Cup

#0832 Cup
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Just because I have no pen does not mean I can stop! It has taken three days of installing 7 running around to get a PC that can get these images up. Now I am doing them. I must say, frustrating as it is doing this with a mouse, I am learning something. One thing is that I clench the mouse, I could let it flow more. Another is that I could emphasise the simple lines. See how one thing leads to another.

Stencils

I wanted to see these together. I am going against the digital tweaking ethos I gave myself, but then the computer got into a huff.

These three were done in the new ArtRage 2.5. It may seem like I am lauding a child’s toy, but it is the most wonderful toy. I see that with the stencils, new in the version I just installed, at this opportune moment, they have made ArtRage 2.5 highly non-pen friendly. It has whole new levels of functionality as one can add stencils, gradients, and textures of one’s own. It goes beyond a toy as it will work to an amazing depth, infinite depth. Annd innovative: Look at the ruler! They have made a ruler for cyberspace!

These are images: #0829 Stencil #0830 Stencil #0831 Stencil and you can click on them to see a larger one.

I had to use the full name of each image: eg #0829 Stencil so that any objects produced can phone home through Google. They will!

ArtRage 2.5

#0863 ArtRage 2.5
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A quick doodle in ArtRage 2.5, which I have just downloaded – still no pen, so this is a mouse sketch. This is a break through interface & functionality. I have said it before perhaps – I wish Corel had an interface like this! All the extra functionality in Corel X takes so long to learn, and the interface, apes Photoshop and someone needs to break away from that anachronism. I wish every kid had a Tablet with this on it. Are those $100 PCs tablets?

I have often, in ArtRage 2.00 wished for this or that. All the enhancements I wished for are here in this version. Layers work like a dream. The new default location of layers is fantastic. There will be more to discover… when I have my pen back!

An admin note about numbering follows:

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Mondrian R2

#0828 Mondrian R2
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Look no pen! This originated on the Mondrimat site. I did a bit of post-production in ArtRage 2 and also in ACDsee. Piet Mondrian is just one of those people I was thinking of who was cutting edge. Arrangement, composition even when there is very little else to go on, or especially when there is little to distract from the abstraction, counts. Not a new idea, but he made an art form out of that simple idea.

The software uses his rules, even though I don’t know what they are. So there is a bit of original Piet Mondrian in this! Though I confess to thinking Diebenkorn as well.

Related: Pollock’o’matics.

River

#0827 River
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I suppose this is not unlike the earlier one based on flying along the Alps the other day. Perhaps no worse for my not having a screen to put the pen onto. But I am still returning the pad to Dick Smith, it is not suitable for my task.

I have spent the day on building up this old Dell laptop, it does have a great screen! 15″ 1600 x 1200. I guess that is what has me looking at the Cintiq.

Curtailed

#0824 Curtailed
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I can think “arm move” and it does. There are people who have lost or never had that ability. I have lost the ability to sketch on my screen like I used to. Temporarily, frustrating rather than a tragedy. I have also possibly lost the last few sketches – and the originals of a few more, I’ll hear tomorrow.

Firstly more about this sketch which was done with a pen on a digital pad, and then some reflections on evolution.

Continue reading “Curtailed”