How would you describe the personality of Papa Emeritus III compared to his predecessors?
N. G. : First of all, Papa Emeritus III is an entertainer! He loves projectors, he loves the public, and he loves success. The first Papa Emeritus was someone very rigid, very strict, and very solemn. A real son of a bitch! (laughs) To be honest, we don’t miss him at all! Papa Emeritus II was a pervert a little bit sadistic, and, in hindsight, I think he wasn’t very at ease on stage. He wasn’t a showman, unlike Papa Emeritus III! Him, he’s the guide we missed to rise up the quality of our shows, to reach the step above and communicate with our fans. We will be eternally thankful for his work. I believe he have paved the way for his successor…
Precisely, what are you waiting from the future Papa Emeritus IV?
N.G. : Well, I want him to be scary. That he bring back something more tenebrous, while remaining spectacular. Broadly speaking, I want the next album to come back to a gloomier atmosphere.
to dress, groom, or decorate (someone or something) in a careful or showy manner; primp
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It’s a good thing I check the definitions before I start on the art for these—I would’ve done tomorrow’s word by mistake today if I didn’t! 😮💨
Narrowly avoided catastrophe aside, I like how this one turned out a lot! 💎
Click the "Keep Reading" and we'll talk a bit more about that word mix-up and my general process for the art. ✨
⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️
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Does anyone remember at the tail end of yesterday's description that I said today's word was one I'd been really looking forward to?
Well, (as implied by the short caption) that was incorrect—I had actually jumped ahead and was thinking of tomorrow's word and continued to do so right up until I went to grab the definition and get started today.
Note the phrasing there: Thankfully, I start each of these art pieces with the definition in the center so I have a better idea of what space I have to work with for the mandala rounds, and because the words are new-to-me, I still have to consult the definition list. SO I found out I'd been thinking of the wrong word before I'd made any actual art progress! 😅 I was thinking this would be one of next week's words!
Note the phrasing there: Thankfully, I start each of these art pieces with the definition in the center so I have a better idea of what space I have to work with for the mandala rounds, and because the words are new-to-me, I still have to consult the definition list. SO I found out I'd been thinking of the wrong word before I'd made any actual art progress!
Ergo, my word mix-up wasn't quite the catastrophe it could have been. 😮💨
I had already spent several minutes looking up inspiration that was related to tomorrow's word, so it felt strange to have to so strongly pivot my line of thinking, but I'd certainly rather have to do that than realize I'd made completely the wrong piece of art for the day...And then still have to turn around and make the right one. 😖
With that in mind, once I actually had the correct word in mind, I was pretty worried the outcome was going to be another bag of mixed feelings like yesterday was...And yet, I'm actually very pleasantly surprised with what I managed to put together here. 😁
I'm not quite ready to say the whole package is my new favorite, but the color scheme is definitely one of my favorites so far, and I at least like today's line work much better than yesterday's, or a couple of my other "least favorites" of the month so far. Considering how I started out, that's a win in my book!
So then, "Prink": My thoughts, as might be obvious, went mostly to sort of an idealized "old" Hollywood headspace. I definitely wanted to get a dress in there somewhere—That was at least one thing I knew more or less from the beginning of the month, after the list was finalized and I had mostly settled on the mandalas as my method of attack, that Prink would be "needing" a dress.
I went with a very [in my mind] stereotypical "glam dress"—Sparkly, probably satin, with a fur stole/boa—in part because it was easier to draw than a lot of other options would have been...But also because for me that kind of dress just does feel like a "careful but showy" fashion choice, and it kind of fits right in with a lot of the other imagery that was coming to mind: Gaudy jewelry (my favorite kind!), pearls, those backstage dressing mirrors framed by circular lights, red carpet events, expensive perfume....etc...
...And that's basically how my exact thought process went right there. 😆; One vague idea/symbol of celebrity "prinking" after another. Really the only thing that—perhaps surprisingly—didn't immediately come to mind was the suit/tuxedo, but I thought to add it in because it would be a little more variety than just repeating the dress around, and I later realized it fits as a subtle reminder that "prinking and primping" aren't exclusively to femininity.
Likewise, the color scheme is mostly what I'd consider stereotypical for a lot of this imagery. Except the hot pink and dark blue are a step off; More stereotypical, at least to me, would be red and black. Since I'd gotten myself psyched up for a very different word and had started out kind of disappointed, though, I tweaked the colors to what would personally be more visually exciting to me. And you'll remember that I said this is definitely one of my favorite Obscutober color schemes so far, so that both worked and I think was the right choice.
It's funny how I feel like I had even less ideas for how to tie the individual ideas together today than I did yesterday, and yet I'm so much happier with what I cobbled together. Things just seemed to flow much better from one idea to the next, and I'm not really sure why. Especially since I did start out with such a different mindset and have to change course so quickly. 🤔
I'm definitely not complaining, though!
Really the only thing I could say I'm not terribly happy with here is that it doesn't "feel" very mandala-ish. As in a lot of the lines here really are just small doodles that could be "normal" drawings on their own, they're not really composed thy way mandala motifs normally are. But, if I'm being fair and realistic with myself, this certainly isn't the first mandala of the month you can say that about. It might even be fair to say most of them have been like that, even. I think maybe it just sticks out a bit more here because I would normally think of drawing clothes so completely separately from drawing mandalas.
Perfume bottles, too, for what it's worth. And if the perfume bottle or the proportions on the suit look a little funky, here's my excuses right now; I don't think I've ever drawn a perfume bottle before and it's been a very long time since I've attempted to draw anything resembling a suit, and it was definitely not in a more simple doodle style like this. 😅 There was much small-scale learning done here today!
Let's see...I think the only thing I haven't mentioned yet is that you can see I opted to do considerably more stippling here than I think any other mandala has gotten so far. That was a very conscious choice because I've found before that stippling can be a pretty good stand-in for a glitter effect when you're trying to not get too complicated with coloring. It didn't quite "glitter" the way I'd pictured here, but I also didn't really go out of my way to help it in the coloring department, either. But I still stand by the decision to use stippling the way I did.
[And oh look, that example I linked is probably the last time I attempted to draw something like a suit...five years ago...]
In conclusion: I pretty significantly underestimated myself today...But I kind of needed to, after yesterday, I think. It feels so much better to have gone into this one so uncertain and turn out so much more satisfied with it.
I feel like I've said that same thing like five times with different words now, but if I have it's only because I am still so surprised and in that way it really can't be overstated.
[Once I realized I had my words/days mixed up] I was already feeling pretty good about what I'll be able to do for tomorrow's word, but I think now I have a little bit of confidence back that I'd lost yesterday, so I'm looking even more forward to it than before. 😉
So, in the end, maybe it was a good thing I got my words mixed up? I just hope I don't do it again, because while I maybe-needed the bait-and-switch this time, it very easily could've turned out much, much worse. 😅
...I can say I'm not looking forward to cross-posting because (as I complained a bit about yesterday, too) Instagram keeps giving me stupid problems when I come around to it specifically—And it gets saved for as-close-to-last-as-possible for that reason!—but then again, do I ever look forward to that? Not really!
Oh well. Has to be done. [In my mind, anyway.] So I'll leave you Sparklers here and get on with that for today. Here's hoping tomorrow comes out at least this nicely, if not even better... 🤞
In Vanity Fair, as we bow and smile,
As we talk of the opera after the weather,
As we chat of fashion and fad and style,
We know we are playing a part together.
You know that the mirth she wears, she borrows;
She knows you laugh but to hide your sorrows;
We know that under the silks and laces,
And back of beautiful, beaming faces,
Lie secret trouble and grim despair,
In Vanity Fair.
In Vanity Fair, on dress parade,
Our colors look bright and our swords are gleaming;
But many a uniform's worn and frayed,
And most of the weapons, despite their seeming.
Are dull and blunted and badly battered,
And close inspection will show how tattered
And stained are the banners that float above us.
Our comrades hate, while they swear to love us;
And robed like Pleasure walks gaunt-eyed Care,
In Vanity Fair.
In Vanity Fair, as we strive for place,
As we rush and jostle and crowd and hurry,
We know the goal is not worth the race-
We know the prize is not worth the worry;
That all our gain means loss for another;
That in fighting for self we wound each other;
That the crown of success weighs hard and presse
The brow of the victor with thorns-not caresses;
That honors are empty and worthless to wear,
In Vanity Fair.
But in Vanity Fair, as we pass along,
We meet strong hearts that are worth the knowing;
'Mong poor paste jewels that deck the throng,
We see a solitaire sometimes glowing.
We find grand souls under robes of fashion,
'Neath light demeanors hide strength and passion;
And fair fine honor and Godlike resistance.
In halls of pleasure may have existence;
And we find pure altars and shrines of prayer,
In Vanity Fair.
“A Hug From Taylor Swift” | Auburn, AL | April 26, 2010
Primp ‘Elephant Hoodie’ - no longer available
Way back in the day, when Taylor was doing 13 Hour Meet & Greets, she also sneaked onto the Auburn University campus in Alabama to meet and perform for two dedicated guy Swifties who had filmed a series of YouTube videos begging for a hug from her.
In typical Taylor fashion, she followed through in a big way, not only hugging the two fans but also putting on a private concert for Auburn University students.
