I'm referring to my last post where I complained about the idiot in charge. It hurts my head to complain about him. I can complain all I want but nothing will change until the people of this country gather up the courage we need to change it. The Democrats have entered into their self-destruction mode, as they usually do, just when we need them. How long ago was it that I left that party? At least 15 years ago. And when I left them, I did not make a turn to the Right. I'm not stupid!
I started the morning a little differently than usual. I watched a YouTube video of one abstract artist interviewing another abstract artist about the process of abstract painting...for them. I am an abstract artist, so I was able to relate to the conversation. The interview lasted a little over 48 minutes, so a lot was covered in that time. One thing that stuck with me was how and why they loved to paint 'Large'. That is something I crave. I have 3 or 4 canvases that are approximately 3'x4' and that is as big as I have been able to afford. One of those canvases is sitting on my easel right now. But...I can't paint in my studio anymore; or, at least for now. My constant hip pain makes standing at an easel for any length of time, next to impossible. I may have mentioned once before that I have been painting digitally/electronically. I have a couple of good programs on my computer and after I have 'painted', I will send the files (jpg or bmp) to Costco to be printed as a 5x7 photo. Then I review them and go back to the original file to make any corrections I think they need. I have framed some of the good ones and have them hanging around the house. At the end of last year I became brave enough to order a larger print of a painting. My sister had seen one of my 5x7's and told me how much she liked it, so I decided to print it on 16x20 aluminum. It was outstanding! I used Costco for this printing and they do a nice job of it, adding a French cleat all of the way way around the back of it. I sent it off to her and she was thrilled to see it. But...16x20 is as big as Costco will print on aluminum. I will have to search around town to see if anyone else is doing larger prints on aluminum.
Money is the problem, as it always is. A 5x7 photo is about .60 cents and a 16x20 print is $60. With no refunds if it didn't turn out as you had hoped. A 3'x4' canvas can be $50, but, if it doesn't turn out as you wished, you cover it with gesso and start over.
So, the hunt is on to find another painting worthy of a $60 gamble. I have been going through my files and picking out some that might make the cut. Those I will tweak and print once more as a 5x7 photo print to see if I am on the right track. I am also painting some from scratch to see if I can come up with the magic to make them candidates as well. My one software program, Rebelle 3.2, allows me to tilt my 'canvas' and let the 'paint' flow in any direction I want. I can put as much paint as I want on my brush and I can wet the canvas as well as dry it. I can use acrylics, watercolors, oils, pastels and airbrush, by themselves or in combinations. I have thousands of brushes to choose from and I can choose the opacity as well as the pressure. I can use my other program, SketchBook, along with Rebelle. Each has their strengths and each is very powerful on its own. Now I have a third program and that's Affinity Photo; a poor man's Photoshop. I can use that to correct the image. No, you don't push a key and get a painting. You actually have to work at it and it's a lot of work. The big advantage you have with digital painting is that you don't have to get paint out of your hair or off of your clothes. And it doesn't smell.
Krista Harris Interview
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