shanesemler

I relisted "Thirsty Wolf Finds Tea" and it's not getting any bids. It only has 2 days left. I'm not going to list it again. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Maybe my art simply doesn't interest anyone. I don't know. I'm going to have to think over what my next step should be.

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People seem interested in buying my paintings. I've gotten a couple questions about "Four Trees and an Apparition." They seem less interested in "Thirsty Wolf Finds Tea" though it did have a number of people watching it (at least until I re-listed it). For all the interest though, none of them seem willing to pay more than $40 or so on them. This is original, one of a kind art. This ain't some shit done on an assembly line. I don't think my reserve is at all unreasonable. I have to, at the very least, be compensated for the cost of time and materials. I'd offer a "Buy It Now" option but because of eBay's rules, I can't until I get some rating or something like that - I don't see the point of the rule. I'm not asking for or even hoping I'll make thousands of dollars on this. At least not until I'm famous. ;)

Anyway, I'm going to list a couple more. "Naja" is next though I discovered it had been scratched by the crap frame I had it in so I'm going to have to do some touch up on it before I sell it. It'll be a hassle matching all the colors but I can manage it. I'll probably put it up in a few days.

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Listing my painting "Thirsty Wold Finds Tea" was a big waste of time and money. These people are high if they think they're going to get one of my paintings for $40. I put roughy 10 to 20 hours into each piece. For example, if I had sold "Thirsty Wolf" for $40 and I estimate I spent around 15 hours or so on it - that would be like $1.33 an hour. Fuck that. It's not worth it. It's worth more hanging up on the wall behind my computer monitor.

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I just listed "Four Trees and an Apparition" on eBay. View it here.

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Check out this great caricature of me done by a crazy Spaniard. He's a cool guy and a hell of a cartoonist (and fast too).

In other news, I added a new sketch I drew earlier today.

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I love Ralph Snart! Marc Hansen, creator of the ol' beer chugging screwball has a website. Along with making back issues available online to read FOR FREE he has also upload the entire run of of his other creations, Doctor Gorpon and Weird Melvin! How cool is that? Well I'll tell you, it's really really cool! What are you waiting for, GO READ THEM!

He's also working on a very cool looking server-side dynamic comic display application that allows for searchable text! Talk about taking webcomics to the next level!

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I'm beginning to feel like a Luddite. I'm becoming more and more disgusted with digital art. I had a short debate with an Iron Maiden fan in which I commented that the only reason Maiden was so popular was because of the cool artwork that illustrator Derek Riggs did for so many of their album covers. I did a Google search to see if he is still around and working and cooler than cool, he is!

My excitement was quickly replaced with a sinking sensation â“ he doesn't work traditionally anymore, he's gone digital. I'm sorry to say, I think his digital work is sterile and totally lacking feeling and character. And this is the way a lot of digital art is. In my own work, I've always tried to avoid the sterile aspect that so much digital art has, with mixed results. I've been screwing around with digital art since high school. I majored in computer art in college. You know what? I've only ever produced one digital piece that I think is any good â“ ironically, no one else ever seemed to like it. It's a piece titled âœSoldier,â you can see it in my personal website gallery if you're interested.

Anyway, the point is, I think it's sad a great illustrator like Riggs gave up traditional media for digital. The worst part is, it didn't enhance his work at all. It hurt it. Now it looks like any of the Poser/Bryce disasters you can see on a daily basis on a website like DeviantArt, as opposed to looking like the work of a seasoned professional illustrator.

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In other news, I'm terribly sick with a cold.

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I'm not going to type up a lengthy review. I'm just going to say I loved it. I love the original King Kong but I think Jackson pulled off a rare feat, he made a remake that is better than the original. The best thing of all about 2005 Kong - not a drop of post-modern irony. No campy wink-wink, nudge-nudge moments. You can tell Jackson & Co. are not the spawn of Hollywood, they are the heirs of Hollywood.

Naomi Watts had the hardest role in the film and she pulled it off brilliantly. She is a real movie star and I mean that in the best sense of the word. Jack Black was no slouch either. His Carl Denham was one of the most complex and realistic (yes, you read that right) villains I've ever seen in a movie. He's likable and you want to see him succeed but at the same time, you know that what he's doing is selfish and greedy. He gets people killed and he spins the whole thing in his mind to sluff off responsibility. In a lesser movie, Denham would have seen the error of his ways and done the âœright thingâ in the end. Thankfully, he never gets cuddly and he never loses his edge.

That's actually what makes this movie unusual, the characters are very consistent. That's not to say they don't grow but none of them ever do anything that is out of character. That's not to say what they do is logical but it makes sense for who they are. That's a rare thing in Hollywood movies these days when every âœheroicâ character makes the PC choice and the villains die a horrible death. It's a truthful movie, it's a sincere movie and that is a rare thing in any genre of film.

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Originally published at shanesemler.com. You can comment here or there.

My latest painting:

Four Trees and an Apparition, 2005. Oil on canvas, 16″ x 16″.

My latest painting:

Four Trees and an Apparition, 2005. Oil on canvas, 16" x 16".

Also available on shanesemler.com.