Hazmat Trujilo

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

I’m not a fan of Metallica. I’ve tried to get into them a few times but, outside of a few songs they’ve not done it for me. Occasionally I’ll check out what they’re doing though. To an extent they’re culturally important so I think it’s good to be informed where I can, and I might eventually be swayed into being a fan.

Recently they released a music video for “Too Far Gone?”. I think its concept is interesting but there isn’t much of anything done with it which is a shame. Anyway, whilst I was watching it, or at least skimming through I paused it at a point which I’m pretty sure is meant to be Rob Trujilo rocking out, or at least a representation of him rocking out.

I found the shot humorous so I decided to draw it in MS Paint, leading to the below which was done earlier today. Not the best I could’ve done, but I’m happy with the result.

I hope you enjoy.

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Takuya Kuroda: TKBK

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

One listen for this one.

I didn’t know what I was going to do going into this which led to just describing the song. I think it worked though. There were some parts where I started falling behind but due to how the song flows I was able to catch up so I wasn’t too rushed. That said, I think the writing is a bit flat.

Takuya Kuroda’s “TKBK” is from Fly Moon Die Soon.

I hope you enjoy.

—

The sounds of a station and people talk over a steady beat. It all fades away, then the beat comes back in whilst a bass sound smoothly slides along. Brass enters with a sort of soft joy. It takes a breather so more synth can come in, then returns and the sounds are layered in a way, doing their own thing that builds on the melody in a cohesive way.

The beat takes a shift, almost cruising whilst the other sounds dance around. The details of scenery come through as the sounds grow busier, but nothing is fully revealed.

Suddenly it’s just percussion and brass. The brass plays long and short and as it does that bass sound returns, peering at the edges. More brass comes in to build on the rhythm whilst the main continues its motion and movement in quick and slow and quick.

Then it’s just percussion and synth building a familiar, yet new melody and rhythm. Bass sound returns to the edges once more. Vocals come in as does brass. Here the vocals take centre stage, calm, revealing things but in quiet, yet prominent tones. The brass is at the edges and then it all returns to that cruising moment.

The sounds are free but focused, keeping things sleek and sharp. They go on until the opening beat returns. Voices come in, the beat echoes out, someone says something about going and the song ends.

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Trail of Blood

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

This was started and finished today.

I wanted to make the first MS Paint work I did be that idea and so through a combination of procrastination against other things I kept putting off starting. Eventually the first one of my “return” ended up being RSI which I think may have worked out better as I then wanted to make sure I got this one done soon instead of putting it off for another few months.

What also helped get this done is wanting to see if I could start and finish an MS Paint drawing quickly as the previous two took a few hours. This was around an hour; I think most of the time was spent trying to get the angle of the puddle making sense in terms of perspective. Didn’t quite get there but it’s much better than the first one I drew.

There’s probably a lot of meaning that can be pulled from this. I will say that this is a bit sillier than it may seem, but don’t let that get in the way of what you get.

I hope you enjoy.

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Palm Sunrise

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Very roughly two weeks ago a friend of mine took a photo during sunrise. He was awake early, decided to take the photo. I found it pretty pleasant and so I decided to try and replicate it in MS Paint.

The below took around four hours to complete. I think it could’ve taken a bit less time had I used the laptop stylus rather than the mouse. Then again, I may have ended up spending far too much time making many small adjustments and I didn’t want a repeat of Shifting Mouldscape.

The other time-consuming part was trying to get a colour gradient that worked. My initial attempt involved trying to set colour based on picking from the photo and I feel it wasn’t something that worked. I then tried to work with yellow which produced a smoother gradient but also a harsh image. The final attempt was with orange which didn’t produce the smoothest result, but it ended up easier on the eyes.

This was started and finished today.

I hope you enjoy.

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Anemone hupehensis var. japonica

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

From what I can see this plant is also known as Japanese anemone and Japanese thimbleweed. I don’t know which common name is more correct, but I know that I decided to take a photo of this plant when I saw it a good few weeks ago whilst doing some behind the scenes photography.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness” for this week. Participating is pretty straightforward and something I recommend. If you do, then include the tag “monochrome-madness” in your post. If not participating, then at the least check out Leanne’s photography as well as what other people submit.

A lot of what people are submitting will likely end up here.

I hope you enjoy.

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Shifting Mouldscape

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

This was started and finished today.
I sat down thinking I’d work on this for only two hours.
Ended up being around four-and-a-half as there was a lot of cleaning up of the shapes.

This is based on a photo I took of some of the mould caused by water damage where I live. I was trying to get a photo of the mould that would work as album art. What I took would work if everything was in focus so I might retake those photos again.

This was in part an attempt to work with viewing angle and it kind of worked. I think if I’d clearly marked them out it would be better, but at the same time I feel like that would be insulting to anyone viewing.

The title comes from an idea of the mould moving toward a point where it would then start rising. I imagine the movement would be similar to the way cloud shadows moves.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1262: Hold my Breath

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Feels a bit like crashing against the walls, today does.
Some news that should be good but just am quite tired at this point. Need to rest properly. And so on and so forth.

Yesterday I was cold and today… I am still cold, but I am not as cold as yesterday. Therefore I have defeated the cold and there shall be no more cold for the rest of eternity. Everything will be not cold. Maybe there will be no warmth, but there will be no cold.

So today has been crashing against the walls and little of much happened and that’s alright. Sometimes a slow day is a good day. Some good news but it passed through me. It was there and it was gone and now I sit here, tired, wanting to rest but unable to because of various reasons and all of that other crap that has no need to be gotten into in this tiny space.

I’ve become a shadow of a self that never existed and all I’m doing is writing down the train. It’s as though I need to sell my angst until it runs out but it keeps pouring and I can’t find a buyer. It doesn’t end and I’m just stuck here dealing with it in a way that doesn’t deal with it and I’ve got to start wondering as to when it reaches its conclusion.

With that being said I want to keep things light and airy but the air is drifting away and so I’m just holding my breath in a way that might be seen as weird and that is because it is weird. It is weird to hold breath in this manner, but what am I gonna do? Other than not much?

Tell you what though, holding breath has a way of getting pretty boring. Can’t put it in a jar; just gotta keep my hands around it until I no longer have to hold it, but I don’t know when that is and so my hands remain around my breath.

Maybe I was meant to follow the air but instead I’m wallowing in my misery and wondering when all of this changes around and I can rest and feel relaxed. Probably once the good news comes to actualisation.

Why am I writing this in brief snippets? Probably makes it more annoying to read. I don’t know if it actually does, but it probably does. I think.

Perhaps once everything settles I can finally rest. I can finally take it easy and not have to worry about much else. Or maybe my worries will increase as they descend upon me to take me to some place I don’t want to go and force me to take them on and then I’ll just remain worried as the universe folds in on itself to make way for whatever comes next, and I’ll just have to deal with it. Rather not have that happen.

Still, at least I beat the cold.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:25:16

This I had to force myself through and I think it shows.
There are parts that I feel would be really good if they were expanded upon and made their own things. There also are parts that are just crap.

Written at home.

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Port Awaiting Cargo

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

This was taken around the same time as this photo.

I think the noise reinforces a sense of coldness to the image, or maybe a harshness. Not sure. I also think that this wasn’t the best angle to make the cranes feel imposing. That said, they do appear to be waiting.

This is my submission into the two hundred-and-fifty-first Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Buildings and Other Structures“.

The host of the Lens-Artists challenges cycles weekly between the following people:

Week 1 – Tina

Week 2 – Patti

Week 3 – Ann-Christine aka Leya

Week 4 – Amy

Week 5 – John Steiner

Week 6 – Sofia Alves

Week 7 – Anne Sandler

Week 8 – Donna

Week 9 – Guest host

Anne is curating this one. For the next one Donna is curating.

The challenges are fun to engage with. The themes are specific enough to keep some focus whilst loose enough to allow room for interpretation. I recommend participating as it’s a fun community to be engaged with and it’s a good way to focus on subject. If you don’t participate, you should still check out what others of the Lens-Artists community are submitting.

I hope you enjoy.

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RSI

Posted on May 27, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s something I drew to represent the pain from the RSI I have due to an injury sustained at the end of 2017 that those in charge chose not to record. Usually I’m fine but it has been pretty bad over the last few months. Along with everything else going on it has had a pretty negative impact on my ability to get stuff done.

At the moment the pain seems to be easing a bit but we’ll see what happens. I want to get back to being productive but better to not rush.

I took a few photos to use as a reference for this. A lot of them didn’t turn out well but would’ve worked fine. Instead of using those I ended up using one I quickly took shortly before I started drawing as it worked better for how I was trying to represent the RSI.

This was started and finished today.

I hope you enjoy.

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P-Oiler: Lobe

Posted on May 27, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

One listen and it was pretty easy, this bit of writing.
I think that was due to how slow the song feels as well as how little there is in terms of changes. That said, I don’t think what I wrote is the best way I could have covered the song. I feel like something a bit more creative in writing would’ve worked really well here, but that’s not what was coming forward.

P-Oiler’s “Lobe” is from Greatest Hits Vol. III.

I hope you enjoy.

—

From a brush comes a bass moving in specific steps. It soon moves with some percussion before the two lock into a slow groove. Guitar plays over slow and slinky and woodwind also flows over with a slow motion.

It’s a calm, dark and light and easy, drifting melody that sees an implied build at one point, and the sounds sort of move into a less languid state, but there’s still a quiet to them that keeps everything feeling a familiar continuation.

Once more a sense of build but here the percussion diminishes for a moment whilst the woodwind starts going wild, and another build into more quiet. Woodwind keeps on howling in the distance whilst all else stays diminished until the percussion returns.

The slow rhythm resumes and it keeps its space. It keeps its steady minimalism as it pulls back and comes forward, and the bass drags long and winds up, and the guitar keeps punctuating brief moments as the woodwind tapers off and disappears.

Sounds murmur in the last moments before the bass remains, drawing long before fading away after something seems to cut out, and the song ends.

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