Mind-Numbing Art

These are my art in the last few days or week. I call it mind-numbing art cause I am using it to keep my sanity in this divorce. It is barely working! Pray for me!!

Skyler Zoe

After my computer crash, I have been trying other graphics programs. These two were done mostly with ArtWeaver but tweaked with a few other programs. With ArtWeaver I am learning the paining techniques using acrylics, oils etc. It has been challenging but fun!

Art

I haven't been able to blog much these days. Going through a divorce is extremely limiting and exhausting. I have been mind-numbingly doing some art to stay attached and keep my mind going in a positive way. These pictures were taken by me while in Connecticut and New York in January.

Two More!

Here are two more pics that I have done in Artweaver. Actually I have used multiple programs to get the final effect but the brunt was painted in ArtWeaver. I am trying to learn the Wacom tablet using the brushes and effects. These are good but not the level I am wanting to be at with my art. Such a perfectionist, eh?

I am Learning Again!

My computer did an almost crash. Too hard to explain. I lost most of my art that I had done for the last two years! My PaintShop Pro is working in basic mode regardless of how many times I tweak it and reinstall it. So I was forced to have to start playing seriously with Photoshop Elements 4.0. Here is a compilation of all my trying everything I could within the program. I tested brushes, textures, layers, colors, levels, gradients, text, and what not.

While the thought crossed my mind to go ahead and upgrade PaintShop Pro and avoid further problems, I started to look around my computer to see what else I had in the way of graphics programs. I have downloaded quite a few in the past and re-discovered ArtWeaver. I will add a download link on the left side of this page with the other programs for download. It is a great program. And it is FREE! It has the interface of Photoshop but the ability of Corel Painter. I am currently working on a picture that I will post when it is complete. The real brush painting capabilities are great. Especially if one cannot afford Corel Painter X. I would love to have the program but cannot afford it. So ArtWeaver will give me the proficiency of using the brushes, strokes, etc. until I can get the real thing.

I just completed this one. I was tossed up between making it 'choppy' or muting the colors in trying to make the 'dead' concept stand out. The muted, black and white, sepia, etc. colors still didn't represent what I wanted well enough. Again, this is different than any of my others. And I am learning new techniques all the time.

Sometimes I think this is how 'Christians' look most of the time. They have a plastered look with glazed-over eyes. They look good but you can see there is no life within them.

Busy Busy!

I have been busy this week! I finished four pictures. There are the dry times or where I am stronger doing other things then there are times when I just do my art all hours of the day! I love it!

I had previously done this scripture before. I wanted to do something different but was having a hard time formulating the thoughts. But at some point I liked where it was at and decided to leave it like that.

The Spirit and the bride say, Come!

I had been wanting to do a 'Bride' picture for a long time but I didn't quite have it in my minds eye what I was looking to accomplish. I saw a picture the other day and it sparked something. So here it is. Someone asked where the head was or why it was cut off. The response given was if you were looking for the whole body you were missing the point of the picture.

Delight!

The other day the word 'delight' popped into my head. Hmm, I wondered. A new picture. What does the bible say about the word delight? So I looked it up and when I saw the scripture in Song of Solomon I knew that was the one to use.

I enjoy the fact that most of my art is different. There does not seem to be any set pattern. It is like I see what I am after and I just keep working it until my spirit it says, ya! There it is. That's it!

I wanted the apples to stand out. I have chosen to not include full scriptures or the full verse on the picture thus it retains its artistic look and hopefully it makes folks want to go look up the verse for themselves to see what it says in its entirety.

I really like this one. There is something very different about it. Something very different in its feel.

This picture was made in hopes to use it for a logo, business card or something of that nature. The original picture that it started from is one that I took as I flew out of the Utah Airport and the sun was setting. Obviously, unless I am mistaken, one cannot tell, or at least from this picture whether it is a sunset or sunrise, hence the name Dawn Creations.

Me Again!

I take pictures of everybody. I have pictures of everybody. I didn't have any of me. Someone asked about my picture and I had to tell them that I am usually the one taking pics so there just are not very many of myself. Besides that, I didn't think there were too many good pictures ever taken of me.

I have others say the same thing about themselves and my reply is, 'that is because sometimes a lot of pictures need to be taken to capture the right you.' If you take enough pictures you are bound to find a few really good ones. Well, I guess I had to eat my words.

So, I started taking pictures of myself. At first out of sheer curiosity to see if my statement was indeed true. Nevertheless, after a few hundred (??) I found some nice ones. I was even told by my husband that one of them was the best picture ever taken.

After doing other portraitures I decided to see what would happen if I did one of me. And ta-da! This is the end result!

Me!!?

In case y'all ever wondered just what this kook looks like, this is a portraiture of me! The picture I use for my icon/avatar with the eyes and scripture... those are my eyes.

Holy, Holy, Holy!

I finished this one about a week ago. I just kept thinking or hearing, Holy, Holy, Holy. I guess it is just where God is taking me on this glorious journey!

This is from a picture that I took up in the mountains here in Colorado.

Portraiture

Here is my lastest portraiture of my two step-daughters.

Grace!

Here is a picture that I had on my heart. I had been deeply pondering the word grace, the concept of grace. Scripture-wise there are different ways it is applied but the one I chose for this picture is the one that stuck out.

1 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ.

Through the knowledge of God. Not in the performance factors of going to a church building every week and ritualistically obeying everything you are told to do out of fear that you might displease God. I believe it should be read as 'through the knowledge of God's heart'. When you dig to see someone's heart is when you truly get to have knowledge about him or her.

The picture I used is one that I photographed while in the snowy mountains here in Colorado.

(See my other post on this picture at http://whosyouridol.blogspot.com/2007/05/pretty-please-with-hot-chocolate-mousse.html)

Free Plug-ins!

On the sidebar, I have added 2 free plug-in links. I plan to continue adding some of my favorite plug-ins there. They are Photoshop and PaintShop Pro compatible. I figure if you know what a plug-in is then you probably know how to install and use them. I will at some point also add some of my favorite commercial plug-ins. I paid good money for those! Free is good though!! Free works!

Another good resource is http://thepluginsite.com by Harold Heim. There are plenty of free plug-ins and other stuff on his page. He also has a newsletter that you can sign up for and it has a lot of interesting stuff in it plus more free plug-ins that he has found for you.

I will continue to post good tid-bits as I think of them.

Details from the Dead Picture

This is what the original picture looked like. I took the picture and tried some different filters on it to give it a bit more of an ominous eerie look. I did not know exactly what scripture I was going to use but figured it would probably come out of Revelations. While the book of Revelations can be a 'bright' reading for those that look forward to its ending, for most others it is a dark, menacing book of judgments.

I worked hard at adding the lightening. To me it needed to 'say' something. I didn't want just any lightening bolt. It couldn't be too tiny or too scattered. Just enough to possibly show the finger of God.

I used an ultra grunge font to depict the ‘darkness’ of the picture. The two fonts I used are ‘Genius of Crack’ and ‘Grunge’. They are free fonts that I downloaded from the internet. If you put ‘free font grunge’ or ‘free font Genius of Crack’, I am sure you could find them and download them if you wanted them. Many of the font names are dumb. Some are raunchy. I have tried to find font programs to change the names but although they advertise that ability, it is not so easily done. So unless the name is one I cannot work with like ‘Satan’s best friend’ then I just keep it the way it is.

This picture took 58 saved versions to get the one I liked. While the bulk of the picture was done with PaintShop Pro 8, I did use PhotoShop Elements 4 to separate the sky and church to work with the lighting and effects individually.

My Photograph

This is a pic I just completed. What was cool is that I was finally able to use a photograph that I personally took. This was taken of a church in Connecticut. When I took the pic I had a slight idea what it might be used for, hence the angle, etc. Of course, until I actually complete the picture I will not know exactly what it will turn out to be. I just keep trying different things until it 'says' what I am trying to say.

Man of the Year!

Here is an example of some of the work I do. I took a picture of a friend and asked him what he wanted done. He wasn't exactly sure what I meant and all he said was he wanted a tan. So here is the before and after picture.

I was able to give him a tan, whiten his teeth and eyes, smooth the wrinkles, make his eyes shiny, and of course make him man of the Year! Let me know what you think!

4.25 GB's of space!

My daughter was visiting and several pictures of her were taken. I then compiled them to create some art for her. I have about 700 versions and 4.25 Gb's of space taken. I continued to try different effects, filters, colors, frames, edges, textures, paints, etc. until I got to the one I decided was the best and what I was trying to represent art-wise. Here is the short-version of the process.


This is a basic of how I cropped them and compliled them on a page. The second picture shows the art effects that have started.

Here are a few samplings of the differences in some of them.

The final product.

Easter Art

I thought I would post some Easter art that I created last year. You may download them and use them if you like. Obviously just don't sell them. Well, actually if you wanted to that would be between you and God.

Best So Far

From an artistic standpoint these are some of my best because of all I had to do and use to create them. I will single out the pictures in future blogs and try to explain some of the processes and inspiration behind them.

Examples of 'Words on Pictures'.

Here are just a few examples of words on pictures. There is some art involved but nothing of great amounts. Each of these was created to help me learn a scripture. Putting the words on the pictures helped me to visualize thus remember them better.

Why an Art Blog?

For those of you that don’t know anything about me I will explain. I used to be very sick. I was on Morphine and Morphine class drugs for 5-7 years along with about 20 other pills a day. In the process, I lost some of my memory. Some would call it a selective loss but there does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to what I can remember versus what I cannot.

I am well now through God intervening in my life. Some call it a healing. I do not care what it is called except that I feel like the woman in Luke 8:43 that had ‘an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any’.

The only residual to my sickness is my lack of memory, which is not all bad. It can drive my family batty at times while they are in their memory mode and I stare at them blank with a dumb look on my face because I cannot share in the moment.

So… I am relearning the computer, programs, my art and mostly my Christianity. It has been exhilarating and quite frustrating.

I have always been involved in art since I was young. Dabbling in one form or another but never really having the finances to go all out and take up one version. I used to make hand-crafted, fully jointed, miniature teddy bears that sold for around $100. That was fun and tedious. I have always drawn. Some folks that cannot draw for a lick of beans would say I was good. In my own estimation, I am ok.

In my relearning, I have completely gone to the computer arts. I use various programs from PaintShop Pro to Corel’s Painter Essentials to PhotoShop Elements and anything in between. I have used PaintShop Pro for about 10 years and have grown with the product. I feel that when I have mastered these other graphics/arts programs then I will go all out and purchase the more expensive ones at ranging between $300-800.

I have learned a lot and fast considering. I started out last year with photos and had ‘words’ on them as one person put it. That was a bit disheartening since my closest friends were all ‘gawking at my talent’. That is when I decided that friends staring starry-eyed were not what I needed. I needed someone to be honest and tell me what he or she thought. Regardless of whether this person was correct in their assessment was unimportant but it did propel me to move on and upwards.

I have watched my art progress from ‘words on pictures’ to art. I now use various mediums in combinations to accomplish my job. I have been able to incorporate drawing, ink, watercolors, oils, pastels, textures and a whole host of cool brush effects to my work. I used to call my art ‘Thumbody’s Art’ because I actually accomplished it all with a track ball and my thumb. I have since bought a nice Wacom tablet and am learning how to use it instead.

I am hoping through this blog to be able to show some of my art and explain some of the methods and materials I used and the ‘muse’ behind each picture. Obviously, my muse is God in all of them but there were different reasons for creating each picture. While most were created out of my need to find a way to remember scriptures, a few were just to test my talents.

I hope this blog is enjoyable to others and not a burden to read or see! Haha!!