforward, and I had speculated sufficiently on her personal assets to render them in Windows Paint. I was also planning the Ivdaea Capta series at the time, and with minimal material available for the launch, I used her face on the sampler poster, 'Ivdaea Capta Preview', together with Iohanna's staring eyes (I had just rushed her through Windows Paint to remove her clothes too!) 'Ivdaea Capta' (Judaea conquered) is the legend which was minted on the celebratory Roman coinage after AD 70 following Titus' successful suppression of the Jewish Popular Uprising, or 'Rebellatrix'.
In 'Ivdaea Capta 1' there was less debut than deja vu for Irina, since she was back in Judaea, crucified in front of the same cliff face where her original Seditio Sicarii sketch expired. Wanting to get the ball rolling on Ivdaea Capta, this was a quick fix for the first picture - I pretty much pasted the manip Irina over the sketched one in 'Seditio Sicarii 22'. But this confined me to the monochrome of the original. So for the second picture in the series I started from scratch and rediscovered the original cliff in colour. I put a late evening sky behind it and gave the cross a long shadow, since the lighting is by the setting sun off stage left. I was concerned that the red rock face would swamp the girl's golden sunset-illuminated skin, but on completion it complimented her better than I could have imagined. Still without Photoshop, every picture of Irina to date was produced either with a pencil or in Windows Paint, and she has starred in all my crux series except 'East of Eden'.
Back in Judaea, Irina acquired her name as a homage to the old master crucifixion paintings set on Jerusalem's Golgotha. Rather than the familiar biblical reference, I wanted a traditional 'INRI' titulus which would make sense of the period and location. So, apart from blatantly 'anagramising' her name, she became 'Irina Nata Rebellatrix Ivdaeorvm', crucified either as 'a daughter of the Jewish rebel' or for a crime 'born of the Jewish Popular Uprising', depending on how you want to translate my latin. Just an ordinary girl who seems to keep getting into extraordinary trouble - no way would she get a crown of thorns!
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I would have never thought that 38 years after Kate Bush released her 'Lionheart' album, I would be seeing it referenced on a crux forum
Very impressive BATS artwork bobinder, I really like your drawing of 'Twins of Evil'. I think you nailed the crux of it.
I much prefer your drawing to the stills, yours is much more erotic.
Thank you. Hammer obviously superimposed the flames and the actress was performing without them. Consequently her skirts are not lifting in the heat, so I decided to rectify that! Kate Bush is a brilliant avant garde artiste and one of the few to be crucified on her own record sleeves!
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Okay you beat me to it (think I've just posted the same images!) I think it was a brave pose by a teenage star on a debut album. Zep are equally brilliant. I usually have something from the seventies playing in the background whilst I'm creating my crux pieces! Surely it can't be that long ago?
A more recent discovery is Kate Bush's crucifixion poem from her school days. Interesting what impact a convent education can have on one's formative years...
The Crucifixion.
He is pushed forward from the steps.
Glistening eyes glare from around at the dropping figure.
Silence ceases and murmers gather quickly like the grabbing of a hand.
Guilty onlookers hide their eyes from the shame that they know and forbid to reveal.
Slowly the dimness falls.
The man weeps and his forsaken tears fall,
Slipping down the trembling and battered body onto the dust.
He collapses down onto the ground.
His head bruises past the stones, scarring his tear-stained face.
He staggers to his feet, groping toward his fate.
Sharply iron pierces flesh, and the shape is raised on the hill.
Stillness overcomes the cheering spectators,
And the mocked and pride-broken lead turns in outcry.
The people form and run down the hill.
With a last glance at his betrayers
He dissolves into a limp, dumb body,
As the blood-red sun sinks into the skull of a dead man.
- Catherine Bush, (aged eleven-twelve, Form I, 1969-70)
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I suspect only my history teacher realised the value of gory details in capturing the attention of young students. The other teachers overlooked the fact that kids can't get enough of this stuff!She should be on CruxForums! Well, perhaps she is?
I was about that age when our teacher (not actually in convent school)
spent several lessons giving us a blow by blow account of the process of crucifixion -
it certainly got my young imagination racing!
"It's me-oh, Cathy-oh, come home-ah!"
(From 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush 1978)
This is not a celebrity - it's just a co-incidence. These early etudes have never been seen before. They date from the time of the 'Seditio Sicarii' series but were not developed as part of it, although I did have a Japanese-themed Haritsuke series in mind. Maybe I'll go back to it one day. Meanwhile, a forum exclusive!
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Hondoboot2
QUAESTOR PULCHRITUDINIS
Thanks for the forum exclusive Bobinder! Membership has it's rewards
She does look like a certain celebrity
Bob, you have made me a very happy man.
Wonderful!
Entirely by co-incidence of course.
To quote the lady herself
"Hey wish that was me up there"
and
"But it seemed to me the saddest thing I'd ever seen
And I thought you were crazy wishing such a thing"
Thought you might like those!Bob, you have made me a very happy man.
Wonderful!
Entirely by co-incidence of course.
To quote the lady herself
"Hey wish that was me up there"
and
"But it seemed to me the saddest thing I'd ever seen
And I thought you were crazy wishing such a thing"
Diptych, Triptych, Quadriptych...
"Here the soil is barren.
Here, nothing grows
But crosses.
They, know not what they do.
You, your forgiveness
Falls as dew.
Nailed upon a wooden frame,
Twisted yet unbroken,
Open mouthed, a silent choir
Understood, unspoken."
(from 'Triptych' by Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music 1974)
In common with many contemporary musicians, Bryan Ferry has a background in the visual arts. This unusual but atmospheric Roxy Music song describes a remarkably bleak and forbidding crucifixion altarpiece - or three pieces, since a triptych was frequently designed with the wing pictures hinged on either side, to close upon the central image in the form of double doors. Three pictures in one, very trinity-orientated, but conveniently providing a separate panel for each of the three crucified figures on Golgotha. Now there's an idea, I thought, whereby I could concentrate my painting on the main figures and omit the less interesting intervening space whilst making them all appear to belong to the same group and scene.
I tended to paint individual figures on A4 in order to complete the pictures swiftly, without the danger of leaving the work half finished. This involved working in fine detail, sometimes to miniature standards. If I wanted to portray a multiple crucifixion, I would have to think about a much larger painting, but that would mean spending a disproportionate amount of time on large areas of sky and landscape. Skies are subtle things to paint convincingly and very unforgiving during attempts to overpaint them whilst making corrections. The traditional triptych formula for crucifixions seemed to provide a solution allowing me to paint each figure on A4. whilst providing a background which merely appeared to continue from one picture to the next.
The component pictures of '(b archive) East of Eden 3 - 6 Quadriptych' work individually as well as in a group. Why stop at three? It became a quadriptych because I produced four pictures. At the time, I was filing them in a display book, so it made sense to have an even number to display on opposing pages. '(b archive) East of Eden 9-10 Diptych' was less ambitious, consisting of just two images, but the principle is the same. In theory I could extend a group crucifixion to as many pictures as I desired. The simple reason for not applying this principle to manipulations is that I can make a prepared background as extensive as required, and corrections are no problem.
Having said that, because I wanted a panoramic background for the triple crucifixion of 'Via Appia 12', I photographed the landscape in three sections to be blended together digitally in Paint. The sky was an unrelieved grey, and I wanted something more atmospheric. So I pointed my camera in the opposite direction and photographed the evening sky in two sections which I joined. I then cut the background tree line into further sections which I pasted over the new sky. Admittedly it took hours blending the tree line into the sky, but the whole picture took weeks since it was all done in Windows Paint. I drew each of several hundred airborne flies individually to heighten the oppressive atmosphere, and that took several more days. I shall reserve discussion of the figures for a future installment, but as a first attempt at a large triple crucifixion without resorting to the triptych formula, I am very pleased with the result. Nevertheless it was labour intensive and I have avoided insects in subsequent pictures!
"Here the soil is barren.
Here, nothing grows
But crosses.
They, know not what they do.
You, your forgiveness
Falls as dew.
Nailed upon a wooden frame,
Twisted yet unbroken,
Open mouthed, a silent choir
Understood, unspoken."
(from 'Triptych' by Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music 1974)
In common with many contemporary musicians, Bryan Ferry has a background in the visual arts. This unusual but atmospheric Roxy Music song describes a remarkably bleak and forbidding crucifixion altarpiece - or three pieces, since a triptych was frequently designed with the wing pictures hinged on either side, to close upon the central image in the form of double doors. Three pictures in one, very trinity-orientated, but conveniently providing a separate panel for each of the three crucified figures on Golgotha. Now there's an idea, I thought, whereby I could concentrate my painting on the main figures and omit the less interesting intervening space whilst making them all appear to belong to the same group and scene.
I tended to paint individual figures on A4 in order to complete the pictures swiftly, without the danger of leaving the work half finished. This involved working in fine detail, sometimes to miniature standards. If I wanted to portray a multiple crucifixion, I would have to think about a much larger painting, but that would mean spending a disproportionate amount of time on large areas of sky and landscape. Skies are subtle things to paint convincingly and very unforgiving during attempts to overpaint them whilst making corrections. The traditional triptych formula for crucifixions seemed to provide a solution allowing me to paint each figure on A4. whilst providing a background which merely appeared to continue from one picture to the next.
The component pictures of '(b archive) East of Eden 3 - 6 Quadriptych' work individually as well as in a group. Why stop at three? It became a quadriptych because I produced four pictures. At the time, I was filing them in a display book, so it made sense to have an even number to display on opposing pages. '(b archive) East of Eden 9-10 Diptych' was less ambitious, consisting of just two images, but the principle is the same. In theory I could extend a group crucifixion to as many pictures as I desired. The simple reason for not applying this principle to manipulations is that I can make a prepared background as extensive as required, and corrections are no problem.
Having said that, because I wanted a panoramic background for the triple crucifixion of 'Via Appia 12', I photographed the landscape in three sections to be blended together digitally in Paint. The sky was an unrelieved grey, and I wanted something more atmospheric. So I pointed my camera in the opposite direction and photographed the evening sky in two sections which I joined. I then cut the background tree line into further sections which I pasted over the new sky. Admittedly it took hours blending the tree line into the sky, but the whole picture took weeks since it was all done in Windows Paint. I drew each of several hundred airborne flies individually to heighten the oppressive atmosphere, and that took several more days. I shall reserve discussion of the figures for a future installment, but as a first attempt at a large triple crucifixion without resorting to the triptych formula, I am very pleased with the result. Nevertheless it was labour intensive and I have avoided insects in subsequent pictures!
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Always happy to oblige. Glad you like her.Thanks for the forum exclusive Bobinder! Membership has it's rewards
She does look like a certain celebrity
Thessela
Beloved slavegirl
These are wonderful Bob.
I have to say though, the flies, that's what computers are for! Repetitive tasks!
I applaud the level of detail and I do like your work. Maybe it's just me
I may borrow those posts sometime, too.
Well dear Thess, I may be able to oblige if I can find some time (and surely I can find some time for you!)
Do you prefer centre stage or in the wings?
Thanks. Admittedly I did copy and paste a very few flies but they just looked identical and I knew it was too easy an option. Consequently I did the majority individually - I'd already put so much into the picture, I felt it was worth the extra effort. Of course I can now re-use them in future pics via Photoshop! Please feel free to use the execution site whilst it's unoccupied - I'll look forward to seeing whoever goes up...These are wonderful Bob.
I have to say though, the flies, that's what computers are for! Repetitive tasks!
I applaud the level of detail and I do like your work. Maybe it's just me
I may borrow those posts sometime, too.
Well dear Thess, I may be able to oblige if I can find some time (and surely I can find some time for you!)
Crucified - TWICE!
If Lady Bracknell from Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Ernest' was to comment, she might say, "To find oneself crucified once might be considered unfortunate, but to be crucified twice must surely be attributed to carelessness!"
It happens. Sometimes I try out a new background with one of my existing models, or I return to an earlier version which wasn't working successfully in its original form. Either way, the model gets crucified twice, sometimes more. Actually I've lost count of the number of times I've nailed Alice up, but she's such a good sport and does it so well.
Iasmina's crux debut was in 'Via Appia 13' but her origins go back to a less successful experiment, which I eventually refined as 'visual impact test 1' for a contrast study between a crux and skeletal remains. The original experiment used the 'impact' background but the form of the figure was unsatisfactory, particularly the shoulders, which later I raised and reworked with increased stretch and tension.
'Via Appia 13' was produced entirely in Paint with a different background. The relatively even lighting of the figure was conducive to an afterglow sky, and having captured a suitable one on camera, I blended the dark tree line into it just above the horizon. Dramatic skies like this are instantly atmospheric and work if the lighting of the figure is sympathetic. One aspect of the picture which has received much favourable comment is the gloss of perspiration on the skin. This was all applied manually in Windows Paint, depending on what my imagination considered appropriate, using the same technique as in 'Via Appia 12'. It is a laborious and time-consuming process, but the results are probably worth it. Imaginative it might be, but it seems to work on some level and I am quite pleased with the overall effect.
Having revisited the original for 'visual imapct test 1', I decided to isolate the figure in a small area of the desert background and refine a larger version for 'Ivdaea Capta 17'. This was completed recently in Photoshop, this time exploiting another of those atmospheric afterglows blended to the horizon. The lighting is more dramatic with low elevation sunlight striking the distant hills, between a relatively dark sky and a foreground in shadow (which obviates the need to apply direct lighting effects to the figure on the cross.)
And so Iasmina joins Irina in having made the transition from 'Via Appia' to 'Ivdaea Capta'. It was pleasing to rescue the original concept in addition to the Via Appia version, although it is questionable whether I would have bothered had I still been without Photoshop. I may yet do a perspiring version of 'Ivdaea Capta 17' - simple enough using the 'Via Appia 13' surface treatment in Photoshop. Meanwhile, Iasmina represents the first Asian appearance in either series, and I am assuming that with Judaea open to international trade during the Roman occupation, exotic slaves would begin to make an entrance, as well as the more dramatic exits displayed in my pictures!
If Lady Bracknell from Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Ernest' was to comment, she might say, "To find oneself crucified once might be considered unfortunate, but to be crucified twice must surely be attributed to carelessness!"
It happens. Sometimes I try out a new background with one of my existing models, or I return to an earlier version which wasn't working successfully in its original form. Either way, the model gets crucified twice, sometimes more. Actually I've lost count of the number of times I've nailed Alice up, but she's such a good sport and does it so well.
Iasmina's crux debut was in 'Via Appia 13' but her origins go back to a less successful experiment, which I eventually refined as 'visual impact test 1' for a contrast study between a crux and skeletal remains. The original experiment used the 'impact' background but the form of the figure was unsatisfactory, particularly the shoulders, which later I raised and reworked with increased stretch and tension.
'Via Appia 13' was produced entirely in Paint with a different background. The relatively even lighting of the figure was conducive to an afterglow sky, and having captured a suitable one on camera, I blended the dark tree line into it just above the horizon. Dramatic skies like this are instantly atmospheric and work if the lighting of the figure is sympathetic. One aspect of the picture which has received much favourable comment is the gloss of perspiration on the skin. This was all applied manually in Windows Paint, depending on what my imagination considered appropriate, using the same technique as in 'Via Appia 12'. It is a laborious and time-consuming process, but the results are probably worth it. Imaginative it might be, but it seems to work on some level and I am quite pleased with the overall effect.
Having revisited the original for 'visual imapct test 1', I decided to isolate the figure in a small area of the desert background and refine a larger version for 'Ivdaea Capta 17'. This was completed recently in Photoshop, this time exploiting another of those atmospheric afterglows blended to the horizon. The lighting is more dramatic with low elevation sunlight striking the distant hills, between a relatively dark sky and a foreground in shadow (which obviates the need to apply direct lighting effects to the figure on the cross.)
And so Iasmina joins Irina in having made the transition from 'Via Appia' to 'Ivdaea Capta'. It was pleasing to rescue the original concept in addition to the Via Appia version, although it is questionable whether I would have bothered had I still been without Photoshop. I may yet do a perspiring version of 'Ivdaea Capta 17' - simple enough using the 'Via Appia 13' surface treatment in Photoshop. Meanwhile, Iasmina represents the first Asian appearance in either series, and I am assuming that with Judaea open to international trade during the Roman occupation, exotic slaves would begin to make an entrance, as well as the more dramatic exits displayed in my pictures!
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Lovely. Exquisitely so!