KYLE’S B&B: Latest News & Random Thoughts

Once again, the annual GLBT Business & Entertainment Expo came to town in NYC, (sorta’ like the circus coming to town!)…it has always been a fun and wildly diverse event, featuring so many different faces of the gay community under one, (very large), roof. It was so nice re-connecting with my friends from Out In America, as well as from the Gay Rodeo, and also my friends of the Long Island Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. In the picture posted below I’m, (on the left, in the cowboy hat), showing some of my figure drawing work to Michael Reese, (on the right), at the Out in America booth.

(Thanks to Derrick Chinn of Out in America for this photo!).

Thank you to everyone who voted on my figure drawings, (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, see my previous post, below). How heartwarming it was that so many people took the time to look over both versions of the drawing, and write an intelligent critique of which looked better! A bunch of people posted responses here on the blog, and a whole bunch more wrote me privately with their critiques. I have totaled all of the responses, and here are the results! (Drumroll, please….):

CX version: 35% of the votes
FS version: 50% of the votes
Neutral, (liked both versions equally): 15% of the votes

So, the FS version is the clear winner, although plenty of folks liked the CX version, too…in fact, coupled with the Neutral votes, that’s basically saying just as many people liked the CX version as the FS version! A lot to consider, here….I will most likely go the FS route for when I scan in the rest of my drawings, but I’m still working on perhaps getting more of a hybrid version of both. We’ll see! In any case, stay tuned for more of my Figure Drawings to be posted, and thank you so much, again, for taking part in this vote!

Huh? Just what the hell is that supposed to mean? Well, let me backtrack a little. You see, I’ve been working for months now on actually getting some of my Figure Drawings up & posted at the Kyle’s B&B website. If you’ve visited this blog already, you may have seen a sample of some of my male figure drawing in an earlier post, (there are also a few samples posted, somewhat cropped, at the Kyle’s B&B website too, in the merchandise area). This is not exactly in the style of the Kyle’s B&B art…oh, it’s similar, but it is for the most part pencilled, not inked…and drawn in a more detailed style. I was heavily involved in figure drawing classes in college at Geneseo, ( I surmised it would be the best type of training for drawing comics). In the past few years, I’ve gotten back into working with live models, going to figure drawing sessions, and building a portfolio of some quality drawings, which I am eager to get up and posted on the web. However…scanning these drawings into the computer’s a little more complicated than scanning the Kyle’s comics, which in their black & white, linear art style are much easier to scan, (or, at least, I’ve figured out how to do them well). As for the pencilled figure drawings, well…I’m still working out the bugs. That’s where YOU come in. I have posted 2 samples of the same figure drawing below, each scanned in using a different method. What I’d really appreciate is, if you could take a look at each one, and let me know which looks better to you. (To differentiate them, I’ve designated one as the “CX” version, and one as the “FS” version. This refers to the scanning method used). So, please….take a look at each, and then if you could post a comment to the blog, (yes, you can do that here, by clicking on the “comments” link at the end of this post!), to let me know which one looks better to you. (By the way, I apologize that some of the “frontal-ness” is hidden behind a copyright notice, but this blog doesn’t allow frontal nudity). So, anyway…onto the drawings! The first one is the “CX” version:

OK, now here’s the second version, which is known as the “FS” version:

By the way, yes, I realize that one is slightly larger than the other one. Don’t let that influence your vote…that was just an accident in sizing when I was adjusting the files. What I’d like you to focus on is which one actually looks better to you, regardless of the size.

Thanks so much…now, let’s hear your vote, by clicking on the “comments” link!

Well, March is here, and the Winter Olympics have ended, (sniff…I always get a little teary at the closing ceremonies. I sure wish it didn’t have to come only once every 4 years!). And, yes, it was wonderful and entrancing to watch, but I am a little relieved to have my life back, (as opposed to watching hours full of Olympic broadcasts every day). I’m not going to go into a full review of the whole 2 weeks….but here are my highlights: Bode Miller sure didn’t live up to the hype….mens figure skater Johnny Weir, though he didn’t win a medal, wins my award for most interesting athlete at the games…..I have newfound respect & interest in cross-country (nordic) skiing….and mens speed-skating has no shortage of drama queens! I will leave you with an image, as Roddy Darragon of France shows us that, yes, nordic skiers wear boxer-briefs!