I had a full day in the Wellesley College printshop last week to pick up from where I left off on these monotype experiments. I’m still very much in the experimental stages of these prints. As I said earlier, it’s been a good four years since I’ve worked with monotype, so the monotype process has been feeling rusty and unfamiliar.  As a reaction to this, I naturally used the old reductive technique I remove the printing ink from a fully inked plate with a cotton rag.

I worked quickly to produce many prints and try out as many techniques throughout the day.  To allow myself to focus exclusively on technique and articulation, I entirely ignored composition, space, and depth in these monotype sketches.  The largest revelation I had was that it became immediately clear that rolling up the plate to a full black was unnecessary.  Achieving subtlety in the tonal shifts was more difficult from a black plate, and relying on the black tones produced flat images which lacked depth.

Print from a plate that was fully inked to black.

I experimented with rolling up different parts of the plate to different gradients. Ultimately, I ended up toning the area above the water to a mid-grey tone.  The area with the water was inked to a full black at the top, and then slowly gradating to a light grey towards the bottom.

Print where different areas are inked to different gradients.

My self-critique of this sketch above is that the gradation in the water has too much full black and the shift towards grey tone happens too late.  Since I was eager to figure out how to go about inking the plate, the work on the figures in these monotype sketches is fairly hasty. The next time I’m able to focus more on the figures, my intent is to make the figures more ambiguous, less defined, so they can emerge quietly from the atmosphere.  The balance I’m looking for will allow the reflection of the figure’s shadow in the water to be more concrete and articulate by comparison.

“Ghost” print of the previous plate.

One approach that I had been initially excited about was potentially printing “ghost” prints from different plates onto the same sheet of paper.  A “ghost” print is a monotype that has been run through the press a second time, therefore creating significantly lighter results. I quickly eliminated this idea since the ghost prints were too unstable and unpredictable. My potential solution to this is to “fake” some ghost prints instead to see if I can get the results I’m looking for. Ultimately, I’m looking to create monotypes that involve multiple plates printed on top of each other to simulate the transparency of the drawings.

In my last post I wrote about Dawn Sokol’s  on-line class called 12.31 Art Journal.  I’ve made a lot of progress the past two days.  Today I finished up the canvas cover for the journal.

This was created on a piece of green duck canvas about 10 inches by 13 inches (I wanted to use up what I already had on hand).  I covered it with a coat of gesso, let that dry overnight and then painted the whole piece using three shades of pink that I mixed.   (I used Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio acrylics because they have a hint of gloss to them when dried).  Once the pink background dried I then sketched the scene of three snowy hills with Christmas trees.  I applied dots of white paint to simulate snow and them smeared them to look like it was really storming and windy as the snow was falling.  I used my sewing machine with a heavy-duty (#18) needle and sewed a zig zag stitch to hem all of the sides.  The finished size is 9 inches tall by 12 inches wide.  When I fold the cover in half, the page size will be 6 inches by 9 inches – a perfect size to carry with me.  I had planned to add some 3-D embellishments but decided to leave it as is (at least for now).  Another tradition has begun.

Tomorrow I will be collecting the pages to make signatures and then sewing them into the  journal.  Stay tuned for more.

I hope to have some graffiti covers and papers to show you soon from Mary Ann Moss’  –  Stencilry class.  Check out her blog – Dispatch from LA - very cool.

Merry Christmas.  Keep it simple and start some new traditions.

If you’re like me, you need some ideas for people you need to give a gift to, but you’re on a tight budget, and don’t have loads of time, ether.  Here’s an idea I had recently: Recover a NoteBook!  All the hard work (binding the paper, cutting the paper, etc) is done.  You only need 2 sheets of paper.

First, you’ve got to find some notebooks that are spiral bound, but the ones that aren’t actually spiral, but that funny type you can open.  I’ve found these lovely 6×6 notebooks at ASDAS (UK version of WalMart) for only £1.50 each.

Once you open the spine, you can pull the covers off.

Once you get the covers off, line up your new covering paper.  I’ve cut the paper to be 1 inch square bigger than the cover.  So, this is a 6×6 cover, and I’ve cut the paper to be 7×7.  Figure out which direction you want your paper to run, and mark the holes of your spine to match.  This is really only important if you’ve got a pattern that has a definite ‘up’.

(If you want to use your printer to do lettering, this is the point to do it.  I hand calligraphy my paper, so I skip that step.)

Once you’ve got it laid out, smear the top of your cover with adhesive.  I’m using plain old white craft glue (like Elmer’s).  If you smear the whole cover, you’ll help avoid air pockets and rippled paper.

With the paper upsidedown, with any up markings lined up correctly, place the cover on the paper, squaring the corners.  I try and get the binding edge as close as possible so that the paper doesn’t overlap the holes on the back later.

Next, put a tad of adhesive on the corners, and fold over.

Now, make sure you get enough adhesive on the edges so that there won’t be any loose bit to catch and tear later, then fold the paper edge up and affix firmly.  I use a popsicle stick to make it tight.

Once you’ve got the edges all folded over, add a tiny dot of glue into each of the holes for the spine.  This serves two purposes.  1 – it softens the paper to punch through, minimising over tearing.  2 – it adheres the edges to the insides of the holes so it doesn’t pull up later.

Then, once you’ve got the holes touched with adhesive, flip it over.  If you’ve got a light box, it’s useful in for the next step.  If not, just hold the cover up to the light to find the hole.  Then, using  a thin tool (long needle, or other tool), punch through the front of each hole, and wiggle around.

Once you’ve done that, you’ve finished the main body of the cover.  All that’s left now is to repeat the process on the back (if desired), reattach the covers to the spine and close the links back up.

And you’re done.

Decorate to taste, and enjoy the results.  Looks very impressive, but doesn’t take much time at all.  I’ve used the big flowers from this post to decorate the books.

Enjoy, and Happy Christmas Crafting!

I’m making progress on my mitten. I’m using some super gorgeous yarn to knit these up:

It’s Spud & Chloe in Anemone and Popcorn. Originally, I wanted to make the contrasting colors on the mittens blue and yellow (Go Bears!). I’m trying to subconsciously make Mr. Liu’s nephew a Cal fan. However, my plan was thwarted when the store I went to didn’t have yellow. This yarn is a lovely superwash (good for kid’s mittens!) in and 80/20 wool/silk blend. It’s been great to work with. Which is good, since I’ve done  this three times:

That’s a mitten cuff. I think this is the second incarnation. People, learn from my mistake: If the pattern is fair isle, SWATCH IN FAIR ISLE! I cannot emphasize that enough. I swatched with just one color and the first cuff was itty-bitty. So I went up a needle. Still too tiny. The third time I had success. Don’t let this happen to you!

I’m really fond of this cast on, though. It’s basically long tail modified for two colors. The Island of Misfit Patterns has a good description on how to do it. My goal for the weekend is to complete both mittens. I have three things going for me that will help me reach that goal: 1) Mr. Liu is about to kick me off this computer to work on his paper so I won’t be otherwise entertained. 2) These mittens are for a 3-year-old. He still has small hands. 3) Tomorrow I’ll be camped out watching football. Perfect knitting time! Wish me luck!

Dead Light (I)

Originally uploaded by stonewall072

It’s been a few days since I’ve done a posting. I found myself caught up in the holiday shuffle and the food-engorged coma that follows.

One thing I was able to do this week was take a night-time trek to my favorite local graveyard and try out some “light painting”.

Light painting is a photography trick using different lighting sources during long exposure shots to create lighting effects on your subject. I don’t have much in the way of lightning equipment, but I do have a small LED flashlight with red and blue lens covers.

Using that flashlight I was able to create today’s featured shot by shining red light on the graves for a count of five and then moving over to the other side and shining blue light for another five count during a fifteen second exposure.

I want to do more shots like this in the future, but with stronger light sources and different colors.

I got my inspiration for this and the other shot on my Flickr photostream from Troy Paiva, a fantastic photographer that specializes in night-time photography of the American Southwest. His Web site can be found at www.lostamerica.com.

When you shoot someone on a stage, it’s all dark and stuff, right, so you need to go to, like, 3200 ISO? Dude!

Well, yes and no. It can be dark, but usually that is not the real problem. The person on stage is usually quite well lit. Like professor Richard Dawkins when I shot him recently in Toronto:

As you can see, prof Dawkins himself is well lit. This meant I was able to use my 1Ds MkIII and 50mm lens to shoot at 1/100th second, 400 ISO, and f/2.8. That is not super-fast: 400 ISO, not 1,600. And f/2.8, not f/1.4.

The bigger challenges are:

• Metering. The dark background might very easily have caused the camera to overexpose prof Dawkins.
• Consistency. The light can go up and down; or rather, as you swing the camera to include more or less Dawkins and less or more background, the exposure will change, and perhaps drastically so.
• Focus is tough in low light.

So the solution is to:

• Spot meter off the person and go up a stop, or meter using the “manual” meter.
• Use MANUAL mode. After metering and adjusting visually (using LCD and histogram), leave the setting there. As long as the person does not move into different light, you’ll be fine.
• Focus carefully with one focus point. Test before the presentation starts!
• Shoot RAW so you can make small adjustments later where needed.

That way, your stage shoots will be just fine.

Il y a un moment déjà, sur mon blog, je proposais une méthode pour calibrer son écran de façon approximative mais satisfaisante sans l’aide d’une sonde (qui est d’ailleurs pas donné) et sans l’aide de logiciel supplémentaire.

C’est en anglais, j’en suis désolé, étant donné que le blog était d’abord conçu pour un autre auditoire que le club de photo.

Suivez le link: Calibrating your LCD for better results

Black-throated Sparrow

The Black-throated Sparrow is a bird of dry scrublands in the western U.S. whose colors make it at home in the browns and tans of desert expanses. They nest within a mile of our house, and we’ve had them visit our back yard a couple of times. But its taken me over 15 years to get a photo of one that I think does the species justice.

I made the 75 mile drive to Kearny, AZ, departing around 5:30 am to arrive close to sunrise. I didn’t have any specific subjects in mind; I just wanted to get out of the Black Friday madness to a remote place. It was January of this year when I’d had my first amazing contact with a bobcat at Kearny Lake park, so it seemed like a good time to visit again.

Alas, there were no bobcats to greet me, nor was there any rare birds on this isolated body of water (it has hosted a Red-necked Grebe and a White-winged Scoter in previous winters). But the large clan of Common Moorhens were still there, and the bushes around the lake had lots of sparrow, wren, and gnatcatcher activity.

A walk around the lake was good exercise, but the small birds were just too active and stayed too far away for any photos. I settled for some time with the moorhens and coots, then packed away the gear for the long drive home.

But wisely, I kept the D200, 300/2.8 and TC20E on the empty front passenger seat and grabbed my monopod from the floor behind my seat “just in case.” As I drove out I saw some activity beside the road and worked my Toyota into position beside this barrel cactus. The payoff of the trip was this sparrow that posed in good light on a nice perch with a clean background just beyond my car.

Nikon D200, 300/2.8 AF-S lens with TC20E (2x), ISO 400, 1/1250th second @ f/8, -2/3rd stop compensation, monopod from car window, 79% of frame. No bait, no setup- just patience and luck.

Pour faire suite au billet sur comment faire un histogramme sympa voici une proposition pour présenter des résultats sur deux années. Cela peut être un chiffre d’affaires, des ventes ou toutes autres informations L’idée est de présenter les résultats dans le même graphique mais en utilisant l’axe des ordonnées pour les séparer fictivement.

Dans l’exemple j’utilise les résultats d’un vendeur par rapport au total sur deux années.

Zone de traçage

Il faut afficher le quadrillage horizontal et vertical dans les options du graphique.

Le fond est passé en gris clair et les lignes sont modifiées pour être de couleur blanche.

Axe des ordonnées

Il faut modifier l’axe pour qu’il soit de couleur blanche.

Passez la grosseur de l’axe au maximum disponible.

Axe des abscisses

Pour avoir le meilleur effet de ce graphique, c’est à dire la barre du milieu pour séparer les années 2008 et 2009, il faut modifier la position à laquelle l’axe des ordonnées va couper l’axe des abscisses. Pour cela il faut sélectionner les abscisses et faire un clic droit puis choisir “format de l’axe”. Allez dans l’onglet “Echelle” et définir que les ordonnées coupent les abscisses au 01/01/2009.

Année

Pour ajouter les années je ne me suis pas compliqué, j’ai mis deux zones de texte.

Fichier source

Pour faire plus simple vous pouvez télécharger le fichier que j’ai utilisé pour ce billet.

http://bit.ly/8e6JQQ

It is harder to let go of the desire to “do it” and just let it happen through you. Once you learn this, execution just happens. Your learning is about getting the effort out of your technique.

Another very good video from Dan Heath about making an anchor + twist.

This method really works well to make a message more concrete. Dan gives the example of linking your product/service/company/ … to a well-known competitor that’s in the same business domain. That is the anchor. It’s also important to add a twist that shows in what way you are different (cheaper, faster, different service, …).

Eg: twitter is a form of mini-blogging (blogging is the anchor and mini is the twist)

Alors comme promis je vais essayer de vous conseiller un peu sur les différents outils (gratuit en +!) qui vous seront tres utiles pour optimiser votre référencement naturel et tout ça sans faire appel à une agence (elle est pas belle la vie?)

Et oui , ce n’est pas un mythe, le gratuit existe! et ne pensez pas que ce ne sont que des Ersatz de logiciels, non non vous pouvez vraiment travailler avec!

1)Comment choisir les mots clés à mettre en avant sur vos pages?

Alors la base de la base du référencement naturel , c’est de bien choisir les mots clés que l’on souhaite mettre en avant (principalement dans les titres de vos pages) et pour celà il existe une application très pratique : https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Alors avec ce magnifique outil google, vous tappez le mot clé qui représente le + votre site (par exemple si vous vendez du tissu, tappez tissu) , et là vous avez une liste de tous les mots et expressions tapés par les internautes pour trouver du tissus (magique non ? ).

Il ne vous reste plus qu’à les mettre en avant sur votre site (sans pour autant en abuser !!)

2)Comment voir le texte que les robots Google lisent sur votre site

Pour optimiser votre référencement naturel , il est donc pratique de voir quels sont les mots visibles par Google sur votre site , pour celà rien de plus simple!

Utilisez outiref.com!

Avec cet outil vous pouvez voir le texte de votre site comme le perçoit Google et ainsi optimiser celui ci pour que seul les mots et expressions clés importantes soient visibles, n’hésitez pas à mettre du texte inutile comme “accueil” “bienvenue” en image pour ne pas géner la visibilité des expressions utiles (celles taper par les internautes), ne vous concentrez pas que sur des mots mais aussi sur des expressions de deux à trois mots clés .

3) Comment vérifier si techniquement il y a des erreurs sur les pages de mon site?

Pour cela, il existe encore un utilitaire gratuit http://validator.w3.org

Sachez que plus il y a d’erreur au niveau technique et plus Google sera perdu ! alors vérifiez bien

Les outils gratuits de Google comme https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal ou Google trends ou Google Insight vous donnes des informations sur ce qui intéresse les gens! Alors utilisez les et adaptez votre référencement naturel par rapport à ça!

Si vous voulez + d’informations concernant les pratiques de base à mettre en place pour améliorer votre référencement naturel, allez sur cette page, elle vous expliquera tres bien les choses de manière concise

J’espère que ça vous aidera à y voir plus clair !

Source : http://www.tubbydev.com/

The latest training resource to hit the markets is “Online Instruction” of Jiu jitsu and while “online instruction” has often received a bit of a tough wrap I must admit, I am all for it and find it to be a fantastic training resource! Of course just like anything, “online instruction” seems to vary in quality depending on who you are choosing to learn from. While I wouldn’t go so far as to recommend that you learn exclusively online, I do feel that it can really complement your regular class training and offer some great insights, techniques and tips in addition to what your instructor is already teaching you! As far as my experience with “online instruction” goes, I have recently signed up for both “Gracie University” (www.gracieuniversity.com) and Marcelo Garcia’s “MG In Action” (www.mginaction.com).

www.gracieuniversity.com

I find both to be great learning tools and each has their own particular specialty. “Gracie University” teaches the Gracie Jiu jitsu system in the exact same order as set out by the founder, Helio Gracie. Ryron and Rener Gracie (Helio’s grandsons) have set out to teach Gracie Jiu jitsu in the most highly efficient and detailed method possible so that everyone from a raw beginner right through to a seasoned veteran of the art can pick up the intricate details that make Gracie Jiu jitsu so effective and effortless! The Gracie Jiu jitsu system taught by Ryron and Rener Gracie is based on Self Defence as it was originally designed by Grandmaster Helio Gracie and can be practised by men, women and children of all ages, shapes and sizes. Ryron and Rener Gracie are passionate and gifted teachers and each lesson feels as if you were there taking a private lesson from them! I highly recommend that you sign up at www.gracieuniversity.com, remember it’s free to sign up and you still get access to some basic material and a glimpse of what else is on offer! And while you’re at it sign up for the Gracie insider newsletter at www.gracieacademy.com!

www.mginaction.com

Marcelo Garcia has finally launched his “MG In Action” website and let me say that it was well worth the wait! For those of you who may be interested in competing in Jiu jitsu either gi or no gi then look no further as Four time World Jiu jitsu Champion and Three time ADCC World Submission Wrestling Champion shows you all the techniques, strategy and tactics that have made him into one of the greatest Jiu jitsu Athletes of our time! Get a bird’s-eye view of Marcelo teaching techniques, explainin strategy and sparring in preparation for various competitions! There’s loads of great content and Marcelo is a great instructor! Check it out at www.mginaction.com and enjoy!

Good luck with your training and Happy rolling!

Felipe

Jiu jitsu Kingdom

This Tuesday as part of class, I had the oppertunity to have a play with proper studio lighting for the first time. It was strange getting use to the setup as I’ve never had total control over a lighting setup before!

(image © Gary Danton)

We had the oppertunity to use both constant lighting and flash. I got my best results with the constant lighting, mainly due to the fact that even using a lightmeter (another first) my shots were way overexposed and totally unusable. I think this had more to do with my inability to setup the camera correctly than anything else. Those shots using the studio flash also lacked depth compared to the constant lighting, which provided very atmospheric images.

Over all, I did enjoy the experience, and given time and practice i think the results would greatly improve, i think this will be one genre of photography that i’ll definatly revisit in the future.

thanks

Gary

Martial Arts are truly a vast yet intriguing field of study! I say vast because there is just so much out there! But how did it come to pass that so many forms of Martial art are present in the world today? Well the simple fact is that like any other subject in the world, physics, mathematics, biology, rules are meant to be broken: D! What would be ‘a be all end all’ discussion 50 years ago is not valid in today’s world. Sure there are those basic truths and traditions but not everyone follows them and many are seen breaking many of so called laws. There are always those brave enough to find the loopholes and test them out. Many of our greatest inventions were in fact ideas thought about by people who could not accept that this was all there was to the world

But that’s the beauty about living here on this earth in this day and age! There is still so much to discover so much to learn so much to experience and the same goes with Martial arts. Its because of people who decided that what they are learning in one art was not enough that they decided to learn some more and invent their own marital art! Judo is great example for that (there are so many more). Dr Kano, felt that what he learnt in Jujutsu was not enough and a little too deadly so he made a more refined sport which till today is practiced as a sport and martial art! In Judo, Dr Kano incorporated what all he learned from his teachers and added many new techniques that he had tried and mastered himself and Judo was born.

That’s Martial arts for you. Like any other art like music, painting, dancing, you can also discover different things while practicing marital arts. As you look around at all the martial arts today you see that though very similar to each other there is enough of difference between them to make them their own yet connected to each other by someway or the other. Marital arts has adapted according to the eras as well. In the olden days was used in battle, healing, protecting and other ways. In today’s world used as self defence, as a sport, people are rediscovering the healing aspects of it as well as the health related aspects. And all it took was for was some individuals or a group of like-minded people to realize and create the change! Martial arts begin with the mind and then put into practice!

In our Kickboxing classes we teach you to be creative. We teach you techniques but we expect you to try out different ways of applying the technique. I have always mentioned in my class that no technique is the be all and end all. You have a template and you work around it and that way you never get stuck. You never run dry of techniques. You will always be able to create new ones and hey who knows one day if you work at it, make your own martial art ! We are in the end creative beings and we were here to create new things or rediscover old forgotten things all the time. So next time you think you are stuck with a technique or anything, remember your templates and see what else you can do in that situation. You get stuck only if you don’t use that wonderful creative mind given to us as a gift ! So keep at it, after all Martial Arts is all about helping create new ways of living life.

Scatter borders are beautiful decorative elements utilizing naturalistic flowers, berries, birds, animals and insects in an illusionistic or trompe l’oeil style often painted on gold backgrounds.  The finest examples of scatter borders are found in French and Flemish manuscripts dating around the late 15th- to early 16th-Centuries.

These are just a few examples of scatter borders at the British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts:

Harley 2443  f. 2
Netherlands: Violets, strawberries and butterflies
Egerton 1147  f. 71
Netherlands: Roses, moths, fly and deer
Egerton 2125  f. 216
Netherlands: Roses, snails, butterflies and peacock on light blue background

Two excellent books on the plants used in borders are:

The Medieval Flower Book, Celia Fisher, The British Library, London 2007
Flowers in Medieval Manuscripts, Celia Fisher, University of Toronto Press, 2004

Although the books focus on the identification of plants and flowers in manuscripts, both contain wonderful detailed reproductions of scatter borders and are recommended as references for further study.

Drawing and Painting Realistic Plants

Now is the time to get a sketchbook if you don’t have one already!

If possible, draw your sketches from live specimens rather than from photographs found in books or on the internet.  Aside from copyright issues, photographs tend to flatten and distort images and your plants will look dull and lifeless unless you are familiar with compensating your drawing and painting to correct these distortions.

Here are a couple of pages from one of my rather tattered sketchbooks:

Samples pages from my sketchbook (c) 2009 A. Lucas

Sketching and drawing will also be more beneficial when it comes time to paint as you can be selective with drawing details that might be lost in a photograph alone.

Photographs can be used in conjunction with your sketches.  Taking your own photographs of specimens you have sketched will be handy references of what you have seen and will greatly assist in the realism of your work when you begin painting.

One of the key features of scatter borders is the illusion of elements scattered around the page, but painting complex elements in a realistic style will take a little skill and painting experience – there is no fast or easy method to substitute for patience and practice.

An excellent book on how to draw and paint plants for illustration is:

How to Draw Plants The techniques of botanical illustration, Keith West, Timber Place Incorporated, 2005.

Finding Elements for a Scatter Border

Scatter borders can be simple or complex depending on your design requirements.  Any type of plant, flower, berry, insect, etc. can be incorporated into the design, but consider using foliage indigenous to your location to give your borders a unique “local” flair.

Wonderful flower and insect specimens can probably be found in your own backyard or garden – you don’t have to pick them – take a few quick sketches and make notes about the color and other details.

Don’t have a garden?  Try sketching and photographing flowers in a local park (make sure you don’t pick any plants or flowers), or perhaps a greenhouse will give you permission to make sketches and take pictures (remember to ask for permission!)

Purchase an interesting flower or two from a florist.  Make your sketches while it’s still fresh, and take a few photographs from different angles.  Observe how the plant grows, what the leaves look like, colors, etc.

Any type of plant can used – don’t have any access to flowers?  I’ll bet you’ll be able to find weeds growing somewhere!  Even a humble dandelion or thistle will make an interesting and colorful border.

Or how about a trip to the grocery store to purchase seasonal fruits, berries and fresh herbs?  You can always eat your grocery store purchases after making your sketches and photographs!

Keep your eyes open and a sketchbook and camera ready and you’ll soon be able to build up a library of elements to use in your scatter borders!

Designing and Painting a Simple Scatter Border

We’ll start with one of the simplest forms – berries.  Berries are generally round, circular shapes and easy to find on common shrubs or grocery stores.  Any type of round berry will be fine especially they have a little stem attached.

In this demonstration, we’ll use simple berries with stems to scatter around a border with a gold background.

The red berries I’m using are from a common High Bush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) shrub as the berries are easy to find – even during the winter.

Here is my reference photo:

High Bush Cranberry Reference Photo (c) 2009 A. Lucas

Layout

What you need:

• graph paper
• pencil
• eraser
• ruler

Painting

What you need:

• round brushes (medium and small)
• flat brush (1″ or 2″)
• mixing palette
• gouache paint (Opaque White, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber)
• paper suitable for water-based media (90 lb Hot Press watercolor paper works well)
• drafting tape

Drawing the Scatter Border

First we’ll work out the design on graph paper and then paint a practice berry.

Step 1:

On your graph paper, using a ruler and pencil, draw a 5″ x 7″ block with 1″ borders on the top, left and right sides, and a 1.5″ border at the bottom.

Border Layout with Margins

Step 2:

Now that we’ve established the area for our margins, sketch in circles for berries.  Draw a few in clumps (use the reference photo for ideas) and a few single berries to fill in the larger empty spaces inside the border.

Layout Sketch with Berries and Butterfly

I’ve added a butterfly in the lower corner just to make it a bit more interesting.  I found this photo of a Painted Lady butterfly I had taken last summer – one more reason to always keep that camera and sketchbook handy.

Painted Lady Reference Photo (c) 2009 A. Lucas

Remember, this is a scatter border so don’t be afraid to “scatter” the elements around the page.  Sometimes it’s helpful to cut out the various elements from your sketch paper and move them around the layout until you find an arrangement that works best for your design.

Painting the Scatter Border

First we’ll paint in the gold background, paint a practice berry, and then finish the berries on the border.

Step 1:

On your final copy (watercolor) paper, mask the inside area lines of the border with drafting tape.  Refer to the post Calligraphy Layout: Designing a Certificate for more information on how to mask areas for painting.

Step 2:

Mix up a bit of Yellow Ochre with a touch of Raw Umber for a yellowish gold color.  Use the flat brush to paint the border area.

Wait until the paint is completely dry before removing the drafting tape.

Step 3:

Transfer your layout sketch to the painted border.  Refer to the Painting a Simple Initial post for one method of transferring a drawing.

Painted Border Background with Transferred Design

Painting a Simple Berry

Before beginning to paint on the gold background, try painting a few practice berries especially if you are unfamiliar with painting or painting with gouache.  Your practice paintings can also be used a reference for the final painting.

Step 1:

On a piece of watercolor paper or sketch paper, draw a circle with a stem.

Step 2:

Mix a bit of Yellow Ochre with Cadmium Red to make an orange color, and using the medium round brush, paint in the berry.

Step 3:

Clean the brush, then use Cadmium Red (not mixed) to paint around the berry as shown.  Clean the brush again, then use a little clean water to dampen the brush (don’t soak it) to soften the edges of the red into the orange.  You can also use the small brush with a bit of red to draw tiny lines to fade into the orange.

Step 4:

Mix a little Cadmium and White to make a pink color, and paint this in between the red and orange.  Use clean water (or tiny brush strokes) to blend the pink into the orange and red areas.

Step 5:

Let the berry dry and little, then use Opaque White to add a little highlight.  Use clean water to blend the edges of the highlight.

Mix a bit of Yellow Ochre with Ultramarine Blue to make a light green color, and paint a line for the stem.  Add more Ultramarine Blue to make a darker green, and paint this on the side of the light green.  Use clean water to soften the edges light and dark green.

Step 6: Adding a Shadow

Step 6:

Mix a little Raw Umber and paint a bit of a shadow under the berry.  Use clean water to soften the edges and blend into the paper.  If it looks too dark, add a little white.

Optional: Not all berries ripen at the same time, so some might have a little green.  It might be difficult to see in the photo (which is why observing the “real” plant is always best) but a few berries with a little green will be more convincing than just all red berries.

Once you have painted a few practice berries, paint the berries and stems on your border.

Final Scatter Border

We could keep adding a few more elements such as a flowers, leaves, insects, etc.  If we were adding calligraphy, remember to do the calligraphy first before painting the border.

It is much easier to correct a painting than to correct calligraphy!

… you’re getting more Chuck! Plus some Mike G.

This weeks video shows Mike G. and Chuck Carswell doing 3 RM Overhead Squats. Mike G hits just over 231 lbs and Chuck gets to 264 lbs! To do that your form has to be tight … notice how active their shoulders are setting it up and how their hips move [wmv] [mov].

On another note, Dave’s CrossFit Journal article “Muscling Through It” was referenced as additional reading in another article today about working on your Level 2. While these are great references for coaches generally and a huge help for anyone considering their Level 2, I recommend them for anyone involved in CrossFit as you can see the standards that are being upheld. Todays article is here.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound bag of pinto beans
• ½ pound smoked bacon (chopped)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 large onion chopped (or ½ cup chopped) [Note 1]
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper [Note 1]
• 3 tablespoons salt (kosher salt is best)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper (freshly ground for best flavor)
• 1 liter chicken broth or stock (homemade is best but store bought will do)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf

Directions

Start to soak your beans at least 24 hours before you would like to plate. Before you do, however, you need to spread your beans out on a cookie sheet or half sheet pan. Remove all of the rocks that slipped through the sorting process. Also take out all of the beans that look ugly or bad. Cooking will not help their flavor! Place the beans into a container that is at least three quarts deep. Now add the salt and the beans. Add about 2 quarts of water.

Soak for 12 hours, covered.

In a medium skillet over medium heat add the chopped bacon and the Worcestershire sauce. Cook the bacon until some of the fat is rendered out. Now add the onion, green peppers, pepper, chili powder. Cook until bacon is slightly crispy and the aromatics are slightly brown. Using a paper towel, soak up all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat. Transfer all of it to your Crockpot, turned onto high. Deglaze, if needed, with some of the chicken broth or stock.

Drain your beans (reserving the liquid) and add them to your Crockpot. Now add the deglazed liquid and the rest of the chicken broth. Top off with your reserved bean liquid (which still holds significant bean flavor and vitamins). Now stir in the dried oregano and the bay leaf. Set your timer for 4 hours and cover.

At the end of 4 hours, set your slow cooker or Crockpot to the low setting and simmer for AT LEAST two more hours. However another four to eight hours would be MUCH better. Just be sure to top off the Crockpot with water to replace any liquid loss.

Finally, Remove the bay leaf and then add salt and pepper to taste about an hour before serving.

[Note 1: Individually flash frozen, chopped green pepper and onion are both economical and a great time saver. They make adding both aromatics a simple procedure that does not involve tears or breaking out the cutting board. They're normally found in the frozen section of the local mega-mart.]

The other day I shot an event. So that meant dark light, high walls, hard to bounce.

“Crisp” means “bright pixels”, so you will sacrifice some crispness when it is dark.

Still – I never point my flash at subjects when it is the main light. So instead, I bounce. I use the wall or ceiling – but when that is too far (and at 800 ISO “too far” is quite far!), I use a Honl bounce card, or a Fong lightsphere, or I just bounce off my hand:

Um yeah, the theme was “70’s”.

• I was using a 1Ds MkIII and a 16-35mm f/2.8L lens.
• I did not want too much noise so I stayed at 800 ISO.
• I used 1/30th second, f/2.8
• A wide angle lens means that even at f/2.8, I get nice depth of field.
• And the slow exposure means I get some nice background light.
• Flash pointed behind me to the right, and bouncing (I saw a wall not too far).

Everyone else got dark backgrounds; I get this. A fast lens (f/2.8) is quite essential.

Fare dei bei ritratti in studio non significa necessariamente avere un setup da miliardari.

In questo video un semplice esempio di come si possa fare un ottimo lavoro usando solamente una luce e gestendola al meglio con l’ausilio di qualche superficie riflettente.
Informazioni di base ma sempre interessanti. 

Part I talked about the fun and benefits of working together with another player, as coaches, mentors, and playing partners, especially in playing duets with the great benefits of sight-reading and transposition, among others.

There is another kind of duet and another kind of benefit to be had if you make up the duets yourselves. That is: improvising them.

Improvising means “thinking in music,” something that is nearly never done is traditional pedagogy of horn or any other instrument. More’s the pity. Now, why would you want to do something like that?

One great thing about improvisation of any kind is that brings together all elements of music: performance, theory, history, composition, ear training – you need it all to invent music on the spot.

What, me, improvise? [you say] I can’t do that! I can’t play 16th notes at MM=220!

Neither can I. But what I can do is revise my definition of what improvisation is so that I can do it.

First of all, improvisation does not have to be jazz. I’m not a jazz player. I’m a classical player. So I’ll play something that is like the stuff I play all the time. You don’t have to be able to play Donna Lee to make up your own music. A sarabande will do just fine. Start with some long tones. Start with one long tone. Listen to it. See where it wants to go next. As a duet, perhaps start with a common scale and listen to the interval between the two voices. Consonant or dissonant? If it’s dissonant, hold it a moment, then resolve it up or down. If it’s consonant, hold it until you take a breath. Then pick a new note and start again.

You very quickly find out two things when you do this: 1) It’s easy. 2) It’s fun.

And perhaps 3): why didn’t I do this years ago?

You discover that improvising duets is like having a conversation, except in music. You use what you know to discuss subjects that interest you in ways that are familiar and comfortable. Conversing doesn’t have anything particular to do with playing fast; if it did, auctioneers would be the most sought-after conversation partners. It just matters that it’s interesting and that it makes sense. If you recite something, you just need to know how to pronounce the words. If you converse about something, you also need to know what the words mean, both individually and in context, and you can use everything you know – vocabulary, grammar, history, jokes, expressive speaking ability, etc – to make your content and delivery more interesting. In a conversation you must also listen, and spontaneously react to and develop what your partner comes up with in the moment. It’s really fun, and improvising music is just like having a conversation except that at no time in our music training did anyone every give us training or encouragement to have a musical conversation.

But you don’t have to wait for someone to give you either permission or training.

Just do it. And get in on the fun and musical and technical benefits of making up your own stuff.

Making up your own duets is a perfect complement to a session of reading duets, both musically and technically. Here are a few more ideas to get you started:

•Player 1 (P1) plays some kind of I-V repeated bass (like an oom pah tuba) and P2 makes up a march. Here and forever more, always switch parts and do it again.

•P1 plays one low long tone – a drone. P2 experiments with making melodies using one scale above it. Start with the drone being the tonic, then see what’s like for the drone to be other scale degrees.

•Pulse the drone: give it a rhythm. Put some pep in your step!

•P1 plays a simple bass line, e.g. C-B-A-G, or in minor: C Bb Ab G. P2 solos over it.

•Players make up a piece based on the rhythm of their names.

•Players choose a familiar (and simple!) tune and figure out the melody via ear & error. After you can play it in C, play it in all other keys. Then repeat in minor. Then repeat, with P1 on the melody and P2 on 1) harmony 2) chord roots 3) countermelody.

•Just start playing: there are always rules, but here you have to figure out the rules as you go. Hint: arrive at a common pulse and key as quickly as possible. Hint #2: Recycle material. Find one simple, strong idea and develop it in all kinds of ways.

If you need more ideas, check out my book, Improvisation Games for Classical Musicians (GIA).

Have fun!