Welcome to Space

The Space has always been my greatest fascination. The endless dimension where you can let your soul float and your mind wonder about this great secret. This site is for my personal general interests and not limited to Space. The name is a tribute to the wonders of Space. Izzat Sajdi

Friday, December 28, 2007

A Picture with a Soul

I have ran across a number of exceptional pictures. Each deserve to be called: A Picture with a Soul. Here are two examples.


Sergei Bongart (1918-1985) - The Art of contrast


Sergei Bongart is one of the very talented and famous artists. A Russian/American painter 1918-1985.
Communicating on his successful technique, he wrote:
You have to put the right spot of color in the right place! And, the best exercise for training the eye was to exaggerate or overstate the color and then work from there, always comparing the relationships of one color to another, one value to another;how light or dark, how warm or how cool.
Sergei emphasized: More contrast. More contrast. To create, you must think: cool, warm, related co-lor, reflected co-lor, dark, light, thick, thin, dissimilar spaces, opposite contrasting movements—like in music, fast, slow, soft, loud; but all must relate to create symphony both on canvas or in music hall. Every painting needs active and quiet areas and feeling of poetry and drama. If painting gray day, make it gray. Use gray and silver. If painting sunny day, use oranges, red, yellows, greens—make it happy. Every element of painting must tie together, must have unity, must express mood.

Before you begin, ask yourself what should be seen first within your painting, and what you want to say about it. Areas of greatest contrast will attract the most attention. This is your first reading. A strong composition usually facilitates three good readings.

Understand the basis of composing a picture in color. No color should be viewed in isolation, but rather in constant relation to what is around it. A color is what it appears to be only because of its relationship to the surrounding colors. Nothing exists in isolation. Each previous color choice must be re-evaluated as a new color is placed along side of it. If you change one color, you have in effect changed them all.

When we paint, we really aren't copying the colors of nature, we are painting the color relationships. We don't have the color palette that nature has, so we must give the illusion of truth through the relationships of the colors we choose.

As in chess, try to think several moves ahead, painting the color relationships that are deemed integral to the picture. Always make the next most important move. Don't paint in nose highlights, for instance, before you have established the background colors.

It is vital at the start of a painting to cover the white of the canvas with chosen silhouettes of color. Do this as soon as possible. A white canvas masks the truth of the color relationships. Toning the canvas can help eliminate the glare of white, but does nothing to establish the true harmonies between each color.

Work around the canvas two or three times or more before moving to any detail. It is entirely possible, and often advisable, to spend 90% of your time merely adjusting the big, simple shapes before ever moving to the rendering. Once this is satisfactory, the chosen style or technique can be completed with confidence, up to and including ultra-tight realism.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

The talent of Kathryn Stats

Kathryn Stats is one of the gifted painters whose work I find worthy of being rated at World Class level.



On Christmas night in Palestine


This is the best Christmas card I have seen so far. It is very expressive of the racist and immoral wall built by Israel. While the whole world is dismantling borders and barriers, Israel has built a wall that has trapped the Paletinians in a big prison. It is an apartheid wall that must be dismantled. For more information on the wall, link to Youtube and search for "Wall of Hate".

Saturday, December 22, 2007

10 minutes drawing techniques

These episodes by Moat DD are very well prepared, easy to follow and a nice way to learn art techniques. See them on my Video bar.

Candy Apple by Duane Keiser.

Outstanding educational and enjoyable art work by Duane Keiser.

Sunflower by Duane Keiser

Brillient educational and enjoyable art work by Duane Keiser.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

A Fountain Pen - Writing from the heart

"My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of coarse. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane". Graham Greene.

Writing with a Fountain Pen is superior to writing with any other types of pen. I find it most enjoyable. When I strike the combination of a good Fountain Pen and good Paper, the writing quality would be at its best and I achieve a satisfying pleasure. This is an experience and joy only felt by the Fountain Pen passionates.

My preference is still a Diplomat Medium size 7. Unfortunately Diplomat are not producing this classic type any more.

Amman in a picture

Congratulations for Aziz Sajdi for getting the second prize for the photographic contest entitled: Amman in a picture.

Second place out of 275 is quite an achievement. Well done Aziz.

Istanbul


A photo from Kennedy Caddesi. In addition to the most beautiful architecture and historical buildings, Istanbul has magnificent natural scenes making it one of my favourite cities. Kennedy Caddesi is a long Corniche road. This particular photo is taken from a spot at the tip of the Old town 1 Km before turning into the entrances of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. Shot angle is towards the Sea of Marmara. Istanbul ..... what a beautiful city.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

The Source of the Nile at Jinja











This is one the unique places which I was pleased to visit. It is station 0+00 of the start of the Nile from Lake Victoria in Uganda. The start is fixed as an iron bench mark insertd into the concrete block seen in the right hand side photo.


The water begins to flow from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea. It takes water 3 months to complete this journey of 6400 Km.

The falls that John Speke saw in 1862, naming them the “Rippon Falls” after the President of the Royal Geographic Society in London, submerged in 1947 on the construction of the Giant Owen Falls Dam. The dam was completed in 1954, harnesses the head long rush of water from the lake to produce hydro electric power of Uganda.

“Omugga Kiyira” is the local name for River Nile.

On the western bank of the river is an obelisk marking the spot where Speke stood for hours when he saw the source of the River Nile, making it known to the outside world.

Why did'nt I think of that?



CUP & COOKIES Smart cup in which you can put 2-3 of your favourite cookies. You don't need extra plates. It's made for right handed and left handed.



TOILET SEAT LIFTER 'Who left the Toilet Seat up?' The PeaceMaker will end the battle of the toilet seat. Merely step on the pedal to activate the lifting mechanism. When finished, remove your foot from the pedal and the seat gently comes to a rest where it started.
LASER SCISSORS Laser ScissorsCutting a straight line has never been easier. Just aim the pin-point laser and follow the line. The scissor blades are stainless steel and cut very clean with a micro serrated edge.