Paris Hilton, raccoons and Facebook apps

Will Write For Chocolate has been updated. The accompanying survey: Do you write for the market or for yourself?

Instead of reading print newspapers, I tend to check online news sites, with a focus on publishing news. I can always tell when a person or topic takes over the news because he/she/it leaks over into my publishing news sources even if he/she/it isn't normally discussed in the publishing world.

Like Paris Hilton. I had started typing "What on earth would anyone find so fascinating about this woman?" but then realized that I've had my own odd obsessions over the years, so who am I to point fingers?

But still.



Thanks to those who posted answers in blogTO in response to Raccoon-proof Green Bins: Fact or Fiction? If you have suggestions or comments re: our raccoon / green bin problem, I do encourage you to post in the comments section of that page. I'll be posting a follow-up article next month. Heh...entering "raccoon-proof green bins" in Google right now turns up my post as the second result.



I'm still enjoying Facebook. I've made useful work contacts, promoted my writing and illustration work, and used some of the Facebook groups for research and getting quotes for articles. And I've also had food fights, been turned into a zombie, and scribbled graffiti on friends' walls. See above example...this Graffiti should not be confused with the other Graffiti (I wish they had picked different app names!); I tried the latter app first but dropped it because I ran into too many problems.

It's been interesting to see individuals and companies competing for Facebook users through their free add-on applications. From a user's standpoint, it's fairly painless ... one click or two to try out an app, a click or two to cancel when you get tired of it. There's a wide range of privacy options, which I like.

Most recently, there have been a flurry of new apps for voice chats and messages. My current favourite is Tag. Reasons: easy interface, "cancel" option, 2 minute limit (keeps messages short). E-mail is good for exchanging info, but I still find that hearing someone's voice, even briefly, can convey so much more. Plus this has potential for songwriting collaboration and music-sharing! I've already sent an improvised whistle mini-performance to my friend Terence in Singapore. :-)



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Don't Ask Me To Draw A Horse (Part 2)

Last month, I made a Blathering post called Don't Ask Me To Draw A Horse explaining how I somehow missed the period in every girl's life where they get obsessed with horses. And unicorns. And make-up and fashion and shopping for clothes, for that matter, but that's another Blathering.

My friend Michelle Dockrey and I decided to become Artsygoal partners. Michelle, a.k.a. "Vixy," not only has an amazing voice (see YouTube video at the bottom of this Blathering) but also is a talented artist; check out her Flickr page. Anyway, one of MY Artsygoals was to finally learn how to draw a horse.

Not just copying or tracing a horse, not just the standard "horse or horse head in profile", but to be able to sit down and draw a horse from various positions without a reference. Here's what my horses currently look like, if I try drawing them without reference / copying:




The picture above was taken by Erin after I drew a sample horse on a tablecloth to prove to some friends that I can't draw horses. My horses tend to look like crosses between dogs and deer. Sort of.

Well, that's gonna change!

I tried working on my Artsygoals in private at first but procrastinated terribly. So I've decided to put my efforts, no matter how humiliating, in public. I figure that'll help motivate me to improve more quickly. :-)

On Friday night, I decided to make my first attempt (as an adult) to really draw a horse. I'm figuring one of the best ways to improve is to do a ton of reference copying (not tracing) in the beginning. Because I don't have access to live models, I found a photo online to use as reference.

I do all my drawing on my MacBook with Corel Painter X, using a Wacom Intuos Artpad.



I found this first sketch REALLY hard! It's clear that I need a lot more practice before I'm going to get the proportions correct. My artist friend, Beckett Gladney, has recommended The Art of Animal Drawing by Ken Hultgren, so I ordered that through Amazon.ca. I've also ordered Perspective Made Easy by Ernest R. Norling (one of my other Artsygoals is to improve my perspective drawing) and Draw Horses With Sam Savitt by Sam Savitt.



Above, I've attempted to fix the sketch somewhat. A tad better, but more pony-like than horse-like. I was strongly tempted to scrap the picture at this point because the sketching part was so hard and the results so disappointing. But I've been procrastinating making my first attempt way too long, so I figured I may as well commit.



Above: Made some more fixes and also added colour. Doesn't bear a great resemblance to the original photo, but at least it's a bit closer to looking like a horse than my usual dog-pony attempts. It's clear I have a lot to learn about how to use shading to show musculature; this would help me in other drawings as well, of course. The shading above the hind leg, for example, makes it look as if there's a weird indentation, which wasn't my intention at all. Lots to learn!



And this is Horse Attempt #2. This time I used this photo as reference. I wanted another simple profile shot, but in a different position.



Above: after the initial very rough sketch with a light gray Pencil brush in Corel Painter, I did one in slightly heavier lines in a separate layer.



I added some background colour using the Pen tool with Flat Color variant, and deleted the sketch layer. I kept each of the different greens in a separate layer to make it easier to work on them later.



Added some shading to the horse by adding colour with the Pen tool (Flat Color variant) then using a Blender brush (Soft Blender Stump variant) to blend the edges of the shading. I constantly change the size of the brushes using the square bracket key shortcut.



The shading went a bit better this time. I think for my next attempts, however, I'm going to focus on details of different parts of the horse. I'm collecting all my attempts in chronological order in my Flickr set, Don't Ask Me To Draw A Horse.

Thanks to my Artsygoal pal, Michelle Dockrey, for inspiring me!





Below: the YouTube video below uses Michelle's "Mal's Song," as the soundtrack; her song cleverly integrates part of the theme song from Firefly. Michelle Dockrey and Tony Fabris (who is playing guitar) are Guests of Honour at next year's FilKONtario.



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Throwing hatchets

Above: Me, harassing my 10-year-old niece (who took the photo). She also took the photo below in the same school playground:



As Scott Snyder pointed out in Flickr, apparently "throwing hatchets" is still okay. :-)

Since Jeff installed a firmware update, my laptop stopped its random shutdowns. Yay for Technonerdboys! I've started to finally catch up on all the work and e-mail that has been piling up during various illnesses and technical difficulties over the past three weeks.

Speaking of technonerdboys...



Our friend Parki came for dinner yesterday, and we checked out his new motorcycle:



I made a spicy peanut chicken recipe from The Healthy Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson which turned out quite well. Tonight I'm making a Turkey and Corn Chowder with Barley (with cumin, jalapeno peppers, other intriguing ingredients) from the same cookbook. I couldn't find packaged boneless turkey, so I bought a bunch of turkey drumsticks and cut off the meat. I did a terrible job and hated to waste all the scraps left on the bones, so I took the scrappy bones and dumped in a pot with water. Right now, they're simmering in a huge pot, hopefully resulting in some yummy turkey broth I can use for other recipes.

Mmm, and the air is fragrant with toasted cumin...

For you filkers out there (or anyone curious about filking), I've been gradually updating my Filk FAQ, with the help of members of the filk community. Most recent addition: What is an 'Interfilk wench'? You browse the full index of questions/answers so far and if you're not sure what filk is, here's an answer. :-)


Bryan and Scott Snyder.



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Cancel relationship?!?

The above was cropped from my Facebook Edit Profile screenshot; Jeff (who recently joined the social networking community, much to my shock) pointed it out to me. Funny and scary at the same time, eh? :-)

My laptop woes continue, but Jeff has been investigating. Apparently my random shutdowns are caused by my hard drive overheating, which was precipitated by my SuperDuper backup malfunctioning.

We're going to fix my backup first, so I have a hope of staying sane if my laptop decides to stay shut down one day, and then look at the shutdown problem. I'm starting to check my Activity Monitor to see what programs and tasks use up the most CPU. I've had to cut down on my multitasking hugely (i.e. no more Corel Painter, Firefox multiple windows and MS Word going at the same time...).



Earlier this week, I had a Cartoon Caption Challenge. Here are some of the suggestions for a caption:

Phil Mills:

Sylvia's expectation of a large tip had been based on her exacting attention to detail.

and

He'd been warned that the Venusian Death Spider appetizer was served rare.

djbpeek:

"Sorry the veg took a while to grow."

Blade:

Sally just had to learn to cook faster - so many first dates ended badly when she entertained at home ...

Amanda:

Anna's latest blind date was a real dead head.

DoubtingThomas:

"I'm sorry for the delay, sir, but I had a great idea for chapter 27, and I just had to write it down."

Joshua Kronengold:

"Honey? I'm sorry I took so long, but the stasis fridge was acting a little weird..."

Christine Hintermeyer:

graveyard shift

Scott:

"I guess the buffet tables are too long here."

Chellie:

Could you do one with a male cook? That'd be swell.

Vivek:

Shashikala's cooking speed was often the bone of contention at dinnertime.

Zander:

"It is a very dry wine, yes, sir..."

Margaret:

"This will put some meat on your bones, sir. Sir?"

Vixy:

"But honey, you said you wanted me to try out some slow-cooker recipes..."\

Katharine Swan:

"See, honey, I told your mother I'd learn to cook someday... Honey?"

Christo:

John was starting to regret Allison's recent purchase of a slow cooker.

Christa:

"So, I was going to fix soup, but then I was afraid it would just go right through you."

Amanda (not sure if this is the same Amanda as the one earlier on):

Anna was disappointed that Mr. Jones yielded such a small serving.

Amy:

"Sorry... I'm on a diet."

Scott Schumacher:

"Well, I see that the Atkins Diet is really helping you these days!"

From the FilKONtario photo archives:




Above: Sibylle, Erin and Walter improvise choreography during an Urban Tapestry rehearsal. Sib's from Germany, Erin's from Buffalo and Walter's from Toronto. Speaking of filky stuff, Allison, Jodi and I got together for dinner last night. Allison wrote about it here. We talked a LOT about slow cookers, and now Jodi might be getting one! Looks like a quiet stretch for Urban Tapestry for a while. The next convention that all three of us will be attending will be next year's FilKONtario.

Thanks to Crystal for the Chocolate Tea, which has been helping me cut down on chocolate:



Have a great weekend, everyone!

Link O' The Day

The squirrels are at it again (link courtesy Dave Weingart)




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Wow! Women On Writing interview

(Update: I just found out that my Guest Blog posts will be updated on DesignSessions Notes On Design every few days, not every day, so have updated the info below.)

WOW! Women On Writing ("an e-zine for women writers, authors, editors, agents, publishers and readers") interviewed me for their April issue; you can see the interview online. The interview was done through e-mail and over the phone; I hope I get to meet Beryl and Angela in person someday...it was fun to chat with them, and their site looks like a great resource for writers. Thanks to Ray Vankleef, Tony Fabris and Beckett Gladney for use of photos they've taken of me in the past! :-)

The issue also has a Q&A with Moira Allen, who helped me with Inklings (companion newsletter to the site) during my Inkspot days, and now runs the excellent resource for writers, Writing-World.com.

Thanks so much to WOW! Women On Writing for their interest in me and my work!

I'm not sure how often I'll be posting for the rest of this week, so I also wanted to remind you all that I'm Guest Blogger at DesignSessions Notes On Design over the next while; please do visit! The blog is part of Sessions School Of Design. There will be five in total. I was limited to 70 words max a post, which was a challenge for me. :-)




My new Wacom Artpad arrived yesterday, a birthday gift from Jeff. I didn't hug the delivery guy, but just barely. Thanks so much to Michelle Dockrey for letting me check out her Artpad at a recent convention. I'm already finding the programmable keys highly useful. My Painter X upgrade package arrived yesterday as well, along with a hefty manual. Yay, I love manuals!



Above: a chocolate calligraphy experiment. I'll be posting more experiments, I'm sure. My focus is on my writing, but I did allow myself the luxury of installing the Wacom driver and Painter upgrade during the day yesterday. I am in artsy geekgirl ecstasy.



Above: A cartoon I created for Illustration Friday. This week's IF word: "Snap." :-)

I'll be posting more FKO photos and highlights eventually. Traveling and FKO were fun, but I'm now looking forward to burrowing back into my usual hermit-ish work habits, losing myself in my writing down in my basement office, with occasional ventures out into the fresh air (I did my first outdoor run of the season yesterday, woohoo!).





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