BESS' ART JOURNAL: Through the eyes of an artist
I first heard about using charcoal in cosmetic products some years ago, but was only familiar with it being used in soap as a great cleanser for the face. Since then it seems to have sprung onto the mainstream beauty market in leaps and bounds, precisely as a facial cleanser, having been picked up by the larger companies as the new wonder product.
Personally I have used charcoal quite a lot through my life, but mainly for sketching with, 
and in a more solid format as heat-blocks used in firing and soldering precious metals in making jewellery. The latest craze however, face-masks aside, is what is known as Activated Charcoal used as a tooth-polish. A little bit of research revealed it to be an exceptionally effective product for cleaning and whitening teeth when used regularly. So I thought I would give it a try.
Apparently, activated charcoal in particular helps…
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Published by Maria Jones-Phillips
“The self does not divide but multiplies in incongruous ways, incongruous to you that is. It forms within its own nature a potential wealth of other personality types that indeed populate your conception of the world and form those friendly faces that you meet within your so-called day-to-day experience. Life is not intrinsic to the manifestation of these other selves, for life is a term that can only apply to the human construct. We as your caretakers so to speak are just beyond the remit of your understanding of time. We perch atop the fence of your awareness like crows bringing the warmth and wisdom of the dark to the brightness of your cave. We bring light to you in ways that you do not presently comprehend. We furnish your worlds with cherished thoughts and indeterminable wisdoms that cloud your skies and pepper the land with things to look at, admire and experience as extensions of your selves. Your personhoods expressed through nature and creature-hood, through blustering winds and swelling tides. The moods of the earth match your own national and individual moods. One does not follow on from the other but all swim happily in unison within the tide of memories that link you all. A body of memories that is as vital as any living organism, of which the you that you know forms an important strand.”
Sidiris
View all posts by Maria Jones-Phillips
and in a more solid format as heat-blocks used in firing and soldering precious metals in making jewellery. The latest craze however, face-masks aside, is what is known as Activated Charcoal used as a tooth-polish. A little bit of research revealed it to be an exceptionally effective product for cleaning and whitening teeth when used regularly. So I thought I would give it a try.
Diary of a Person Being Human 
Love charcol!
Hey, you any good at drawing/painting cats? I’ve been asked to do a series of paintings to raffle out for shelters, and I’m at a loss as to where to start.
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I didn’t know you painted, John!
I haven’t drawn a cat for a while now, but drawing is drawing no matter the subject.
I have a few questions:
1. How many paintings or drawings would you need?
2. What style: realistic or stylised?
3. When would you need them by?
The last question is probably the most pertinent as I am due to fly to the UK on Sunday and won’t return until the first week of March. Other than that, I would love to help you out. 🙂
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I splash colour on canvas. Nothing more 🙂 I can draw fine, but I can’t translate that to painting. Never learnt how to.
Apologies, I think I worded that all wrong. I wasn’t asking you to do some, just thought if you had some (being an actual artist, and all) I could have a look and see if they gave me some ideas. They’re going to have to be simple (which is not my style at all).
How’s Trumpland? I’m still scratching my head about that news conference yesterday.
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I realised I’d probably jumped the gun after I responded to your message, but you’d caught me in mid creative mode as I’ve been working on a piece of jewellery, oddly enough, a monkey. 🙂
As for the painting cats, I don’t have anything I can show you, but it follows much the same rules as painting anything. Start of with your outline sketch, then starting blocking the main colours. Usually whatever the mid tones are. You should end up with a very basic, two-dimensional image.
Then you can start working on the shadows, to start bringing it to life. Highlights always come last. It’s actually a very simple five step process.
Depends also on the medium you will be using. If using watercolours or gauche I will often use coloured pencils to do the shading and detail work. I hope that helps a little. 🙂
Trump’s Administration is a sinking ship. With every crazy daily proposal that comes out of the White House, comes a hefty slap in return. I didn’t watch the news conference yesterday, in fact I try to limit how much of Trump and his idiocy I subject myself to. I usually wait for Bill to tell me the most pertinent parts.
What does please me is that the American public and many businesses across the country are continuing to actively boycott this ridiculous administration in every way possible. Potential new candidate for head of national security turned the position down. Nobody really wants to be tarred with the Trump brush, it’s career suicide.
I continue to watch with glee as Trump’s impeachment comes ever closer; and it will happen.
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I appreciate you jumping the gun 🙂 Tell you the truth, though, I think I’ll just stick a stencil-like canvas, as simple as can be. I’ve failed miserably every time I’ve tried to actually ‘paint’ something, as opposed to just large shapes (planet-like things) with layers and layers and layers of scraped paint. No kidding, I have a painting on my wall i did in 2005 or 2006, and it’s still wet!
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Ha! I can just imagine painting and wall having merged after years! 🙂
That being said, I always found doing colour work daunting too until I realised following the five simple steps cuts out the risk of over-working a painting. You also have to know when to stop. Though like anything creative planning out helps a lot.
Alternatively…there are a lot of great image editing apps that are designed to turn photos into paintings… just a thought. 🙂
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Good luck with the cat paintings/sketches by the way…! 🙂
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