WHAT'S UP, DOG?

WHAT'S UP, DOG?
Hey there! Welcome to my blog. I'm a free dog living in Portugal and I write about my life as an artist and street dog. This blog is a way for me to have more of a connection with other dogs (and people), to share ideas, experiences and some of my art. I love to hear what others have to say so feel free to comment on any of the posts or to contact me via e-mail. If it's your first time here, you might want to check out my first post and read on from there. You can also have a look at my profile in the column to the right.
Tchao-wow,
Ruca

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

old tricks, new tricks, dirty tricks


Well, it’s been so long since my last post that I almost forgot how to do it. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but what about teaching an old dog tricks that he’s forgotten? Once the trick is forgotten does it become a new trick? Everything old is new again?

Speaking of tricks, I'm still working on the trickiness of drawing on an iPad (or in my case, iPawed). There is much to learn. It isn't completely different from drawing on paper, but there are some tricks, some advantages and some disadvantages. It is thoroughly enjoyable though, and I love learning new tricks, despite my age.

My friend Margi is creating a digital drawing per week (plus one) for a whole year using an app called Paper53. You can see her weekly drawings here. http://pinterest.com/margil/paper-53/
It’s a great way to really get to know the idiosyncrasies of a particular app or program. I can’t seem to maintain focus (or a schedule) to do this so I jump around from app to app whenever I have the impulse to draw digitally.

For my own edification and for your amusement (I hope) I decided to try drawing the same subject several different ways. The first example is on real paper in my sketch book. I did a rough sketch in pencil, then once I was happy with the lines, I went over them with a Pentel Pocket Brush pen which has a black waterproof  ink. From there I added colour with pan watercolours.
Sasha sketch in ink and watercolour on watercolour paper


The next one I did was using the Paper53 app. I've been playing around with a graphic style with this app, breaking the subject into blocky sections.
Sasha digital sketch done using Paper53 app


Finally I did another digital sketch using the Sumo Paint app. I particularly like the natural looking ink lines with this app. It’s very similar to the lines I get with my Pentel Pocket Brush pen.
Sasha digital sketch done using Sumo Paint app

Obviously I’m only licking the edges when it comes to all the possibilities for creating sketches. Life is just one big bowl of kibble and I’m eager to try all the flavours.

If you’d like to see more of my digital drawings, follow this link to my Clibe journal. http://myclibe.com/marketplace/journals/77613/spreads/1#0

Clibe is an app for creating and posting journals of any sort. Anyone can go to the Clibe site and browse the thousands of publicly shared journals there. If you have an iPad and install the Clibe app, you can follow the journals that you like and actually download them and read them offline, at your leisure. Whenever one of the journals that you follow is updated, it will automatically be synced to your iPad the next time you open the Clibe app when you are online.

On a final note, I must thank everyone who voted for my drawings in the Adonit contests last September and October. We managed to raise a total of US$800 which I donated to several animal shelters here in Portugal. Sadly, (and this is the "dirty tricks" to which I refer in the title of this post) it appears that one of the shelters may not be as worthy of our donations as I thought. It’s through no fault of the animals, of course. When I have more concrete news about this, I will post it. Let me just say that people can be deceiving, their motives can be hidden, their intentions can be less than honourable. With dogs, what you see is what you get. I really wish people were more like dogs. The world would be a better place.

6 comments:

  1. Oh, my Pup-a-chino, how I have missed your blog and hearing of your adventures. I am thrilled you are back with me again. All kidding aside, I am thrilled you have your voice back. When I hear of issues in the dog and cat world, good or bad I will be sending you the info, so more people will get the word. Congratulations.

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    1. Marguerite, thanks for missing me. I've been missing me too! ;-)

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  2. I like your profiles! (And I just spent a week playing around with a Pentel pocket brush pen--new to me. I love it.)

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    1. Tom, Thanks for the vote of confidence on my profiles! I've had the Pentel pocket brush pen for a while but I've only used it a few times. I do like it a lot though.

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  3. i'm just scratching the surface of the iPad...bad choice of words...just beginning to get into it. i'm so inspired by what you've don! glad you're back!

    and thank you so much for your lovely comment on chloe and spirits. tim is there, i just know he is.

    take care and thanks again

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    1. Suzanne, I can't believe some the work being done on iPads! My stuff is pretty rudimentary by comparison but I'm having lots of fun messing around with various programs. I hope we get a chance to see some of your efforts with it. If it's anywhere near the work you do normally, it will be wonderful!

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