So I would like to thank @samsmith1971, @nineclaws and @holoz0r for taking up the challenge and trying to guess the purpose of the great-great-great audio equipment I showed in the picture in the post Mindless appreciation.
So this lovely piece is a cassette player, commonly known as a walkman:) I got this lovely little thing for Christmas when cassette and VHS tapes were still the main medium of entertainment. I am glad that there are a few dinosaurs who still remember these times:)
I admit that it was just vanity on my part - I was simply curious to see how many people read my posts from beginning to end, so I asked the question 'what is this?' without adding that a good answer would be rewarded:)
And the prize is a personalised drawing for the winner:)
The winner is @holoz0r! < fanfare >.
@holoz0r, I hope that as a expert portraitist you would appreciate my attempt at what is after all a difficult subject and I humbly submit myself to the judgement of a master here:)
Nevertheless - the superficiality of the body seemed to me insufficient to show your character. I couldn't just pose you and make a picture on the basis of which I would make a drawing, because we are thousands of miles apart. Besides, it would be a poor surprise!
So I used your profile picture (I figured since you use it on #hive and on your website - you just like this one) and my - unfortunately still tiny - knowledge of you to 'personalise' the portrait even more.
Recently, during our commentary chats, you mentioned how you like the film 'Arrival'. Not only that - you recently wrote a review of this film - I recommend everyone to read it. I thought to myself, 'Ha! It's a sign!'
As I know and greatly appreciate the work of Denis Villeneuve, and find the film Arrival insanely interesting too - I thought this was a good starting point.
For those who don't know the film, here's a short note from IMDB by Jwelch5742 (fantastic nickname, isn't it?)
Linguistics professor Louise Banks leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touchdown in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.
So alien:)
This time - for a change - we are not confronted with humanoid, oblong-headed unknown or terrifying insectoid creatures dripping with acid. No. We are dealing with creatures that are mysterious in every way - their bodies, however squid-like, are hidden by an impenetrable fog, and their language requires even an excellent linguist to spend a lot of time understanding it.
And it was this language that I chose to focus on. Words and whole sentences even were formed by the newcomers in the form of circles, which the linguist was able to distinguish over time and further translate and communicate with the aliens.
On this page you will find some examples of the alien language created for the film 'Arrival':
https://imgur.com/gallery/ocClU
For @holoz0r I chose the sign 'Human?', yes human, with a question mark.
I originally wanted to use predicate with a dot Human.
but I consider questioning everything and everyone to be one of my few virtues, which nevertheless makes my daily life very difficult.
Human?
Instead of bore you with my made up definition of human I will go with one of Carl's Jung quotes I very much like:
'Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.'
@holoz0r, I'm not questioning your humanity, don't worry. I'm simply opening the topic:)
I hope it was worth to go down the memory lane to get the picture:)
About the drawing
This is my third attempt at playing with drawing in the negative. I'm still learning, and my brain still cruelly itches when I squint my eyes trying to pick out the brightest patches of light. Sweat occurs on my forehead despite the cool afternoon. But! this experiment still makes me very happy. I will definitely return to black paper soon:)
I used two watercolour pencils this time - titan white and off white. At first glance there is not much difference between them, but I wanted to give a little more gradation to the drawing, and it was also interesting to photograph this drawing - sometimes the white caught the yellows and sometimes the blues:)
I hope you all will have a lovely week!
Yours,
Strega Azure
