Hi you guys. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the past. It's actually good for me. Good for my memory. I think about things I've done, places I've gone, people I've met. It's good for me. Anyway, one thing I'd like to share with you is the fact that when I was at my recovery hospital there was a real interesting guy across from me. I think I talked about him before. He was real cool. He used to be a Black Panther and now he's a Muslim cleric. I used to talk to him all the time. He was interesting. His whole family was interesting. I asked him what the most powerful moment was of his life so far. He told me he was in a shootout when he was a Black Panther. He was in a shootout with the police. Anyway, he remembers going from door to door shooting his gun. The next thing he remembered, some policeman was on top of him like beating the hell out of him. Then he realized the police officer was actually doing CPR on him. He was trying to save his life and he did. The story ended there. The hospital was cool because you would meet people you would never meet otherwise. Another time I remember talking to this guy, he said he and another cleric warned the US government about radical Islamists, you know, terrorists. I guess he was right. I mean, look at Paris right now. Crazy. Anyway, let's talk about something else.
You know, there's been of couple people who've been very influential on me as an artist. One of them is my father. He reminded me how important it is to really look at things. I mean, Art is all about looking. So now, I paint and I sit back and I look at what I've done. You know, for like an hour. I just sit and look. When I know I've done a good painting, I notice there's lots to look at.
Another influential person was a photographer I worked for in the '80's. He always told me to take a step back and look at the model. Look at the light. You know, take it all in before you start. and he was right. I even still do that now when everything seems to be in post production. People would often say to me, "Oh, we'll take care of the color of the light later." You know, stuff like that. Just an observation.
I guess the bottom line is, you really have to pay attention to what you're doing. You have to adapt to what you're doing. For example, I used to shoot in Australia a lot. The light there is very harsh, very contrasty. Therefore, I would adapt and shoot in open shade. Or if I was in Europe. The direct sunlight was warm and soft. I would shoot direct light there. The whole thing is you just really have to look at what you're doing. That's my moment of observation I'll share with you. That's my profound thought of the week.
My friend here said, "How does that relate to where you are now?" And I guess I'll answer by saying I guess I've got some time on my hands now to really look so I do. I mean, I must look like a ground squirrel. I'll stare at an object for half an hour. Anyway, here's my link where I talk about more stuff at the present. Have a good week. Love, B. Nice
