Goliath Beetle

Preview: Goliath Beetle is an acrylic painting on canvas board (11x14).  The "model" is a Goliath Beetle exhibited at the Field Museum in Chicago. 

This is the first of a series of beetles and other insect paintings that will be offered for sale. 

More information and photos on this series will follow at a later date.

Spudnik

"Spudnik" is a first shot at a digital doodle, which does not come as easily for me as sketching on paper. I used a Bamboo tablet and Sketchbook Pro. Having been an avid follower of Mercury, Sputnik and Apollo as a child, I thought the idea of Spudnik the astronaut who claims the moon for Idaho was funny. Yeah, it does not take much to amuse me.

Ok, the real Sputnik is . . .

Graphics Tablet Review

Recently, I have been looking to purchase an active graphics tablet - the kind where you can actually see what you are drawing on the tablet.  I have a Wacom Bamboo Create Pen & Touch, which has a lot of nice features, but I find it really difficult to draw on the tablet surface while looking up at the monitor.  It works OK for rough sketches but is difficult for more detailed drawings or paintings.  So, I started looking at the Wacom Cintiq ($2,400), but it was much too expensive for me.  Then I looked at the Yiynova Tablet-Monitor ($450), which was much more affordable but got mixed reviews.  I also considered getting an iPad because I saw some impressive You Tube videos of artists using the iPad Retina ($500) for artwork.

But yesterday I was surprised to find this amazing tablet (pictured) at Krogers grocery store of all places, for $2.50!  The pen-stylus didn't come with it and I had to buy that separately, but since the tablet was so affordable, I really didn't mind.  I chose the upgraded Sharpie with fine and ultrafine points built in one.  It doesn't require batteries either!

PROS
+ Absolutely perfect WYSWYG display.
+ saves drawing instantly and flawlessly
+ sizes drawing at 100% every time.
+ wireless
+ zero charge time
+ zero start-up time
+ no batteries, ever!
+ never needs charging.
+ very affordable
+ fully rotational
+ no software to load
+ does not require a computer to operate
+ it can be used anywhere
+ synchronization between the tablet and Sharpie are instant and flawless.

CONS
- No layering
- does not include any software
- limited to 50 drawings
- you must supply your own pen, pencil or marker
- requires a scanner to digitize
- this tablet is not designed for painting

SUMMARY
In spite of the "CONS", I would gladly buy this tablet again.  I highly recommend it!

Electric Motor Shop - Fresno, California

Bekins Building - Fresno, California

Lightroom is an amazingly powerful photo "developing" program.  I am continuously impressed by how much you can increase the visual value of even the least interesting photographs. That isn't to say that I find the Bekins Storage building uninteresting; just the opposite is so. I love interesting architecture, abandoned buildings, and the contrast between eras. Actually, this building is so much more interesting than modern warehouses and storage facilities. My point about the power of Lightroom to convert "least interesting" photos was because the original photo was not taken in particularly good light, but I was able to save the shot by running it through Lightroom.

What makes Van Gogh so great (ottawacitizen.com)

What makes Van Gogh so great
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Entertainment/What makes Van Gogh so great/6647507/story.html

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Available for free in the App Catalog
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-- Sent from my HP TouchPad

Dead Tree at Buzzard's Roost

This dead tree reminded me of so many of the drawings of creepy trees in books when I was a kid.  It looks like a screaming monster with a yawning mouth; one hand clutching the earth and the other reaching up to the sky.  This scene was shot with a Nikon D90 and then developed in Adobe Lightroom.  The tree is on the Buzzard's Roost Trail at Millerton Lake, California.