Apr 2, 2012

The Master Race











Well, if you've been around blog-land for a while, you might have guessed, from certain slip-ups on my part, that I had blue eyes.
And that of course makes me part of the 'master race'.
You might think it's easy being part of the master race - but in fact it's a lot tougher than you think.

For one thing, if you leave me out in the sun too long, my beautiful pale alabaster-like skin goes an interesting pink colour.

And if you take me out on sunny days you won't see how blue my eyes are - because my face will be screwed up against the glare so much you'll just see slits.

Of course people with blue eyes are higher up on the evolutionary scale than people with brown eyes. 
Everyone knows that. 
Well, everyone who's never had a chance to read a book on iris evolution.




The truth is, us blue eyed people ... well, we're... er....  mutants. 
Plain and simple. 

You see, originally we humans had three layers of pigment on our irises.

The bottom layer was blue, the middle layer some yellowy browny hazel colour, and the top layer a deep velvety chocolate colour.

And somewhere along the way we blue eyed people have lost the outer two layers of pigment.

You can still see it sometimes in a bio-microscope - you'll see little islands of brown sitting up above the sea of blue. (Here's an image from this site to illustrate).




Well, while we are on the subject, did you know I almost went to Vietnam?
If I'd been three years older my number would have come up.

So the chap in the top image is me, born three years earlier, in another country, to people who still had three layers of iris pigment.

He was lucky enough to return home.




Thank you sincerely to everyone who commented on my last post. I've been working my b$#@5om off trying to finish a project before "S" day - which will happen in about two weeks.
I'll be round to visit soon.


And let you know what "S" day is on my next post :)

see you!











29 comments:

  1. also this child with hut is stunning, you are a true master illustrator, like a lot the atmosphere in all your works

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  3. Yes, we all have blue or light green eyes and I can attest for the fact that we are mutated ;D I can't go out without sunglasses, can't drive even with them on really sunny days and my grandsons eyes have so little pigment that they misdiagnosed him with a mild form a albinism when he was a baby...

    Love the illustration Andrew. Great atmosphere :) I hope that you are able to get your project finished before "S" day. :)

    That's an interesting link on the health reasons for pigment blotches. My son loves to look at macro iris pictures because he says they look like terrains and that every one is different.

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  4. That's a beautiful illustration. I love the butterflies on the background.
    And that cat looks real!
    Races are always confusing for me, we just have a little bit of everything in southamerica XD

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  5. I didn't know that about eyes. I have blue eyes too, but I've always thought they looked too pale and washed out, and wished I could have the deep soul-ful eyes of something with....well....I guess more layers.

    This is a very very lovely illustration. It makes me almost want to cry for some reason. I'm not really in the mood to analyze that, but it does. Perhaps I'll be back later to look at it some more.

    Good luck with your project.

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  6. This is a beautifully poignant image, Mr. Finnie. The white butterflies are reminiscent of doves. Love the reflection in his eyes. They've seen a lot. Too much, maybe.

    That's fascinating about the eyes. I recently read about a procedure to make brown eyes blue (isn't that a song?). They burn off the top brown layer. I'm sorry, but that's too ewwwwwww.

    Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison is one of my favorite songs, and not because my eyes are brown. Funny, but people can always tell that I am less evolved, even when I have my eyes closed. I'm gonna go stare at the sun for a while now. Don't be jealous.

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  7. Cher Andrew, finalement dans vos yeux aussi il y a la mer !...

    J'aime ce matou qui reste calmement dans son panier dans cette dernière belle illustration... Pourtant je suppose que la vue des ces pigeons le taquine un peu...
    Mais avec le titre du journal, inutile de broncher !...

    Je vous fais de gros bisous.

    Ps : As-tu fini ton repas ?!... sourire...

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  8. This is a wonderful illustration, Andrew. Goodness, the pose, the environment, his eyes..it is such a thoughtfully composed piece that makes me wonder what he has seen, and we hope that his return from Vietnam has been a peaceful life. I am wishing you all the best as you work towards the finish line to "S" day!! And by the way, fascinating about the blue eyes!

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  9. Good luck in the final stretch to "S" day, AF. The hushed, waiting quality of this one gets me - not like a photograph where we know the shutter clicked and caught a sliver of a moment, but as though everything stopped - and you just happened by to make an image of it. Makes the mind pause.

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  10. I haven't evolved?! Maybe you can answer me this because I've always wondered about it... when I was a kid, there was a day when everything in world was right and I was really, really happy. I walked past a mirror, and my eyes were vivid teal. No shades of anything else, just remarkably blue green. Normally my eyes are hazel because they apparently don't know what color to be or maybe I don't want to fit into a neat box. Is there a way to make my eyes teal again or can you at least explain what happened that day?

    I just love the illustration. Something about it just caught me in the heart before I read anything you had to say about it. After reading it, I thought so many butterflies, so many who didn't come back.

    Best of luck with your project!!

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  11. Wow I thought my brown eyes were kind of boring, but velvety chocolate sounds so appealing... even yummy!
    Imagine how different your life might have been, if you were three years younger then. Scary.
    Looks as if this chap is spending his days reflecting on his life. Good thing he's got a cute little kitty for a pal!
    Thinking about you and that "S" coming up. :(
    You'll be fine! :)

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  12. Andrew, NOOOOOOOOOO!!! No no no. Bella made me do it. Hahahah!

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  13. I need to think of more intelligent comment :)

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  14. Hello my fellow Blue-eyed-mutant! Great illustration! Love the mood and tone. Wow! you’ve been working your “S” off :o) Looking forward to the announcement.

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  15. i said my eyes are stupid and i have blurry vision and i wear either glasses or contact lenses you replied when we look at the eyes we tell a lot about someone it's what the observer sees not the owner of the eyes.

    you see, andrew.

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  16. wow finally i can post comment (and talk to you at the same time), this must be my lucky day!

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  17. Hi Andrew...I love the contrasts in this piece: his sad demeanor and the sort of gloomy pigeons vs the red basket with the kitten, the hopeful headlines, and the butterflies. Good luck getting your project finished, and I hope that the "S" isn't anything insurmountable!

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  18. Hi Andrew,thanks for the comment:)It made me laugh a little because I could say the same things to you:)The difference is that I used a simple brush and ink and you menaged to do great illustrations if I have to do I didn't know where to begin:)Also this time you did a beautiful illo:)

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  19. I swear, your blog must have a special anti-amalia repellent or something. This is like the bzillionth time I've stopped by to comment, and now FINALLY, it seems like I'm through.

    Well, good thing it's always worth coming by...this piece is absolutely gorgeous and ahem, "melancholic", that I keep imagining the guy would start to sing any minute. Really, I just love how simple it is, and yet it speaks so many words.

    Bravo, my friend. And be careful not to fall asleep when lying on the beach. We don't want people to start calling you Crab. :D

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  20. Aaah, okay, I will be off call at 8AM. I have been up all night trying to fix problems so I will try to be very careful what I say because apparently to whatever I say, people pay attention. Hahaha! Your title is misleading. You allude to the master race. Here is something that governs societies. This is true in ancient times as well as modern times. It does not matter whether the color of your eyes are blue, hazel or brown. Oh I once knew someone whose eyes were green (with envy) hehehe.

    Gold is the currency of kings.
    Silver of princes,
    Barter of peasants,
    Debt is the currency of slaves.

    So here we are in the modern age with all our achievements and discoveries. The people in America are now equal. For the past three years we have accumulated debt greater than the sum of all debt accumulated since Washington became president. So what does that mean? We are all in debt. Some more than others.

    And who are our debtors? Hmn. Shouldn't they be the new masters?

    As for this illustration, It is the most poignant and affective yet, although it reminds me of a controversy we once had with a Time Magazine cover when the saturation of a famous mug shot caused so much furor.

    Did you hear what Hugo Chavez prayed for this week?

    A Good Easter to you Andrew. Tsup!

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  21. I was hoping you'd have a new post up that I could look at, but since you don't, I will say here that i REALLY REALLY appreciate your thoughtful comments on my blog. They are enormously helpful to me, and have gotten me thinking about my pictures in new ways. THANK YOU!!!!

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  22. Oh, my. Wow. I'm not even kidding.

    This post is fascinating on too many levels to even mention. I'm so glad I'm finally catching up, here!

    My eyes are pale blue and very sensitive to bright sun and my skin is an ever changing panoply of white, splotchy, pink, red, white, and pallid.

    I guess that's my Easter message...
    Happy Easter to you!

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  23. Hallo Andrew, schön schön schön… aber ich fühle mich mehr zu den Tieren hingezogen...
    diese Tauben und im Hintergrund die Schmetterlinge, mit Seele und Charakter,
    gut gezeichnet.
    Interessant die blauen Augen, mit etwas Glück gehört man dazu, diese Iris Diagnose ist im Heilbereich ein Wunder, es entspricht der Früherkennung von möglichen Mängel und Krankheiten, wie wunderbar, es müßte viel mehr in der Arzt Praxis Zugang finden,

    …aber wie würde die Welt aussehen mit nur gesunden Menschen? das Land braucht die Kranken, es bringt Geld!!!

    viele Grüße von Jasmin

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  24. So, it's the 12th. Is it "S" day yet? HOpe the work is going well and that you haven't worked your *ss quite off...

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  25. I thought of you this morning. I hope you are well.

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  26. Good day, Mr. Finnie
    well, I am not evolved, yet....according to you... hmmm, but maybe I can buy a pair of colored lenses ...and than I am higher on evolutionary scale ..always very interesting posts here...educational too....:)
    Yes, I was (am) busy, the vernissage was good,.......and as I told you I had some "bike problem" too........but I am alive and I can doodle again......
    thanks for all your comments....

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  27. Hello Andrew, what a creative writer you are. Tell me, where do green eyes fit in on the evolutionary scale? Evolution,now that is as interesting topic, do I believe or not? I think I prefer to believe in a very Creative Designer but, I am not sure what technique He used.
    Have your seen my FB post? If not why not? What do you think of the fly? I very much value your comments.
    Oh, by the way, reading your blog is very instructive and enjoyable. Helen

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Hya! Thank you so much for leaving a comment. I appreciate your time and thoughts.