Brush, Palette, Mouse....Ready For the Louvre

Last year I was black-balled from entry into a Facebook group of artists - condemned for being an "events photographer". I suspect it was also because I was unable to speak Artish and would not get a tattoo or a man-bun.

Whatever, it set me out on a quest to become an artist in spite of the critics. I thought long and hard about what art I would pursue. Making miniature scenes was all very well, and taking pictures of weddings and hot rods and pretty girls might be a good training ground, but something more was needed. Something that would say Art loud enough and in a condescending enough manner to allow me to sit in a coffee shop and fill out Centrelink forms...What to do...What to do...

Then I had it. Digital art. Prints derived from images that I have taken, suitably modified until either they resemble other media or I resemble other artists.

Armed with that determination I ordered this book:

Focal press books are generally good, though they have had some authors who seem to have spent too much time in coffee shops filling out Centrelink forms. But in this case, Susan Roddick Bloom seems to have hit upon just the right level of communication to help the novice. And fortunately , Camera Electronic equipped me with the rest of what I needed.

Of course, I needed the images in the first place, and I've a Drobo full of them. And a Wacom Intuous tablet - CE had those too -  and a new iMac computer. I also had the Epson printer I got from CE and it is calibrated with the Spyder Express, so I was nearly all set. Final piece in the chain was the image editing program...and I went with my faithful Photoshop Elements 14.

It proved to be a good choice. Ruddick's book is several years old, but the basic procedures that she outlined in Photoshop itself are now quite do-able in the latest Photoshop Elements. There have been no procedures or techniques mentioned in her text that cannot be done in PE, and very few of the references she makes to specific things need to be translated to another wordage. Adobe have been decent enough to keep the same things in the same drawers in the digital desk.

Ms. Bloom covers sketches, pastels, cont, oils, watercolours, and illustrations. She has a chapter on some of the commercial plug-ins that also simulate drawn art...and she is not too prissy to admit that they can be a good jumping-off point for fast starts. I've tried a little from many of the chapters and found her advice to be excellent. it was money well spent.

The Photoshop Elements 14 program was also money well spent - and if you are at all interested in getting into digital shooting and manipulation I can recommend it.

Now it will be a case of experiment, practise, and time. One day I hope to be refused entry into ever more prestigious art groups. If I can be ejected from the Hermitage, Tate, or MOMA I shall consider myself a success.

Uncle Dick

Hidden Asset - The Intuous Ink Well

Wacom Intuous Pro graphics tablets are wonderful. They let you edit pictures and do artwork on the computer screen with a facility that far exceeds that of the mouse and a precision that baffles the trackpad. They are electronic drawing pads and if you have any dexterity at all - or can develop it - they make it your artwork...work.

The kit that comes wit the Intuous Pro tablet has a stylus or pen that really is pen shaped - fits the hand well and has the heft of a real instrument - it also has a pen-rest that is shaped like a little fake ink well. Fun to use, and a real comfort at the end of an unsuccessful editing session; you can slam the pen down into it and stalk off...

But it also has a secret. Unscrew the base of the ink well and these stylus tips appear. There are a number of plain plastic ones that you can use for everyday poking but several - the grey ones that you see in the accompanying image - are made with a different texture. Some actually feel like a felt tip pen! There is also one that has a rubber tip for use on iDevices like screens and pads where you poke away instead of using your finger.

The central well of the stand has a metal ring that functions as a set of tweezers to pluck out and replace the different styli.

It's a clever sort of accessory for a clever sort of product.

Sun Power Battery - Sirix

If you are a person who uses your tablet, mobile phone, or other modern communication device a lot, you will eventually run out of electricity and place to recharge it. Then you will either have to revert to smoke and drum signals or find some more juice.

Here's the answer - a solar-powered storage battery that can feed the volts out through normal and mini-USB ports. In from the sun, out to your phone - how cool is that!

Still won't pay for the credits on the phone and still won't protect you from the rexting pests, but at least you won't be out of touch.

The basic battery in there is a Li Polymer type that contains 5000mAh. It will let out 5VDC from the two USB ports at 1A. the solar charging is done at 5V and 200MA.

You get three cords and a carabiner with it. All in a rubber-coated brick. With an LED torch built-in.

Now you're even more independent on holiday.

Big Deal! - It's A Blog Bag! Think Tank Second Brains!

Blogging for a living is meant to be hard work, but that is just to keep you away from doing it. It's actually easy as, if you just remember to tell a story.

Same thing blogging for fun. You can say what you like and the only people who complain are the officers from the national security agency that arrive at the door with a warrant. In my case they arrive regularly and we have coffee. Hey, Earle!

Taking the blog away from the main computer is easy as well* - many of us have laptops that can be connected to the net for free with dongles or for money in hotels. The same can be done with the smaller cousins of the computer - the tablets. And the even smaller smart phones. Mind you there is a point at which the screen gets too small to see and the fake keyboard too small to type on - at that point you are better off holing up in the bar and writing postcards.

If you are out on the road, writing, Think Tank have a very good series of bags to tote the machinery. The one you see in the picture is intended for iPad and iPad Mini tablets and have dedicated pockets for iPhones and an iSandwich. It has a shoulder strap and enough space within to take the adapters and chargers of both an iPad and a compact camera.

It is the blogger's entire armamentarium in one place. All you need is wifi, Wordpress or Blogger, and you can assault the senses of the entire planet.

* Also known as taking it on the lam...or the Lamb, if you are given to longer literary essays...

Take One Tablet And Call Me In The Morning

As long as it is a Wacom Intuous Pro tablet, that is. Good news is that you can call me wirelessly...

Okay, okay, enough of this. the new Wacom Intuous Pro computer tablets are here and the real difference between it and the Intuous 5 is that the new Pro has the wifi connection built in.

I am a great fan of the Wacom tablets - I have an Intuous 3 on my home computer and a Bamboo here on the laptop. They are the preferred method of image manipulation with the Aperture or Photoshop programs - you can get a far finer control for selection than ever you could with a mouse. Indeed, I only use a mouse for some typing programs, and that is getting rarer.

You get the lot with the Pro - stylus pen, electronic inkwell (?) tablet, battery, computer link, and a cord for battery charging. The freedom of position and the absence of clutter for your digital desktop is marvellous. I believe there is also provision to get quite a number of related programs as well - creative software like Adobe Photoshop Elements and Coreldraw.

Thoroughly recommended for anyone who does ANY post production. More good than a new lens.