This is little Noah. If I have even less time for photography in the next few weeks, blame him! I pick him up from the breeder this c…
This is little Noah. If I have even less time for photography in the next few weeks, blame him! I pick him up from the breeder this coming Sunday, so he’ll be home for Jan 1st. I’ve been waiting since he was conceived! And yep, his eyes are part blue.
Life never ceases to amaze me, w ith its potential for drama and excitement constantly “lurking”….well with my life it does anyway! I’…
Life never ceases to amaze me, w ith its potential for drama and excitement constantly “lurking”….well with my life it does anyway! I’ve reached the weekend and made it through the week. And what a week it has been! / It has been one of many unsettling experiences, where I find myself questioning…..how the heart does not harden completely so that another living thing or experience can ever touch it, how you can want so badly to never “feel” anything again, yet all the while be just plain grateful that it doesn’t happen like that, because then you would miss out on the joy that creeps in like a surprise when you are not expecting it, and touches the places beneath the armour and make your heart sing. I marvel at the pit you can dig for yourself, yet however full of exhaustion or despair it might become, it can also contain proportionately the same amount, if not more, joy and gratitude. I wonder at nature and life and miracles and why they sometimes don’t happen how you want, yet occur when you least expect them. And most of all, I am just deeply grateful for the ability to laugh at myself and have a sense of humour at life’s turbulent moments of chaos and fleeting glimpses of euphoria. Last Thursday night, a new baby arrived in the family…..a little foal. Having bred horses for over twenty years, I never get over the huge energy buzz I get to witness a birth, discover a new baby, or see a foal untangle the little body from the long legs and master the art of equine life so quickly. It is always an emotional and, for me, a spiritual moment. These days, such moments are rare, as I no longer have a herd or run an official breeding establishment, I only have my old stallion Mystic (well past retirement age, but you try telling him that!) and his long time girlfriend Wildfire, a little mare I bred 16 years ago. We have also been agisting Mariah, a little mare for my friend’s 9yo daughter, trying to get her in foal, but after two years, had given up on it ever happening. Until of course……. I had been heading off to bed, and had actually done something out of character for me, and in an effort to achieve a pain free night following such a desperately busy week, I took some ibuprofen (my condition worsens at times of tiredness and stress, so the pain levels become quite hard to handle, though normally, I refuse to use anything from drug companies….) Anyhow, off to bed I went, and pulled up the covers – it is unseasonably cold here – the nights are generally warm, but of course, Murphy’s Law says that was about to happen would NOT happen on a nice balmy night. So….I awaken to squeals….. / “Go away” I thought. “It is nothing” / But on a farm, you get to know all the little noises of the bush, the birds, the critturs in general, and you just KNOW when they are not right. So the squeals I recognized were of horses meeting new horses, not old horses getting very familiar!! I thought my niece’s show horses must have gotten loose and come visiting my little horses. I grabbed the torch, and headed out in my sleepwear, barefooted and all (glad it was dark and the nearest neighbours were miles away) There was my little mare Wildfire with a new baby foal and she was squealing and kicking, trying to keep it away from Mariah and the stallion. I got excited and started calling to her, as I managed to squeeze through the barb wire fence without losing anything more than my dignity. Then I spotted Mariah dragging the afterbirth behind her, and got such a shock. She was not even supposed to be in foal, and this new baby was HERS!. She was not barren after all, and had actually been in foal all year, even though sharing a very intimate time with the stallion and fooling us all! It was a huge shock, as all I could think of was how overjoyed the little girl who owned her would be, as it had been her birthday that day. I could imagine her shock and delight when I broke the news! My first problem was parting the expectant Mother from a foal that she was determined was hers ( probably wondering at how pain free and instant the birth had been!!!) and avoiding the flying heels and threat of teeth on my bare legs…. You know how cranky new Mothers can be, or even the ones who THINK they are! Eventually, I caught Wildfire in the dark and got her across to a gate into the next paddock, and I tried to get her through the broken gate, with one hand and naturally she did not make it simple. But at last she went through, and the obliging old boy Mystic followed her. (The maternity wing was “women’s business” and he wanted no place in there, even if it was his progeny there wobbling it way around and looking for a mother!) / (It reminds me of him with his foals two years ago…if ever I have seen a stallion look mortified and embarrassed, it was this old boy, when the little foals would rush up to him and stick their inquisitive noses into his nether regions looking for a feed! Lol) I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking “now Mariah can get to her baby and bond and have some rest”. But no. I suddenly realized the paddock I had pushed the other two horses into had its other gate wide open, and away went those two, off down towards the highway. So in the freezing wind, still in my pjs, and with only a little torch, off I went after them. And did the old cat and mouse game. They would let me get within a few metres of them, then with a “yippee! We’re free!” they would trot off with their noses and tails in the air. Bugger! There was no way they were about to give up their new found freedom! And anyone who has been around horses will know you do not chase them – you will never win! So through one paddock and another, I followed them, calling out oh so nice things, promising them all kinds of treats…all the while gritting my teeth…..and hoping the torch didn’t pack it in. Eventually they went towards the dairy, which is where it got really frightening for me, as the swampy damp ground, long grass and drains were full of snakes at this time of year, one of them being the Tiger snake, Australia’s second most venomous snake. I took a deep breath, swallowed my fear and plowed across the grass, a place I would not even walk over in broad daylight. I just prayed the snakes would be asleep somewhere else or at least feeling kind. Eventually Mystic, the old darling, came back to me, allowed me to catch him by the mane, and I lead them back to their paddock. On the way back across the dark long grass, I felt sharp sting on my barefoot and thought “It is nothing but a sharp stick I have trodden on”. By the time I got them safely home and the mare with her foal (it was a filly!!) settled under the trees out of the wind, I was frozen and it was almost 1am. I got indoors and had a wash, then sat down to look at my foot. There was one puncture wound on my toe and it was quite sore. So….I asked myself “Is it a snake bite (ha! A one toothed snake or just one with a bad aim!) or a bullant or bee sting? ” At this point, the adrenalin had my heart pumping from rushing out after the horses and the excitement of finding a new foal, and the ibuprofen had kicked in and I was feeling quite dizzy and drowsy – so I thought, “Is this the effect of snakebite?” I felt really stupid….should I go into the hospital and look like a real dill if it is only a bee sting, or will I look worse than an idiot if I die in my sleep and the kids find me in the morning! I did not wish to call anyone at that hour of the morning, yet my thoughts turned to my two young children asleep in their beds. What to do? I called the hospital and they told me to come in and spend the night in hospital, but I thought it would not be easy with my children….so I decided to wait it out. So I got on Redbubble, (the perfect place to go when you could be dying from snakebite, of course!) even though really tired, and played on there for an hour, and quietly monitored my physical signs….. / and as you can tell, it was NOT snake bite and I am still as large as life and shiny side up!! The next day, we called up the owners of the new baby and told them the good news. The little filly was a dear sweet thing, very friendly and strangely bonded to me and the other humans. She was a bit slow drinking from her mother, so I had to milk the mare and syringe it into her mouth to ensure she got the colostrum. This is to give baby as much of the goodness and protection from her mother as she could get. The young girl who owned her, arrived with her family and the look on her face was priceless. The baby was christened “Rosy”, It was an absolutely delightful time, and one that would become even more precious with what was about to unfold. By the following morning, I knew something was very wrong with the mare. She was not eating and alarm bells went off. / Two years prior to this, I had lost my favourite mare I’d had for 18 years, to hyperlipemia, right after foaling, and had to raise an orphan baby. Now Mariah was showing signs of the same. And so it was. We got the vet, we consulted professional breeders who had saved mares with this condition before (I had never known anyone to bring a mare back from this bloody horrible disease yet!!), and I began the process of trying to save her. We took the precious baby off Mother’s milk and started hand feeding her. This was to give the Mother a chance to stop metabolizing her body fat to produce milk and perhaps slow down her disease. I injected her with insulin and syringed sucrose mix down her throat every few hours, and tried so vainly to get her to eat something. What a precious little soul was the filly – she stuck her head in the dish of formula and drank. She followed us around; when my front door opened, she neighed to me in her little raspy voice. She KNEW. She knew her life was going to revolve around humans and not her mother, and she almost accepted it from the very onset. As I recall the day after her birth, she was just as happy to be with humans as with her own Mother. And poor Mariah….. we fought so hard for her, but she simply gave up. After five days of struggling to save her, of hopes raised, and heartbreaking scenes, I told her owners that I believed she was ready to go, and that to keep her alive was not kind. So I had her put down. / These things are never easy. I hate every part of this side of owning animals – no matter how kind the actions are, I cannot hear a gun without freezing to the pit of my soul, and I still shed tears for the grand souls of these noble creatures as they pass over. The hardest part is to not hold onto regret and blame myself for things not done correctly, or time not spent more wisely…. Or whatever….the lessons abound…. Still, around my home, there are so many ghosts of loved ones….that have moved beyond the road I walk…. / I love my horses so much, death always seems so unfair. So, I saw Mariah returned to the Earth and the baby went to the vet hospital to spend some time getting stronger before taking on its new life as one of a human family in a suburban backyard. I know that little life wouldn’t be an easy one, but it will be filled with love, and I will always welcome back young Rosey to stay here on the farm and learn to socialize with real horses. Then, I checked my other two horses, and Wildfire was making milk, it was dripping from her teats. Another birth was imminent. / I brought her into my garden (a large tree filled yard) where I could watch her more easily, and after last check went to my very welcome bed. Half an hour later, I am awoken to a knocking under the house. I had the dog tied up under there (the only place I could put her to keep her away from sick horse and foal and any other not so pleasant items that she might roll in or eat – well you know dogs will be dogs!) I grabbed the torch yet again and outside I went. These night time jaunts in my sleepwear were starting to become monotonous! There was Wildfire running up and down the side of my house looking very upset. I got down on my knees and looked under the house with the torch and sure enough, there was one terrified dog (it wasn’t ME!!!! She was saying) and one very active baby foal. I hate under my house…it is dark and creepy and full of spiders and often even the place where snakes live. But under I crawled in my pjs, and captured the foal and dragged her out. Yes her! A filly, and what a stunner!! So this one, I am sure, had hit the ground running, and once out under the stars, away she went, at a tiny gallop, racing around the yard, with her distressed mother hot on her heels. This went on for four hours! I don’t know what that baby was on, but she was definitely hyperactive. She ran through fences, jumped through cracks in gates, through gardens and shrubs, went back under the house three more times, and eventually, taking pity on the poor mare who needed to calm down, I barricaded the front section of my garden using everything I could find outside in the dark, and took them in there. Straight away the baby leapt into the dog house and went to the back, while the poor mare freaked out completely. / I honestly have never seen such an active baby. I was unable to go back to bed and leave them as I was so worried she would hang herself from somewhere. Or get stuck, or worse, get out and run away from her mother. Eventually she collapsed on the ground and they both got some rest, and THEN, I too, went back to bed. By this time, the sun was just starting to lighten the horizon. But the next morning, I was greeted with the sight of my best Christmas present. She truly is a stunning little filly and both she and the mare were doing fine. After the traumas of the week however, I was definitely overly watchful and worried about the health of them both, not to mention, extremely sad for my friends and their daughter at the twist of fate that saw me with a healthy baby and mother, and them with a dead horse and an orphan foal. Somehow it seemed unfair. So you see, between the lack of sleep and my concerns for all my creatures, not to mention the many emotions this has all evoked for me, I have barely had time to think about Christmas. I just ponder the sadness of our connections with animals, how there is always sorrow when they are ill or suffering, and death is never easy to deal with (even after all the years of heartbreaks and experiences I have had with my horses). I shudder at the necessity for guns on farms, they chill me to the core, yet know deep down, they can be a kind option for an animal’s peaceful and rapid release. How the fear creeps in when you love something…..at times I know, I have felt I will never own another horse, or get attached to another creature, or have another relationship, because the loss is so hard to bear – yet deep down the simple truth is, nothing lasts forever, but the effects and memories of love do, they are cumulative within our souls and become a part of who we are – love is always its own reward. Therefore any moments shared with another, whether human or animal, are a gift to honour, and never to be shied away from. / I come away from this week, heartened too by the awareness of joy in having them share our lives. These special characters are all a blessing to me, and teach me many things. I only have to witness the miracle of such new births to know that the cycle of life continues, that all is as it should be. Witnessing such moments brings tears in my eyes… an expression of love for life, and an overflowing of the heart. The final word – two days later, a horse float arrives at my front door, and the woman driver unloads a little mare, who has come to visit my stallion. The process begins again…
Hi How have you all been? I have a new animation reel! Please have a look when you have a moment: SHOWREEL....
Hi How have you all been? I have a new animation reel! Please have a look when you have a moment: SHOWREEL All Flash Animations for people I have worked for and a few of my own personal works. Work has picked up again so I dont get much time to draw my own stuff, hoping to have time again soon. So many things have been happening this year and January hasn’t even ended yet. Praying that a lot of good changes come soon. I do hope that everyone is well and enjoying the start of the year :)
Holy cow, what was that utterly brilliant little animation that just appeared while the tech guys were cranking the handle that powers th…
Holy cow, what was that utterly brilliant little animation that just appeared while the tech guys were cranking the handle that powers the site? I’ve no idea, but you can see it again right here. Please feel free to embed this in your blog/site etc etc / This is almost worthy of a series, well, maybe one more. Look out next week kids. onetonshadow Here is the first in the series that isn’t a series yet
My second in a series of interviews that started here...
My second in a series of interviews that started here / / When I first encountered the work of pinkyjain I knew I had stumbled onto a completely unique, talented and spirited individual. Her creative style is versatile, playful, heartfelt and thought-provoking also. From her funny anthropomorphic animals to her brilliantly detailed and atmospheric vampire series I am always excited and amazed to see her next artwork. I’m sure I am not alone in wanting to thank pinkyjain for all her good deeds on Redbubble and for her inspiring creativity, love and enthusiasm. Thank you, pinkyjain, for being you. So let’s begin the interview…........ / / Pinkyjain, how does being a creative person and pursuing your creativity affect other aspects of your life? / I have one thing in common with John Henry, only that it was a pencil in my hand when i was born, not a hammer. I’ve drawn pictures as long as i can remember. / My biggest crazy ambition is to be published. I don’t know why really, it’s just been my desire when i started getting ideas for illustrating my stories. It isn’t to be rich or famous (sure i like to have money, but i don’t want too much, what a headache that comes with, and i certainly don’t want to be famous, more headaches). But since I’ve been on RB, my art has taken off into a new spin, a lot of it is from my doodles which has been such fun. I’ve doodled all my life, but never really took notice of how they could blossom into a piece of art someone really seems to enjoy. My main goal is still to get published, but doodling has been a breath of fresh air. And since my printer bit the dust several months ago, i can’t print out my query letters for the literary agents (waiting for my friend to research good printers, he has a good idea & sense for such things) so I’m taking a much needed doodling break. And I’m thinking lulu.com, for publishing a book of my doodles. Tell us about one person or moment that has made your time on RB particularly special and meaningful. / That’s a real toughie, everyone i have met on RB have made my experiences here so very special; & meaningful. I am just inspired by every one in my Watch List, which is like 450 people, hee hee. Show And Tell us about 5 works on RB that have moved or inspired you. / Another lulu of a toughie. I have 30 pages of Favorites, which adds up to 9,288 favorites. / But a really special person and a really charming drawing: Paul Compton, / Cynthia Reed / / I adore and love all of Paul’s fantastic drawings and paintings. Cynthia Reed is a pure gem, she makes me feel safe, and cozy. I can so identify with her, reading her books by candlelight, (Could so be me in my storage unit), with her darling BookWorm Pal. Dawn Davies / Again, so very hard to pick only one. Dawn is a true talent in pastels. But since we can only pick one, i have chosen Forest Fire / / Such an amazing work in pastel, so rich in colors and depth, the brightness of the fire & its reflection in the water. Gives me a sense of being there, warming myself in front of the camp fire, surrounded by nature. Jan Landers / Another hard case of picking just one, Jan and her work are so Mother Earthly spiritual, she has taught me to see the world in such a more connected way, opened my eyes to more of the beauty that surrounds all of us, but i choose Earth Medicine-Crow / / I met Jan while she was uploading the “Earth Medicine” series, i was drawn to the bright glorious colors & Animal designs. Lori Peters / Lori is a true talent with her photography, she brings such personality to her Animal photos, it has been such a joy to be allowed into a Fox family’s life through Lori’s photographs. i picked “I’m Hungry Mama”:http://redbubble.com/people/usafots1979/art/1173625-1-i’m-hungry-mama / / This is such a unique & sweet capture of such a tiny and, though defenseless, very demanding little baby Robin. The mommy and daddy Robin built their nest right on Lori’s porch. Karin Taylor / i picked Karin’s remarkable “Flying Machine”:http://www.redbubble.com/people/karin/art/974312-3-flying-machine / / Hard again to pick only one, Karin is so multi talented, so many gorgeous & wondrous paintings. i picked “Flying Machine”, i love her face, so sweet, with those big blue eyes, her cap and colorful hair, and her overalls, i just love her overalls (i wear overalls everyday!), and the airplane. And the overall painting has a vintage look which i love so much What is the primary reason you make and enjoy experiencing art? / Drawing is like eating and sleeping for me, i have to do it. Since i found zazzle first, then Wonderful Red Bubble, it opened up a totally new world for me to share my art, and to actually have people like my stuff, and even buy it. Wow! List some artists or experiences that have shaped the way you see the world. Beatrix Potter, Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Edward Hopper, Edward Gorey, Bram Stoker, Harper Lee, Wolfgang Mozart, and 1000’s more, and so many here on Red Bubble. A big thank you, this was fun, such a cool way to meet everyone. / – pinkyjain Thank you for the interview pinkyjain, it was an honour. / Best wishes to you all and thank you for reading.
Not entirely sure if this is interesting, but you know what you can do if it isn’t. / It’s in relation to this...
Not entirely sure if this is interesting, but you know what you can do if it isn’t. / It’s in relation to this Tools of the trade / / / Half sculpted / / / / / / / / / / The glamourous model-strewn, drug-induced, hedonistic world of animation / /
I found this on a betamax tape at the back of a cupboard in an office on a coffee plantation in Guatamala. If you turn up the sound it’...
I found this on a betamax tape at the back of a cupboard in an office on a coffee plantation in Guatamala. If you turn up the sound it’s quite good. Feel free to share it or embed it anywhere you see fit. It’s a sort of Part 2 to this And there’s some glamourous behind the scenes stuff here, if you’re into that sort of thing and if you want a high res version for any reason, ask me.
Hi!! It’s been a great week, getting wedded and having people purchased my works, I have lots of reasons to smile these days :D Fir…
Hi!! It’s been a great week, getting wedded and having people purchased my works, I have lots of reasons to smile these days :D Firstly, I’m pleased to share with you that one of my work was selected to be part of the Compassion Courage Friendship book published by Redbubble :D I’m also very happy to receive the $100 RB voucher too….I take it as a wedding gift from RB,haha! :D I’ve also started a button collection with these buttons I have purchased from zazzle.Some of these designs are also from our fellow bubblers, can you tell which ones? :D I made some 10 sales at zazzle over the last 1 week plus at zazzle, thanks to the many on going promotions that are going on at zazzle :D These are some of the items I sold:
Thanks so much to the person who purchased my image ’ The Brumby Run’ I am so happy and thankful to who ever purchased this print. I wou…
Thanks so much to the person who purchased my image ’ The Brumby Run’ I am so happy and thankful to who ever purchased this print. I would like to know who you are so that I can thank your personally. /
As we have already noticed, Redbubble dont speak the same lingo, as in, it doesnt use HTML or CSS etc, which means; we cannot use a lot…
As we have already noticed, Redbubble dont speak the same lingo, as in, it doesnt use HTML or CSS etc, which means; we cannot use a lot of the widgets, scripts and all dem goodies out there in here. Which is ok, but sometimes i found that i wanted to promote about my other sites/projects here in my profile.. but couldnt.. till now :) / (well, I figured it out now..prob been able to for ages already..hehe) As you that may have read my previous post, i discovered more of Feedburner goodies recently. In that discovery i found a Widget that can animate your RSS feed – that doesnt use html or scripts, which means we can use it in here! I utilized the RSS Animated widget in two ways : First, i’ve been wanting to bring my journal post entry titles further UP in my profile, but cuz ive got a pretty jam packed profile on the left hand side..it forces the Journal Entries way down to the bottom end, and i dont know if people scroll that far down! LOL! So with animated rss widget from Feedburner (i chose the Email option/display) I can now place (like below for example) in the higher end of my profile, where it will ‘flash’ the most recent post (utilizing my rb journal rss feed), Hopefully giving it more attention.. the second way i used it.. / is to take the half banner size option on white background of the same Animated Widget – with feeds from my two sites, Artdictive and Webgrrl’shop – flashing the most recent posts there.. / WANT TO MAKE A QUICK ANIMATION OF YOUR ART * / for display purposes like the moving images below ? / Go to PICASION where you can Create Animated GIF online for free! Upload your pictures or grab them from Flickr or Picasa Web, make avatars or funny animations and post it to MySpace, LiveJournal, Facebook or Redubble. No need for Flash FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO SEE STATS / At the bottom of my profile you should be able to see LIVE STATS, free service by FEEDJIT . Make sure you get the Run-Anywhere Widget (link takes you directly there) Usually they all are scripts, but this one is not and i’ve been quite happy using Feedjit services on most of my blogs for free interesting stats. See how it all looks at my profile (clickty click) Have you found tools and toys you can use in Redbubble?*
Here / are / some / behind / the / scenes / shots / for all of you who care. It’s in relation to “The Great Christmas Mince Pie and Pl…
Here / are / some / behind / the / scenes / shots / for all of you who care. It’s in relation to The Great Christmas Mince Pie and Plasticine Experiment. Santa has a big silver Christmas bauble inside him. Is that interesting?
Just for fun…Sleek Images created this for me…how cool is it, LOL. !http://web.me.com/billa…
Just for fun…Sleek Images created this for me…how cool is it, LOL.
It has been overwhelming to see the instant support and compassion fellow Aussies have shown to the victims of the fires in Victoria. Th…
It has been overwhelming to see the instant support and compassion fellow Aussies have shown to the victims of the fires in Victoria. The money and assistance coming in is simply amazing. And I feel such warmth and kindness flowing in from all corners of the world! Thank you so much to everyone for your open hearts and willing hands! The shiny side of humanity is really evident at times like these. But there are millions of silent victims that are being overlooked by the majority of those who are helping or raising funds, and they are the creatures of the Australian Bush, and the domestic animals, left burned, scarred, and without homes after the fires. It is an horrific fate for them. For those who were killed, their suffering is over and they are in a better place, but for the many who survived and are still out there, desperately in need of veterinary care, water, food, and just some kindness…. their need has never been greater. It is up to us to recognize and help them in whatever way we can. / Donations of money to the various wildlife organizations is one way to do this, if you cannot go and help in person. A group of wonderful people here on Redbubble have set up a Wildlife Appeal site similar to the Phoenix Appeal where Redbubble members can donate pieces of art with the proceeds going directly to the wildlife fundraisers. Please check out this site and try to donate a piece of art. The creatures need us to help them too, and they don’t have the media to bring their plight to the world as the humans do. They suffer in silence. And it breaks my heart. I have pledged the proceeds of sales of all my art from my InAWE pages to this cause and hope that others might do likewise. If you wish to donate art, just bubblemail the wildlife appeal and get the address to send the images to. They do not have to BE of wildlife or animals…any artwork will be greatfully accepted…... then just help by spreading the word to others about this second means of supporting those whose lives have been burned by the fires. Thank YOU!
For those interested, I’m going to run through the process of constructing my Fox Confessor design. It was a fun thing to make, it’s alwa…
For those interested, I’m going to run through the process of constructing my Fox Confessor design. It was a fun thing to make, it’s always good to step away from the computer once in a while! Step 1: Source photo For this design, I used a photo that i found on the Wikimedia Commons. I knew I wanted to do a fox, so it made it a little easier to sort through the library of images. Eventually I found a great shot that I was happy to use. After downloading the images, I used Photoshop to tweak the levels and up the contrast. The reason for this will be explained in a minute. Step 2: Image preparation Once I was done tweaking the image in Photoshop, it was time to bring it into Illustrator. Here I applied a live trace effect and adjusted the settings to limit the effect to 3 colours only, which will later make up the 3 layers of paper in my design. Before I mentioned tweaking levels to up contrast in the image. The reason I did this was to help the live trace yield better results. It basically helped to emphasise the dark vs light areas. If I didn’t do this, then the live trace might have looked a lot flatter. Kind of hard to explain, sorry! After the live trace, I went through a rather tedious, but necessary task. I find when you apply a live trace effect, its always going to be obvious that you’ve used that effect. A straight live trace often looks a little dodgy in my opinion. So basically, I used the live trace as a guide to draw my own shapes. I set up 3 layers, one for each level of colour, then drew shapes with the pen tool, using the live traced image as a rough guide. This gave me an image which had smoother corners and a simplified shape overall. Below is the result of this step. Once I had finished each layer of colour, I printed each of them out separately in black on A4 paper. The preparation is now complete, so now its time to get into the fun hands on stuff! Step 3: Lots of careful cutting and sticking There isn’t too much to this step. Above, you can see a shot of my workspace (its not a very pretty workspace). At the top you will see the three bits of coloured paper that I have used for the 3 layers. On the cutting mat, you can see one of the print outs that I’m going to use basically as a mask. What I did was stick that mask print out to the back of one of sheets of coloured paper, then carefully cut it out with a scalpel. I started with the bottom layer (the orange) which was the biggest, and easiest to cut out. Once this was complete, I stuck the layer down in position onto an a3 piece of tracing paper. Now it was time to repeat the same process on the next layer. In the above photo, I hadn’t stuck the second layer down yet, it was just sitting there for the moment. This was quite fortunate, because it was at this time that I decided it’d look cool to add some line work detail to the orange layer. I removed the second layer to complete the line work, then proceeded to stick it down for good. After I had done that, it was time to do the final layer. I applied some more line work to the top layer, but being a dark colour it is quite subtle. You can kinda see it in the close up detail shots though. Once the final layer was stuck down, I was pretty much done, just had to scan it into the computer and upload. All that was left to do after that really was to clean up…. I hate that part, and i am still yet to do it…. And here is the final result: I hope this has been useful, sorry for making it so wordy! This project took me about a week and a half to complete. The documented execution above only took about half a day, but the ideas and thinking took the rest of the time up. I usually go into a process like this pretty well prepared with a pretty clear picture in my head, but that takes time to develop. If you want something explained better, or expanded upon, feel free to ask and i’ll be happy to oblige. Thanks for reading :)
Tender Things is my latest solo exhibition and it opens on the 30th of April at the…
Tender Things is my latest solo exhibition and it opens on the 30th of April at the gorgeous Hand Held Gallery in Bourke Street Melbourne city. / Hand Held Gallery is an amazing small scale space and as well as being a gallery space it also features handmade book arts and objects by local artists as well as a palm/tarot reader! Definitely a space worth checking out. / This is my second solo show and it features a small collection of my handmade books, zines, objects and new drawings. Hope you can come along and take a look. Here are the details: / Tender Things by Paul Compton / Hand Held Gallery / Suite 18, Upper Level, Paramount Arcade / 108 Bourke Street, Melbourne 3000 / Opening Night: 30th of April 6pm-8pm / Exhibition runs til the 26th of May / Gallery open: Monday-Saturday 12-5pm Please click here to view the online advert Apologies for my absence from the bubble recently I have been quite busy. Hope everyone is well. .
/ Cheers Steve! Many thanks to those who voted for *Zephyr- A Birthday Portrait…
/ Cheers Steve! Many thanks to those who voted for Zephyr- A Birthday Portrait in the Alpha Male Dog Challenge for the Cats and Dogs Group! / This was a collaboration with myself and Steve Smith- so my thanks to him also!!! Big thankyou to all who voted for Licquorice Allsorts- You May Take One – in the 4 Winners Only Challenge-’Colourful’ / / This is also featured in ’ 4 Winners Only’ Many thanks to the Moderators!!!
If you would like to have some input into the Home Page, check out this forum…...anyone can do it. / Home Page suggestions...
If you would like to have some input into the Home Page, check out this forum…...anyone can do it. / Home Page suggestions / And you can see all the past home pages on the fantastic blog!!! / Sanne’s Red Bubble Homepage Blog / It isn’t EASY!!! But once you get the hang of it…..it can be a lot of fun!! Give it a try….Check out this journal for tips on how to do it. / TIPS / If you need more help, please feel free to b-mail me! / Even more behind…...not enough time to play… / I do love trees, such beautiful trees. / All are paintings with the exception of number 8…...it’s hard to believe that’s a photo with layers of texture!! Beautiful!! / / / Wonderful RED!!! / This is a layout I did a while back…..forgot to post!! / / / And it looks awesome on the home page, thanks RED…..for picking my suggested RED PAGE!!! / / “You push my button” / / These are wonderful images that have similar tones / It’s a windy day, and nice for sitting on the couch and finding images. / I use these colors a lot in my work, so it is no wonder that I was drawn to them!! / / Well, I am getting behind. / Here are three sets from last week. / Holy Light / / / Reaching out / / “Attraction” / / Well October is here in all it’s glory…..for those in the northern Hemisphere, the colors are starting to come alive. Some more than others. So these are both a tribute to the wonderful color of FALL / L E A V E S / / / F A L L S C E N E R Y / / Today’s page is all about the complex design…...so many wonderful artists out there!! / Sept, 25th, 2009 / / I did need a few days to think and let it sink in…...but I knew I needed to put out a tribute to Mary, of Peter, Paul and Mary. / My page today…....has left me with a lump in my throat…...as I am so very sad to say good by to Mary Travers. / I grew up with Peter, Paul and Mary…...and I can’t imagine never seeing them all together again. She will be missed. / This awesome group shaped many of my convictions and beliefs…..the words are powerful and soft and heart felt…...all so full of emotion. / Early Morning Rain / Leaving on a Jet Plane / The Great Mandela / Blowin in the Wind / Puff the Magic Dragon / Lemon Tree / The Wedding song / Where have all the flowers gone / All songs that were often sung around a camp fire or just jamming in our family home. I don’t have a link for Lemon Tree, but I adore this trio and will miss there shining star….This tribute is for Mary Travers…...RIP / / September 18th, 2009 / This is all about the number 7….....deadly sins!! / / Had the days off…..now it’s the 17th…...this will post to the forum tomorrow however. / This is a whole lot of nothing…....that really looks like something. I love all the patterns. / / Result looked so awesome….congratulations to all of these wonderful artists!! / September 17th, 2009 / Above us only sky / / September 16th, 2009 / I loved all of the glow…......it’s all about the glow!! / / September 14th, 2009 / Today I did two selection pages…..one may not post to the forum until tomorrow or much later tonight…... / This is called, / “The mood of Pink” / / “Pure Joy” / I LOVE THESE SWEET JOYFUL IMAGES!! / / September 13th 2009 / All about the wonderful painters here on RB!! / “Animals and life in the water” / / Today…...a day to remember…..My selections are not about that, but there is one just down a bit that is about New York and 9/11!! / Today my selections are all about my favorite thing…..Texture!! / Visual Texture….I call it / “The Rusty Blues” / / Something we all need a lot more of…. / “Communication” / / Sept, 4, 2009 / We all talked of the road trip. Where we would meet and what we would bring along…...I felt as if we really did it…will all of our discussions….I can tell you one thing for sure…..if we would have gone, there would have been some awesome photos to show for it. / These selections are all about the “The Road Trip” / / / Sep, 3, 2009 / We all agreed to do the same theme with our own ideas…..the one word was “UNDER” / I thought of Hot air balloons, but that had already been done on the home page, so my idea was under a kite. / I love each of these images….so awesome!! Again several that didn’t make the mix…..but still most certainly worthy! / “Under” / / September 2, 2009 / Today…..I feel the magic…...the magic of light. / I had at least 4 others that bounced in and out of the mix…..all of my suggested work can be found in my pages of favorites…...a true treasure trove of awesome work!! / “Magic of Light” / / Today’s picks are so awesome for me…..I love each one and there is a thread of pink and blue…..all very different…..all great work!! / “A little pink, a little blue” / / / This is “A little Wild” / / / 3 mixes for Today’s picks August 26th 2009 / “Soft sensual blur” / / / I was asked to do QUEUE…. / So here is “The Queue” / / Also August 26th, 2009 / “New York, New York” / The Ground Zero image needed to be included…...as a flight attendant, that day was a little more life changing than it may have been for others. Many of my co-workers were stuck in New York and could see the towers from their hotel….others were in D.C. and actually saw the explosion of the the plane going into the pentagon. People were running and shoving…..I can’t imagine what that was like…..I was flying on my way to Phoenix and we were diverted to Omaha. I spent two and a half days there….not long in comparison to others…..it was a day I will never forget. / / / Today’s picks August 23rd 2009 / “And now that you’re in your room, CLEAN IT!!” / / “Go to your Room!!” / / / Also picked today….Aug, 23, 2009 / “All about Fire” / / As the nightmare of a delayed flight out of Philadelphia turned into two and a half hours I realized I wouldn’t make it home. / So I sat and looked at images…......This sweet image of red shoes made me realize that I had the power all along….all I had to do was click my heals together and repeat…................ / “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home” / I can tell you now as I sit on my very own couch that this is TRUE!! There is no place like home!! / / / This was a favorite of mine…..and so happy it made the HP!!! Congrats to all the wonderful artists featured!! / / I was told that it is PHOTOGRAPHERS DAY!! So this is my tribute to us. / “It’s OK, I’m a photographer” / / Well, my picks today are inspired by the fact that I am stuck at the airport….....AGAIN…..oh well. / “Pie in the Sky, the glamor job” / / Inspired by Sultana of Swing, By Rebecca Finch / “Put your dancing shoes on” / / / This group of picks was inspired by Blue Monday, by Michael J Armijo .....This image has been commented on heavily….but as far as I can see never featured on the home page….It has been in my faves since I signed up last November. So even if this doesn’t get picked, I love these shots and had fun with the theme!! “Here comes the Rain” / / This was inspired by Tama Blaugh’s Pink Hydrant in the number 8 spotlight. / “Cooling the Fires” / / “Growing old with Pride” / / “The lines that drip and twirl and swirl” / / / “Ophelia” / / * * * / “A Golden Glow” / / “Waiting” / /
A tweet from @vernontrent showing the most amazing performance art!...
A tweet from @vernontrent showing the most amazing performance art! Sand sculpture to surprise and delight you. Missed so much in the last week, way too busy….but had to find the time to share this :) So busy I forgot to add the link to the performance art….all fixed now, and since vernon isn’t sharing his tweets, I’ve removed his link, for extra clarity ;)
final piece Damien posted a journal...
final piece Damien posted a journal detailing the process for his entry into the happy challenge. So, being the bandwagon type – I thought I’d do what he did. I realised I’ve still got all my working files – I can actually go back and piece them together into a little animation. So here it is. / (It might take a moment to load, as it is about 2mb – but unless you’re on some 14.4k modem, you should be fine.) Obviously I didn’t save it every five seconds, so this will only have major iterations. This was done fairly straight forward. I always tend to work on sections when I’m painting (getting the detail for one area before moving on to the next) but I normally work in layers and go back and forth between them. With this one, I pretty much painted on a single layer (with a few exceptions – mostly being hair). It was basically a matter of getting the shape down, then refining the details… and repeating. When I’m painting, I use the colour picker frequently. So I’ve mapped it to my wacom. This allows me to pick up the colour from the canvas quickly and push it around, and then switch to another colour (again, taking it directly from the canvas) and go back and forth and blend colours efficiently. If you were to watch me do this, you might even miss that I’m doing it at all. At first I started off using a digital oil bush, but found that it wasn’t fast enough and I decided to stick with the airbrush tool (modified a little to suit my purposes) It’s basically flat colour that is applied at about 25% transparency with a low flow rate. When I’m working between light colours and dark colours, with the colour picker and airbrush tool, I can create gradients without ever having to stop and think about how I’m going to do it. I just put down the two extremes and gradually blend them together. I use a large brush to create the basic shape, and as I refine the details I’ll gradually shrink the brush and zoom in closer until I’m working at up to 400%. Shadows and highlights are pretty important. Shadows will create depth and highlights will bring the image forward (or something along those lines). All I know is after you add shadows and highlights, your previous version will look flat and boring in comparison. Another thing I focused on, that I think helps a lot, is texture. I spent some time detailing inconsistencies in the skin, adding red spots (pores and/or freckles) and some sickly yellow in parts. I’m discovering that our skin is a whole myriad of colours at times… so simple pink flesh won’t do. There are greens, browns, reds and yellows in there. Even after hours of pushing colours around, I decided I wasn’t happy with the overall tone so I took the whole thing into photoshop to tweak the it by pushing the vibrancy and desaturating it and upping the contrast until I was happy. Also, I added a noise layer to further enhance the tone. Hair is simple and quick to do. But surprisingly hard to perfect. You might notice the beard is pretty much finished within the first couple of frames here. It took maybe two or three minutes to get that almost complete. Although, as always, I came back later and spent a while adding stray hairs all over the place. So there. I can’t think of anything else to add just now. Perhaps I will write more if I think of something. Let me know if this has been illuminating, or just boring. Any questions?
How to Open and Save Animated GIFs in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements by F.A. Moore I recently discovered when upgrading my Photos…
How to Open and Save Animated GIFs in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements by F.A. Moore I recently discovered when upgrading my Photoshop Elements 1.0 to 6.0 for the Mac, after a zillion years of not caring about the differences, that Photoshop CS3 and later versions of Elements do not open animated gifs into their many layers. Hearsay is that this was an attempt to sell their Fireworks application, which does open animated gifs in layers. For those who want to alter gifs, opening a file into layers is critical. Here are a some different options for Windows and Mac users to open GIF layers in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Elements 3, forward, when Fireworks is not available. On either system, if you have QuickTime Pro: / 1. File > Open File… (control/command + O) > then click the gif file. / 2. This will open the gif in a new QuickTime player, with the same number of frames as the Gif animation. / 3. Edit > Select All (control/command + A) (very important step!) / 4. File > Export > Movie to Image Sequence. / 5. Click Options and choose “BEST” for frame rate. That will give you 1 PNG file for each frame. / 6. Now open those sequentially numbered PNG files with PS/PSE. / / After a control/command + A Select All in QuickTime (Pro) (QuickTime Pro is only about $30 bucks. It’s nice to have around. They just give you a long “key” to paste into the registration form of your regular QuickTime app., and it turns magically into the Pro app., which allows editing of frames and audio.) OTHERWISE, branched options per system: / Windows / Choose File > Import > Video Frames to Layers. When it shows you the browse window, type in the name of your file (or * . * for the file name, but no spaces); click Load. Open your animated gif(s). Press Okay for the default import. Windows > Animation will allow you to view the animated frames. / (caveat: I have not tried this!) / Mac – 3 more options, listed below: Option 1. Use Preview (a Mac OS X built-in app.) to open the gif. View with DRAWER open and click the carrot to see all layers in the drawer. Drag each layer to your desktop and then lasso all files and command click to “Open With” PS/PSE. Be sure to maintain the frame order when pasting into the layers of a new file. Option 2. Use Preview to open the gif, just as in option 1, above. Then Copy each subsequent layer (clicked on in the drawer) and paste into a PS/PSE layer. Be sure to maintain the frame order when pasting into the layers of a new file. / / gif opened with Preview Option 3. Save the file as a .mov file (QuickTime). In Photoshop > File > Import > Frame from Video, point to the renamed file and import the first frame. In PSE this only allows ONE FRAME at a time. Each Frame will be opened as a new file in the project bin! Grab Frame and Click OK. Press your right arrow key to move to the next frame. Grab Frame and click OK. Continue until all frames are in the project bin. Add them to a layer, in order, as you would any image. / PSE gif layers after paste or import To SAVE AS ANIMATED GIF, do this. / 1. Delete any background layers, or merge a copy of the background into each animated frame. All layers in the file should be an animation frame. If not then merge until each frame is the next animation in a sequence. 2. SAVE FOR WEB… 3. Check Gif, perceptual, transparency, choose a “matte” color, or none. 4. Check Animation. Check if you want it to Loop and the seconds or partial seconds per frame. You can preview it in your browser with the preview button. You may need to add and select your default browser first, if you have not previously set this up. 5. Once you’re satisfied, click OK. 6. Save your original file as a PSD file! Use the PSD file to adjust layers, without having to go through the hassle of opening a separate file for each layer or importing as video frames, again from the saved GIF. This public-domain image was originally downloaded from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Triple-Spiral-Labyrinth-animated.gif, then resized and saved.
/ Sacred Elephants is a beautiful blogsite managed by Jaya Schillinger, Matriarch of Sacred Elephants – the blog is described as, a trunk full of inspiration for elephant lovers, conservationists and spiritual friends of ganesh Last Christmas we were in touch and I had an interview with Jaya about my elephant art…... and today I was thrilled to hear the good news that my elephants tees and prints were featured today over at Sacred Elephants So grateful to you Jaya, thank you so much! To top it off I just sold a couple of my elephant products being: / a greeting card of Magic Elephant / and a tshirt of Elephant Baby You can see many more elephant designs here
You can my son`s more animation`s find in google – target ANTANAS SKUČAS ANIMATION ...
You can my son`s more animation`s find in google – target ANTANAS SKUČAS ANIMATION # CLICK THIS PHOTO CLICK THIS PICTURE Antanas Skucas is a 23-year-old animator extraordinaire and artist from Lithuania. He is a graduate of M. K. Čiurlionis National Art School and received his Bachelor of Arts from the Department of Animation of the Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts. His thesis animated film TòvAš (Like-Father-Like-Son), tells the story of a boy turning into a man. His other work includes the film Copy of Paste (2006), a comic short about computer icons living their own lives in a computer world, and a short called Nebaigta pasaka (Unfinished Story, 2007) about the massive die-off of the honeybee. / Antanas is currently working with his professor Ilja Bereznickas, on the movie Cyber Pirate. He is the author of several commercials, including work for the Lithuanian national TV channel, Baltijos TV. He recently made video installations for a local pop-group Saulòs Kliošfor their performance in the national Eurovision Contest, and for Jurga …eduikytò, the winner of the best female act and the best album of 2005 in the Lithuanian Bravo awards. Antanas has also been commissioned by the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania to create installations for a charity concert for Afghan kids in 2007.
In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an inter…
In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. 38 years later, Levitan, director Josh Raskin and illustrator James Braithwaite have collaborated to create an animated short film using the original interview recording as the soundtrack. A spellbinding vessel for Lennon’s boundless wit and timeless message, I Met the Walrus was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Animated Short. I implore you to please take the time to watch this brilliant short film. 5 minutes out of your life that I believe is well worth it
Wow what a day, I have just been informed that my very first out of the blue book offer will be going live for sale from the 15th Novembe…
Wow what a day, I have just been informed that my very first out of the blue book offer will be going live for sale from the 15th November, hehe oh boy, dont know if the butterflies I have are through excitement or fear hehe. This book is full of endangered creatures and poems. All I can say is WOW never ever let that dream of yours go. dawnx / My Art has HEART book
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