Roz Wound Up

Adventures at the Hospital, and a New App

Left: A photo of me that my friend Linda took with her iPhone and altered using the app ToonPaint. Click on the image and view an enlargement. (Check out the fun plant in the background and look at that braid!)

Last weekend was exciting. My friend Linda had to go to the hospital because an infection in her finger turned nasty. Since she was on her own recognizance between the intravenous antibiotic infusions (8 hours apart) and they weren't making her wear hospital garb, we left her room and went adventuring in the hospital complex. I reasoned that if she got weak or tired I could find a wheelchair and get her back to her room.

We searched the hospital high and low for artworks. Abbott Northwestern Hospital is full of them. Linda started at the information desk by asking, "Excuse me I'm staying here and…"

Staying here?! You're a patient! You have an infection!

We laughed and laughed, as did the young woman behind the information desk.

"Do you have a brochure about the art in the hospital?" Linda asked after we had laughed ourselves out.

It turns out they didn't. We went off to discover them on our own. There are some wonderful pieces: prints, originals, and some constructions and sculptures. They all add to the feng shui and ambiance of this hospital. They even have a baby grand player piano in the large main entrance sitting area. It is very hotel like.

The views from the new wing where Linda's room was located are also fantastic. She was up seven flights. You could see across the city, way out to the suburbs. While we checked out the various patios and sunlit sitting rooms we saw the weather of the day change from sunny to stormy, to a dazzling post rainstorm brilliance. 

Along the way Linda took my photo in front of one of the many plants that decorate the hospital. She then applied ToonPaint, an app on her iPhone. I love it. I love all the other ones she had made previously.

When I finally get an iPhone this will be the first app I get!

Linda is home again and doing well. I'm less worried. But as I told her Thursday, "You're all trained in as friendship material. I can't afford to lose you."

I don't know that Linda will have time or inclination to write a brochure about the artwork in Abbott, but there's a lot of it there and if you find yourself in the hospital (which I hope you don't) you really should take advantage of it and check it out.

Note: Linda was not staying in the abandoned Abbott buildings you can find at this flickr site. It's fun to look at those.

Honey I'm Home…

Watch live streaming video from cornellhawks at livestream.com

 

In the above embedded video you'll see a male red-tailed hawk bringing a carcass to the nest. You will also find live streaming video of the nest and links to other "segments" of interest. Debra Silver wrote to me about this. I've seen other live cams. This has proven very fun to watch. Spend sometime hawk watching today even if it is rainy where you are. As I am writing this (Friday) the female is sitting in the nest and a lovely breeze is lifting her feathers lightly now and then. A true predator, when distance song birds squeek she turns her head in interest to zero in on them.

I Don't Want an iPad…but Wait…

Stefan Marjoram sketching in Bristol with iPad from Urban Sketchers on Vimeo.

There are hundreds of reasons why I don't want an iPad, but the other day I saw this video and thought there's a lot of fun to be had with an iPad too! Of course Stefan Marjoram's obvious skill doesn't come with the iPad!

Marjoram talks about his design and brush decisions as he moves along. I think this is a gem of a short video for people interested in what can be done with the iPad as a sketching tool. Apple should pay him to do demos!

Also if you follow the link you'll find more videos from Urban Sketchers. While there are other fun videos there, you may also find several that seem to spend more time focusing on the surroundings than showing the artist at work, or even the finished art. Maybe those video artists feel in that way they will convey to us the sense of the surroundings in which the artist worked. I find those types of videos unsatisfying: I want the focus on the artist working, and a nice view of the final piece. Marjoram's short video is a perfect blend of surroundings and showing the art develop.

Marjoram's video is also the best argument for getting an iPad that I've seen. I'll always be a paper girl, but…

Tips While You're at the Urban Sketcher's Video Site: Look also for videos by Tommy Kane who gets the mix right in this short video in Brooklyn. Surroundings for him include the artist's set up. You've probably seen Danny Gregory's film about Tommy Kane sketching in Red Hook, but go watch it again. The 51 seconds you'll spend watching Gérard Michel sketching in Portland are very well spent. And the 41 seconds you spend watching Marc Holmes' time lapse video of him painting St. Joseph's will make you want to pick up your paints and run out the door—again, his skill doesn't come with viewing.)

 

Painting on the Computer

photoshop progress - part 1 from Lois van Baarle on Vimeo.

When my friend Tom stopped over the other day I showed him a time-lapse video (that seems to be by someone using the name Design—I can't see any other names even on the "about me" page) of a Photoshop illustration Danny Gregory had recommended.

After Tom and I had watched that Tom had me jump over to the video that starts this post. It's a Photoshop painting by Lois van Baarle. (Be sure to watch the second part as well to see where she ends up with the painting.)

I love both these videos first because the artists are obviously very talented, but second because you see in quick fashion the many little decisions each makes as their paintings progress. You'll see them redraw, rework, rethink. Creating a painting, whether digitally on the computer or with natural media on paper (or canvas or some other substrata) is a process, and sometimes the process changes in midstream. 

Lijit Search Engine

Hey, does anyone know why my Lijit Search Engine might have disappeared? I noticed it two days ago when I went to search for something myself (crossing referencing my ideas is difficult without it!). All that shows now in the top portion of the left column is a underlined link, which when clicked upon takes you to their website—instead of the little search box format which of course took you to interesting places on my blog.

I've sent them a note but haven't heard anything. I don't want to just jump in and reinstall it if that isn't necessary because it takes some time to generate the cross references and sort of builds them over time. Sigh.

But maybe I'll have to switch.

If you have a search engine for your blog that you really like drop me a line. I'd love to hear about it.

Or if you know what's up with Lijit, ditto.

In the meantime I'm sorry for the inconvenience—that you can't simply go to the search box and type in a key word. I hope, while I sort this all out, that you'll amuse yourself by trying out the "suggested" extra reading by LinkWithin, which appears at the base of each post.

Update Monday, October 17, 2011. Thank you to everyone who wrote in with feedback—some who had no problem seeing the widget, others who didn't see the widget because they had "blockers" of some sort running. I am 90 percent certain the problem is something in my browser software—some update turned a blocker on again or something. So I'll look into that. Thanks again. I really like this little search engine and don't want to lose it—for my use!

Blog Housekeeping—Subscribing to this Blog; And Some Dogs!

Left: A bit of fun for showing up at the blog today—a 9 x 12 inch page from a Fabriano Venezia journal which I'll have much more about later this week and next. Two dog park sketches with Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. I threw my photos up on my large computer screen, and gave myself 2 minutes each for sketching with the brush pen—I improved in the second sketch! (I then added gouache to the second sketch without looking at the reference photo, because I'm trying to improve my memory). Click on the image to view an enlargement.

 

Apologies if you have subscribed to this blog and wake up this morning to find that it is no longer so.

I did some fiddling with the blog organization yesterday. A reader wrote asking for a way to subscribe because the subscription buttons I had didn't work for her. So I hunted around for what to do.

Note: I don't even pretend to understand how the whole blog subscription thing works. Several people have explained it to me and my eyes start to roll around in my head. I visit blogs I like in odd moments during the day to "catch up,"  or to take a break. It's because I'm on the computer all day. I understand that for most people this is the least efficient way to do things and readers want efficiency.

At any rate, when I tried to add the RSS button I was presented with all sorts of choices I thought I had already resolved. And it looked like items were duplicated. So if I unintentially made a "fatal" error in relation to you and your subscription you of course won't get notification of this post. But I hope you'll find your way back and will join me again.

The "Subscribe in a reader" line near the bottom of the left-hand column, below the Archives list seems to connect you with a smorgasbord of choices. I hope it works for you.

Peguins, Acrylic Paint, and Handling Comments on the Blog

Left: Mixed media Penguin on Smooth Bristol Strathmore Visual Journal Page (9 x 12 inches). Click on the image to view an enlargement and read below for more details.

I have a little bit of déjà vu today posting these images as I can't recall if I wrote about them on this blog. I created this page while preparing materials for my Strathmore Visual Journaling online class.

(You can go to the link, and sign up—classes will be available until August 1, 2011—and it's free. I'm no longer participating daily, but besides watching my 4 videos and downloading my handouts you can read my many blog posts on the internal blog. I write about the lessons and materials as well as about aspects of building a strong journaling practice. There are 3 free workshops each with 4 lessons; each workshop is by a different instructor.)

I know I talked about this page in my video, handouts, and on the Strathmore site. In case you missed all that here's a brief note about it.

The background has fluid acrylic paint or acrylic ink (I can't recall at this point) over the entire background—that's the yellow. When that dried I used a stencil of a checkerboard pattern to add pink rubberstamp ink squares (all down the right). When that dried I rolled out some TUBE acrylic (Daniel Smith Metallic in a pink) on a sheet of acetate (you can use a disposable paper palette, freezer paper, or an inking plate) with a brayer I'd carved (Speedball and Ranger both make brayers you can carve with linoleum block carving tools). I rolled the pattern up the page. Then I left the page until I went to the zoo.

At Como Zoo I sketched a sleeping penguin using my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. Whew, I told you this page was mixed media!

I left it unpainted and went home after some more sketching. However, when I got home I just had to go in with Stabilo Tone (watersoluble wax crayons) to paint this bird, because I wanted to show my students the way in which the texture would show through the top layer of painting. (Note: Typically I paint on site, but I never take Stabilo Tones on site; something about this unpainted page just struck me as suitable for painting and providing the example I needed.)

Right: Detail of the sleeping penguin showing the texture of the tube acrylic showing through the top layers of Stabilo Tone. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

If you want to know more details about how I use Stabilo Tones you can use the search feature of this blog. Basically I apply them dry, wet them, moosh them around, and then apply additional layers dry, which I blend with my finger. Sometimes portions of those layers are also wetted, blended, and applied dry again. And so it goes. While you can no longer purchase the 60-color set of these that I am working through, you can purchase 12 colors (under the name Woody) or do the same approach with Caran d'Ache's Neocolor II line.

In the close up you can see some undissovled strokes of Stabilo Tone, some finger-blended areas, some of the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen sketch showing through, and you can see the pattern from the acrylic paint layered on with the carved brayer. I think the last makes an interesting addition to the image, and it's fun to play around the raised surface of the acrylic paint.

Here's the thing. I don't typically use tube acrylics in my journal. They tend cause the pages to stick. They are more plastic-y in feel than fluid acrylics. They tend to repel a lot of media that I like to use to finish a page—such as most of the pens I like to use.

But in a wirebound journal where there is more play between the pages (unless you jam the book into a tightly filled shelf!) and for purposes of demonstrating something to students, I thought it worth a look. Typically I will use this technique in my paintings (outside of my journals) and do similar things on the covers of my artist books (not on my journals because I don't like the feel of such treatments in my hands as I hold the book for sketching).

Now, whether or not you were part of the Strathmore class you know how I feel about tube acrylics (or heavy body acrylics for that matter within a journal.

In Other News…
Yesterday I reset my comment moderation feature. Friends who keep blogs have all been happily using a "type in this 'word'" verification mode so that comments can be posted when you make them. They don't seem to be drowning in spam. Also I think people really enjoy seeing their comments posted immediately. And I know that readers love to see other people's comments without having to return to the blog. So that's what I am now trying here. I hope you like this method. I know it means you have to type in a "word" but the up-side is that you won't have to wait until I wander back to the computer and moderate comments, which was typically happening only once a day if that. Fingers crossed, we'll see how it goes.

Using New Technology to Bring Back Drawing

That's what David Hockey feels he's doing when he draws on his iPhone or iPad. If you are a subscriber to the New Yorker you'll already have seen a couple covers that he drew using his iPad.

Now you can read about how David Hockney is using this new technology to create the next stage of his art. More important you will want to read about his attitude about creating past 73 years of age. It's very inspirational that he is going strong; proof that learning new things keeps us young.

So go check out the interview, check out the art, and then go learn something new today. It doesn't matter if you use a new technology or an old technology. Just learn something, let your brain and your hand-eye coordination be challenged.

Note: I checked out the iPads last year with a friend who was looking at a new Mac. Since I always have my journal handy and my small watercolor palette, and a Niji waterbrush (someone should send David Hockney a Niji waterbrush!) I can make paintings wherever I am, whenever I want without any electricity/battery power, using traditional materials instead of technology. And that's my preference, because I work at a computer all day. HOWEVER, I was seconds away from purchasing an iPad when my, "If you can't learn it in the next two weeks no new techology or software comes into the studio" mantra kicked in. This doesn't mean that I have to master something in two weeks, which isn't possible for me in any situation—my mantra simply reminds me that in the past I've been so acquisitive that new technology has sat neglected past the return/exchange period on too many ocassions, until I developed this mantra. And on the day I was investigating the iPad I faced several serious deadlines with no breathing room. Now that there is breathing room on the horizon my eyes are turning to the seduction of the iPad once again. The only question now is, shouldn't I wait until the new version comes out? No, that's not the only question. The serious question is can I carry anything more in a pack already bulging with essentials (and I travel relatively light!)? We'll see. Right now I'm still chugging away at learning some new software I need for work. It's endless; but ultimately we live in interesting times as far as software options are concerned.

(Thanks Diane for finding this great article link.)

More about Gigapans of the Bell Museum Dioramas

Photographer Tom Nelson has been busy creating more Gigapans of the dioramas at the Bell Museum of Natural History on the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus.

These highly detailed panoramic photographs will get you up close and personal with the taxidermy in the natural history displays as well as the background scene painting—much of which is by Frances Lee Jaques.

If you don't live near the Bell Museum now at least you can visit and vicariously enjoy some of the exhibits thanks to Tom's fabulous work. I hope you'll enjoy these images so much that you'll consider supporting the Bell Museum with a donation or membership.

Of course, if you live in the area, you can join us in person on the first Thursday of the month for Bell Museum Sketch Night.

Now you have two wonderful ways to experience some of the Bell's wonderful exhibits which are both educational and artistic. 

Here is the list of Gigapans of Tom Nelson's Bell Museum Diorama Gigapans:

Moose
Wolves
Grebes, Buffalofish, Carp
Deer
Owl and Songbirds
Pheasants
Sandhill Cranes
Tundra Swans
Bobcat
Caribou
Snow Geese
Cormorant (check out those feet)
Warblers/Big Woods

Put on some recordings of north woods song birds or wolf calls and enjoy your exploration.

Up Close and Personal at the Bell Museum of Natural History—While at Home!

Above: a screen shot of a close up section from a Gigpan of Francis Lee Jaques' Moose Diorama mural at the Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota. Gigapan photo by Tom Nelson. Image used here with permission of the Bell Museum and Tom Nelson. Click on the image to view an enlargement. (That's the wall texture you're seeing!)

Let's say you don't live in Minnesota and never get to the Bell Museum, or you live here, even in the Twin Cities, and can get to the Bell but you long to view the Jaques paintings in the dioramas more closely. How does he blend his colors? How exactly is he losing an edge there in the shadows?

I've been going to the Bell Museum my entire life (even when we didn't live in Minnesota I can remember visiting and seeing the museum with relatives). I love the diorama backgrounds painted by the legendary Francis Lee Jaques. I marvel at how he captures depth, how he suggests fur or feathers, how he catches light on the landscape, and of course, how he cheats—that wonderful skill of rendering in 2-D what we see in 3-D, but still making it look 3-D.

I sketch the taxidermy at the Bell frequently (in any given semester I'm there so often that the student at the desk just waves me in and doesn't even ask to see my membership card). I spend a little time on every trip, studying these murals. But like the kids who come on the school trips, up until now, I've had to be happy with pressing my nose against the glass to get the closest look possible.

Now Don Luce of the Bell Museum has let photographer Tom Nelson into the Bell to take Gigapan photos of several of the dioramas. Tom started with the Sandhill Cranes, Wolves, and the Moose, three great choices.

The images he created are stitched panaramas that have a resolution higher than I can count. This allows the gigapan viewer to zoom in on areas of interest, like the Moose calf's eyes shown above, and get close enough to see what Jaques saw when he was painting. (I actually have tears of joy in my eyes right now just typing about this!)

Armed with a bit of window cleaner, a huge knowledge of light (exposures) and photography, and access to the light control panels—to prevent glass glare all the museum lights were off save the lighting in the diorama—Tom has captured the detail of these dioramas in a way that will allow even armchair taxidermists and painters access. (And he did it all while I was dancing around behind him asking non-stop questions and oohhing and ahhing. It's actually amazing what he can do, even when being pestered!)

For several decades now Tom has made my world more interesting visually—showing me through his photography, things that can't be seen by the human eye alone. Now you can have a little bit of the fun too. Thank you Tom! And thank you Don for giving Tom the go ahead to capture these treasures in a unique way. (Next winter, instead of walking over in -5 degree F weather I might just spend the afternoon at home studying!)

You can find Tom Nelson's gigapan of the Sandhill Cranes at the Bell Museum here.

You can find Tom Nelson's gigapan of the Moose diorama at the Bell Museum here.

You can go to the Bell Museum in person.

Even more imporant, consider becoming a member of the Bell Museum today. The Bell Museum remains a valuable educational and artistic resource.

And don't forget that every FIRST THURSDAY of the month is Sketch Night at the Bell. You'll see specimens that aren't normally available to the public, be able to ask science and sketching questions, and meet a fun group of sketchers all interested in learning more about the natural world. (Note: we have a meeting Thursday, Feb. 3, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.)

Note: I'm not financially affiliated with the Bell in anyway except as a paying member. (I volunteer on Sketch Night, it's not like I wouldn't be going anyway!) The subtitle of my blog is "My Many Enthusiasms." Well there are few things I'm as enthused about as I am about the Bell. Sure it has some sentimental value to me as a child and graduate student at the University of Minnesota. But it also provides an under utilized resource for artists and educators. I'm grateful to have had access to this inspiring work throughout my life. I know that it was in the Bell and in Chicago's Field Museum that as an urban child I first started thinking about the natural world and the interdependece between the natural world and the man-made world. And where I first fell in love with birds and the idea that it was possible and good to capture them in paint.

Maybe you know a urban child who could do with a little inspiration and some mental exercise? Start taking him or her to the Bell. Start going once a month. Study one diorama at a time. Really look at it. Ask yourself what you're seeing. Sketch. Write down questions you have to investigate in the library later. And then go back again and again.

How many things in life can you look at over and over again and learn something new from each time?

Utilize the Bell to train and encourage your favorite inquisitive mind.