People Are Surprising

People make me smile, laugh, shake my head in amazement, and cry.  They can also frighten, but I'll skip that one.

The dear people I know are so very different from each other.

My friend Denny is a sensitive sympathetic soul.  She loves cute animal.  She emails and texts cute animal photos with warm fuzzy sayings and so on.  You know the type. 

 

Recently, she moved into an apartment.  It became infested with roaches when her neighbors fumigated.  The day I visited, the roaches came out to greet me.  Even the fresh pot of coffee she made had roaches floating about.  Ugh!

How could I help my dear friend?  I offered to bring her a cup of D.E. (diatomaceous earth) powder to sprinkle around her home.  "It's organic and environmentally friendly", I explained.  "It consists of the fossilized remains of microscopic shells. It kills any creature with  an exoskeleton, because it works by dehydrating insects when they ingest or absorb it."

She looked aghast.  Oh no, she could never use something that would cause roaches to suffer.  Oh how awful.

Really?  I was surprised.  Roaches carry disease.  They chew into plastic, cardboard, and clothes.  They pollute our food and water supply.  Yuch!

I suppose that didn't matter to her.  Perhaps, she was thinking they were one of God's creatures - which they are.

Amazing, but true.

Digital Painting on the Ipad

I ordered a couple of online videos from Folio Academy http://folioacademy.com/store.html?category=g  for Christmas.  I had heard Will Terry willterry.blogspot.com had some really good videos on digital art.

Digital Painting in Photoshop
Digital Painting in Photoshop Part 2
Beginning Photoshop
How to Illustrate Children's Books

I learned about his classes through an online buddy.  She had purchased his videos and found them helpful.  You can see some of Terry's work on YouTube .  He's impressive.  Terry likes to sketch with his fingers on his Ipad and transfer the image to his computer where he finishes.  He finishes his work using Photoshop 5.

After watching a couple of videos, I started sketching on my Ipad using SketchBook X (Express).  I couldn't resist adding color to my finger sketches.  This is a great way to review what I've been learning from Terry. 

I like to work while my guys are watching boring manly stuff on TV.  You know- football, zombies/horror/shoot 'em up movies, the stock market recap.... 

ZZZZZ  - ZZZZZZZZ - ZZZZZZZZZZZZ - ZZZZZZZ - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ - ZZZZZZZZ

Just typing it in is putting me to sleep.  Okay, so maybe this stuff isn't manly. It just brain numbing boring. 
 Here is an unfinished doodle.  I liked playing with symmetry.  It took me a just few hours (as you can tell) to get to this stage. 














Here's my second doodle.  I  experimented with hues, tints, and grays.  Can't do too much with a free app.

About the image:
Yes, the chin is flat and the chest looks like part of the face.  Think folded paper doll, if you must. lol 




Grab your Ipad.  Have some fun.  Give digital painting a try.