Super Silly Sunday

I'm pretty certain I want this framed and put on my wall.

I passed!

My BSL assessment, woo-hoo!

EDIT - this means that I get to do the second part of the level 3 course, which gives me the qualification.  I haven't actually passed the level 3 yet.  But I hope to do so by summertime.  I'll just have to work really damn hard.  Which I am more than happy to do!

I failed the driving test.  There's a surprise.  But the BSL thing is far more important to me, so hurrah!
I booked another driving test. Perhaps I shall drive better next time. *le sigh*

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Discworld Watch and Witches and Death and a few others

'Tis (some of) the Discworld characters.  From left to right, the top row is:

Sir Terry Pratchett (erstwhiel clever author) , Death, Susan (daughter of Death), Lord Havelock Vetinari (Patrician and tyrannical ruler of Ankh-Morpork), the Luggage and Rincewind (a wizard), the Librarian (an Orangutan), Moist Von Lipwig (Postmaster of the Post office), and One of the posties who I can't remember the name of, because I've only read Going Postal once.

From left to right, the bottom row is:Granny Weatherwax (a crotchety old Witch-supreme), Nanny Ogg (a boozing, crude lovable Witch –nearly-supreme) and Greebo (a vicious wolf baiting cat), Magrat Garlick (a hippy Witch), Sir Samuel Vimes  (Commander of the City Watch, Duke of Ank-Morpork and Blackboard Monitor), Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson (6 ft 6 dwarf-by-adoption, Watchman, not-so-secret heir to the throne of Ank-Morpork),  Angua (werewolf, Watchwoman), Fred Colon (fat, bit stupid, Sergeant of the City Watch), Nooby Nobbs (Corporal of the City Watch, has a certificate to prove he’s a member of the human race).

I'm not sure where I found this piece of art but I loves it.

On the idea of 'sex sells'

Cross posted from here, the following is an comment on the idea of 'sex sells' in relation to comic book art, particularly women of the escher variety.  ----->>>>

Beast of the Sea, I don’t know who you are, since you only contribute Anonymously, but I love you more than words can ever express.

In response to that anon, let me expand on the last point:
“P.s. the x ladies are looking mighty hot lately, hope Land doesn’t read your blog and tone down the ladies”
Tone down the “lady”, you mean, since all of Greg Land’s women look nearly the same. In fact, in a tutorial, he advises the potential artist to “Draw the kinds of features readers expect to see on this sort of character, including full lips, a petite nose, and eyes that have a nice darkness around them to draw the reader’s gaze to the pupils.” and “Since this is a glamour sketch, go for the aesthetic of the “ideal” female form. Draw longer, thinner limbs.” In short, he has an ideal in his head, and he draws women to strictly match that ideal.
Now, what’s the problem with this, you ask? After all, male superheroes are all drawn to match a ideal male form, too.
Well, because that ideal male form has variance. There’s the short and hairy Wolverine, the slimmer (sometimes) Cyclops, the bulky Colossus, etc. Robins have leaner builds than the Batman himself. Reed Richards is usually long and thin (as one might expect from Mr. Fantastic). Even with the mandatory Greek-god physique, there are different versions of that physique. And the faces! Even though there is a default square-jawed, glowering-brow facial structure, heroes do vary from that - Spiderman is usually one such, right? - and even within that structure, if Superman and Batman are in the same comic together, the artists usually make an effort to distinguish one black-haired Caucasian male from the other.
Greg Land’s women, on the other hand, all have “longer, thinner limbs”, big bosoms, wide shoulders, thin hips, full lips, petite noses, and heavy eyeliner. And they have a tendency to get caught with their mouths wide open in a certain manner, though I’ll omit the usual speculation as to why.
I’ll even concede that it may not be due to tracing similar-looking models, because his tutorial showed him transforming a model who did not look like his usual lady into one who did. He does it by choice, not by incompetence.
Riiight, you ask, so what’s the problem with this? It’s a hot lady, even if it IS the same lady modulo different skin-tones, hair-colors, and costumes, it appeals to you, it’s pretty art, so what’s the problem? Sex sells!
On the solely “sex sells” front, I have to ask why more male characters aren’t drawn to appeal to women or gay men, since they’ve got money too. Now, I like muscular fellows, so some comic art looks rather good to me… but I’ve noticed that How To Draw [American] Comics books tend to have one tutorial minimum on how to make women look “sexy and alluring” (sometimes an entire section), whereas the tutorials for men are more along the lines of ‘how to make the hero look powerful’, with notes along the lines of ‘A thin waist makes a character look sleek, whereas a thick waist just makes him look brutish’. That’s very nice, but where are the tutorials on making men sexy and alluring, again? If sex sells, shouldn’t we be aiming to sell sex to the widest market possible?
Again solely from a “sex sells” perspective, not all men will like the same body type and facial features that Greg Land apparently prefers! Some men like wide hips - the famed “hourglass figure” is not a “funnel figure”. Some men like women bigger, some men like women slimmer (Difficult, you say? Shrink the shoulders to match the hips), some men like women shorter, some men like women taller… and Greg Land draws each and every one with about the same height and build. In this sense, he’s actually shrinking the “sex sells” market by excluding every fellow whose tastes markedly differ from his. (And yes, it is possible to have athletic women who do not all look like Greg Land’s woman. They may all have the same muscles, but if you slap them down on top of different skeletons, they will not look the same up to a change of costume, wig, and skin-tone! I mean, is every superheroine Greg Land draws secretly played by the X-Universe’s Lady Gaga?)
Oh, and by the way, Greg Land has been criticized for making even middle-aged mayors and scientists look the same as all the superheroines, so the idealized-female-form argument wouldn’t apply to all his stuff even if I conceded utterly to it. But I think I’ve spent enough time on the “sex sells” argument as it’s currently used.
As for other problems with his single woman - that single woman has facial features typically associated with Caucasian supermodels. This may make sense when on a Caucasian woman, but not all the women he’s supposed to be drawing are Caucasian. I’m trying to phrase this delicately, and I think it works to say that this choice declares “mighty hotness” to be the exclusive province of women with Caucasian features… and not just Caucasian features, but a specific subtype of Caucasian features. Not only is this ludicrously racist (though I do not claim this to be Greg Land’s intent - I am sure he is a quite friendly and unprejudiced guy in person), but I am sure that many, many men (and women!) would disagree that only a specific subtype of Caucasian features grant a woman “mighty hotness” - Sorry, I said I would drop the “sex sells” argument, didn’t I? Well, it’s the supposed magic bullet against any objections to sexualization and stereotyping of women in comics, so I figure it’s high time for it to be used to return fire.
Back on the “men are idealized too” front - teenage boys and young adult males look markedly different from older men in comics. The Robins are not drawn as miniature Bruce Waynes, never have been, and never will be. Even the Dread Rob Liefeld did NOT draw all male characters with the same build and facial structure - he has two male body types (muscular and torso-wide-as-it-is-tall), but he has two different male body types. And since Rob Liefeld is all but regarded as the Comics Antichrist, I think that drives home that male characters really are given multiple body types. One could probably argue that he has two different female body types, too - close-to-normal and severe-scoliosis-sufferer - but that’s a subject for different blogs.
Greg Land, on the other hand, draws teenage girls, young adult females, and adult women as having no appreciable difference whatsoever. There is no change in facial structure or body shape to tell the two apart - 14-year-old Hope looks nearly-identical to Jean Grey in her 20’s or 30’s. All of his females after the age of menarche have the same body. And you cannot say that about his males.
Yes, his males have issues with exploding biceps, but that’s a different matter…
TL;DR - Greg Land’s art has problems with the ladies, and it goes beyond bad anatomy, tracing, and the possibility of needing to be “toned down”. Even if you look only with an eye to “mighty hotness”… there’s a problem.
[Final disclaimer - no, I am not calling Greg Land racist or sexist, I am not calling the anon racist or sexist, I am not calling your houseplant racist or sexist, I am not calling anyone racist or sexist. I am criticizing Greg Land here solely for his artistic choices, which have certain unpleasant side effects. I am sure any unpleasant side effects are wholly unintentional. Sorry, a recent binge on reading the comment-sections of Wundergeek’s excellent blog has made me paranoid.]
By way of an apology to the mod for clogging up her Tumblr, here’s a truly spectacular example of the big-shoulders small-hips thing I was talking about [Again, that Photobucket account is not mine - I don’t even have a Photobucket account], and an amusing collage of Greg Land’s women by a guy here on Tumblr. (Please note the tags.) I just wanted to go into detail on the ‘Well, at least he draws hot women!’ argument, since it’s apparently one of his big selling points.

Today is hate the world day

So, I've been doing a British Sign Language Level 3 NVQ Certificate course (for British folk - it's about A-level standard).  I started it in September, finished (and passed) the first part (called language development) in December, and was very ready to start the second part in February, which would give me the qualification.

But the training provider I was training with had to delay the second part until September.  So I started looking for other providers.  Yesterday I headed down to London (no short trip - it's about 3.5 to 4 hours door to door, each way) for an assessment to do the second part of the course.  Which I right royally fucked up.  See, I know I'm at the required standard.  I'm at the right level.  My signing isn't fluent, I make mistakes, but I am ready to get this qualification and I am absolutely determined to do it.  Unfortunately I'm not very good in test situations, and I panic, doubt myself and get really nervous.  So my signing goes to pieces, my handshapes get sloppy, I forget basic vocabulary, I forget what I'm trying to say, I forget to respond to people, I concentrate so hard on getting all the information that I go out of focus and my mind wanders and I don't pick up what they want to tell me.

So because of nerves, because I want to do this qualification so badly I have probably screwed it up.  I wasn't at my best, I can do better.  I know this.  But what's the point if I can't show it?  I do the same with driving tests - I've got my third one on Tuesday. I can drive OK, I can drive to the right standard, I just freak out just before the test, get nervous and drive badly.  I will probably do the same again on Tuesday, which will mean another £62 (the cost of each test) and the cost of lessons is wasted, and I'll have to spend it all over again.

Have an appropriate song:

Edit, made about 5 hours later:  Now I've had a walk and a think I figure the best thing for me to do is keep up my signing, go to workshops and training to improve problem areas, go to more deaf events, and just suck up the fact that I'm gonna have to wait till September to do the second part of the level 3.  And delay/amend my career plans, as I'm obviously not gonna get to to the next level  as soon as I thought.
Fuck, I'm so angry at myself for screwing up yesterday.

Super Silly Sunday

What the hell is with those glasses?  Were they ever fashionable?

From Adventures of Supergirl, 397.

Smallville season 11 in comics format!

and bryan miller is writing it!  an actual good, qualified, experienced writer doing a tv spin off in comic form!  acebeans!

From the DC news article:

Smallville Fans Rejoice! New Comic Book Series, SMALLVILLE SEASON 11, to Pick Up Where Show Left Off

Fans of the smash-hit TV series Smallville haven’t had much to cheer about since the show ended its critically acclaimed 10-year run on The CW last May.  That’s all going to change with the upcoming new comic book series from DC Entertainment: SMALLVILLE SEASON 11.  Written by former Smallville show scribe Bryan Q. Miller, the new digital first series will be published digitally on April 13, 2012, with new digital chapters released weekly thereafter.  Additionally, the online chapters will be offered in a print periodical, along with an episode guide to the hit television series, with the first print issue released on May 16.
The new comic book series picks-up where the show left off (with Clark officially now as Superman!) and features other fan-favorite characters including Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Chloe Sullivan-Queen, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and General Lane.  The book features an all-star creative team – in addition to Miller, SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 creators include print cover artist Gary Frank (SUPERMAN SECRET ORIGIN), digital cover artist Cat Staggs and interiors by Pere Perez (BATGIRL).
“Six months after Clark Kent donned the cape and took to the skies to save Earth from Apokolips… enter Season 11!” enthuses Miller.  “New allies abound!  New enemies afoot!  And old friends return where they’re least expected!  Pere and colorist Chris Beckett have done a fantastic job of capturing the look of the show and the players, and Gary and Cat are knocking it out of the park on covers. I couldn’t be more excited to help give seasoned viewers and new readers an all-access pass to Clark’s first year in the cape.”