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May 30, 2005

Envy


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This week's topic is envy. I had two different ideas I was working on.

This version was done mostly with Corel Painter IX. I drew a fence with a 2B pencil and colored it in. I used the furry cloner to create the grasses. The tree at the left was done with Image Hose Nozzles. The font is Gaggers. I moved it into Photoshop to add the drop shadow to the text and save it as a .jpg. Fini.

Posted by lorigrace at 09:40 AM | Comments (4)

May 21, 2005

Aquatic


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I didn't look at anyone else's entry yet. His Vitruvian man drawing has become a much used symbol in art and advertising.

In my first version of working with this idea I was trying to do something with concentric circles of blue around the man using Corel Painter. I didn't like the result and decided to go back to incorporating the full drawing.

I drew an outline of the man using the trace feature, filled it with water, then used a layer mask to remove the water from the head.

I wanted to use a handwriting font for the quote. I discoverd there is a daVinci font out there, but it wasn't a free download. Instead I used something I already had called Chiller and applied a Photoshop default style to it. I like the ability to move back and forth between Painter and Photoshop.

There is a wonderful book by Michael J. Gelb, called How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every DayHow To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci. He elaborates on the seven principles he categorized: Curiosita (an insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning), Dimostrazione A commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes), Sensazione (The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience), Sfumato (literally "Going up in smoke"--A willingness to embrace abiguity, p=aradox, and uncertainty), Art/Scienze (The development of the balance between sicence and art, logic and imagination. "Whole-brain" thinking.), Corporalita (The cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise", Connessione (A recognition of all things and phenomena. Systems thinking).

Posted by lorigrace at 07:17 AM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2005

Nourishment


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I really didn't think I was going to go with food imagery, but . . .

Monday was one of those days. A cold, windy miserable morning. How can you want to wear bright springy summer clothes when you're wearing a winter coat? I was late for work because the train was late.

In my desk drawer, I keep some envelopes of flavored instant Quaker Oats. Come to think of it, I pass their headquarters every morning on my sprint from the train station to my job.

I've loved oatmeal in the morning since I was a kid. There's just something about the way it goes down and fills you up. Even in summer, the warmth of that comfort food is a simple pleasure that harkens back to childhood.

I began by trying to draw in Corel Painter, but I didn't like my result. Once I decided to scan in the box and use elements from it, I moved in the direction of a collage and it started to take form.

Posted by lorigrace at 09:33 PM | Comments (3)

May 11, 2005

Mischief


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I started my entry with the caption: Emily's evil twin sister was always getting her into mischief.

I'm not skilled in drawing children characters from memory so googled some images to get some ideas. I drew each character on a separate layer in Painter IX using a Wacom tablet and the number 2B pencil. I used digital water color to color the skin and clothing.

The font is something called BaaBookHmk which I downloaded from a free font website. I created the ovals and rectangular shape around the image.

I moved it into Phototoshop to add the drop shadow and save to a .jpg.

Posted by lorigrace at 08:36 PM | Comments (3)