New paintings and regular art updates.
Stern, thoughtful
Face seen in patterns,
What are you thinking?
Are you at peace
Or do you feel tragedy?
Could you be happy,
Or peaceful and calm?
Are you real
Or just captured as a sketch.
A Digital grafitti?
Spray can causing an image
Caught on computer wallpaper.
I made this thought.
I made this face
But does it describe me?
Part of an illustration I’m working on for my college course. I have to fit four A6images I create into an A3 sheet. Having to work on dots per inch sizes, screen resolution… Relearning photoshop that I’d forgotten. Its getting there slowly.
There are other programmes I might investigate, like something called procreate… Hmm. Too many bells and whistles perhaps?
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I’ve been watching a painting programme late at night with an artist called Bob Ross I think. He does half hour programmes (think they were done in the 1980’s?). He cheerfully shows you how to do landscapes. He does a painting in half an hour. Showing how to paint layers to build up depth and distance. Each layer adds to the image. I’m not keen on his art, its very formulaic, but it’s interesting. I decided to paint along with him last night. It’s a very small canvas but I couldn’t keep up! At least I got a vague result.
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I’ve just downloaded a trial of Corel Painter Essentials 7
In English I mean I have downloaded a drawing package onto my computer. I hope it will be easy to use, I have got to explore it. What I ended up with after five minutes of playing is like a cave painting! so I guess that’s appropriate as I’m learning.
There are lots of things you can set on it, various AI things (artificial intelligence) like an AI Van Gogh. But I haven’t sussed out how to use them, I clicked on the buttons but wouldn’t say that I could see any difference to the mark making.
Later I’m going to read “Where the Wild Things are” by Maurice Sendak (if that’s how its spelled). Its a book I read in my childhood and I am interested in using it as part of a case study for my course, what fun!
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I tried to draw a ‘real’ shibui. I’m not sure I’ve actually got the right idea, but anyway I started with an ink pen held lightly between thumb and forefinger. As I breathed I let the lines wander across the page. These are the purple marks. I even rested he pen on my hand and let it slide down in a wide, slightly jerky, motion…. Then I found ideas coming into my mind, faces, eyes, animals, a skull. Icecream, figures standing and crouching. I decided to add colour. I hope the drawing expresses emotion, and thought. I realised this morning that I had drawn environmental themes. These include a polar bear on cracking ice and a tree dying in the heat. A possible wolf skull and a blazing sun setting fire to the world… Its called Releasing my mind.
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One of the things I have to do on this illustration course is of course drawing. But I want to learn to do more digitally/visually. Its been a few years since I have drawn at websites or used photoshop. I usually use apps, which is fine, but I need to hone my skills. Finding out again how to shade and add texture. I used to be able to do it straight away, but after three or four years of not using photoshop it takes time to pick things up again. Plus I keep getting error messages- I don’t think Adobe know anyone who still has the programme I’m using, when I looked at a couple of YouTube tutorials the screen appeared different with a black background and far more sophisticated tools, I think I’m going to have to save up and invest!
So this is a little doodle based on an illuminated I. I actually submitted a pen and ink drawing, but there’s nothing wrong with experimenting and learning. In the meantime its hot and muggy and thunderstorms are due!
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A few recent adventures in digital art. Trying for something a bit different to what I normally do.
Why? Its easy to say “because I can”. I’d rather say ” because its interesting” or “because I’m learning from my mistakes”.
What is the audience? Well, people viewing my page, also in this case my Facebook Art page. Maybe, one day, a wider audience.
Used ArtRage Pro app to draw these and my tablet and stylus.
Tonight was the first time our choir sang (sort of) together…
But of course its not that easy. When you sing with someone else there is a time delay. It’s not possible to sing in time. It’s fine when you are talking but even a slight delay in sound makes everything very strange. Tonight our hosts were a couple who teach us up at the village hall on a Monday.
So we were muted whilst singing, listening along to the hosts and singing our parts. Then unmuted to chat afterwards. And yes we used the now ubiquitous Zoom, but that’s OK.
Then of us got to see each other fit the first time in months, even though it was only cyberspace. Now for a brew.
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I’ve started a course in illustration and I can see that I’m too literal. I did an illuminated letter I. I will share a photo of it later. But I think I was too literal, especially when I compared it with other people’s art. Perhaps I need to do more preparation and think around the subject instead of going straight to the point.
In the drawing I’ve included I’m there, but hidden. Maybe I could have used that idea. Or as someone else did I could nave played with words and created an eye. At least I can understand what they are saying. I have the opportunity to expand my thought.
This isn’t a good photo of the picture I was uploading but it shows you what I wanted to add. I am starting a college course and the first task was to upload an image and analyse it. I chose this picture of my gran as I feel a bit overwhelmed. I described myself as an old lady, feeling a bit defeated by technology. I know I will be OK with practice. Practice after all does make perfect. Its a learning process. Once you know how to do a thing (like driving), it clicks. The skill goes from one part if your brain to another, and you get to know what buttons to press. It’s just a struggle sometimes to pick up. And I’ve come to the conclusion, I don’t like Windows 10.
Wish me luck, I’ll need it. X
Mallaband-Brown