As well as being into art I'm also a bit of a nerd when it comes to computers. I fell in love with them at the ripe old age of 25, when my wife kindly bought me an Amstrad 464. I now manage on a self built machine which just about lets me do what I want. I'd like someday to combine the art and the computer but finding the time is always a problem.
It's been a long time since I did anywork on this site, but I have recently started to work through the Interactive Watercolour CD from Peter Saw over at Paintdoodles (see the links page). As a result I've updated the gallery with a couple of the examples I've done from the course. Hopefully, as I progress I'll be able to post more pictures to the gallery. For anyone wanting to move beyond the basics outlined on this site, I can recommend the Cd wholeheartedly, as it is very comprehensive but still manages to take you at your own pace.
Having begun to look at hand coding websites in HTML I thought I would try to redo the site and in the process weed out a whole lot of dross that my previous webpage program liked to include. The result is a more slender version with a simpler look and layout. I hope it has also become easier to navigate. Like it, or hate it? Let me know by dropping me an email
It's been a long time since I updated you all on what's been happening this end. I started University - hence the long lay-off with the painting. I'm studying for a diploma in Desktop Support. I'm learning more about web creation from the ground up, (no wysiwyg program, just notepad and an HTML reference book!!) I'll also be doing ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) as well as a whole host of other stuff. It'll be a challenge as I've been away from formal learning for over 20 years and I now spend a fair bit of time in a wheelchair to get about easier. But you've got to do something to stop the grey cells dying off!
I got my replacement Digital Camera. It is indeed from Samsung - Digimax V4. It's a great compact digital which packs a whole lot of features into a nice solid design. It allows you to control most aspects of photography manually - aperture, shutter speed, exposure, white balance, etc., and the resulting photographs are sharp and rich in colour. It's a 4 megapixel camera so you can print pictures up to A4 with acceptable results. Only down side is it's a bit greedy with the batteries. I can recommend it to anyone looking for a beginner level camera that has the capacity to grow with your experience and confidence in taking pictures.
An update to the paragraph below about the digital camera...It unfortunately has been sent back for a full refund. The camera involved was a Kodak CX4200 with Easy Dock 2. For anyone out there who is considering this camera or any of the Kodak range that uses the Easy Dock 2 give it a lot of thought before purchase. The main problem seems to be charging the ni-mh batteries. I was sent three different ones, none of which would hold much of a charge. Added to that the rigmarole of charging, where you are told to constantly remove and replace the batteries for the three hours duration of the charge and you'll get some idea of how frustrating an experience this was. The camera itself took quite good pictures, but with these batteries you're lucky to get 20 or so pictures before the batteries need charging again. With the refund I'm hoping to get a much better camera than was available to me 8 months ago and have my eye on a 4 megapixel, 3x optical zoom model from Samsung.
On another note...I haven't been adding much in the way of watercolour paintings lately, this is for two reasons - firstly I've been trying my hand at oil paintings for the first time since leaving Art school all those years ago! The results aren't too bad but I don't want to put them up here as this is primarily a watercolour website. If there is any demand to see them I'll maybe post a link on the site. Secondly, I've not been able to get out to my wee studio lately as I've been having problems with my hip after a fall. As soon as I get back up and around properly I'll try and get some new stuff on the go both for the gallery and for the tips section.
Since writing last I now have a graphic tablet and can say it's definitely a 'must have' for anyone wanting to create art on a computer. It manages 512 different pressure sensitivities allowing you to mimic quite closely the qualities of pencils and paintbrushes. I'll hopefully be putting up another page on the site with some stuff I've done with it.
It has struck me that a lot of visitors to this site are very shy as not one of them has felt enboldened to leave a message on the guest book. Please, if you visit the site and have any thoughts on it good or bad, leave a message in the guest book so that I can be encouraged to keep adding to, and improving the site. Don't be shy now!