So much for 2022
So I just never got around to posting more than that one thing last year. I don't even remember what I was so busy doing. Oh wait, yes I do. I vowed to spend all my free time working on an ambitious project which I hope will be my "masterpiece." I'm not telling anyone what it is yet. I don't need any well-meant, or nasty questions, I just want to be left alone to work on it.I will be revealing one detail: I have to make a line drawing of the surface of Jupiter. If there is anything that doesn't lend itself to a line drawing, it's the surface of Jupiter. Maybe I could do Saturn instead, or even Mars. Nah, it has to be Jupiter. I'm not masochistic, it's just that I seem to be one of those people who is always being forced to do things the hardest possible way. And then there's my husband, and snow removal...don't get me started.
The Triumph of Linux, which is a Perfectly Good Operating System
Also this year I'm using Linux for everything except graphics and video. Microsoft no longer supports Windows 8.1, but I don't dare upgrade to 10 because I don't trust Adobe. They wouldn't let me use that old Creative Suite 6 on 10, so I have to retain 8.1. I'm lucky I can use it on 8.1, considering how eager Adobe is to capture all the graphic artists in the world and make them their indentured servants, forced to pay every month to use Photoshop.I've done more drawing lately with actual paper and pencil than I've done in years. I draw a scene or figure in pencil, outline it with fine line marker, and scan it. Then it becomes part of the digital image created and rendered in Photoshop. Interesting lessons have been learned using this process; scale becomes supremely important. I"m used to drawing an original image very large and then reducing it; but if I make it too big the lines are too fine when I reduce it. And I've also learned to use the Bezier curve tool for just about everything; there are subtle differences between the weight and smoothness of a line generated from a Bezier path vs. the paintbrush. So basically no shortcuts allowed.
