Aug 14, 2011

I've MOVED!

Hi Friends,

This blog has moved! I love Blogger and have spent many years here but I'm ready for a facelift and want to try Wordpress for a while. Please join me other there for new posts about my silly art adventures and lots of new stuff about internet tools and social media.

My new web site with blog: www.abrushwithhumor.com
For you Facebook crowd: A Brush With Humor
Google Plussers: Robin on Google+



See you over there!
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Aug 3, 2011

Search tools for Creative minds

My current favorite blog with a weekly email feed is www.brainpickings.org 

One of my favorite posts is about search tools for people who think in colors as well as text and ideas.

Brainpickings' best image search tools

My favorite has to be the Multicolor Search Lab. Check them out and let me know what your favorite tool is!

You can sign up to get Brainpickings' newsletter in your inbox once a week. I normally shy away from things like this but I really look forward to this weekly bit of inspiration. Give it a try!


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Jul 31, 2011

Does doodling make you smarter?




Set your Doodlebug free!


 [Like] my Facebook page for other stories about art and creativity


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Jul 30, 2011

Win a contest, lose a fortune!

 Think entering all of these free art contests is a great way to promote your work and win free stuff? Be careful and read the fine print.  In many cases you sign away all rights to your work. Check out this blog post for more information:

http://www.lightspacetime.com/newsletter/how-to-lose-entering-a-free-art-competition-art-contest/

Another post here talks about logo design contests:
http://www.logolance.com/danger-of-design-contests

Bottom line - know exactly what you are getting into. It may be worth the sacrifice for the exposure and at least you won't be surprised.
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Jul 28, 2011

Using you color palette effectively

Apart from composition, color choice is my biggest challenge when I'm planning a new painting. I've gathered a few links that I found useful in making some sense of color use in acrylic painting. I hope these help you too:


Great blog post on limited colors and mixing effectively:
http://secretsofamodernpainter.blogspot.com/2011/07/5-keys-to-mixing-color-for-oil-and.html
Many thanks to Gabriel Boray for sharing the post.




From Golden Paints - Mixing every color of the rainbow from their basic color set: http://www.goldenpaints.com/artist/mixguide.php



On this blog, James Gurney takes you on a fun exercise in palette selection. http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/01/limited-palettes.html




This is a great tool for getting the palette from a photograph. Of course it's a starting point and you have to narrow those colors down but it's a great tool for those of us who might be intimidated by all of those color choices! http://www.palettefx.com/updates




Good Luck!
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Jul 27, 2011

Great YouTube resources for Artists - John Cleese

Here's another gem from comedian John Cleese. He talks about his creative process.



Enjoy!
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Jul 26, 2011

Great YouTube resources for Artists - ArtBomb

The first resource I'd like to share is ArtBomb.  There are 5 videos so far in this collection and each has a lot to offer. The focus is on using shapes to spur creative ideas, specifically character generation.

The first video uses an inkblot image as a starting point



This video works through a number of figure 8 images to create some unique characters



Hope you enjoyed these videos. Now get back to work and get creative!
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Jul 19, 2011

On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog...

Travel back in time with me to the age when the internet was ruled by super geeks and the web was just catching on... 1993

Ny Times





These days, there really are dogs on the internet. There are also cats, horses, ferrets, you name it... all God's creatures want a piece of the action. That got me thinking - how does Facebook handle it when your family dog creates his own Facebook Profile?

Strangely enough, the Facebook help center has very little to say about this topic, aside from the requirement that you use your REAL name when creating a profile and this statement in the terms and conditions:
You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create 
an account for anyone other than yourself without permission. 

My cat has a real name, it's on his records at the vet. I also have many photos of him that I can use for his profile pic. If I put him at the computer and help him fill in his profile info I'm home free. Looks like Tucker is getting a Facebook Profile!

For illustration purposes only...


Hold on a minute... Didn't I hear once that Facebook was deleting pet profiles? Turns out they do on occasion but only as part of their general rule enforcement about fictitious names. They do NOT appear to be systematically exterminating pet profiles. Case in point - I found out I have a cat as a Facebook friend and did not even know it: Kitty Casper Cunha. Kitty, in turn, has MANY other four legged friends.

The bigger question for me would be - "What if Tucker gets really excited about his new place in the Social Networking world then Facebook suddenly deletes his profile through no fault of his own?" How do I explain THAT to my cat and what type of emotional scar does that leave?

Your thoughts?
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Jul 15, 2011

Space, the Final Frontier

The last (and final) Space Shuttle launch got me thinking about NASA and the space program. I was 4 when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. I watched COSMOS on PBS as a kid and can still hear Carl Sagan's voice in my head saying "Billions and Billions of stars".

It's only natural that my latest creative mashup would come to this: Space and Dogs.

It started with a painting I did of a Westie floating in space in an astronaut suit and now I'm hooked!


The concept is not new of course. Dogs in space is a popular subject in Books and art.
Early Russian space flight (Sputnik) turned a number of dogs into overnight celebrities.


I've just finished my latest "Space Dog" painting. This one has more of a nostalgic feeling to it:

"Rocket Dog" 16 x 20 Acrylic on gallery stretched canvas

Going back to the drawing board now - I feel the need to stuff more dogs into space suits :-)

For all of you cat lovers out there - France launched a kitty into space as well. In 1963, France put a male, black and white stray named Felix into a rocket capsule and sent him into the sky. He was recovered at splash down and lived to "meow" about it...

Nasa's simulated Cat space suits
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Jun 15, 2011

Pimp my Painting?

Visited with family and friends for a few weeks then got a ride home with those friends this past Sunday. My young friend Elise had a chance to paint with me and decided she really liked my "Silly Chickens" painting but it needed something extra. I said "Go ahead, pimp my painting..."

Silly Chickens - original version

I knew I was in for something special when Elise asked me if she could use some beads, sequins, feathers, and other assorted bling. A few hours later, Elise had transformed my silly Chicken painting into something unique and original.

Elise poses with her masterpiece
 
It's Elise's painting now to hang where she likes at her house in Atlanta - what a great way to spend a hot summer afternoon!

Click on this image for a detailed view of the masterpiece:

Silly Chickens - Pimped!







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