diabola in musica

because perfection isn't easy

The Chromatic Typewriter, Tyree Callahan

I don’t think one could paint washes with this typewriter, but the concept is still brilliant. Immediately I imagined a machine that prints letters in the colors they would appear to a grapheme → color synesthete. Since it can’t have the same printing mechanism as an ordinary typewriter (i.e. mallets hitting only one ink ribbon), making the variant could be difficult, but the challenge of engineering a synesthetic typewriter feels just as exciting as having one when you’re done.

I wanted to do something different today, so I painted a ball with makeup. I used an eyebrow pencil, liquid foundation, eyeshadow, blush, dry shampoo, hair spray, along with a set of makeup brushes. This exercise is just for my own amusement, but I did learn a few things: Painting with liquid foundation is not the same as painting with watercolors. Dusting powdered makeup on paper is not the same as dusting powder on your face. Painting with liquid foundation is still painting, so use proper paper, not sketch paper. The eyeliner brush is great for blending. The blush brush is great for picking up excess powder. Hairspray is a good fixative for powered makeup. As trivial as this is, I am proud of it. This is an experiment gone well. Zoom

I wanted to do something different today, so I painted a ball with makeup. I used an eyebrow pencil, liquid foundation, eyeshadow, blush, dry shampoo, hair spray, along with a set of makeup brushes. This exercise is just for my own amusement, but I did learn a few things:

  • Painting with liquid foundation is not the same as painting with watercolors.
  • Dusting powdered makeup on paper is not the same as dusting powder on your face.
  • Painting with liquid foundation is still painting, so use proper paper, not sketch paper.
  • The eyeliner brush is great for blending.
  • The blush brush is great for picking up excess powder.
  • Hairspray is a good fixative for powered makeup.

As trivial as this is, I am proud of it. This is an experiment gone well.

I spend so much time with balls, but I still have much to learn about them. This exercise taught me how much I need to practice the basics. It’s very clear that I don’t know how to shade a ball (or at least how to do it well). Both look spherical, but neither drawing is precise. This is typical of all my work. As long as the object has the air of what it’s supposed to be, details be damned. This also confirmed that I tend to skew my drawings on the tablet. I noticed that my rabbit sketches were slightly distorted compared to the source materials. Differences are natural but what I drew definitely leaned sinister, so I did a side-by-side comparison. The left ball above is done with ballpoint pen on paper while the right ball is done with the tablet in Photoshop. Pen and paper is definitely easier (and faster), possibly because I am looking directly at my hand and the drawing together, rather than just the screen and hoping that my hand is moving where I want it to go. I feel slightly overwhelmed by the many things to practice, but I suppose that the only thing to do is draw when I can and focus on making each one better each time. Zoom

I spend so much time with balls, but I still have much to learn about them.

This exercise taught me how much I need to practice the basics. It’s very clear that I don’t know how to shade a ball (or at least how to do it well). Both look spherical, but neither drawing is precise. This is typical of all my work. As long as the object has the air of what it’s supposed to be, details be damned.

This also confirmed that I tend to skew my drawings on the tablet. I noticed that my rabbit sketches were slightly distorted compared to the source materials. Differences are natural but what I drew definitely leaned sinister, so I did a side-by-side comparison. The left ball above is done with ballpoint pen on paper while the right ball is done with the tablet in Photoshop. Pen and paper is definitely easier (and faster), possibly because I am looking directly at my hand and the drawing together, rather than just the screen and hoping that my hand is moving where I want it to go.

I feel slightly overwhelmed by the many things to practice, but I suppose that the only thing to do is draw when I can and focus on making each one better each time.

Today’s experiment: Texture. I usually work with pencils, but Photoshop’s pencil tool with no pressure sensitivity is still a different experience. Tone and shape are suggested by hatching, instead of going over the space again or in another color. I learned how to create shadow in the ears, but fur is still a mystery to me. The hatching is sloppy. One of the shoulders is off: The contour is fine, but the lines give the wrong shape. I like my work, but the more I draw, the more I realize how much more I need to practice. Time to go back to the drawing board. (But that can wait until tomorrow.) Zoom

Today’s experiment: Texture.

I usually work with pencils, but Photoshop’s pencil tool with no pressure sensitivity is still a different experience. Tone and shape are suggested by hatching, instead of going over the space again or in another color. I learned how to create shadow in the ears, but fur is still a mystery to me. The hatching is sloppy. One of the shoulders is off: The contour is fine, but the lines give the wrong shape.

I like my work, but the more I draw, the more I realize how much more I need to practice. Time to go back to the drawing board. (But that can wait until tomorrow.)

I cheated; I traced. I was having a hard time with the proportions, so I outlined the face and body, then drew them again freehand. The tracing is in the upper left. The freehand drawing is in the lower right. There is value in tracing, to learn basic figures and shapes. After this exercise, I am further amazed at people who can just look at an object and pen its likeness. I assume that it takes knowledge and practice, but the skill is still very impressive to an ingenue like me. Zoom

I cheated; I traced. I was having a hard time with the proportions, so I outlined the face and body, then drew them again freehand. The tracing is in the upper left. The freehand drawing is in the lower right.

There is value in tracing, to learn basic figures and shapes. After this exercise, I am further amazed at people who can just look at an object and pen its likeness. I assume that it takes knowledge and practice, but the skill is still very impressive to an ingenue like me.

A friend noted that I draw leporine features stubbier and chubbier than they are in the reference photo. I sketched some more on the tablet, but there was little improvement. With more practice I’m sure I could pen a lovely lean bunny, but maybe I just envision rabbits cuddly rather than svelte. Understanding anatomy is important for me, so I don’t feel like I’m drawing in an abstract void. I learned that rabbits do not walk like cats, who are digitigrades. Instead, they walk like us, with our entire feet. Knowing where the ankles and knees are will become important after I start sketching bunnies in action. Zoom

A friend noted that I draw leporine features stubbier and chubbier than they are in the reference photo. I sketched some more on the tablet, but there was little improvement. With more practice I’m sure I could pen a lovely lean bunny, but maybe I just envision rabbits cuddly rather than svelte.

Understanding anatomy is important for me, so I don’t feel like I’m drawing in an abstract void. I learned that rabbits do not walk like cats, who are digitigrades. Instead, they walk like us, with our entire feet. Knowing where the ankles and knees are will become important after I start sketching bunnies in action.

This is a very rough sketch, but I am still quite proud of it. Though I doodled occasionally in sketchbooks—that I more often used as journals—this is the first time I wanted to draw in over ten years. This is also the first time I used my tablet for drawing, but considering that I used the tablet to remove entire backgrounds in photographs, I can’t say that I’m a beginner on my Bamboo. Zoom

This is a very rough sketch, but I am still quite proud of it. Though I doodled occasionally in sketchbooks—that I more often used as journals—this is the first time I wanted to draw in over ten years. This is also the first time I used my tablet for drawing, but considering that I used the tablet to remove entire backgrounds in photographs, I can’t say that I’m a beginner on my Bamboo.