Island Times 004 is Up

 

The past video log was a difficult video to create. I received the return box from Apple for my old computer and sent my iMac back expecting that I would have to create this video on my MacBook pro which only has a 13" screen. A challenging thing to do on such a small screen. But, while backing up the iMac, I transferred all of the files I would need to the MacBook and started the editing process. Lo and behold the new computer arrived unexpectedly a day early. So I hurriedly set it up, transferred the files back to the new computer and then remembered that I had to reinstall all of the software I would need in order to edit the clips. Also, the new iMac came with a two generation old operating system on it....Thanks Apple. So I had to wait seemingly forever to bring the OS current. Whew. But in the end things got back to something more normal and I was apple to cut something together. While waiting for the OS to upgrade, I did some digital sketching and was able to to create a new little intro animation. Hope you enjoy.

Island Times 003

I am finding that it is taking forever to produce a weekly video log. I can’t imagine having to produce a daily YouTube. The learning curve is spectacularly huge. I have watched literally hundreds of YouTube videos on how to post a YouTube video, and I still don’t think I am doing it correctly.

Then there are the learning curves for each of the cameras (Canon 77D, GoPro Hero 4 Black, and dji Pocket 2), the learning curves for each of the apps associated with those cameras, and finally learning the software to post-process and produce cogent final content to upload.

Two of the most problems I have had are with:

• Creating a workflow for aggregating all the clips and stills from the week into  a useful file structure

• Post processing the individual clips. Lately I have taken the approach to work on the clips individually ie. color grading and stabilizing and trying to make each clip stand on its own prior to producing final content. Have been doing the former in DaVinci Resolve 17 and the latter in iMovie. iMovie is totally inadequate and unforgivable for in-depth post processing but very easy to put out the final product. DaVinci Resolve has been fun to learn on a clip by clip basis. Bottom line, I need to get better at filming the clips to start with.

I didn’t get into the studio this week to paint. Totally infatuated with having all this fun learning!

Enjoy this week’s “Island Times 003”

Covid-19 Coping Week 4

Another week of Island social distancing. The big conciliation has been the weather. At the same time the virus arrived so has an absolutely lovely spring. First in many years. So there is plenty of reason to be outside but by yourself. We had two days of rain this past week. It could have been worse. Over the past four or five years, most of our winter snow has come in April (knock on wood).

I spent quite a bit of time walking with my camera, as a companion, and got a few good photographs after the rains that are posted below. Placed an order with Jerry's Artarama for some more paints and brushes. Trying to brainstorm a next painting. Those item's arrived yesterday. I thought it would take longer for the order to get here, so I continued with art courses on Udemy. Now that they are here, the pressure is on.

In the mean time enjoy a few photos I took this past week:

Covid-19 Coping Week 3

Spending most of my socially distant time, this week, in my studio. I was able to finish up the fourth in a series of four portraits of my grandchildren. These works are a departure for me from a traditional painted portrait look. Over this past winter I focused quite a lot of time on learning how to paint digitally. I tried a number of apps, tablets and programs in order to find tools I was comfortable with using. It was also important that the end product not be just a print of a digital painting but an acrylic or oil painting on canvas panel. With that in mind, I ended up deciding on the following workflow:

• Artworks were going to be conceptualized, drawn and painted in an app called Infinite Painter This app is only available in ios or android. That being said, I used a Wacom One Creative Pen Display connected to my Samsung Note 10 Plus phone in order to take advantage of this particular app.
• Digital paintings were cleaned up and finalized on my MacBook Pro connected to the same pen display using a painting application called Corel Painter The final digital painting was then printed for reference.
• The line work of the digital reference print was redrawn on the canvas panel and rendered in color using acrylic paint.

My plan is to use this same workflow for another series of paintings. Hope you enjoy.

"Emery With Water Wing," 11x14inches

"Riley Floating," 11x14inches

"Colton Sleeping," 6x8inches

"Finnley Sitting," 6x8inches

Covid-19 Coping Week 2

Another week of moving through the corona virus pandemic trying to take in disseminated information and filter it into lifestyle modifications. Using the solitude to meditate, virtually catch up with family and friends, spend time in the studio, getting used to carrying my DSLR on walks (leaving phone behind, so that at least for some part of the day, to resist responding to every alert that posts) and taking advantage of online learning through Udemy They have had some great sales on art courses and I am currently taking one on hand drawn 2d animation. I have been a member for several years and in that time I have purchased a number of courses to take at some point in the future. With the pandemic, the future is now!

I spent many hours since my last post blocking in color on the 4th of a portrait series that I have been working on. Making good progress, but this final painting is much more detailed than the others and I am finding I can only take painting on it in doses. In the mean time I have been reacquainting myself with taking photographs with a DSLR. Learning about exposure settings (especially nighttime photography), white balance, manual focus and the different characteristics of the lenses I have. I think that I am having about a 20:1 ratio of good photos to bad through trial and error. Glad I have large capacity SD card. Below are a few of the successes.

Looking South from the TEIA Club

Signs of spring which continues unthwarted by Covid-19

A spring beach day at Hadlock Cove

Whaleback

Distractions, Distractions! How I Got Here 001

Been plenty of distractions to get to this point. I have been wanting to do a blog for quite a while. The business of art blows. Finding time to paint, or print, is hard enough without the making time for self promotion, framing, etc. when you have a day job. This blog is really for me. A place where I can document process, and notes on my studio, and my art. I offer it publicly so that maybe someone might find my struggles of becoming an artist helpful in their own plight.

I looked at a lot of other artist websites, to see who they used to host their sites and how they used the sites they created. It seemed, from this review, that most artists felt the need for a static repository for information about them, and there works; a sort of virtual resume. In addition, they used separate social media or a blog sites to reach out for self promotion purposes. I found that, with the exception of only a few very successful artists, websites were not used as a sales vehicle. Setting up a blog means having a website and a blog account. I had neither six months ago. So I thought that I would start by creating a website on one of those free sites that you read about.

I did some research and found my way to 000webhost With experience in web design I put up my sight and within a month I found myself dealing with a whole host of issues like, limited bandwidth, storage limits, and very inconsistent up-time. So very quickly I found myself looking around for a permanent solution. What I found was that 000webhost was really a company operation under hostinger I couldn’t export the free website that I had spent a month designing in a format suitable for porting over to a new pay for hosting site. If I went with a new host I would have to redesign the website using their templates. I reluctantly decided to use hostinger and save myself having to rebuild a website that I was happy with. The final salt in the wound came when I went to register and pay with hostinger I did so on a weekend. My credit card was locked because hostinger operates out of a foreign country, Cypress. Banks find dealing with business in this part of the world unsecure, so I had to wait until the following Monday to authorize the my bank to make payment to this company. Whew… Since that time I have found that this hosting company has been surprisingly responsive and I have zero down time. Have a look!