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ankhisms · 3 years

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the always wonderful shelley @shanheling tagged me to do this thank u so much!! i think that everyone i wanted to tag has already been tagged to do this but if you feel like doing this feel free to consider urself tagged by me!! im putting this under a readmore bc its long and i ramble a lot

the piece i was tagged to explain my process on is this oc piece! unfortunately i have a habit of deleting my original clip studio file once ive finished my art and saved it as a new png file, so i dont have the file to show the sketch and different stages of this piece. but I still can go through my general process and talk about how i did that piece!

1. planning

honestly i think about the art that i want to do a lot, and in this last year or so ive thought about the art i want to do more than ive been able to actually create and finish that art that i want to do. for my planning i tend to do a lot of different thumbnail sketches for the art im thinking of

these are some examples of thumbnails, a lot of times ill do thumbnails just on pencil and paper and with some of these theyre done quickly with my fingers on my phone note function on a day where i was feeling too bad to get up and draw on paper but still wanted to get the thumbnail ideas down. two of these are for the same songxiao piece that i still havent finished and i have more thumbnails digitally on clip studio for the same piece, i do a lot more thumbnails when a piece isnt working the way i want it to and theres times where ill completely scratch a thumbnail or a sketch and start over in order to do more thumbnails because i dont feel happy with some aspect of it.

two of these are small gouche painting thumbnails for two pieces i did maybe a month or so ago, i did the thumbnails and then tried to expand on them digitally and im wanting to do more thumbnail paintings like this in the future because it was fun

for the piece of my oc trio it was based off a series of ask prompts i got for a few different outfit prompt memes i had reblogged, so i based their outfits on the ones in the meme. when im drawing figures i tend to try and get the movement down in the poses when im sketching, i do several rough sketches of the pose before beginning to start setting down lines (if im doing lineart at all because sometimes i dont like doing lineart and do a more lineless painting kind of style). i really try to get my art to convey some kind of emotion, in the oc piece i wanted it to feel fun and like youre seeing three best friends while theyre out on the town having a fun night

2. creating

this is the only real example i have of a piece in the middle of being filled in and created, this piece is one that im really not very happy with & have had lying around for a while and ill probably scrap it and try to come at it from a different perspective at some point. but anyway it still shows what i do, i lay down a kind of neutral gray color underneath my final sketch/lineart if im doing lineart in that piece and then i start picking out the colors that i want for the piece and kind of setting out a pallette for myself. i dont do this color pallette thing 100% of the time but i do it really often, especially if im working on a commission or a larger piece where i know theres going to be a lot of colors or if its a piece where im not sure exactly what color scheme i want so laying out the colors together helps me kind of decide what kind of scheme i want. i am sooooo picky about my colors in my art i am genuinely obsessed with colors in art and there are times where i really have to stop myself from working on something forever just constantly adding more colors or putting little tiny changes and gradients in the colors.

after ive got the colors i want down i tend to try and block out parts of the piece with the base color for that section, and then i start to paint with the colors that i want to go on top of that base color from there.

once im satisfied with the colors/shading/rendering and everything ill go back and look over things and will fix things that look off or sometimes completely redo segments if they dont look right to me. when i was younger and mainly doing digital art using my phone and my fingers i would use a lot of filters and overlays on top of my art once i was done, and honestly im glad to not be doing that anymore because i dont think it made my art look any better. i do color adjustments and sometimes will put on a color overlay or a layer to emphasize the shadows and the light in the piece, but i try to keep those layers to a minimum and like i said before i have a tendency to obsess over the colors and ill spend a good amount of time in the color adjustment tool of clip studio and then ill just decide "actually it looks fine as it is" so yeah!

3. posting

i feel like i dont have a lot to say here gbfm i mean i honestly have a lot of thoughts about the relationship between artists and social media and how social media changes our views on art including our own art and how we can feel like we constantly need to be posting new art and just become content machines churning out new stuff. but ill save that rant for another time. i used to be really concerned about how many notes my art would get when i was younger, and i dont at all blame anyone who still is very concerned about that bc it sucks when u work hard on something youve created and then you dont get a lot of recognition for it, but honestly within the last two years or so i feel like ive begun to have a lot healthier relationship with posting my art. i really just post my art on my art blog, reblog it to my main blog, and then thats that yknow! i do really appreciate any and all support people give me, it means the world to me, but for me having the mentality where i dont need to post all the art i make and i dont need to be posting every day or every week or every month even has been a lot healthier for me because then im not constantly asking myself why didnt this get notes is my art awful??? and yeah i just kind of post it and my brain goes okay were done with that art we gotta make more

ive honestly been struggling a lot with art thru the pandemic and if youre reading this and have been struggling with creating in any way recently or even before the pandemic, please know theres no shame in having trouble creating and it doesnt make you bad at whatever it is u create!

thank you for reading this, feel free to consider urself tagged by me again if u want to do this!! love u all

#showyourprocess #beep beep its a txt

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stry-someone-to-remember-you · 4 years

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Plan(ed) to Have Something Ready, By The Ball Drop &/or Tomorrow!!! If Everything Works out...

Hey Everyone,

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!!!

Wow, this is the second message without any art added or anything... LOL... Seems odd really to do this without having something up by now... By the way, yes the current avatar pic is related to the comic as you’ll come see soon. It’s and early sketch so some kinks aren’t worked out in the current image. But it was the one I was ready to have when I made this blog so there was at least something...

So as you probably can see by this title, I do plan on having something posted... I just don’t know to what extent. Due to some family drama, and continually piling on work I wasn’t able to get my Christmas Pic out to you guys, which was just a static scene with a few of the characters to get us started here. But... well family got in the way, continually decorating till Christmas day... a lot of things going on, bickering (though we all love each other) it’s just... you know life. I fully expected this as well, which is why I promised something before New Years, but didn’t specify as to what.

I postponed that idea to be released today or tomorrow, after seeing how I was completely unable to get to the work by Christmas Eve. But, by the looks of the progress I made on it and my families continually need of me till we get some things done in this house (that always has something to be done in it... LOL, at least things are coming fairly together). So lets just say, I may not have anything out by tomorrow. But with hopes I want to have something out. So We’ll see. I could release early the character sketches. But I want to keep this blog clean as possible, so I feel releasing the character profiles, cards and blogs together prior to the Prologue, would fit better and keep this page having a cleaner look to it at the start.

Maybe even by midnight tomorrow PST I could have something... But that again depends. I need to clean stuff for the internet/cable guy and I’m seriously allergic to dust... So the next few days I may be in an almost sickly comatose state regardless of the precautions I take. If dust gets kicked into the air at all and isn’t properly vacuumed up, than I’m often sick for days... I feel like all I’ve been doing the whole month is cleaning or working story wise on this comic... Mostly cleaning if you ask me, but at least after Saturday things should be more relaxed and I can have a better work schedule planned out. So yeah, that’s my life...

But DIDNT’ WAN TO LEAVE YOU HANGING with this Negative Nancy Talk ;D ;P ;D lol....

I want to tell you what I have so far:

I have the Christmas Image at least with the basic building blocks to complete it. Like I’ve drawn where I want things, but not detailed anything... So that’s why it may be a day or so... Technically its a Happy Holidays and New Years piece, but with the Christmas Tree in it I have the habit of calling it such...

I may have plans to detail it a bit more then I plan on having the comic, but that also depends on things. I may just leave it in the same style and not fully decked out to make it easier to finish...

~Several Characters for the beginning have their final forms created. These are major characters that will be scene in the prologue. I’m just having to figure out out little things with background characters in some instances.

~The prologue is almost completely written out. I had a change of heart a week ago on some things and had to change it around, which is why the written format for the prologue isn’t complete as it initially was. I just felt some things didn’t fit, so I added and took away some things so it flows better and also works both fanfiction wise for the story, but easily mixes for the Ask AU... I also have at least the beginning portion of the Intro script written, the parts unaffected by the changes. However, parts of the intro will be written out, depending on the questions you ask the characters in this prologue so these portions I’m leaving open on purpose. It’s the plot driven portions I’m mentioning that I’ve changed slightly. ;) I have fun plans for the prologue. Remember this story has a clear direction I’m taking it with plot. But the Ask portion will be a part of it, I have such a fun way of Ask’s being tied into the plot driven story, and it will change depending on the context, person and setting which makes this really fun to plan out.

-With that said, here’s an early heads up, that for Ask Questions, I will allow any sort of asks, but if it has potential to spoil a part of the story, then I won’t answer it. Alongside this, I’ll allow Anon magic to a small degree. I won’t include Asks that like spoil something for a character, or tell the character where someone is, give away what someone else is doing to another character, etc... Unless it may fit the context, but generally I won’t use these types of asks. I will allow Anons to appear occasionally rather then just be unseen voices, as I have fun ways of incorporating Anons into the story that also works with different points in the plot. I will accept things like... say a dog or cat to appear for ex. amount of asks. I already know who they’ll be and have been planning out their designs, but I may draw the line at other animals (e.g. horses, fish, racoons, squirrels, lizards, etc.) Although, I do really love rabbits, I chose to make it concise to just two animals that if asked could appear. It’s not because I can’t draw them but I don’t want things getting out of hand. Types of anon magic I’m not going to use if put in the Ask portion, are things like giving people certain powers or items that may completely effect the tone or plot of the story, accept maybe if I did a non-canon AU to this au for fun one day. I will go more in depth in the general rules later. In no way is this to discourage anyone from asking such things. I may set reminders at times if I get to much of something. But, in general I’ll do what I can to make this a fun Ask blog all the same.

~The Larger Summary, I promised like a trailer would be in the comic form I have rendered the Script for, and have two slides so far drawn out, just not completed. (for the time I didn’t have around the Holidays compared to normally I actually surprised myself with this)

~The story itself is really coming together, I already have a starting and stopping point (which I had prior to this blog) as it will have several Acts and Arcs, some which have greatly changed and take on new depth since the point I started this blog. The themes and story in general are drawn out pretty well. I don’t have all the chapters I’d want fully written. As I have my plan, but I also want to get the prologue in first, just to see if there’s anything I should change with my concept. It’s just a precaution, something I’ve learned well when taking on something new. So I don’t have things that are written in stone and hard to change if the form I’m hoping to take doesn’t work out and needs to be retooled or something. But these are minor and shouldn’t change the overall scope and plot I’m taking this story on either.

~I’ve created several of the character bios, many in fact are already written in true Henry Stickmin fashion. But as I took inspiration to make this into a AU as well, I will possibly make both the bio cards and show a static shot of the characters alongside it or something... It’s an idea, but I want this to also be the easier comic. But, considering that I’ll always have a static shot I use as reference for any character I make, this is what makes this more realistic to occur as well. ~I’ve nearly drawn out all the characters for the intro portion. And already know how I’ll handle Anon’s in the story. In the Prologue itself, I’ll actually have you Anon’s being referenced as audience members in a conference of sorts. Think of it like those conferences when a new Apple or Microsoft product is first advertised as something new to the news conference, those big rotunda’s where someone's being interviewed and presenting the hot new item. Think of the opening to the prologue being something like this scenario. So the questions directed at the character in there, who... *cough* I will introduce later after I fully render both their character profile and have their character bio(s) fully done. Which considering how fun and easy it’s been to do this so far shouldn’t be to long now... Although to keep from getting questions to soon on them, I may hold off on posting the Characters and Bio’s till I have that Intro/Trailer completed... I’m still considering which to do first actually. But top on my list out of all of these is having my cover art for the top completed. That’s something I admit though I have the layout I have hardly started on and should focus on first.

~I’m also taking close looks at how to properly make the rules for this group. When I posts either the Character Bios, Holiday Pic, OR the Trailer Comic... Maye even just the cover art... Then I will try to have out an official Rules list. The one I have on the group posts is just general stuff... But I’m reconsidering some rules I already wrote... Basically keep things family friendly, be kind an courteous, nothing vulgar or disturbing.

I may change this from a PG-13 comic to maybe PG-15. I’ve realized recently, there are some points that some characters do swear... sometimes more then once. I’m not someone who talks with vulgarity myself, but I sure can write characters with it.... Let’s just say I’m going to see if in those scenes I might just bleep out words and see if the dialogue still comes through. But, I dunno... LUCKILY, we don’t have to worry about many of those scenes till way further into this comic. So lucky for either of us, this isn’t a major concern at the moment. And on the plus side it’s not the crudest words I could have chosen so... it may still work as a PG-13 work... I’ll make this decision soon as possible.

Another reason for the sudden change, came as I realized as the story goes, and even in early chapters there will be scenes where blood is shown and physical mortal danger and peril is experienced by the characters. I do have heavy theming sometimes, later on it may seem constantly about. As this story is heavily Drama/Mystery and some suspense based. As the story progresses it will become less Drama/Mystery and more based around the drama/suspense itself. This will obviously be some more intense scenes that showing less blood would allow me to make PG-13, however I also don’t want to undercut the certain tones using representations of a mortal wound would bring. I also want to look at things like these future scenes realistically. Which is why I’m mostly considering changing this story to a PG-15 or at least more certain I am. I just don’t want people shocked that I’m doing this. I don’t feel this story will be R, there was a time where I heavily considered it. But for once I decided no, I didn’t want that. I just didn’t want to open the door for scenes I didn’t intend to have in this story. There will be heavy themes that my have TW for some people. But I didn’t want some TW’s that having a R rated story could potentially have. I mean certain themes people are free to write fanfictions for, and depending on the content can make art for. But again this will be family friendly group... As You can see I’m considering more then a little here when it comes to the official rules. These details will be followed up on the official rules post.

~~~~~~

Now I apologize for the length.

The structure of this and the previous Authors Notes will probably fall under their own category for length. I’ll work to make sure posts in the future won’t be so long and hard to read. It is early morning for me when I woke to write this, and I found once much of the day passed that I still wanted to include the stuff I did into this update.

I have more to tell you, but I think this post has spurned the energy in me out. Anything that I missed in this post, I’ll try to remember to update in the next post (hopefully after I get some art on here). What I can’t do at the moment is promise dates right now till I’m more certain of schedule to work on this or can promise that my general allergies won’t cause me to delay this at all. But I can confirm that I should have several things coming out this next month, including the comic Prologue I hope. Depending on the traction the comic and fanfic gets, I may try to work on it quickly, or take my time with it. I may do a mix of both as my perfectionist self won’t let me just shoot something out without giving it my all first. I’m shushing that side slightly so this comic will be easier on me then the more detailed one I have planned. All the same, I’m planning to work on this one more at the moment till I can get an idea of my work flow. Sometimes the easiest route of work is better for planning, rather then diving head first into the deep end right away. You don’t learn to swim by jumping head first into the ocean. Piece of advice that it took years for me to learn myself ;). Anyways, I figured since I did promise something hopefully by today or tomorrow, I’d give you a formal update... Also... Well I can’t promise that updates won’t be like this in the future. I’ll try to keep them concise. But as people who know me, well have learned when it comes to personally talking I tend to write or talk out epistle. So... When I give updates, I may have lengthy ones... I’ll try my best to keep this side of me out of updates, if I can help it. Anyways Happy New Years Everyone!!! I hope everyone's Christmas and Holidays were extra special, despite the state of the world!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE AND DAY!!! Sincerely, <3 (Mod) Sweet Heart Blaze

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sweetlifetownsville · 5 years

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It's A Bugger ...But Maybe A Blessing, Too. Do We Need To Clean Up More Than The Mud And Mould?

The deliberate managed flooding of Townsville should be the catalyst for a far-ranging review of how we do things in this city and maybe the way forward is to know how we should not have done them before. Are we entering the phase of the faceless spokesman? Seems so, as Mayor Mullet suddenly refuses to comment on some matters. The floodwaters might have receded but some leeches are still hanging around firmly plonking their suckers on the public tit one exponent of the big suck is particularly prominent or has Shayne Sutton departed our company? and never the twain should meet its not just the Astonisher having problems with keeping the wrong ads away from the wrong story one of Britains more respected papers has dropped a complete clanger Plus your regular illustrated Trump gallery But first Damned If Adani Do, Damned If Adani Dont The Pies favorite acid-tongued columnist, the Guardians Marina Hyde dropped a wonderful line the other day, and while she was referring hopeless and hapless British conservatives, it is so apt for our Queensland goofarium in George Street, The Pie will borrow it the Palaszczuk Government is like a gif of someone lighting their own fart and then being consumed by the fireball. Jackie Treacherous Trad has the box of matches, and our premier is the one whos been chugging down the vindaloo and frothy XXXX, or should that be Adani Ale. Adding to the fireball was Queensland Resources Investment Commissioner Caoilin Chestnutt, who became a roasting chestnut when she described the Black Throated Finch controversy as an absolute mess which would delay any subsequent approval of the Carmichael mine by between six months to two years. That was a bit rich of her, considering she was talking in New Delhi, in a country which knows a fair bit about messes in politics and social ethics. But those critical of what they see as a cynical and dishonest delay are particularly incensed that arch-Greenie Associate Professor Brendan Wintle has been driving the review they see that as akin to having, say, Clive Palmer being out in charge of an inquiry whether chocolate doughnuts should be outlawed. But Bentleys on to the nutty professors game, who seems to have taken a page out of the hunting with hawks manual.

Still Searching For Icebergs

The mans sensitivity and sense of timing (not to mention decency) was on full display at the Casino ballroom a few nights ago, when Clive Palmer hosted a lavish dinner promoting his unicorn plan to build a replica of Titanic. This affair had a feel of as Rome burns, being staged just as the devastating extent of the flood disaster was becoming fully apparent. Clive seems fatally attracted to things that have been destroyed by natural disasters dinosaurs, the Titantic, but the cynical Yabulu disaster was all his own doing but his only nod on the night towards the immense local disaster was a pledge of $100,000 to help fund any class action against insurers that may emerge from a flood inquiry. Very handsome of the man willing to splurge $500million on a wild whim. But the bombast didnt finish on the night. A day or two later, Palmer called for the TCC to be put into administration and the mayor sacked, because of her handling of the flood disaster. While that scenario has been put in this blog and elsewhere as a question to be answered, it hasnt been asserted as a fact, until Clive came along. The response was predictable, but what was interesting was that although a subsequent headline said Mayor Hill Rejects Palmers Claim, the funny thing is she didnt. In fact, as far as The Pie has heard, she hasnt said tickety boo about his attack, and about claims from others that shes going to have to carry the can on this one. Instead, all of sudden, the mayor went all media shy and we got this

Now, all that be as it may, the thing that caught the beady eye were the words a council spokesman. That phrase has been as rare as rocking horse shit ever since former editor Mick Carroll ten years ago ruled that all such spokespeople needed to supply a name and position, no anonymity. (Dolan Hayes went thermonuclear over that one, but he lost anyway.)

So now it seems the council, via a faceless, nameless spokesman (they probably rolled out the rapidly expanding Tony Bligh of the Legal Dept) as an organisation is pre-judging any official findings about what role the mayor played in the deliberate flooding of hundreds of Townsville ratepayers homes. Something to be learned there, Jenna Cairney .. as Mick Carroll said all those years ago, if there is no name and position to go with statements, whats to stop people thinking the paper just made it up. And that is far more relevant now than when Mick was in charge. It Looks Like Its A Whole New And Overdue Ball Game For Townsville A trusted correspondent on this blog we know as Memory Man has offered many intelligent insights here. During the week, he sent in this story from the Guardian

and attached these comments. This stuff is actually serious, and requires very careful consideration. Simplistic fluff from the likes of Col Dwyer about the poor old North not getting its fair share doesnt address the underlying drivers of risk / mitigation that frame the market for regional insurance. I know talking to colleagues in the global insurance market that cutting out a middle man or two would reduce premiums by about 10% straight away. This means going directly to the underwriters. Only a local authority-backed insurance operation can do this. The Gold Coast City Council did this some years ago. The flip side is also risk mitigation. In part this means making sure the right things are built in the right places. This is easier said than done, because the right things is a function of a minimal specification, which in turn is driven by a given assessment of risk and impact magnitude. Now, the rule has been to build to a 1-in-100 year event impact. This isnt as silly as it sounds. Folk whove derided it as a meaningless measure because such levels have occurred more than once in the past 100 years miss the point of of probability. The reason why the measure is relevant is that it also goes to balancing out the costs of building the right thing versus the probable costs of loss (or replacement). Over-engineering is costly to build, and in many cases also unnecessary. Societies accept that there are some things that can be built to a lesser standard, and other things need to be built to a higher standard. Thats what the public debate should be focused on. Critical infrastructure should be built to a higher standard; things that are more easily replaced can be built to a lower standard. Additionally, everyone needs to recognise that the probability of severe events occurring is increasing (as well as the severity of events themselves). So, what would be described presently as a 1-in-100 may be better understood as a 1-in-75, for sake of argument. It also means that so-called 1-in-500 events may have a greater probability of occurring in the future than was the case in the past. So a revision of probability estimates to say, 1-in-400, may be necessary. Bottom line though is that all asset owners need to take proactive decisions to ensure their assets are built to such as level as warranted by the owners own assessment of the trade-off between cost to build today versus value of loss + cost to replace. Where there is a social cost, this externality needs to be added to the equation. The lesson is severe weather is more likely but this shouldnt be a reason to stop things being developed. It simply means being clearer about the right things being built in the right places, with trade-off risks being clear to those concerned especially when it involves public implications. A well debated argument, and The Magpie believes that new infrastructure rules about flood plain developments require urgent review. Chronic Cronyism: It Really Has Got To Stop The massive upheaval at executive level in the council has given us a glimpse of the outrageously blatant jobs for the boys and girls culture that the likes of Mooney (himself a beneficiary of the rort) and the mayor make little effort to hide nowadays. A very good case in point is this woman

Shayne Sutton, who is also the wife of Stephen The Screaming Midget Beckett, the lately punted Mayoral shouter at staff and ratepayers. It is not surprising that the council became stacked with imported Labor odd jobbers with questionable qualifications once Mayor Jenny Hills poisonous report commissioned from the Nous group in Melbourne was adopted by council, but Ms Sutton has added a new dimension in the grandest let them eat cake style. The Labor old mates club could not be shielded from view when Mrs Beckett arrived in town, following hubby north after the Qld Labor Party decided because of his bad manners, bad temper and bad judgements were not appreciated in the corridors of central power in Brisbane. Shayne Sutton has been a Brisbane City Councillors for 14 years when they upped sticks for Townsville. But she hadnt been here five minutes it seemed when she landed a plum $44k p.a spot on Tony Mooneys Townsville Hospital Board this has been reported here more than once. Seems mr Mooney just couldnt find any involved local suitable to his requirements. But what The Pie has just been made aware of is as well as handling that onerous hospital task (less than 6 meetings a year), Ms Sutton was a few weeks later tapped on the shoulder by Mayor Mullet for a newly created, totally bullshit position as wait for it the Executive Director of the North Queensland Regional Organisations of Councils (NQROC). The what, you cry? Well, this

Gosh, that must take a bit of doing, you wonder. Sure does, as the job description attests. The executive Director draws on her deep knowledge of the region, its history and its priorities and Provides strategic advocacy and engagement advice to five North Queensland Mayors and CEOs Facilitates regional collaboration between key internal and external stakeholders to progress agreedstrategic priorities for North Queensland Media management Organisational governance and financial reporting This is a made-up position that in fact didnt exist before, and at a guess since the kings of featherbedding the LGAQ are involved probably commanded a salary of around $70-80K. Gee, well, you say, shed have her hands as well as her purse full maybe, but not so much that didnt apply for a job the board of TAFE as well. Dont known how that went, and maybe well never know the full extent of Ms Suttons contribution to a community in which she has lived for barely a year. But this murky NQROC position seems to have been suddenly de-created as far as one can penetrate the layers of obscurity around these goings on, so perhaps she is on her way. Madam, you are a massive leech and our already benighted community can hardly mourn it if you pass on from our midst to infest some other poor bastards treasury. Making The Best Use Of Your Townsville Bulletin This latest in the series of cringe-worthy self-promotions caught The Magpie eye on Friday.

And good on you Freda, you really do look a very sprightly lady. May The Pie add his hearty congratulations on a milestone hell probably not even get within cooee of. And reading your story, mdear, the old bird now perhaps knows the secret of your wonderful longevity you gave a hint when you said your daily dose of news from the Bulletin was what set me up for a good day. Its part of ones everyday routine and I just cant get on without it. Its the first thing I need in the morning. Indeed, Freda. As it does for so many others, probably works better than prunes and porridge at a guess, youd be getting on by page 3 most days. Guess She Finally Came Out Of The Closet Seems the layout blokes at the Scottish Herald had a wee dram too many when they put this page together but then again, it may just have been the world renowned Scottish sense of humour. Eh, Jenna?

New Aussie Tennis Rankings .. Just released

And The Week In Trumpistan

It has come to our attention that too many of you are paying attention. The New Yorker

.. Back again next week, Allah willing, but have your say 24/7 on blog comments, plenty of frisky opinion out there along with information you wont get anywhere else (that is, until the Astonisher trolls have read the blog Mt Isa railway crisis two weeks after the Nest, anyone?) Hope you enjoy what you read here, and any support for the Magpies Nest will be greatly appreciated, the how to donate button is below. http://www.townsvillemagpie.com.au/its-a-bugger-but-maybe-a-blessing-too-do-we-need-to-clean-up-more-than-the-mud-and-mould/

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arplis · 5 years

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Arplis - News: Hollywood on the Hudson: At Home in Upstate, New York, with Amanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen

Weve been following Amanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen for years as they leapfrogged around LA. Amanda is an actress-turned-interior designer who has been on a decades-long remodeling tear. Her style is pleasingly simple, sustainable (since before it was a buzzword), and thrifty: see, for instance, Backyard Bunkhouse and11 Money-Saving Strategies from a Hollywood House Flipper. Her partner in the overhauling business is her husband: theyve lived in 25 places in their 31 years of marriage (along the way, they had four sons), and Corbinthough busy acting, writing, and running his own production companyis a Star Handyman.

After being MIA for a while, they recently resurfaced: When Finley, the youngest of our four, graduated high school and took off for NYC, Corbin and I looked at each other and agreed it was time for another adventure, she wrote.Our book, Open House, had just been released, so we decided to sell up in LA and take a book-signing drive across the country in search of our next project. They made it all the way to the Hudson Valley, where Amandas old friend Priscilla Woolworth has resettled, along with a surprising number of other LA defectors. After experiencing their familys first white Christmas, they decided to stay put.

They knew exactly what to do next: find a structure waiting to be given the Amanda/Corbin treatment. After four weeks of real estate hunting, they bought an 1880s little farmhouse in Germantown, New York, that needed everything. They camped out in a loft rental in nearby Hudson, found a local contractor, and started the demo. Weather dictates a lot here, which was an eye opener for us coming from Californiaand also learning that life has a slower pace here; love that, says Amanda. Heres what the place looks like a year later.

Photography by Amanda Westby, unless noted.

Above: Corbin and Amanda and sons at their new residence (the photo was taken by their oldest sons girlfriend and became this years holiday card). Hands-on creativity runs in the family: two sons work as art directors/production designers in LA., another is in the start-up side of tech, and the youngest is at NYU film school.

The couple bought the house from third-generation owners (who live nearby and were selling when their mother passed away). It had been pale yellow with a front door that was purple and white with a bit of turquoise thrown in, says Amanda. Its now painted a greenish-charcoal called Deep River and the door is Grand Canyon Red, both from Benjamin Moore. Upstate gentrifiers have been accused of defaulting to noirish exteriors, but Amanda defends the choice: its a classic color that draws attention to the architecture and looks great against the backdrop of all these seasons. Plus for every dark house, there are ten white farmhouses around here. Photograph by Jessica Dube.

Above: The couplehes 65, she just turned 60say they love their new surroundings and plan to stay upstate. Theyve become part of a community thats big on bartering: Amanda Westby, co-owner of Alder & Co, employs Amanda as a model in exchange for clothes (Amanda also took most of the photos shown here), and Amanda says she recently gave her doctors husband remodeling advice for medical care.

Im continually struck by the adventure of this new experience and discovering an entire life so different from palm trees, beaches, convertibles, and eternal sunshine, Corbin recently wrote on Facebook. My biggest problem, I guess, if Im allowed to go there, is that I have tons of time to think without all the distractions that Im used to.And when the snow falls, its even more quiet than the normal quiet that Im getting used to. You can hear your heartbeat, literally or perhaps thats the shoveling of snow forcing blood through my veins.

Above: The back doors and basement bulkhead are also Benjamin Moore Grand Canyon Red: I knew if I was going with dark monotone windows, I had to find a place to uplift, says Amanda.

She learned about remodeling historic houses from her father, who was an actor-turned agent and the original house flipper in the family: I grew up in southeast England, and he used to drag me around to look at properties and would ask my opinion. So the whole house buying, fixing-up, reselling thing came from my childhood. And Corbin, coincidentally, learned carpentry from his mother and uncle.

Above: The front door opens to the original staircase: as it was, the door banged into the stair, says Corbin. We fixed that and had to reproduce some of thebalusters. Above: Much of the art and furnishings have traveled with the couple from house to house. (Corbin has become a master packer and uses Pods as an economical way to move households.) Amanda bought the paintinga 1951 work by Brazilian Constructivist Lygia Clark30 years ago while filming a movie in Brazil. The zinc umbrella and cane holder is a long ago LA swap meet purchase.

Amanda tells us: Weve been at this practically since our first date, when Corbin showed me his house that he had just finished himself, and I said, I think were going to have to make some changes. It was full-blown Santa Fe-style and needed some tweaking and layeringsome soul. The English in me came out, and thats when we started blending our styles, and buying and selling things.

Above: We went down to the studs and nothing else, says Corbin of the 1,700 square foot interior. This is the equivalent of a bionic house. Explains Amanda: We replaced or added: HVAC, all plumbing, all electric, insulation, new drywall, bathrooms, and the kitchen.

Their most dramatic move was to open up the main floor and introduce oak beams throughout that are both structural (the ones shown here) and cosmetic. The floor is the original sub floors stripped and sealed with Pure Matte Finish from Vermont Natural Coatings.

Above: The vintage Franklin stove came from Hoffmans Barn in Red Hook, NY. The walls throughout are painted with lime wash from Portola in LA. Amanda had the curtains stitched from canvas drop cloths (each is a hemmed single panel).

I like a neutral balance, so drop cloths always work, she says. I usually make them into shades, but you hardly notice these curtains, and in the winter you can pull them shut to make the room feel warmer.

Above: The living space opens to a roomy dining area and kitchen. The cabinets are Ikeawith Ikeas vertical-groovedHittarp fronts in an off-white lacquer that Amanda painted herself. This isnt something they recommend, but it worked well: even the chipping looks authentic. I used a heavy Kilz primerno sandingfollowed by two coats of Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray in a satin finish.

Amanda found the center island marble slab on Craigs List for $150 and drove two hours in a U-Haul to get it.

Above: The dining table is one of several pieces that the couple found during their first pilgrimage to the Brimfield flea market. We arrived in the rain witha list of items we needed, including maximum and minimum measurements for each piece, says Amanda.

Corbin bought the tablemaybe originally a schoolhouse piece, definitely Europeanusing money he had saved from the many years his mother tucked bills in his Christmas stocking. I finally realized I dont have to worry about never having a buck in my hand, and decided to honor my late mother with a table that we love.

Above: The counters are butcher block from Ikea and Amanda finished the cabinets with painted wood knobs she bought at Home Depot. The Kitchen Aid stove and other appliances are also from Home Depot: I go when theyre having a buy two get the third free sale. Above: The aluminum hooks in the back entry came from a favorite hardware/antiques store in La Bisbal, Spain, within driving distance of their vacation house, A Fixed-Up Farm in the South of Francethe one project they say theyll never sell.

Recognize the dog painting? We doit appeared in Remodelista: The Organized Home and our postAmanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen Air Their Dirty Laundry.

Above: The moody back room with new built-in bookshelves is the library/TV room and Corbins home office. The lime wash here proved tricky: the couples two oldest sons drove the paint across the country and it froze along the way. When they painted this room, it was streaky and lumpy in parts, says Corbin. I came back from LA with more paint and went over it. I didnt finish but realized it looked right: we like patched-together rather than perfect.

The Emmy is Corbins mothers lifetime achievement awardJeanne Cooper, the grande dame of daytime, was on The Young and The Restless for 40 years, and played Corbins mother on LA Law.

Above: Amanda notes that the cold climate has inspired her to get back into pillows and blankets draped on sofas, and even living with stuff: its about feeling cozy. She got the sofa and chair at the Hammertown Barn in nearby Pine Plains: Theyre from the summer tent sale: I was the first in line at 7 am. Above: The lime-washed powder room is two-toned, another signature touch of Amandas. The Little Bo Peep collage was a recent surprise gift: One of the original owners came by and said, My mother made this tapestry piece and Id like it to remain in the house.' Above: Amandas deskpurchased for $150 at a local auctionis set in a bay on the side of the house. Most of the windows are original and have beautiful glass that ripples, she says. I hung bird feeders right outside, so I can watch the birds as I work. Above: There are three bedrooms upstairs. The red painting, by Peter Aspell, is another fave that goes with us from house to house. Above: The master bedroom has a conceptual headboard: Amanda dragged home from a walk along the Hudson River near their house. In lieu of doors, she enclosed the closets with curtains made from a Les Indiennes print purchased at the companys Hudson, NY, shop. It a very informal little house; curtains lend a relaxed feeling and they dont take up any room. Above: Corbins guitar in a corner of the guest room.The upstairs floors are painted Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron. The reclaimed beams used throughout came from The Hudson Companyand from sellers on Craigs List. Above: The rebuilt upstairs bath has a new-old look. The tub, along with three sinks, came from Hoffmans Barn: Amanda and Corbin hauled them to a local refinisher (but left the exterior of the tub stripped). The painted floors and beams extend appear here, too: Our contractor said, you cant have wood in the bath, and we said, Yes you can,'says Amanda. Above: The houses ceramic doorknobs are original. The giant medicine cabinet next to the sink is one of the couples Brimfield finds: its an antique jelly cupboard that came with decoupaged doors: Amanda whitewashed it and then tackled our kitchen cabinets, says Corbin.

Whats next? Amanda reports that theyre looking for a larger place in the area to tackle nextwed like to have enough room for the whole family and friendsand some rescue donkeys and goats The plan is to keep this house and down the line rent it out. I want to host people in cool environments, while I go gray and grow veggies, says Amanda.

More upstate style:

Architect Visit: A Dutchess County Farmhouse Transformed

Hudson Valley Hues: At Home with an Inventive Textile Designer

Saved from Abandonment: A Historic Farmhouse Receives the Ultimate Make-Under

And for many places to stay in the area, consult to our Design Travel posts.

Arplis - News source http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Arplis-News/~3/PN5ELNENLE8/hollywood-on-the-hudson-at-home-in-upstate-new-york-with-amanda-pays-and-corbin-bernsen

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sweetlifetownsville · 5 years

Text

It's A Bugger ...But Maybe A Blessing, Too. Do We Need To Clean Up More Than The Mud And Mould?

Still Searching For Icebergs

New Aussie Tennis Rankings .. Just released

And The Week In Trumpistan

It has come to our attention that too many of you are paying attention. The New Yorker

0 notes

sweetlifetownsville · 5 years

Text

It's A Bugger ...But Maybe A Blessing, Too. Do We Need To Clean Up More Than The Mud And Mould?

Still Searching For Icebergs

New Aussie Tennis Rankings .. Just released

And The Week In Trumpistan

It has come to our attention that too many of you are paying attention. The New Yorker

0 notes

sweetlifetownsville · 5 years

Text

It's A Bugger ...But Maybe A Blessing, Too. Do We Need To Clean Up More Than The Mud And Mould?

Still Searching For Icebergs

New Aussie Tennis Rankings .. Just released

And The Week In Trumpistan

It has come to our attention that too many of you are paying attention. The New Yorker

0 notes

sweetlifetownsville · 5 years

Text

It's A Bugger ...But Maybe A Blessing, Too. Do We Need To Clean Up More Than The Mud And Mould?

Still Searching For Icebergs

New Aussie Tennis Rankings .. Just released

And The Week In Trumpistan

It has come to our attention that too many of you are paying attention. The New Yorker

0 notes

arplis · 5 years

Text

Arplis - News: Hollywood on the Hudson: At Home in Upstate, New York, with Amanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen

Photography by Amanda Westby, unless noted.

Above: The back doors and basement bulkhead are also Benjamin Moore Grand Canyon Red: I knew if I was going with dark monotone windows, I had to find a place to uplift, says Amanda.

Amanda found the center island marble slab on Craigs List for $150 and drove two hours in a U-Haul to get it.

Recognize the dog painting? We doit appeared in Remodelista: The Organized Home and our postAmanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen Air Their Dirty Laundry.

The Emmy is Corbins mothers lifetime achievement awardJeanne Cooper, the grande dame of daytime, was on The Young and The Restless for 40 years, and played Corbins mother on LA Law.

More upstate style:

Architect Visit: A Dutchess County Farmhouse Transformed

Hudson Valley Hues: At Home with an Inventive Textile Designer

Saved from Abandonment: A Historic Farmhouse Receives the Ultimate Make-Under

And for many places to stay in the area, consult to our Design Travel posts.

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/hollywood-on-the-hudson-at-home-in-upstate-new-york-with-amanda-pays-and-corbin-bernsen

0 notes