: Don’t know if anyone noticed but Melbourne has a fair few coffee spots. #3
: Don’t know if anyone noticed but Melbourne has a fair few coffee spots. #2
: Someone moved onto our floor that makes the most amazing smelling food and it’s really not …
: Don’t know if anyone noticed but Melbourne has a fair few coffee spots. #1
: Lovely sunny day at the market 😄
: It almost makes the Australia Tax worth it
: TIL the greatest poster ever exists
: A couple more of the buds opened overnight 😄… Although I mixed the colours a little too muddy …
: We got a new bunch! This one hasn’t given up yet
: Started a new sketchbook and project. Going to try and fill it with scenes with people. #1
: Came to see the Rembrandt exhibit and now all I can think of is light
: Haven’t done an office still life in a while
: If Australia’s net overseas migration is going to remain fixed even as the population grows, …
: Very bitter coffee this morning
: Just had breakfast but am very hungry
: “publishers now think of libraries as customer service departments for their database …
: Lost our table before I could finish :(
: We bought some nice flowers but like 24 hours later they’ve completely given up
: A pandemic is not just a disease – it’s a political, social and economic crisis fuelled by …
: Have updated our Voice polling tracker. Can see more incl. methodology -> …
: So apparently Australia Post have run out of forms to get a Victorian ID card. You can’t …
: If Qantas had influence over the government they would have scored billions of dollars in …
: If I were a government agency I would simply constantly change my methodology so nothing is …
: Iran is shutting down for two days because of the heat www.nytimes.com/2023/08/0…
: So much of the NLP documentation uses these lovely, pristine datasets that are packaged into …
: Another cold morning. Why do people live here
: “[Abortion is] the third most commonly performed surgical procedure in Australia but nobody, …
: Why plastic recycling doesn’t work informationisbeautiful.net/visualiza…
: More than 137k applications for parent visas stuck in the pipeline in Australia, and its grown …
: Ok what’s up with the huge (seemingly permanent in Melbourne) sheep grazier warnings on apple …
: If I were an academic group that painstakingly created a website (and blog) to share my research, I …
: “history is an edit war. Truth, factual and moral, hangs in the balance” …
: Interesting profiles of some of the last internet cafes, and how important they were as third spaces …
: Got to love the personal touch only a big Telco can give
: Hell of a chart in this Bloomberg story on Super …
: Math That Lets You Think Locally but Act Globally www.quantamagazine.org/math-that…
: About a week into our rental tenure the lightbulb in the bedroom blew. We’re moving out in two …
: Can’t believe I went more than a week with a new personal laptop without having installed …
: Bit of a brrrrrrrr day in Melbourne
: Never get between a government agency and their Microsoft Power BI
: A new study finds that 47,000 Russian combatants have died in Ukraine …
: Finally uploaded my favourite sketches from my Malaysia trip joshnicholas.com/scribbles
: Is Tennessee a Democracy? www.theatlantic.com/ideas/arc…
: Got one of these fancy ergonomic mice over the weekend coz Officeworks mispriced it and damn …
: The Complicated History of Pointy Hats daily.jstor.org/the-compl…
: Apparently when American special forces are doing some operation in another country it’s that …
: Does anyone in Melbourne use Pineapple for internet? These prices and speeds seem too good to be …
: Updated our Voice to Parliament poll tracker with latest Newspoll. Yes continues downward trend. …
: Orange Is the New Black Signalled the Rot Inside the Streaming Economy …
: This is a great feature on Sri Lankans that have travelled to Australia by boat. Written by Sri …
: The rains in India are horrific www.economist.com/graphic-d…
: Apparently whenever I draw a self portrait I suddenly lose about 10kgs
: Someone needs to do a long read on why kinder surprise toys are so simple/easy to assemble nowadays
: Got a new work laptop and its my first post-touchbar Macbook. Honestly, forget M chips or whatever, …
: Didn’t even go to Micro Camp but I got stickers :) thanks @jean
: With how much everyone is screenshotting on bluesky there really isn’t any reason to go on …
: So threads isn’t ActivityPub compatible at launch?
: Testing Bluesky crossposting with another postcard portrait
: If I was in charge of announcements in an airport I would simply make them so quiet no one could …
: (Probably) the final painting of the trip. Number 28. Kuala Lumpur skyline from the hotel. Sky …
: Still boggles my mind that you can buy (genuine) Lapis Lazuli based paints/pigments
: If the issue is companies scraping Twitter to train LLMs wouldn’t the easiest solution be to …
: So is Nitter still going to work for people who still need to follow some accounts 🤔
: Langkawi is so beautiful and green I’m almost out of yellow watercolour paint.
: Two tells that this hotel was built by Europeans: no sinks in the restaurant awnings don’t …
: Escaped across the bay to a new hotel
: Started pouring so couldn’t quite finish it :(
: One thing really nice in 2020/21 was the pop up sinks everywhere. I’ve never understood why …
: For some reason beers are less expensive than coconuts at this resort (even though I am currently …
: How come delivery apps have figured out taking food from one side of a city to another without it …
: Used the airport self check in and because my bag was ~1kg overweight was directed to a human to pay …
: Coffee truck! Everything was double shots 😄
: TIL Hansel and Gretel might not have been written if Norman Borlaug had been born earlier
: Understand loyalty is only a fan thing in the NBA etc. etc. but am very sad to see Marcus Smart …
: My other morning scribble. Didn’t do the people’s proportions too well
: Very very sunny in Penang today
: Would rather not quote Arthur C. Clarke but interesting how timeless this is
: Long, hot walk in the sun today. So we stopped at a little shop for ice creams and cold drinks. …
: First job at breakfast every morning is to get two of each tiny drink to approximate a normal drink
: Going to miss the coffee shops when I go home
: There should be a filter on hotel booking sites so you can exclude hotels that give you daily wifi …
: Very hard to draw straight lines when you have to stand and draw/paint
: Still not quite getting enough light in these paintings
: Had to retreat inside from the heat this morning
: Amazing how we still have these islands of pre pandemic life that never recovered. The coffee shop …
: Getting bombarded with ads for 24 week coding bootcamps. Can’t fathom you could learn enough in that …
: The extent to which the USSR couldn’t/wouldn’t trust their own astronauts is incredible
: TIL McDonalds has a VIP program in Malaysia. Kept seeing these stickers on cars but finally got …
: Who was the person that first came up with the idea for the absolutely tiny juice glasses at hotel …
: Does anyone have a good resource for explaining to parents that being connected to a wifi network != …
: Apple weather is completely useless in Malaysia. Currently says it’s just cloudy but when I …
: Stingy RSL Pours Wine With Full Centimetre Of Air At Top www.betootaadvocate.com/breaking-…
: Wasn’t able to quite grasp the scale of the lovely train station here
: Some lovely old buildings in Ipoh
: Coffee culture in Ipoh is great
: White coffee to go at Ipoh’s famous Nam Heong
: Managing 380mbps download at my tiny hotel in Ipoh. Can’t believe how bad Australia’s …
: Finally reached the famous hipster cafes of Ipoh
: Started to drizzle so I couldn’t finish the painting :(
: My scribbles of the Petronas Towers four year ago and today. Pretty happy with how far I’ve …
: I really love the Malay spelling of English loan words. We should adopt these imo.
: First breakfast in Kuala Lumpur
: Don’t think I’ll be spending what will be like $6k AUD (after Apple adds the weird tax …
: Quick brunch near Flinders station
: Have spent most of the morning unsubscribing from podcasts I never ended up listening to
: “Argentinian Soccer Fans Decry a New Bronze Statue of a Former Club Coach for Its Comically Large …
: “Talent is a pursued interest” - Bob Ross (I’m watching the doco on Netflix)
: Less than 7 sleeps til I go on holidays!
: Ok that was a great finale for Succession. Simultaneously satisfied but also want to find out what …
: Two things that make absolutely no sense: pulpless orange juice getting ice cream in a cup instead …
: Quick self portrait this morning. Really needed a new profile pic
: There’s little more frustrating than being a journalist when your team is in the playoffs and …
: Huge improvement from yesterday, though
: She’s been sitting here for almost five hours waiting to be discharged from the hospital. Why …
: The IRS has “quietly built its own prototype system to allow Americans to file tax returns …
: Really don’t appreciate how great the Australian Bureau of Statistics is until I have to work …
: Quick scribble at the market using water soluble ink
: What’s a good non-audible audiobook app/subscription?
: Posted without comment www.economist.com/graphic-d…
: First non-portrait scribble in a while!
: Smashed out five portraits to finish off the sketchbook. Can’t believe it’s finally …
: Based on choice of suit colour I have to assume that King Charles moonlights as a real estate agent
: Portraits 99-102! The hundredth felt like a big milestone. Only a couple of pages left. Am really …
: F1 is really getting boring again. Stopped watching for several years during the Mercedes dominance …
: Portraits 95-98 from last night and this morning. Four sheets left!
: Catching up on a bunch of paintings from the weekend. Portraits 85-94. Just six pages of my …
: Portraits 83 and 84 from this morning. 17 degrees in the morning. Got to paint comfortably outside …
: Portraits 81 and 82 from this morning. Minoli says I’m rushing them…. Maybe. Only about …
: Just finished the 80th portrait in the series! Can definitely see how far I’ve come as my …
: Catching up on portraits over the weekend. Portraits 72-76
: How many stories I see nowadays like this one about two wrongfully convicted men. Have we ever had …
: Portraits 70 and 71. Liking drawing straight with pen a lot more
: Portrait 69 this morning. Slipped back into glazing by accident
: Portraits 67 and 68 from this morning. Think I’m much better off using a few, stronger washes …
: Portraits 65 and 66/120. Wasn’t able to finish 65 in the park the other day because it started …
: Need to build myself a podcast player that automatically deletes an episode if a derivative of the …
: Portraits 63 and 64/120. Not really happy with either. Overworked them both
: Portrait 62/120. First self portrait of the project. Doesn’t really look like me.
: Didn’t realise you could get two vaccines at once but just got flu and covid jabbed 💪💪
: Portrait 61/120. Another one from an old photo of Minoli. Think I’m getting a bit better at …
: Portraits 59 and 60/120 in the new sketchbook. Already much preferring the 100% cotton paper. Half …
: 58th and final portrait of the sketchbook is Minoli eating milk toffee. Just 62 portraits to go!
: Portrait 56 and 57/120. Just one more to go and the first sketchbook is done!
: Portraits 54 and 55/120. Three pages left! Going to finish it off today
: Portraits 51-53/120 from this morning. Only a few more pages left in my sketchbook!
: Portraits 48 and 49/120. Sort of starting a mini series of people reading
: Portraits 46 & 47/120 this morning. I do actually miss reading newspapers
: Painting some history this morning (someone reading a newspaper)
: Portrait 45/120. Another (slightly better) attempt at painting Simone de Beauvoir
: Portrait 44/120. Tried to paint Simone de Beauvoir but failed horribly
: Portrait 43/120: I got a watercolour hue called “Aussie red gold” that I’m really …
: Portrait 42/120: I appear to be stuck on the cool side of the palette. Probably need to find images …
: Back in Sydney for one day. Having breakfast at one of the old haunts. Can’t believe …
: Has the Russian Presidential Press Office shot this on an angle to make Putin appear tall?
: Portrait 41/120. A purple grumpus
: Portrait 40/120. A third done! Trying to get a bit looser
: Late today. Portrait number 39: back to monochrome-ish. Trying to figure out a good complementary to …
: Amazon package got stolen yet again 😑. Honestly think my only option is to shop exclusively at sites …
: Portrait number 38! Trying to ramp up the harsh light. Need better strategies for handling finer …
: Portrait number 37. Screwed up the hair shape a little but can see improvement in lifting out …
: Portrait # 36. Had to make up for the horror show this morning. Starting to get a bit more used to …
: Running really late so a bit of a cop out with this morning’s portrait. Ghoulish skin, sausage …
: Portrait #34. Screwed this one up by going over with fountain pen lines 🤔
: Portrait #33. Not too happy with it. Been trying to figure out how to blend layers better so I …
: Todays portrait. Number 32. Another attempt at painting Minoli
: Today - for the first time in years - I wandered around a bookshop trying to find something to read. …
: This mornings portrait! Number 31. Trying to see if I can experiment more with warm and cool colours …
: Portrait number 30! That’s one sketchbook half filled with portraits. Hopefully the next one …
: Almost caught up! Portraits 28 and 29. These two didn’t really work. I’m still trying to …
: More and more stories about people exonerated after years in prison/on death row. Yet I don’t …
: Portrait number 27! Wasn’t patient enough to wait for it to properly dry between layers
: Finally finished the big glob of Quinacridone Rose that was on my mixing tray! Can start playing …
: Still trying to use up some of the colours in my palette! Portraits 25 and 26
: Portrait 24! Probably the most convincing shading to create volume, so far. Although I went a bit …
: Portraits 22 and 23. Still unsure how to handle closed eyes
: Just going to race through a bunch of portraits in the middle that I’m not too happy with. …
: Couple more portraits (12 and 13): these are two from Flickr. Hoping more monochrome portraits helps …
: Starting to suspect the colour lights next to the train station is timed so that we always miss the …
: Portrait no 11 is of my wife Minoli. Probably one of the closest likenesses I’ve achieved but …
: This is my favourite of the portraits so far. Number 10. My great uncle again. Feel like I captured …
: Portraits 8 and 9: my Great Uncle came to visit. This whole portrait project actually started …
: Getting a bit better at using the white of the page. Wonky fingers, though. Portraits 5, 6 and 7.
: Really not a fan of the paper in this journal, but pressing on. Portraits 3 and 4
: So, last month I started a project to fill two journals with watercolour portraits. Roughly ~120 …
: Trying something a bit different to get my head around colour theory
: Another hot day at Queen Victoria markets
: Just had the worst bretzel ever. Why are so many baked goods in Australia just normal bread dough …
: Think I might like working at the state library of Victoria
: I want data on what % of librarians wearing headphones while reshelving books are listening to an …
: Can’t get more exact than that
: “if wood burning were mostly a working class habit, it would probably have been banned …
: Started to drizzle as I finished 😬
: Reading/scribbling next to the Brisbane river 🖌️
: Three attempts later, finally painted the surfers paradise skyline 🎨
: Sunny Christmas Day at the beach
: Rousing endorsement of Queensland Art Gallery on Google maps
: Trying to see if I can do some city scapes
: Starting to run low on ink 😬
: Two attempts at the sunrise this morning. One with slightly more care and patience 🎨
: Tried painting Minoli again. Lots of cauliflowers and ruined the hair at the end :(
: This one didn’t quite work. Messed up the perspective on the lamps (among lots of other …
: Quick out and about sketches
: Went on to Twitter for a few seconds and was immediately greeted with someone being super self …
: Last morning coffee shop visit for a while
: Not a very successful office still life today. Couldn’t quite get the tones right. Office …
: Honestly don’t understand how I survived before it was possible to wear noise cancelling …
: Quick morning splash. Paper really warping. Need to start always carrying watercolour paper around
: Finally a sunny day! At Queen Victoria markets :)
: Was going pretty good until the traffic blocked my view :(
: Last one for the week. Tried watercolour again. Think I need to make the values darker. Office still …
: Quick train sketch! 🖌️ Almost missed my stop
: Was trying some wet in wet but lost control Office still life #12
: Quick train sketch 🖌️ Only a few pages left
: Was on Twitter briefly today and yesterday and realised how much I’m missing the community …
: Recent sketches now on the wall
: Quick morning painting sesh 🎨
: Had enough time for watercolours this morning :) 🎨 Need to remember to leave more highlights. Office …
: Quick train sketch. 🖌️ Really hard to grab poses in the space of one stop 😬
: Sunny day and lotsa people on phones
: So many bananas! Office still life #10 🎨
: Someone needs to create a course in how to use the various Wait methods in Selenium
: Couldn’t find the fruit today :( Office still life #9 🎨
: Sketching along the way. First time I’ve gotten a seat in a while. 🎨
: Something very funny about the front page of the NSW government’s data website defaulting to …
: Some of the best news for Australian democracy I’ve read in a while. …
: Is cheese the only positive Monger? 🤔
: Almost every art book I read feels the need to include a disclaimer like this. Really sad that it’s …
: Better late than never Office still life #8
: We have nectarines now! Office still life #7
: Screwed up the perspective :(
: Why isn’t this already a thing in Australia?
: Good Victorians stay the same shape whether or not they are in a container
: Two electricity bills in a row now where the two of us apparently use as much on average as a 5 …
: You’d think with the number of recent data breaches we’d get some stock imagery other …
: Can tell how well Legalise Cannabis did in the Victoria election by how many times @benraue mentions …
: I may need a banana bread recipe. Office still life #6
: So Mastodon really isn’t cutting it as a link discovery engine. Could just be a function of a …
: So has medical science ever investigated how fütballers are able to recover from these apparently …
: Tried to do a 16km trail, got lost, and after ~10kms ended up at a shopping centre eating laksa …
: Incredible they created an encryption in the 1600 hundreds that took experts (and computers) 6 …
: Think the Americans might be celebrating some kind of holiday. Hard to tell though as it’s not …
: No more mandarins :( Office still life #5
: Some morning chaos scribbling
: Nails the issues with previous Star Wars shows www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra…
: Now that everyone is on Mastodon or whatever can we get back to the real war: mainstreaming/bringing …
: Should start putting tracking numbers on the mandarins. Office still life #4
: Starting listening to a new audiobook and the narrator has a thick Australian accent. It’s …
: Starting to suspect someone breaks in during the night and uses all the ketchup
: Struggling to think of a more obnoxious sound in a quiet office than a mac booting up (just …
: Trams are sorta hard to scribble
: This is just becoming a rolling argument that I need to eat more mandarins… Office still life …
: Just filled my water bottle up at a tap with a counter claiming it had saved 126k plastic bottles …
: Just finished Welcome to Wrexham… maybe rich Americans taking over really is the answer to …
: Ok. Have deleted my mastodon account. Going to try (try) and do the socials mostly through …
: Someone ate all the bananas! Office still life #2
: Ok, I lost track of it last time so starting again: Office Still Life #1
: Really like this point: why does one website (usually Twitter in the Anglo press) have to be the …
: Will PNG really stop log exports in 2025? …
: Melbourne giving me strong monsoon vibes rn. Just had to rescue the washing line from heavy, …
: How China’s Imperial Treasures Became a Public Exhibit www.theworldofchinese.com/2022/11/h…
: Ok MCG 🏏 take two. Last time it just rained. This time they’re building a stage even though …
: “crypto provides fast-track learning as to why we have banking and broker regulation in the …
: Best thing about sketching in permanent ink is when a pen leaks
: I don’t care what anyone says pumpkin isn’t a squash
: Hmmm. Testing cross posting.
: A gloomy fountain No sun today.
: Landscapes are tough First trip to the Yarra Valley and all I got was one stupid painting
: The Claremont hotel Another lovely sunny day today
: Drawing Chapel Temperance Going to start drawing some of the interesting buildings down Chapel …
: Atop the hill Another sunny day near the observatory
: Flinders station again Trying this one again
: Coffee shop sketching Gloomy day today
: Hands are hard Need to come up with a way of practicing drawing hands
: Another sunny sketch First sunny sketch in Melbourne is of Flinders station
: New art space New apartment has a whole corner just for my art stuff! First painting
: Now some trees I always avoid trees and cut them out of my drawings for some reason. But playing …
: Solar powered drawing Had to stop as soon as the sun went behind the building. Starting to realise …
: Another sunny day Final weekend before moving away. Had to sketch the Sydney Opera House.
: Some more blending Really enjoying this new medium’s combination of scribbly and blendy
: Non waterproof inks This is way more fun than contouring
: Someone got styled (It’s not me)
: Got some brunch Needed to get some Surry Hills experiences in before I move
: Lunchtime sketches #1 At the dog park
: Out of ink Ran out of ink halfway through scribbling this morning!
: An empty building Been walking past this place for more than a year. Someone make it a restaurant so …
: Sketching round Surry Bit cartoony but also nice to get out in the sun
: Some changing leaves Quick painting sesh before work :)
: Red blue person This new primary set mixes some nice purples/greys. I think it’s staining my …
: Quick morning sketch Just a few more days with this view every morning
: Lips are hard Not as bad as hands, though.
: Using it up Some quick head studies to try use up this damn burnt sienna.
: Paper is buckling I should probably buy some better stuff when this runs out. Screwed up the …
: Too much grey Accidentally bought two tubes of grey paint instead of a blue and grey 😅 gonna be a …
: Fineliner and charcoal First time mixing these two mediums. Charcoal really makes it easy to add …
: Need watercolour paper Trying to use up an old visual art diary but can’t work wet in wet 🤔
: Searching for a 300 page book just on how to draw hands
: Benny’s review of King Arthur
: Don’t know about these new water brushes
: Chinese youth are…. tanking? www.theguardian.com/world/202…
: I’ll sing you a song a song of the sea 🎶🇬🇧✏️
: Back in London for a few days ✏️🇬🇧
: Trying some new colour combinations in Budapest ✏️🇭🇺
: Bought some orange crayons 🙂✏️🇭🇺
: Loving these trees lining the streets in Budapest ✏️🇭🇺
: Another view of the Temple of St Nicholas (yup) ✏️🇸🇰
: The clock tower in Bratislava ✏️🇸🇰
: TFW you forget to leave enough room on the page for the steeple of the church ✏️🇸🇰
: Morning from Bratislava Castle 👋 ✏️🇸🇰
: Beers by the river in Bratislava ✏️🇸🇰
: I thought I was drawing someone else but I now I realise this is just me sitting in the sun in …
: Last one from Vienna - Belvedere Palace ✏️🇦🇹
: Waiting for the art gallery to open 😴✏️🇦🇹
: Day by the canals in Vienna ✏️🇦🇹
: Some kind of ministry building in Prague 🤔 ✏️🇨🇿
: The Overlook Hotel/Prague palace ✏️🇨🇿
: A couple of days by the Vltava river in Prague ✏️🇨🇿
: Couple more from Krakow 😬 I only came to Poland cause I was “in the area” but damn is this country …
: Krakow Kathedral 😱 there are too many buildings to draw in this city ✏️🇵🇱
: Warsaw is damn pretty tbh ✏️🇵🇱
: Saw a guy with pigtails in his beard and am now sorely tempted (shitty artists approximation) ✏️🇮🇪
: Greatest thing yesterday was finding a pub with a MASSIVE selection of international beers. And …
: Scribbling from Dublin castle 😀 ✏️🇮🇪
: TFW you buy a “pot” of tea and the pot turns out to be the same size as a cup 😑 🇮🇪
: TFW you can’t figure out what these rebellious scum are up too 🇮🇪
: The murals in Belfast are absolutely spectacoolah 🇬🇧
: Lovely labor union murals in Belfast, too 😀 🇬🇧
: Your humble correspondent is in Edinburgh and neither draw hands nor collars 🏴
: Out a pub window in Stirling 🏴
: View out my hostel window in Scotland 🏴
: Charles Dickens’ ladder and pond pump @ the Charles Dickens Museum 📷 🇬🇧
: St John’s chapel, Tower of London 🎙🇬🇧
: Walking through the gold souk in Dubai 🇦🇪 🎙
: Sick today 🤒 so decided to shoot a video on my phone of my turtle in the rain 🇱🇰 🎥
: There’s really nothing like being inside when there’s a monsoon pour outside 🇱🇰 🎙
: Monsoon thumping on the garage 🇱🇰 🎙 🎵 Raindrops keep falling on my head 🎶
: Baby elephant doing swimming zooms at Pinnawala elephant orphanage 🇱🇰 📷
: Beach day in Mt Lavinia 🇱🇰 📷 These guys are really hurting from the crash in tourism