02/02/10 - Groundhog Day 2010

So are your ready for a month and half of winter or are you wishing for six weeks?

Today Punxsutawney Phil makes the call. Me, I'm trying to enjoy the season and each day as a gift - you know the "present". If you follow macrobiotic theory then you know we need to change with the seasons. This is a time for quiet introspection - something that is essential I think for creative folk. But how to do that in our current social climate? That's more than I can tell how for anyone else - much less myself. :-)

Here's a quick doodle I did today - how about some of you join the fun? Post a comment with a link to your Groundhog Day image - come on it will be fun!

02/01/10 - Digital Tools and Software in the Life Drawing Studio and Beyond

MATC pioneers Digital Life Drawing Course using Wacom Cintiq monitors and the Corel Painter (natural painting and drawing media emulation) application.

Many new tools, such as pressure sensitive drawing tablets and pressures sensitive tablet displays coupled with software programs like Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, ArtRage, and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro are allowing artists to now work digitally in the life drawing studio. See the link below for the full story about the Milwaukee college that has taken a hi-tech approach to life drawing.

http://www.milwaukee.tec.wi.us/matc_in_action/2009_Digital_Life_Drawing_Class.html

With the recent announcement of Apple's iPad expect to see more digital art created out in the real world as digital artists break free of the chains to their desktop computers. Over the past months there has been an explosion of digital art produced on portable devices such as the Nintendo DS, Apple iPhone and Apple iPod Touch as developers produce art and painting applications for these platforms. This type of art has gained legitimacy - even gracing the cover of national magazines (see photo of the New Yorker cover by Jorge Columbo produced on his iPhone using the painting app "Brushes"). This was covered on the excellent art/illustration blog  "Lines and Colors".