Saturday, July 29, 2017

Digital Art

When you don't have access to real paints try using painting apps. I have an ipad pro and find painting on it very gratifying and useful for doing thumbnails and practicing. Adobe sketch has one of the best watercolor effects as far as creating a wet flowing realistic look. It also has layers so experimenting without worry is possible. Auryn Ink is also a good watercolor app. It does not have as much control or I should say as easily controlled painting system, but that is for you to judge. The still life above was done with Adobe Sketch and the one below was done with the Auryn app after creating a black and white line art in another app. I brought that image into Auryn and then painted on top of it. Give them a try

Monday, July 17, 2017

Photos for Reference Material

We are traveling in our motorhome on our summer trip so my glass fusing has stopped for awhile. I did not bring the kiln on this trip. So I am back to doing art on my ipad and eventually doing some painting. I have been taking many photos and would just like to show you how I use photo apps to make them better for painting references. There is an app called Pixlr that is great for adjusting your photos and changing colors to make a more interesting painting. I also use an app called Retouch for removing items from my photos I dont like, such as the paddle boat. As you can see the top photo is the original in all its local color glory and the bottom photo is the one I adjusted with the two apps I suggested. The bottom photo now looks like a reference ready to paint. Almost looks like a watercolor as is. Try using some of the free apps available. They are very useful and will help you to get away from painting local colors you see in your photos and help you to experiment with more exciting color choices.