ArtRage

I have taken another step in my crusade to eliminate my dependence on Photoshop (and to use legal software.) Step one was to find a good drawing program, and I’ve done that in the form of Sketchbook Pro, which is nothing short of awesome for drawing and coloring.

The next step is to find a good painting program, one that is fairly easy to learn, replicates natural media, and is cheap. I currently have three programs on the roster; ArtRage, TwistedBrush, and Paint Tool SAI. Today was the day to take ArtRage out for a spin. So here is my official review: I like it. ‘Nuff said.

Since the version I was using is just a demo, I wasn’t able to save any finished files, so I present you with a couple of screenshots of the work-in-progress…

OK, so maybe I won’t be taking the place of any of the masters in any museum, but it sure was fun, and you have to admit, not horrible for the first time using the program and not being a painter. I just may have to play around with this some more tomorrow and see if I can come up with something better…

Until then, Happy Little Trees!

Award

Well, I’ve been given an award. It’s kinda cool since I think the last award I received was probably in about 4th grade or so, when I was taken to McDonald’s with my teacher and the school principal. Although I wasn’t too keen on the company, I was keen on the St. Patrick’s Day green milkshake that McDonald’s was serving that day. I don’t even remember why I was chosen to go, but I remember that cold, creamy, green goodness like it was yesterday.

Anyway, I was given this award by fellow blogger ayaime, whose blog, Simply Simplistic Complexities,  you can find here:

http://ayaime.wordpress.com/

So I nominate the blog that nominated me, http://ayaime.wordpress.com/, for their thought provoking words that inspire me to keep going. Although there are many blogs that I follow and think deserve Blog of the Year awards, I prefer to keep things simple and low-key. You can find those blogs to the right, under the ‘Blogs I Follow’ menu. I think their words, photos, and artwork speak for themselves.

There are some rules for this award:

1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award

2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award – http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/   and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them

5 You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience

6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

 

Have a great day!

For the Articles

So now we know what he’s doing in the bathroom…

Sketchy

Well today is the first day of not using Photoshop to draw and paint. My new preferred program is Sketchbook Pro. I really like it so far, I just need tons of practice. So far it seems to be very easy to learn and adapt to, although I have a couple of things I still need to figure out quickly, like how to rotate the canvas and using the smooth line feature. Drawing with it is definitely much better (in my opinion) than in Photoshop, and its “painting” abilities seem to be about the same, which means I need to find a good paint program that isn’t Painter. Here is a sample of what I’ve played with so far in Sketchbook:

The first part shows simple sketching with a pencil set to 2H, the second part shows my attempt at inking in the lines on a new layer, and the third part shows the (rough) addition of color with a paintbrush. Obviously it isn’t finished, but I never intended it to be. If only you could have seen the shenanigans I went through just to get this far, you probably couldn’t stop laughing. I had this thing zooming in and out, flipping upside down and back, sometimes the whole thing was entirely off the screen. You can see that the paintbrush doesn’t really blend like real paint, but then neither does Photoshop, it’s just a matter of selecting colors and building up as you resample to blend. So basically, it will just take some practice. What? I have to spend time drawing and painting some more? Oh, darn!

Looking Up

Just a real quick post, ’cause I have a ton of things to do it seems. Just a couple more photos of friendly critters at the zoo…

 

Have a great day!

And Now For Something Totally Different…

Well, after much soul-searching I have decided to merge my art and photography blogs into one. You can find my artwork in the galleries to the right…

This piece was quite a departure from the norm for me as it was done entirely in digital. Usually I will draw with pencil on paper first, then either scan that drawing or photograph it to get it into the computer, where I then paint it in Photoshop or Painter. This time I drew the original directly in Photoshop. I also colored it differently. Typically I lay down base colors then add darker or lighter shades of that color for value. This time I did all the values in black and white first, then added color on a new layer, setting that layer blend mode to “Color.” I think it worked pretty well. All in all I think it turned out ok, considering (1) I tried several new techniques and (2) I can’t really draw very well at all. I do have to admit that I cheated on the eyes; after I had finished the left eye’s outline and values I simply copied it, flipped it, and pasted it to create the right eye. Oh well. This also marks another departure for me in that I will no longer be using Photoshop to create artwork. My copy of Photoshop is…how shall I say…not entirely legal, and this bothers me. So I have purchased Sketchbook Pro, and will be trying to learn to use it. The program looks great, and the little bit of tinkering I have done with it is very exciting. It’s much more intuitive than Photoshop for creating artwork. I will also be trying several other programs for painting, including Artrage, TwistedBrush, and Paint Tool SAI, rather than my less-than-legal copy of Painter, which I find to be incredibly buggy and laggy. Hopefully my Mom will give me her other iMac, as I have already found a program to replace Photoshop for photo editing called Pixelmator, but it is Mac only, and my little laptop I currently use is Windows. Anyway, hope you enjoy this piece, turned out ok, can’t wait to practice more!

Grounded Aviators

Today’s post features an incredible five photographs, containing approximately 10,643 feathers, none of which are ever in any danger of being melted by proximity to the sun. Nope, sadly these flyers are grounded, but don’t feel too bad; that’s what happens when you mess with the F.A.A., and these boys are some of the worst violators around…

Check out this beautiful scarlet and gold macaw. The colors are just amazing, at least when his wings are down…

What has he got? The mange? Somebody get him some “Head and Shoulders” in a hurry!

What a dapper fellow, with his pristine white scarf!

That’s one heck of a bill!

When the shrimp supply runs low, there’s always toe-jam!

Until next time, good light and happy shooting!

Public Service Announcement

I was out and about the other day, carrying my camera although I wasn’t expecting to shoot anything, when I was approached by this woman and child. Have you ever met someone that just seemed…”off?” You know, you can’t really put your finger on anything specific, but they just seem like they might be a bit unstable? That’s what this woman was like. Anyway, she asked if I was a photographer, and without waiting for a response, pretty much demanded that I take her and her child’s photograph. As soon as I had snapped the shot, she departed without leaving any kind of number or address where she might be reached. Only later did I start to think that perhaps the child wasn’t actually hers. I mean, look at that baby. She’s way too cute to be related to this (probably) crazy woman. I started to get really worried that I may have been able to prevent some kind of kidnapping in progress, but didn’t. So if anyone has any information as to the whereabouts or identities of this woman or child, please let me know. I’m sure this woman is some kind of criminal…

 

Sunny Irony

One of the great ironies of life is…life. Life will always throw you a curve ball when you least expect it, as opposed to the more socially accepted throwing things when they are expected. No sooner had I joined the “Post-a-Day” than my life started going completely haywire, effectively prohibiting me from any taking of photographs, making of art, or any other activity that generally makes me feel good on the inside, let alone having anything to post. However, life also balances out, and now it seems as if I will be able to get back into the swing of things, albeit with more potential time stealers headed my way. So it is with great joy that I present you with…another post!!  Here are two “old” photos of one of my favorite critters from the Oakland Zoo which I had the great fortune to visit last November. Yes, it’s a sun bear. Gotta love these guys!

Have a great day!

More Chillun’s

Still going through all the “old” photos (by old I mean the ones I took earlier this year, which was when I started photographing) to see if there are any that are decent before I burn them all to disc so I can get my computer a little less cluttered. Found a folder labeled “More Than One” and found some very interesting shots featuring-you guessed it-more than one child at a time. I have read in many different places that one of the most important skills you can develop as a photographer is patience. I would recommend to anybody that wants to do this as a crash course to try child photography. Props to people who shoot kids for a living…with a camera, I mean.

Here’s Reis and Ruby, back when she actually used to let me take her picture. All the way back to the beginning of the year…so long ago…

Here’s Hannah and Reis in a high-key experiment I had going on at the time. All looks well, right? Well, let me show you how things really are between shots with the following straight-out-of camera shot, unedited except for resizing…

Until next time, God bless, good light, and good luck….ummm…I mean, happy shooting!