Thursday, May 1

I am searching for something more cheerful

but you might have to wait until tomorrow, or the day thereafter

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The search is always more interesting than the result.

Anonymous said...

I use Photoshop CS2 in all my comics. That's it. Well, I mean, besides a camera and my computer. Plus: The rare, occasional use of alcohol. Google. A pen and notepaper. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Some old books. Song lyrics. Magazine articles and books of poetry.
Nothing worth harming your boat over. Ropeless, you would be hopelessly adrift.

Zee said...

SERA!
Very true - that journey thing.
CS2 is on my laptop. I will play around a bit more once I have time or feel like it. It's odd though, I am drawn always to the same old effects I already know.
OK, presently my boat is upside down awaiting me to untie it. That may happen when I get up to Maine in a week or so.
The ropes there have been nagged on by beavers and other sweet critters so I need to untie yours and make a fresh start :)

♥ N o v a said...

I agree with Sera. It's the search that makes it all worthwhile.

Cheer up, Zee! Life is beautiful.

susan said...

Whenever I do something new it always looks like something I did.. which, as you know, I've wondered about too. Then again, every day I awake and see essentially the same face in the mirror as the day before. Anything else would be disturbing..

I think it may be a matter of refining our qualities. You and Sera both do wonderful artwork but different to one another. Solitary pursuits are fine but I think the reason that music is the oldest artform is that it embraces differences. If everyone played the same thing the same way on the same instrument all we'd hear is loud sounds. Instead, we have different interpretations and enhancement of individual talents which makes music.

btw - I found this which suggests your reasoning behind burning the $600 check is sound.. not that I can afford to.

Anonymous said...

Zee. Your local university or junior college probably has online courses in Photoshop. There are a lot of tutorials online too, although I highly recommend classes. Much of Photoshop isn't intuitive. Even if you *think* you know something, even one thing, you'll see it in a new way.
I think it's like that with people too. The visage you see in public is different than the face you see in bed or when one's intestines are twisted in a knot. We all have little shortcuts, abilities, sub-menus and context-related ticks.

Nova-san. Life is indeed beautiful. At times, a terrible beauty, but it's all connected somehow.

Susan. Music is easier to understand, but harder to master. Anyone can do it, hum or sing or tap finger beat.
But to plug into that perfection, that perfect song that's in all of us, is difficult. You can play a song exactly the same way twice, and it'll already be different.

gfid said...

some times of the year are just cheerless.... and some times of our lives as well. and i don't agree that life is always beautiful. sometimes it's damned ugly. that's hard on the creative soul; i think we need beauty as much as we need air and water. my solution is to get physical -i walk and cycle and swim and play racquetball till i'm exhausted and my brain is full of endorphines- and surround myself with what beauty i can find in music and friends nature, literature, art. it's a cheap high, and it keeps me out of the psych ward,and in shape.

Zee said...

Hahh GRANNY FIDDLER!
Nice surprise. On that note I will go outside and mow the lawn, not exactly racquetball - but I need to start somewhere.

SERAPHINE -
I am not good, but versed ... with "Photoshop" that is. "Blender" is a different story altogether.
With Photoshop you manipulate, with Blender you start from scratch. Either way - all this stuff takes time. Blender is unique because it is open source; and then of course, if you spend 500 hours you can make a complete and pretty outrageous animated movie. I wonder if I ever have that "time" ...
So what's up with Nietzsche, can you read German???
I used to visit my mom once a while when she vacationed in the Swiss Alps, Sils Maria in Graubuenden to be more precise. Adjunct to the Hotel there was the Nietzche Haus, a little museum of sorts. Artifacts, manuscripts and all that good stuff. Pretty neat. Unfortunately he subcommed to syphilis despite the fresh mountain air. Some consequences of lust are uncorrectable I guess. No ropes will help you there.

Zee said...

HEART-NOVA-SAN
Your upbeat spirit makes my day!!!

Zee said...

SUSAN
This post was not even intended to be a post, just a post to announce that there might be a new post, and in the mean time you folks splatter profound wisdom and other good observations.
I thought I would get a break. Now I am stuck with your comments -

"Whenever I do something new it always looks like something I did.." you said.
Well that is simply so because you are who you are ... unique!
In any case, whenever I model a clay head, as a demo for students for example, the features resemble the previous ones I did. It is something I carry inside that can not be eradicated.
But all in all, that is not a bad thing. We have to make friends with that what is inside, not fight it.
The purpose of an artist is to use that "friendship" and then evolve one step beyond. Dry hearted people would say: Push your limits further!
But those guys usually don't know what it's all about ...

susan said...

I remember a book by a reclusive southern writer named James Branch Cabell in a book called 'Jurgen' which was set in a mythical midievil French province. When ordered by his mother to go out and make a man of himself Jurgen went to the nearest clay bank and started sculpting a self portrait. I wonder if that's what we do with our art?