Off topic, more or less... but I just thought the following was a great example of, well the subject I've given this thread:

From the BBC News website: "Spanish fresco restoration botched by amateur"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19349921

:scared:

I quite often start things and then realise I'm out of my depth... have to swim to the side of the pool quickly and take stock.

Usually I'll scuttle off, try and learn some more, in a more roundabout fashion, and maybe come back to the original task a bit later on...

Well, there is that whole talent thing too. While being Conversant in a medium certainly helps... there will always be those that will inherently be able to do things others cannot. With half the effort. I think one of the tricks of any medium is finding a particular strength and utilizing the hell out of that. Of course one should never become too comfortable, that just leads to hackwork. It's nice to have your own particular area where you can shine, though.

Man, that fresco botch is AWFUL! That's just moronic hubris.

Quote - Well, there is that whole talent thing too. While being Conversant in a medium certainly helps... there will always be those that will inherently be able to do things others cannot. With half the effort. I think one of the tricks of any medium is finding a particular strength and utilizing the hell out of that. Of course one should never become too comfortable, that just leads to hackwork. It's nice to have your own particular area where you can shine, though.

Man, that fresco botch is AWFUL! That's just moronic hubris.

It's BAAAAD aint it :blink:

Yeah definitely agree with you on the talent thing. Certain people seem to just have more natural aptitude than others, for certain things... and it's important to recognise that I reckon.

At the same time, I'm a big believer in the ability of almost anyone to aquire talent they're not necessarily born with, to a significant extent, if they really want it and strive for it... and remain honest with themselves about where their abilities sit, in the here and now... not that this form of "aquired" talent can necessarily reach the peaks that someone with a "natural" advantage might scale...

...I sometimes wonder if natural ability in a key area is actually more about having a kind of built-in "self-awareness" relative to doing a given thing, perhaps more than it is a pre-ordained ability to actually "do" that thing? As well as just an overwhelming, built-in motivation to actually do that thing. If that makes any kind of sense... LOL :biggrin:

:scared: It's very tragic, but it's also kind of... HILARIOUS!!! :lol:

Probably more hilarious than tragic if you ask me... it's a regular Tragicomedy.

@ monkeycloud... it's those that are born with it AND strive for it that usually rise to the top.

...And yeah, your comment made sense.

LOL this reminds me of Mr. Bean and Whistler's Mother :)

OMG!! He may get life in front of a firing squad for that screwup ;). Wow, he really fucked it up.

Laurie

It's funny how Jesus kinda ended up looking both idiotic and demonic. Maybe the guy is actually a genius!

From the BBC website (my emphasis):

"Cecilia Gimenez, who is in her 80s, was reportedly upset at the way the fresco had deteriorated and took it on herself to "restore" the image.

She claimed to have had the permission of the priest to carry out the job.

"(The) priest knew it! He did! How could you do something like that without permission? He knew it!"

BBC Europe correspondent Christian Fraser says the delicate brush strokes of Elias Garcia Martinez have been buried under a haphazard splattering of paint.

The once-dignified portrait now resembles a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic, he says."

Quote - The once-dignified portrait now resembles a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic

ROFLMAO all over again :lol:

Must have been fate...

"Our correspondent says that to make matters worse, the local centre that works to preserve artworks had just received a donation from the painter's granddaughter which they had planned to use to restore the original fresco."

Attached Link: Ooooopppssss!!!

And if he pays me another 139 million, I'll gladly poke a hole in it too ;). I might even do it for a bargain price...lol. I could paint it to look like a monkey in an ill-fitting tunic ;).

Laurie Not a Picasso fan

I've seen home 'repair' work done by people who must have attended the same school as the restorer of this fresco.  At least she didn't burn down the church.

I saw that.  I could make a polical analogy or six, but I won't... (we need a Devil smiley!)

What's that saying about building the plane on the runway?  

That's the way I usually go with it.  I'm at least confident in my ability to learn, if not always with my current skill set.

In this case:  That plane is crashing....

Even proffesionals can make a mess of it:

http://www.fineartregistry.com/articles/far_investigates/barnett-newman.php

... And no, I don't like the painting allthough I have seen it in real life, before it was cut to pieces, probably by someone who was afraid.

Bopper

Gee what a loss ;)

Laurie

I suppose you would slash it too...

Bopper

Nah, don't wanna slash it. Just question what ppl call "art" sometimes....lol.

Laurie

Well, isn't that what one is usually trying to do when attempting to get better in something (like Poser, DAZ Studio, Photoshop, etc.,) -- i.e., "... take projects beyond one's current ability ..."?

Of course, like I heard in a philosophy class once, (sic) "Everything logical can be concluded tragically" or somesuch, as witness this.

Probably pretty sad, given the age and stature of that particular artwork.

Well, there's also "Know your limitations". LOLOL

Laurie

Fuck my spats, that's seriously bad.  Somebody needs a good slapping.

you should see what was done to Hoggle... :(

http://www.sowatzka.com/gary/hoggle.html

a seriously fucked up "restoration"

Quote - you should see what was done to Hoggle... :(

http://www.sowatzka.com/gary/hoggle.html

a seriously fucked up "restoration"

Man... I only hope the puppet cast of The Dark Crystal have retired to a better place than those in Labyrinth apparently did... the before pics of Hoggle there look like he's been given to some rather large dogs as a chew toy :scared:

I have no talent and no ability and constantly try and model stuff above and beyond any technical ability i pretend I have. And thats the fun of it. If i were to model stuff at my current level, i'd be getting very good at cubes :) hmmmmmmmm. maybe theres a gap in the market place.    ice cubes, empty boxes, building blocks, the list is ..........................

Weeee.... LOL!  Looks like a monkey :)

Comes back to the Dunning-Kruger effect. First, you have to know you're in over your head. Then, when you're done, you have to be able to tell that you've screwed up. I've seen the result of many projects in which the responsible parties continued on blissfully unaware of what they'd done.

Quote - LOL this reminds me of Mr. Bean and Whistler's Mother :)

That's the first thing I thought of when I heard about this sadly.

Here's another sacred restoration, with a better outcome...

http://www.screen-novelties.com/news/2006/12/rankinbass-puppet-restoration.html

The restore reminded me of something in the Poser world, but it took me a while to pin it down. 

Finally got it.  The artist was using one of those Lo-Res Figures that came with P8 as her model.  They have exactly the same fine facial details and perfect proportions.

De Screem... :lol:

LOL :lol:

Oh gawd...lolol.

Laurie

That is really bad.. lol..

On another note... knowing your limits and not trying to push them is good on one hand but bad on the other... you can't learn anything new if you don't push past what you currently know and you won't gain new skills if you don't make mistakes to learn from... :)

(Though in the case of the ahem restoration i'd say they probably should have said it was past their limits)

Pushing to extend your limits is good. The short name for it is "practice" However there is a time and a place for this and it is not on a fresco that does not belong to you.

Indeed. It's one thing to mess up when you're learning to sew dresses, but if you're going to do open heart surgery, hopefully, you've already done all your messing up on some dead things or on some less vital body parts.

I agree completely... and for the record it's s shame that such an important peice of art was destroyed in the manner it was...