digital art sketches

iPad Styluses

2011-08-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

It used to be that I had just the one iPad stylus. A good old Pogo Sketch pen that set me back $15 plus shipping. I bought it for my iPod Touch actually but transferred it to my iPad when I moved on. Now, I loved that pogo pen. I carried it everywhere I went. I made a little pocket for it in my iPod Touch case and made sure it was secure in my iPad case when I upgraded. I've had it for almost 3 years now, it's tip has been wearing thin, there was no getting away from it. I needed a new stylus.

So what did I do? I backed a kickstarter project. I'm expecting my MORE/REAL stylus should be shipping about next week. I was hoping it would have come in time for Siggraph, but oh well.

And then what happened? At Siggraph I was gifted two, not one but TWO amazing styli. The Wacom Bamboo Stylus & the Nomad Brush.

One happy mobile painter right here.

I have been terribly skeptic about the Nomad Brush, worrying about how precise a brush could possibly get. Precise enough I've come to find. Considering there's no pressure sensitivity having a soft brush end is a fun novelty. Fun to paint with it in public :)

So in a week or two I'll be dragging 3 iPad styli around with me. Need to start thinking of a case for them. Hmmm.....

Siggraph 2011

2011-08-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

As some of you who follow me on Twitter might have noticed, I've spent the last week attending and speaking at Siggraph Conference here in Vancouver on behalf of Artrage. As you might have guessed it was a nerve rackingly, mindblowingly, insanity of a week.

This was my first real conference to attend, not to mention speaking at. I've watched/heard much of the American conferences Comic-Con, SWS, etc. as they are hard not to miss if you even keep a toe in the digital world. Nor was I a stranger to the prestigious name Siggraph has built for itself having followed Pixar's history with acute detail. So with that kind of build up, the conference/event itself was far less than I had let myself imagine. Mind you, I was provided a mere basic pass, most of the interesting was barred from my enjoyment. Of course I may or may not have sneaked into some out of bounds sessions, you'll never know ;)

As it stands I would never attend Siggraph to be an onlooker. Would never purchase my own pass. Lucky for me, I did neither this time around. I was part of the scene, I gave two Workshops on Artrage and several smaller demos throughout the week, I was connected and introduced to many, many key players in the industry. Siggraph is not about the event, the products, the talks, the technology, it really is about the people who gather there. And for that I would wish to attend again and again.

So keep an eye out as I'll be unloading all the magic of Siggraph in the coming week. Sketches, vids, pics and more!

Siggraph Crowds around the Digital Artistry Sessions (where I had my workshops) listening to Stephen Burns giving his workshop.

Quite obviously painted in Artrage, on my iPad w/ the wacom pen.

New Cut!

2011-07-27T12:34:00.001-07:00

I haven't been sketching all that much recently, in fact, not a single sketch in the past week. This had to be fixed, so when I got my hair trimmed yesterday I knew exactly what to do about it. Sketch it!

Yes, I am very serious IRL... sometimes.

Obviously sketched in Artrage on my iPad :)

Watercolour Time-lapse

2011-07-14T14:25:00.001-07:00

Good lord, here I was thinking that I'd just record myself painting and with a click of the button upload it for the world to see. Not so fast. Not so fast at all. It's been two days of worry and distress. I had a terrible time trying to output decent quality, it's been driving me insane. What I've got now isn't gonna win any prizes but it'll have to do for now. A start is a start any which way you look at it.

Before you get to enjoy my wonderful little time-lapse, you must know that Artrage 3.5 has been released! With it a brand new feature called 'scripts'. It records your painting process, now for the life of me I don't understand why it won't export the recording as any sort of movie file. Currently you can only play the scripts within the program itself. I'm still trying to figure out why I'd really need this as you cannot edit the painting while the script is playing or paused, only if you stop it. Then you can fool around with whatever's been painted. Personally I just liked the idea that I can record myself painting. It also has a few cool features such as the ability to add notes, and tips and a spotlight. Neat if you're doing up a tutorial.

Well, here you are. My very first (and fingers crossed not my last!) painting time-lapse!

Pear

2011-07-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

Brought home some fruits from my last shopping adventure. You'll probably see quite a bit of them up here in the coming weeks.

Under 5mins. Crayon in Artrage on iPad.

My Garden Shed

2011-07-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

It's July and summer has finally arrived! The sun is shinning, the birds are singing, what more could you ask for? Well okay, perhaps we've still got a little more to go. I would like a lake for swimming.

But that is neither here nor there for today's post. Today I'm showing the world my beautiful shed! Or more appropriately what I wish my not so very beautiful shed would look like if it were surrounded in the flowers that refuse to sprout. It would be lovely....

InkPad

2011-07-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

My brother downloaded InkPad for the iPad a bit ago. It's a vector drawing app, so I passed over it. Don't get me wrong, I admire vector, for those who can use it. For myself, I like the expressive free lines. I find vectors a less painting and a lot more designing.... or so I thought. You see, I installed InkPad in a moment of boredom and was actually quite blow over by it's functionality. It has EVERYTHING I could possibly want. My last encounter with vector was Illustrator CS and it didn't last very long. But I have to admit, I had quite a bit of fun with InkPad and will definitely keep it as a valid drawing option on my iPad.

Yes you may laugh at it, it's not a masterpiece but I still like it :)

P.S. you might remember the set up from yesterdays post :)

Faux Flowers are the Best

2011-07-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

A bit ago we were given a lovely vase of faux flowers. Now I stand two ways on the idea of fake flowers. Don't decorate you're house with them, don't put them into businesses or restaurants IF you are trying to look luxurious. It looks cheap. But if you're like me, and your garden outwardly refuses to allow anything to grow in it, and you're tight on cash. Bring 'em on! Not to mention as an artist, particularly one as interested in flora as I am, they make wonderful subjects.

Summer Roses

2011-07-04T15:27:00.001-07:00

When you doodle so much and half the sketches you make don't see the light of day, sometimes one or two of the good ones are forgotten/lost/discarded as well. This happens to be one of those.

Watercolours painted in Artrage on the iPad.

I've found it a little funny that though watercolours are one more difficult tools to control on the desktop, I'm constantly turning to them on the iPad.

Mini Maker Faire 2011

2011-06-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to LivingSocial for a great deal to the Vancouver Mini Maker Faire that happened over this past weekend. Though the initial ticket prices aren't overly large, when you have a family of 5 the dollars add up very quickly making it very hard to have such outings regularly. All in all, it was a wonderfully interesting time, the bots and gadgets delighted the children.

I should confess right now that what you will be seeing below is not digital. But I wanted to share it with you anyways. It is in fact real paper and a real pen with real ink. Sometimes I like to pretend I'm living in the Middle Ages and will sneak supplies from my sisters room this time though it happened at the Draw By Night table. My brother shot the footage on his iPhone and sped it up. I like how it made me look as if I had it all planned out and am in complete control of the outcome. I wasn't. I hadn't any idea what I was drawing.

So sit back and enjoy!

Sorry about the terrible quality...

Final image is below.

Tiny slice of Summer

2011-06-21T20:46:00.001-07:00

So far it's been a miserable pre-summer (my summer starts in May), but I have to admit I am blown over by the weather we've had today. It has been beautiful, absolutely gorgeously stunning.

For me there is only two ways I can spend such a day. It's either at the beach, or in a garden. The beach being still unswimable we took the 5min drive to VanDusen.

I'm very happy with the poppy, fairly satisfied with the tractor, pleased with my irises but slightly disappointed in my vines. All have been painted in Artrage on my iPad. Hope you enjoy this little slice of summer :)

Persepolis Restaurant & Lounge

2011-06-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, the 12th to be exact, I was invited by an old elementary school friend of mine to come out to the Persepolis Restaurant & Lounge to hear him play. Apparently he's quite grown up now, not the 10yr old boy I last saw him as and he's got himself a nifty jazz band. It's been nearly 8yrs since we last met, we were both in grade 7. We had not only finished elementary school together but because in high school we were seated alphabetically by last name, he always sat behind me. Needless to say I was excited to see him playing in his very own band.

(he's the trumpeter)

Artrage on iPad

Queen Elizabeth Gardens

2011-06-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

My week started off very rocky, Monday and Tuesday didn't really go as planned (nothing to do with the hockey game). And so when the sun decided to grace us with it's presence this Wednesday I declared it a holiday and packed off to the park. Queen Elizabeth Park is right at the end of my road and I've been here for exactly one month now and yet, I have managed to neglect it all together.

So here is a very confusing mess of colour so you can enjoy it too!

Watercolour in Artrage on the iPad2

Dr. Sketchy's

2011-06-06T11:39:00.001-07:00

Last night was my first Dr. Sketchy's live drawing down at the Wallflower Dinning room on Main St. I had to run about two hours into the show as my parking meter had expired, it is mostly the 2-10min poses that really interest me. I need to work on capturing the body quickly whilst keeping proportions in check. Images below were sketched in Artrage on my iPad.

I'm am quite pleased with the result.

Garden Bench

2011-05-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

5min sketch from VanDusen, I try to get at least one image done each time I go.

Artrage on iPad2

My New Garden

2011-05-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

With the recent move (from Coquitlam to East Van) I am now less than 10mins away from the VanDusen Botanical Gardens, opposed to the 25mins I had been before. You'd think such an insignificant change in time, but for me it is the difference in making it into a day trip, or just popping in. It is literally up and over the road from me. This just means that you'll be seeing a LOT of flower sketches coming! Here's the start.

Sketched in Artrage on my iPad

Lonely Robot in a Wasteland

2011-05-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 15th was moving day. We had only been packing for a week, the notice was short. Obviously with such a short notice to pack up a five bedroom house, you'd have thought that we ran around like scattered ants on a hot summer's day. Not as much, I sat down to sew together and then draw this little guy. Originally it was meant for a co-worker/friend of mine as a parting gift. But as I waited to give him off he had stolen my heart and I couldn't convince myself that she could've/would've loved him more than I ever could. And so he stayed with me.

Sketched in Sketchbook Express for the iPad.

The Door Knob

2011-05-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been trying out Inspire Pro for the iPad. Well, probably it's best said, recently I've tried Inspire Pro. Frankly, while I'm not removing from the iPad I very much doubt that I will be using it again. Simply put, I refuse to use anything that requires me to spend more time editing my brush/stroke than on the actually painting. Just can't do it, I've been so spoiled by Artrage that I don't see any reason to suffer unnecessarily.

Never the less, I managed to paint my door knob for lack of a better subject.

Manikin

2011-05-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

Painted my manikin. You can see photos of him here on my Flickr page.

Painted in Artrage.

Daffodils

2011-05-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

The first daffodil in my garden.

Painted in Artrage.

Lemon Circles

Daffodil Sunrise

Daffodil for Breakfast

Rocky Point Park revisited

2011-05-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

Another lovely spring day called for an evening spent in the park. Heeding the call I armed myself with the iPad, and took the kids out to Rocky Point Park down in Port Moody.

Vancouver Aquarium Trip

2011-05-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

During the Spring Break I took my siblings out to the Vancouver Aquarium, for a little day trip. I haven't been there for at least 10yrs, and I must say, it was lovely to be back. They've done a few updates since then, but I could remember just about everything. All and all, it was enjoyed by all and here are a few sketches I did.

VanDusen Botanical Gardens

2011-04-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

A few beautiful sunny days showed up on the forecast so I took the family out to the VanDusen Botanical Gardens, a beautiful garden who's membership I managed to snag. These where actually the first iPad sketches I painted outdoors.

Painted in Artrage

iPad Arrived!

2011-04-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is a little late news, but I've got myself an iPad2 so you'll be seeing a lot of sketches/doodles and maybe even some paintings showing up here!

Bassist

2011-04-10T15:41:00.000-07:00

I was out at the Commodore for St. Patrick's Day to see Destroyer. Unfortunately the opening act, which I will name, was absolutely atrocious and unnecessarily loud. Loud is an understatement, I've handled loud, this was defining. My ears rang for the next 4 days.

In my boredom I sketched their Bassist.

Maplewood Farms

2011-04-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

The last of the Maple Farms adventures.

Signs of the Times

2011-03-29T15:49:00.003-07:00

I was out for an event in Port Moody last week, out by the Old Boat House at Rocky Point Park. Whilst waiting for the party to start, I decided to sketch the scenery.

Was particularly impressed by the amount of signs they managed to squeeze into one tiny park.

Maplewood Farm - chicken edition

2011-03-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some more sketches I made up at the Maplewood Farms in North Vancouver.

Animal Farm

2011-03-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

So, I thought I had uploaded all my old sketches, that was until I took a look inside my Adobe Ideas app and found a Huge trove of sketches that I've completely forgotten about. I also realized that exporting images out of Adobe Ideas is an enormous pain in the arse, probably the reason most of them where still stuck inside. I mean its extremely unhelpful.

But that's enough of that. Here are some of the lost sketches I took last fall out on the Maplewood Farm up in North Vancouver.

Faces in the Crowd

2010-10-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

Tegan & Sara concert last Sept. Waiting for the show to start, managed to get a few sketches before the rain fell.

Autumn Girl

2010-10-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

Started as a small sketch on my iPod. A very quick loose doodle which I brought into Artrage and added watercolour to create the finished product.

Seated Man

2010-09-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

Pity it comes out so blurry. Seriously I can't remember when I sketched this, for that matter I can't ever remember sketching it. Must have gotten bored somewhere.... But here it is anyways.

Cat's Tails

2010-09-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

Arts in the Park

2010-08-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much time to sketch recently, but I thought I'd update you with whats happening. This weekend is the Minnekhada Art in the Park Festival in Coquitlam. I'll be there all weekend displaying my artwork. I just got 8 6x9s printed and mounted, and though modesty forbids I have to say they look amazing!

Sunday is also Swell Season Live at the Malkin Bowl!

All the info you'll need for this weekend:
http://www.metrovancouver.org/artinthepark/Pages/default.aspx

Art in the Vines August Event

2010-08-01T18:53:00.001-07:00

August 29th I will be in Langley at the Arts in the Vines. It's happening at the Township 7 Winery, it's a great little event full of artists, artisans, crafters and live music. Hoping for blue skies and a great turn out. If you are looking for something to do for the day, please drop in!

Artrage Art Classes

2010-07-23T14:56:00.001-07:00

So, catching up on my Reader news I hear about India's $35 touch screen tablet. For me, that's more than just great news if they actually start shipping the device because one thought crossed my mind, Artrage Art Classes. It's something that I've been wanting to teach ever since I started using the program, but how to provide each student with a computer was headache. I could certainly do one on one training, but armed with several $35 tablets the doors are flung open and I could take the classes away from home. I'm ready for this tablet to become reality.

For more details on the tablet itself here's PC Mag's write up http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2366895,00.asp.

Have you Seen One??

2010-07-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

My newest Ad Campaign for a job. I have a few more in the series to follow.

Mobile Art Fest

2010-07-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

Submitted Modern L' Arlesienne for Performita's Pocket Art Fest² taking place August 5th and 6th. Submissions are open till July 30th, I recommend you take a look at www.fingerpainted.it's write up for more information http://www.fingerpainted.it/2010/07/10/calling-out-for-artists-pocket-art-fest2/

I wish I could attend the event personally but unfortunately a great amount of land and water lies between the us. Go and enjoy it for me.

Modern L'Arlesienne

2010-07-10T12:34:00.000-07:00

Van Gogh's L'Arlesienne meets the world of today. Complete with cell phone, Kindle and laptop she fits right in.

Portrait of Bazille 2.0 iPad version

2010-07-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

So I had this idea for sometime, to create impressionistic paintings with gadgets. Modernize them so to speak.

This is the first from the series, Renior's Portrait of Bazille 2.0 iPad Version. Took about 4 hours, created in SketchBook Mobile on my iPod Touch w/ a pink Pogo pen.

Zoo Animals

2010-07-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

Took my younger brother out to the Calgary Zoo last April for his birthday. Used Adobe Ideas for sketches.

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Amber Jack's Tap House

2010-07-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

Open Mic at Amber Jack's in Surry. All done in SketchBook.

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Yes, I gave in

2010-07-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

Last nights Social Media Meetup @ the Lux was a lot of fun. Absolutely thrilled and flattered that Pete Cashmore and Lisa Bettney at the venue, wasn't expecting such a pleasant surprise.

And yes, I gave in and am finally on Twitter. If you are at all interested I'm @mashalevene. Now you'll have to excuse me as I think of something interesting, witty, and worth while to tweet.

No sketches from this event....

Working Hard

2010-06-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things slow down at work, that's when I pull out my Pogo pen and fire up LiveSketch.

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Foxgloves and Pots

2010-06-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

These are a few more sketches I've done in the last month. There is an abundance of wild foxgloves that grow just up the road from my house, and they make a lovely subject for someone such as myself who adores flowers.

All were created in SketchBook.

Kitsilano Beach

2010-06-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

Took the family out to Kits beach looking for shells and starfish. The scenery is sure beautiful. These are two sketches I made in SketchBook.

Granville Island at Night

2010-06-20T17:23:00.001-07:00

Accompanied my brother out on a photo shoot to Granville Island. Beautiful sunsets they get there. And yes, they look a little like everything is up in flames, but I'm working on it.

First two were created in LiveSketch and the third in SketchBook.

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First Few iPod Sketches

2010-06-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

These were my first few attempts at sketching on the iPod back in November. All were created in SketchBook Lite