Sincerity

The fourth Wednesday of every month we have a meeting at work where all the partners and employees eat doughnuts or pies made by the owner's wife and discuss a topic as chosen by Character First, an Oklahoma-based organization which publishes literature on various character qualities. They have so far found sixty character traits that are commendable; tomorrow's topic is Sincerity. I am the chosen speaker.

In researching the etymology of the word (one of my favorite ways of finding out what a word means), I found that the word in Latin is translated "without wax." The popular origin of the word is that Roman potters began selling faulty pottery with the blemishes carefully hidden by wax and paint; when heated, the wax melted and the contents would leak out. Potters of higher talent began marketing their pottery as sine cere or "without wax." Wikipedia tells me that this story is false, but rather sincere is derived from the Latin sincerus meaning clean, pure, sound; Amy's Oxford Dictionary agrees. Either way, the meaning is essentially the same: to be without disguise; to be in reality as in appearance. An antonym of sincerity is hypocrisy, which has Greek origins of "play-acting" and more specifically in reference to a successful actor (which was not an admirable occupation) named Aeschines who became a politician. Ha. Aristotle said that sincerity is the ground between self-depreciation and boastfulness.

Can someone be sincere? True sincerity insinuates that someone is without fault, but rather shows 100% excellence in every aspect. In a world where human nature is inherently good, sincerity is within reach. However, in the Christian world of an evil human nature, true sincerity is a mere construct (ideal). This leads me to believe that someone bearing the label of "a sincere person" (as we use it) is an approximation, a near-bull's eye. Whether that label is self-inflicted or uttered in observation by another determines whether said label is hypocritical or a compliment of epic proportions. Either way, it is a burden.

In every way, sincerity is a virtue necessary for permanent success. Any small amount of play-acting (hypocrisy) negates whatever amount of sincerity we possess, just as Amy's injera fermented with just a morsel of yeast. In the context of a rich man entering heaven through the eye of a needle, it may be easier to purge dough of yeast after it has risen than it is to purge one's reputation of hypocrisy.

Horton said it best: "I said what I meant, and I meant what I said." Regardless of potential harm to himself, he hatched the egg and later got that speck with the colony of Whos safely up to Mount Nool. Sincerity in the purest definition may or may not be within reach, but without question the ideal behind the word is: to do what is right, irregardless of what is best for self.

Lasagna!

One of my favorite dishes from my childhood was lasagna. I think a large part of the reason for that was Garfield's obsession with it. I always loved cartoons; since I liked food and Garfield liked lasagna, I decided to like lasagna too. Mom never did appreciate it too much when I called lasagna "cat food", even as I devoured platefulls of the stuff. My hunger for lasagna has never diminished.

Clouded Leopard Continued...

Here's the next step in the process. There was about four hours worth of work between this photo and the last one that was taken. All that consisted of was patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) marking each visible hair with a single brush stroke. This however, is my favorite part of completing any painting. It's the work of detail that is the most enjoyable as the image begins to slowly take on the look of the finished product.

Evolution of a Clouded Leopard

Since I've humoured you all in the past with photos of my paintings/drawings in their various states of completion, I thought some of you might appreciate seeing a W.I.P. (Work In Progress). This whole exercise might in fact, prove to be completely boring to the rest of you, but I enjoy seeing the steps through which other artists take to complete their work, so maybe you will too. Rest assured, the evolution of this painting is far from smooth; my lack of experience seems so painfully evident every time I have to scrub over what I've already done. But you should be able to get the idea.

This is Felis Nebulosa, commonly known as the Clouded Leopard, native to Southeast Asia. For a little background info, its name is a reference to the shape of its spots, which are dark-edged ellipses that allegedly resemble clouds. It's highly arboreal; almost squirrel-like in its ability to maneuver through the trees, and although it's a bit of a light-weight (averaging 33 to 50 lb) in relation to it's body size it has the longest canine teeth of any living feline. In other words, I think it's pretty cool.

In the first step, I laid down a basic sketch of the reference photo on my board (I'm not using canvas for this one because I don't like its "tooth", the woven texture does not lend itself too well to the detail I try to accomplish).

The second step was to block out all my negative space. I decided to put the cat against a completely dark background to emphasise its secretive nature. I also painted in the darkest areas that would later define the cat's spots.

Now for some color. This is where things become really interesting, and really frustrating for me. I'm terrible at mixing color!! It's not that I can't tell when shades match, rather it's that I don't know how to make 2 + 2 = 4. So the tones of the whole thing look altogether "off" from the reference photo. Hopefully the class I plan on taking this summer will help to remedy my problem...



That is as far I've gotten so far. Now that I'm finished with the more "rough" stages, the process will speed up a bit since I enjoy the detail work far more. I'll be sure to post updates as the work progresses.

This (http://www.onlineartdemos.co.uk/pages/print_pages/leopard_print.htm) is an excellant example of the realism I would like to acheive. If it is even possible remains to be seen.

Sand is white, sunsets are red

And it is still cold at home.