Sherry Barrett, Artist and Line Dance Instructor
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Inspiration, Instruction, Musings

Copyright © 2019 Sherry Barrett
​All rights reserved.

Three-Point Perspective- The view point of birds and worms

9/10/2019

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Three point, or oblique perspective, is helpful when drawing a very tall building from ground level; or, when looking down from a very high vantage point. Three-point perspective often reveals 3 sides of an object with the help of 3 vanishing points. Two of the vanishing points are located on the horizon line and the third point is located either above the horizon line for a worm's eye view or below the horizon for a bird's eye view. The horizon line is always placed at the the viewer's eye level. Place the horizon line near the top of the paper to present your bird's eye view or the bottom of the paper to get the worm's eye level. Keep in mind, there are no horizontal or vertical lines in 3-point perspective as every line recedes to a vanishing point.
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Practice 3-Point Perspective:
1. Draw the horizon line at your eye level and vertical line closest to you.
2. Draw the angle from the top of that line to the vanishing point to the left on the horizon line. Next, draw from the bottom of that line to the same vanishing point.
3. Determine the slant from the right of the vertical line and draw a line from the top of the vertical to the horizon to determine the right vanishing point on. Now, draw the lower line on the right.
4. To determine the vertical vanishing point, decide the width of each side of the cube and the angle of those lines. At the intersection you will find the third vanishing point. It will be perpendicular to the horizon.
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Two Point Perspective

7/29/2019

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Two point perspective is also known as angular perspective and can be observed by standing in front of the corner of a building. From this "street" view we can see the  left and right sides of the building but we can’t see the top or the bottom. We observe two sets of parallel lines receding to two separate vanishing points on the horizon. 

Practice Two Point Perspective:
  1. Identify the horizon line and place it on the paper.
  2. Draw the nearest edge of the building which will be a perpendicular line bisecting the horizon line. Notice that our building seems to drop below the horizon line. This occurs because the horizon line is at our eye level, not the level of our feet.
  3. Note the angle of slope from the top of the nearest edge to the left side horizon to place the first vanishing point. If your vanishing point is located outside of your drawing area you can place scrap paper behind your artwork and locate the vanishing point where it extends beyond the scope of your drawing.
  4. Place the vanishing point to the right side of the perpendicular line on the horizon line using the slope on that side of the building which may be different. (Which side of the building has a more dramatic slope to the horizon? Make sure your drawing reflects that.)
  5. Draw lines from the top and bottom of your nearest edge to the vanishing points on each side of the line.
  6. Draw in vertical edges to your building between the angle lines.
  7. Add any other guide lines you require. In the example above lines are added to help place windows and doors.
  8. Erase unnecessary guidelines and darken useful lines to complete your building.

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One Point Perspective

5/28/2019

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One point perspective can be very dramatic when used to effect as I did in my painting #Me Too-Hope In Release. Today, I explain the basics of one point perspective as you might use them in drawing a fish tank, a box of crackers or a road vanishing in the distance. Get out a ruler and have fun creating fantastical images using one point perspective.
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Surprised by Art

5/9/2019

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One day, while zooming down the stairs of The National Gallery in London to see a collection of Gaugin paintings on loan, I was stopped in my tracks by a famous painting. I had never cared to see this painting because I had seen prints of it in art books and on dorm room walls; and, frankly, I wasn’t impressed. But, here, in it’s original splendor, on the landing of a stairway, I was transfixed. 
The painting was Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. I could not believe how beautiful it was, how vibrant the colors were, the background looked like real gold, and the flowers almost seemed to dance on the canvas. I could feel the warmth from the colors in this painting. I was humbled and captivated by this painting. The description informed me that Van Gogh intended this painting for his guest bedroom where Gaugin stayed for some time. 
I later recounted this encounter as a secular-religious experience until a friend informed me there is no such thing as a secular-religious experience. She made the point that I had encountered the divine in the mundane. I have another friend who told me nothing is mundane, everything belongs to God. Just like God to be everywhere and reveal himself to us in countless unique ways. 
Has this ever happened to you? Think for a minute, have you ever encountered God in the mundane? Do you have a story you tell over and over because it was such an unusual occurrence? Jot down any thoughts that come without judging them, like a brain storm session. 
When my friend told me I had encountered the divine in the mundane, I was sad that I didn’t know it at the time. I was concerned that maybe I had missed a golden opportunity. Fortunately, God is not limited by time and space; so, I prayed and asked God, “Why did that painting strike me? What would you like to reveal to me through that painting?” 
It came to me that when we encounter God, we know it on some level whether we have words for it or not. And, God is more vivid and captivating than any cheap image the media might try to give us of him. In life, don’t settle for the cheap imitations of God the world will offer, such as an old guy in a robe smiting people. There is a world of difference to be found in the real thing. Finally, God is warmth and light and something tells me he has the most inviting guest bedrooms ever.
 
Try this mental exercise I created:
  1. Can you think of a famous work of art that you like? Latch on to the first image you can see clearly in your mind. 
  2. Do you happen to know the name of the artist and the work? If not, just describe the image briefly in your mind. 
  3. As you look at this painting in your mind’s eye, what strikes you about it? What do you notice? Does anything stand out?
  4. Now pray and ask God what truth this painting reveals about God, our world, or the people in it. This may take a moment of reflection and listening and really looking at one aspect of the painting in particular that fascinates you. Write down what comes to mind.
  5. Take a moment to thank God for visiting you through this painting.



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How to visit an art museum with Sherry Barrett?

4/24/2019

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You may be disappointed, or delighted, to learn that I fly through art museums. I have a short attention span so I need to get in and see all the good stuff before I get bored by the boring stuff. I scan the walls of a room to see what the general vibe is and if I like I enter; if not, I move on. I am not interested in all art. It may sound very illiberal and close minded of me, but let’s face facts, there are millions of artworks in this world and I have better things to do with my life than learn to appreciate art that makes me want to throw up. I don’t want those images stuck in my mind giving me nightmares. Also, I have seen enough Renaissance art and portraits to last me a lifetime and I don’t have 15 minutes to watch the video of your plastic bag floating in the wind. I choose not to interact with these images and artists because life is short, brain storage is limited, and I can meet you in the next room. If you still want to visit a museum with me, I will share with you my practice.
  1. In the first scan of a new exhibit I try to answer the questions: What kind of art is this and do I recognize anything? I could read the exhibit guide, but I don’t want to. With one sweep I can discover the room is full of portraits, landscapes, still life, sculpture, installation, single artist, multiple artists, European, African, abstract, and the like. A good curator will have a theme for the room and there will be a concept holding the room together, I like to see if I can figure it out for myself.
  2. If I like what I see, or recognize some items, I try to guess the artist or at least place the artwork in categories I know like Pre-Raphaelite, Impressionist, Abstract and so on. I will then skim every painting description to see if I’m right and meet new interesting artists if I’m wrong. I like to really look at works I like, or I’ve only seen in books, to add this new information to that painter’s portfolio in my mind.  I have learned that almost every national gallery has a Monet or Manet, Pissarro or Picasso, Turner or Reynolds, Michelangelo or DaVinci, even if it is just a terrible drawing from a mildewed sketchbook when they were 12 years old. I have also learned from these mildewed sketches that Picasso wasn’t always a cubist, Monet painted icebergs as well as water lilies, Pissarro seems to have been a machine, and Michelangelo was much more skilled with the male form than the female.
  3. If I read everything in a room of art, the curator and/or artist has tricked me and they get a gold star. They have managed to capture me with a creative and inventive display that I am learning from and you should wait for me in the next room.
  4. I will take a photo of the art card for artwork I like that I’ve not met before. At home I will look for more work by that artist online and learn about them and their technique because I’m in a hurry to look at art when at the gallery.
  5. I will want to talk about the artwork. Sometimes I can wait until lunch and sometimes I need to say something now. I remember visiting the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington D.C. with a girlfriend when we were teenagers. We were enjoying ourselves discussing a piece of art, I suppose not in a very sophisticated or quiet manner, because a man turned to us and said, “Why can’t you kids go to Disneyland like everyone else your age.” Poor elderly gentleman, he has no friends and doesn’t understand that public museums are for the public. But, he taught me to whisper when I must share my thoughts about the design elements in an Escher, Dali’s perspective on the crucifixion, I’m afraid but fascinated by The Gates of Hell, and REALLY! human poop in a can- yep, Tate Modern.
  6. I will sometimes go back and really take in my favorite works before leaving the museum because I want to burn those images in my mind. I don’t want to forget how that artwork made me feel so I can enjoy the memory forever.
  7. And that’s how we got through that museum in in one hour. Shall we hit some local artists’ galleries on the side street? I promise not to talk to them because that could take a while.


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Finding Inspiration for Creating Art

3/5/2019

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In 2010 I had to figure out what faith looked like so I could paint it. I was creating a series of paintings inspired by the life of St. Nicholas for a church of the same name. While summarizing my research the word faith kept coming back to describe how St. Nicholas lived his life. I couldn't get around faith so I had to dive into it. I now teach the method I used to find my image and I call it The Devotional Art Process. I still practice this process when I am trying to create an artwork to help me understand Biblical truths, solidify important life lessons learned, or remember things I don’t want to forget. I think you'll find this method useful if you too are trying to come up with an original work of art that will communicate more than a mere representation of things that already exists.

The Devotional Art Process

1. Ask God for help. Whenever I begin a new task I say, “Here I am God, use me.” In this way, I am inviting the divine to reveal what he will to me. I am letting inspiration know that I am sitting down to work and it may visit me any time, the sooner the better!
2. Flesh out the concept. I never have trouble with a blank sheet of paper because I just do a brain dump first thing to try to see what I already know or can know. A brain dump looks something like this:
  • How would I explain this to a non-native English speaker?
  • What was I taught by my school, parents, friends, or church?
  • Have I already seen a painting or photograph that communicates this?
  • Music – Songs containing the concept in the lyrics or mood.
  • Do I know someone like this? Opposite to this?
  • What would this smell, taste, sound or feel like?
  • Dictionary definition
  • Internet search
  • Google image search
  • Biblegatway.com word search - you’d be surprised what you can learn here from this ancient text!
3. Based on what gathered information, what image would most clearly capture this idea? What image can I actually produce that will capture this idea? Write a description, sketch, or photograph the concepts that come to you. Talk to useful people about your ideas.
4. Create the final image.
5. Share the final image with others and receive feedback.

In my “Faith” painting (pictured above), you see an anchor firmly caught in a cloud to represent St. Nicholas’ faith pointing others to God. I decided on this image because you can't really see "faith", you feel it. It made me think of boating. You can’t see if your anchor is holding onto anything under the water but you can feel it’s found something to hold because you don’t drift away with the tide or current. Likewise, when believers cast the anchor of their faith into the heavens, they learn that God holds them steady through the currents and tides of life. 
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Oil Painting Shopping List and Tips

1/24/2019

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Every art teacher has their own opinion on the subject of art supplies, but I'll tell you what has worked well for me. I like to begin with what I already have on hand and so I started my first oil painting class with one of those gift box sets of oil paints and brushes and a Bob Ross paint kit. Those two kits served me well until I knew enough to choose new supplies for myself.
When gathering supplies to begin oil painting you'll need:
Newspaper - to protect tables and floors
Smock or Apron - to protect your clothing
Linseed Stand Oil - to create medium
Turpentine - to create medium and clean up oil paint
Oil paints - red, yellow, blue, black, white
Paint Brushes - Variety of sizes (2, 4, 6) and shapes (Filbert, Liner, Flat, Round)
Wooden Pallette or Tear-off Pallettes - for mixing paints
Two small jars - one with turpentine the other with turpentine linseed mixture
Rags or paper towels - for wiping excess paint off brushes
Canvas - You can gesso cardboard or wood; or, use a canvas board
Table top easel - Makes long painting sessions more comfortable
***Gloves and Low Odor Thinner - I am allergic/sensitive to everything so I prefer to use Low Odor Thinner in place of turpentine and wear disposable gloves when I paint with oils. It's also a good idea to wear gloves when using Flake White paint which contains lead. (We know lead is what made artists crazy back in the day and let's face it, we're crazy enough these days without assistance).
When purchasing oil paints, I recommend Winsor & Newton or Daler Rowney brand because they are affordable and have a great range of colors.  When trying a new color, purchase a small tube (22ml) in case you don’t like it. Buy large tubes to replace colors as you run out of them. It's good to have a variety of warm and cool colors and you will learn that certain colors are transparent (Ivory Black) while others are more opaque (Flake White). 
Beginning palette of colors:
  • Titanium White
  • Ivory Black
  • Cadmium Yellow
  • Cadmium Red
  • Alizarin Crimson
  • Yellow Ochre
  • Burnt Sienna
  • Burnt Umber
  • Cerulean Blue
  • Ultramarine Blue
When adding to your collection consider some of my favorites:
  • Paynes Grey
  • Naples Yellow
  • Rose Madder
  • Raw Sienna
  • Raw Umber
  • Vermilion
  • Flake White
  • Prussian Blue
  • Sap Green
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These are the brushes I reach for every time I start an oil painting. You may notice I have several of the same size and shape, that's because there are times when I use one brush per paint color to keep my colors from getting muddy. Above pictured I have: 
Signet Robert Simmons 42, Filbert, 6, 4, 2, 1
ProArte Series B Hog, Filbert 2, 1
Winton, Round Fine Hog, 4
Winton, Short Flat/Bright Fine Hog 4
Langnickel, Filbert 4, Round 2
College Oil Brush, Filbert 1, 2, Round 2, Filbert 12, Flat 12,
Bob Ross Script Liner, 1” Landscape, 2” Background
If you need to buy brushes I would recommend buying these hog hair brushes:
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Oil painting takes some time to perfect, but the color richness makes it well worth it. Unlike acrylic and water color painting, oil paints are slow to dry. When living in England I had to wait a full week between layers of paint. You may be thinking what do you mean layers of paint? That's the magic of oil painting, around layer three, the layers of color begin to show through each other creating a beautiful depth and richness. Oil painting is one medium where I suggest you must get a book from the library or take a class. There are so many tips and tricks and ways of using this medium.
One tip I learned in class that I'll share with you involves acrylic paint of all things. It was a one day class painting in the tradition of the Old Masters and he had us begin by painting a greyscale version of the still-life using acrylic black and white. After we completed the black and white acrylic painting, which dries in minutes, we began adding layers of colored glazes over the oranges, bananas and plums. It was like magic as we placed the color and added highlights! So, if you're in a hurry, like me, consider an acrylic underpainting. But, you must never paint acrylic over an oil painting because the acrylic (which is water based paint) will not adhere to the oil (which is oil based paint). You know what they say about oil and water repelling each other!
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Six Tips For More Realistic Drawings

12/13/2018

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Anyone can draw a person and get everyone to say, “Oh, that’s a person.”
        O>-<            See, I just did it using a keyboard. You might even say the person is lying down. But, you wouldn’t say it looks like anyone you know. It’s a symbol for person. Our brains are full of symbols for trees, flowers, rainbows and many other things that allow us to draw quickly when playing Pictionary and get the desired answer. But, these symbols are unsatisfying when we are trying to achieve the likeness of a family member. So, how does one get to the point of drawing things as they look to the critical mind? Here are some tips to get you moving in the right direction.
#1: Work from photographs you’ve taken.
From my experience, realism requires drawing from the real thing. I’ve been drawing off and on my entire life and I cannot whip out a realistic anything from my mind. I can make some cute cartoons or caricatures, and I’m an excellent Pictionary partner, but, if you want realism from me I need to be in front of the thing; or, better yet, a photograph. Photographs are helpful when learning because they can’t blink or move out of place and the lighting won’t change with the movement of the sun. The photograph also does the hard work of translating the 3-D object into a 2-D form.
#2: Draw on a large sheet of paper .
Trust me, you do not want to draw a full length portrait in a 4”x6” journal. You would need the steadiness of a surgeon to place every mark where it needs to be. I once did a small pencil drawing of my daughter and she looked crazy in the 6” x 9” sketch. I kept looking and looking trying to see what I did wrong. I had to erase the corner of her eye and draw the corner with one pencil dot. With one dab of the pencil it was perfect, but, I had to remove the dash that was wrong so I could place the dot to get it right.  A DOT! Larger formats are more forgiving and provide more room for error.
#3: Spend more time looking at the subject than your drawing.
Don’t dive into drawing right away. Sit there and really look at what you’re drawing for a minimum of 5 minutes. Set a timer. Spend that time tracing every line you see using your imagination. Where are the darkest darks and the lightest lights? Is this composition short and wide or tall and thin? Plan how you will put it on the paper: horizontal or vertical? Will you use a 2B or 6B pencil to draw a baby?  What part of the image do you want at the center of your paper? What do you like most about what you’re looking at? Don’t lose that! What is in front and what fades into the background? Really map out the drawing in your mind.
#4: Realism requires questions, corrections, erasers, and rulers.
For realism to blossom, your perspective lines must be spot on, your horizon needs to be level, the walls of your house need to be straight, and the person’s face must be in proportion to itself. Break out your library card and check out books on perspective, proportions, and drawing realistic faces. Erase errant marks and straighten wavy lines. You must keep looking at the original and compare it with the marks you just put on the paper. Does your line have the same slope? Correct it. Is the house really taller than the tree? Yes, it is a newly planted tree. Reassure yourself because your brain might try to make the tree to tall.
#5: Draw something, or someone, to whom you aren’t emotionally connected.
We are often unsatisfied with subjects we know very well because we are experts on the subject and emotions can complicate things. Our logical brain says, "Something isn't quite right with this drawing.” Our pet can look like a stuffed animal instead of the warm, charming critter we know them to be. While you are learning to draw more realistically, maybe avoid friends, family and pets for subjects.
#6: Practice and patience lead to improvement, not perfection.
As you practice drawing you are building your visual vocabulary of how you create various 3-D objects on a 2-D surface. You will never be as perfect as a camera because you are not a piece of machinery. But, with enough practice you just might trick the human eye. Artists are playing an instrument that requires practice and tuning. Just like musicians, artists must practice 8 hours a day to perfect their performance. But even musicians who play a piece perfectly as written, can sound a little different. That’s the magic of humans and snowflakes, no two alike. Artists put a bit of themselves on the paper and that’s okay, even in realism.

It takes patience and persistence to achieve a realistic replication of an image and the artist must push through the moment when they most want to quit because that is often the moment they are on the verge of a breakthrough. Remember, what you draw tomorrow will be better than what you drew today because you never stop learning and improving.




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Why this painting in ArtPrize?

10/9/2018

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A student from my alma mater was writing an article for the Chimes about Calvin Alumni who entered ArtPrize this year and saw my name listed on Calvin’s website. She asked me to answer the following three questions; and, although I didn’t get back to her in time for her publication deadline I thought I’d share my answers with you.

-How did Calvin College impact your journey as an artist? 
My Calvin education taught me to care for our culture and contribute to the redeeming work Christ is doing in my sphere of influence. I take that charge seriously and hope it informs my work. On a practical level, photography and graphic design classes I took really inform my process as an artist.

-What inspired this installation and what is your hope for how the public interacts with it? 
I was deeply touched by the #MeToo movement and the number of people it has affected. A few years ago I drew the image of a woman on a pier tied to a barge of trash for a friend. She was sexually abused as a child and this was an image that came to her in her healing process. The meaning, she discovered, was that she should forgive her grandfather and let go of those memories so she could move forward in freedom and not have those past events define her. It didn't matter who put the rope around her neck, she could take it off. She suggested the image could be improved if I painted my own trash and what freedom would look like for me. I was not eager to undertake this project and was avoiding it until I saw a Facebook video on forgiveness that gave me the title for my painting. I realized art could begin a journey for others who need to find healing for their past through forgiveness. They may not find justice, but they can find freedom. On my website I have links to many tools for working out forgiveness that I've come across since undertaking this project. My hope is that this painting will provide a way forward for those who are still held hostage to painful memories tied to them by un-forgiveness.
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-Have you entered anything in ArtPrize before? 
This is my first year participating in ArtPrize. I chose to enter ArtPrize so that this painting might contribute to the conversation around #MeToo in our country. These problems won't be solved in the courts or legislature; but, by individuals taking courageous steps to heal their fractured identity.
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Secure, Organize and Share Digital Images

9/19/2018

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Challenging Tech: Artist Approaches to Creating, Communicating and Influencing
Notes From ArtPrize Artist Week September 18, 2018 speaker Matthew Patulski
SECURE DIGITAL IMAGES
  • Keep your digital image files secure in 3 different locations ensuring at least one is at a different location.
  • Examples of suitable back up locations include phone, laptop, cloud storage, mirror drive or RAID. Cloud services and external drives are examples of backups that can be stored off site. Cloud storage brand name examples: iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon Web Services, Backblaze. External drive brand name examples: Hitachi, SeaGate, Western Digital.
  • Search online and read reviews for the most reliable back up devices and secure cloud storage.
  • Be sure to replace back up drives once the warranty has passed and pay for those warranties.
  • Avoid reliance on memory cards. Memory cards and USB sticks are easily corrupted. Be sure to remove images from cards ASAP.
  • Try to automate backup by using Time Machine or Windows File History.
ORGANIZE DIGITAL IMAGES
  • Save only the best version of your image as a master (highest resolution).
  • File types from most information to least: RAW > TIF > JPEG and SRGB > RGB > CMYK
  • Avoid duplicates. There are apps to help find and remove duplicates, use them. Examples: Gemini, Better File Rename, Photo Mechanic, Adobe Bridge.
  • Useful Meta Data: Creator, Contributor, Title, Creation Year, Description, Materials, Dimensions
  • Basic organization for folders suggestion: YEAR - MONTH - PROJECT - FILES RELATED TO PROJECT
  • Naming files. Do not use # ? / \ ) ( ‘ ; “ : @ * & > < % $ or spaces because these special characters can ruin searches and cause corruptions. Use _ and - in file names.
SHARE DIGITAL IMAGES
  • Look your best online. Upload a good quality .jpg.
  • 920 x 1080 dpi is a standard image size though some platforms may compress smaller.
  • Name your files so they can be found in searches, don't upload IMG_7899.TIF. Instead name the file: ARTIST_ARTWORK_DATE.jpg
  • If you post it online it may be stolen. It is a chance we take to gain recognition of our work online.
  • The more you share your work the more interest there can be in your work.
  • Use social platforms to share your images. Examples: Instagram, FaceBook, Etsy, Websites.
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    Sherry Barrett is an active artist who takes inspiration from great works of literature, historical figures, and wise people.

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