Job Change

Completely not related to art, but I'm writing about it anyway. I have a new job! I'll be working for EveryScape, a company that makes virtual tours of cities, hotels, etc. Initially, I'll be doing QA for the city tours and then (hopefully) getting moved to studio. I pretty much will sit in a cubical all day and work on a computer. Yeah, I know. Not really my style, but it's a more stable schedule than weddings, frees up my weekends for various activities, and is a steady paycheck.

I'm still working on putting together my own little photography/painting business (photos from this weekend coming soon), but in the meantime I can't really complain about a steady paycheck. This job will give me more time during the summer to work on my own projects than if I was doing weddings.

Henry Wenry

Just a couple photos I sent to my sister for her Birthday. Henry is really Jill's dog. First, here he is looking handsome.


This one is Henry looking more like himself. Beagles aren't very serious dogs.

Weave Poles

This is the shot that I wanted.

This is the shot I got first. Because why would I ever play with weave poles without the Aussie? She's helping.

Textures

Just playing with the new camera. Nothing in particular.

Playground Series

I uploaded the whole playground series on DeviantArt. It's another old project (old as in about 3 years ago now), but it's an idea I want to revisit. I've got DeviantArt arranged in roughly chronological order, so it's a bit toward the back now. Here's the series in case you can't find it on there.

Bridge
Over Under
Perspective
Tunnel
Turning
Arches
Slide

I really like how abstract the colors and shapes on the playground can become. It started out just as an experiment with the idea that you can't really see a whole space in just one photo. So I started combining multiple images or trying multiple exposures. This series was the end result, which became much more abstract in some instances than when I began (and probably more so than any of my other work). If I go back to this project, I'd like to try using a much more shallow depth of field. I'm not sure what I could use as a subject other than playgrounds or if I even need to switch subject. Agility equipment is in the running, which I guess is a sort of playground. Go ahead and throw out any ideas. I'd love to hear it.

Moss

I actually did play with the new camera today! Since my life is governed by the demands of a little red dog, we ended up at the state park.

It's taking a while to go through today's photos because I decided to shoot all in RAW. Since I've never done it before and it's a time consuming process regardless, I've finished one. That's right, one. If it looks like crap on your monitor, I'm blaming this monitor. My better monitor bit the dust last weekend (or hopefully, just its power cord).

Drawing Process

I got a new camera, so I should be playing with that but my muse (who is an angry bluebird, by the way) decided that I must draw now. So I figure I'll go with it, but as a compromise I'm taking photos of the drawing as I go along. If nothing else, I think it will be cool to have a record of how this thing evolves. It's not a complicated drawing. I'm still trying to build up a pet portfolio, so that's what you get. I make no excuses for the quality of the photos. I'm just to lazy to obsess over color-correcting and adjusting the in-progress photos. The final one will look good. The rest, well at least you can see what I'm doing, right?


Here's the initial drawing, done in compressed charcoal on colored paper. I tend to use charcoal very much like finger paint in the beginning stages. Also, the chamois is an essential tool.



Throw in some darks. It's starting to get a little more form.



The whole thing doesn't always go well from start to finish. This an example of it starting to go bad. Really bad.



Now the drawing is starting to get better. It's getting a little too tight though.



I loosened up the face a bit and started to add some white for the highlights. It's too soon for the white. It's really not working. Her head is a little big for her body too.



That's all for now! I'll add more to this post as I go along.