art, music the universal language, like mumbling!

I've listened to jazz since my teens, all the intellectual reviews about style, and texture, tone, artistry. Deep textural descriptions as if they are trying to give us the play by play from the artist's head. Then I watched brilliant ones like John Coltrane and Sun Ra and visual artist, in interviews, they are as bad as basketball players. Stumbling for words, trying to sound like normal communicating human beings. I guess if you spend so much time and energy in one form of communication you loose something in the others. I'm not knocking their brilliance or intelligence, I'm saying they struggle to put it all into words so you can comprehend what they see. Art and Jazz as universal expressions are still not like scribbling and humming. Now if you look a lot and listen a lot you can and do appreciate more than those who don't. If you play an instrument or draw, you know more. If you read music and play or learned to draw in school, you know even more. OK, I have to admit that visual artist are used to spieling to art on lookers.

My problem is and has always been getting away from the people who are expert in the daily activity language to get into the space where I can work in the art or the music. There are a lot of folk who don't see the worth in terms of time spent or the monetary rewards that are usually not immediately realized. This is a hard nut to crack, I understand why some artist use outrageous behavior to distance themselves from regular people, just to be isolated enough.

You need a space that is can-do-sive. That's where you "can do" what ever your "sive" is. I have a space at home only I can't play my disturbing music. Yeah, African music and jazz are an acquired taste but headphones have me listening for calls outside the phones or up from down stairs. TV is another neural-lier. I look at YouTube to find appropriate content without commercials and fewer Euro faces. No offense but I need the rest of a sea of positive Afri faces once in a while. Seems the broadcast of genuine African flavored broadcast media is non-existent. And African-American entertainment is very Euro flavored in the US, go figure. Not a problem if I weren't looking for my historic origins.

Anyway art and music are universal in the sense that everybody does them. It is rude to be overly particular in this world of diversity but to insist on universal embrace is criminal. Eventually all this nodding to other cultures and becoming expert in playing each other's music makes the original cultures go away. The new thing that takes its place might be a flattering imitation but the reason, motives and supporting lives that generated the original culture that produced the original music in the first place is disconnected. This is troublesome, as the wicked witch in the OZ would say, "I'm blending, I'm blending, what a world!" It might seem good, it's probably bad and it's definitely ugly. This is why artist and musicians strike out to do something crazy, cutting edge, socially uncomfortable, aesthetically disturbing. I guess I leave it at that and let you deal with it as you choose. Shock becomes fad becomes trend becomes fashion becomes the norm. Me, my culture is on the  endangered list.

Art!, what you talk'n bout Willis?

I remember wanting to draw so bad my parents bought me art stuff and when I got them not knowing what to draw. I got the stuff, now I got to draw. You sit on it figuring it out. In the mean time parents and sibling are asking at every chance, "draw anything yet?" It's even worse if they put you in art class to find out. Self discovery at your own pace goes out the window, enter working it out under a deadline. You know artist can make good money, money.....money.........money....... mone.... I'm just not that interested in art any more.

The cause and reason and motivation for art is a subjective thing. Talent springs from the mind-hand-eye coordination, plus an OOH man!, I just gotta make a mark, copy that, make note of that idea, work this out in a sketch. As the talent flows, the skill grows. The most stupid thing a spoiled actor can say is "what's my motivation here?" Read the script and get into the story you jerk. It is not about you until you become and are the character in the story. You are telling the story, be the story.

What about me the visual artist? What story do I tell, I am just drawing a tea cup on a saucer? Ahh! Media tells us your exploration, your preference, your choice. The lines, the form tells your skill to shape the image. The composition tells the emotional conveyance, the ambiance, the setting. Is it a casual cup at a cafe, breakfast at the kitchen table, a hurried spot in the lunchroom at break? Is it a soothing sip or a quick caffeine rush? Is it steaming hot or tepid or empty before the pour, empty after. Was it a good cup or chipped, new or well used. Did you leave behind oiled finger prints or lipstick on the rim or half empty or half full? A spooned teabag, a fingered teabag on the side, a wedge of lemon, torn sweetener pouches and the damn fly that lightens on the rim when your attention is elsewhere. Was it a good cup, I mean satisfying, a complement to good conversation, contemplation or a nerve damage repair and rescue mission cup? A cup of gossip or a no I don't drink coffee  cup? Was it Pekoe Cut Black or Ceylon Mystic Mint or Purple Lavender Rush or tea just tea? LOL, I drink coffee, what do I know?

"What you talk'n bout Willis?" After you put all that effort, energy and emotion into that tea cup drawing, someone walks up and says "what's that?" That's the rub, they don't realize the extent and endurance of your labors, the show is over and they are looking at the press release. You've done the math, they are looking at the aftermath. You've saw the tea cup, drew the tea cup and if the picture doesn't evoke the tea cup in your viewers, maybe they drink coffee and need to have some education. This is why gallery showings are cool, you get to spin your yarn about a great cup of tea. My point is some can and will interpret a drawing, others must be told what it means. The best complement is "thanks for sharing your cup of tea" along with "hey, can I buy that cup of tea?"

multimedia happens a lot lately

How multimedia is multimedia and what's that got to do with me? Don't knock it till you've rocked it! So to be able to brain-wash myself, that is view and review my own  sketches, I scanned them all onto my hard drive. Then I can flick open a picture viewer and look away. I have several viewers the best one is Google's Picasa. Picasa is cool, has many features including a slide show. Oh what good is that? Sometimes while reviewing I see new ideas or how to use an old idea in a new context. Don't study them closely, sort of glance at them in passing, the brain is funny in how it operates, periphery vision (out the corner of the eye) really gets in the brain.

I also have a program that will put your slide show onto a video CD or DVD. You can construct quite a production with transitions styles and a sound track (narration anyone?) This good for a video portfolio or a gallery video art display.

Multimedia is also when I combine my inkjet printing with some hand painted or drawn stuff. Now when you do off computer work you can photograph it too and enhance it on your computer. This will also entice you to use a real pen/pencil or pick up a brush once in a while. By criss-crossing medias new surprises are sure to be noticed.

Play is the thing, serious play because each media has its quirks and character. I can do an ink smear digitally but also on say a paper plate or canvas by hand, they each have their character. As for quirks, pen ink may make a bold line then as it soaks into the surface it might bleed. So here a surface treatment is in order, like a sealant or acrylic gesso. This seals the surface and allows the ink to dry on the surface. In my play I discovered that acrylic paint on the paper plate surface does not bleed like ink does. I can thin the paint with water or gesso to get it to move the way I want.

I do the same play with my printer because photo paper, matte or glossy handles print differently. I also can load various kinds of paper or card stock into the printer. Since the printer ink remains constant, the kind of paper I use really effects the outcome. There is usually a combination that strikes your fancy. To tell you a secret, a lot of simple repetitive operations goes a long way. But, I can't say what works for you.

The main thing is the thought process to get the job done. Don't forget some folks are more inspirational than mechanical. There is a part of art that can't be taught. Even if the technique is good, if the heart or soul is not infused into the effort, it's just a well done mechanical effort. This is why many well trained artist have to get away, lose the training, bury the training, forget the training, exhaust the training, to get back to the core motivations of their artistic energies. Like when you first started, only now you got all this muscle memory and materials knowledge and an exercised vision at your disposal. BUT you all know how it is, you work at it until it flows and it gets better in time. Every stroke is a milestone. And if I'm talking a load of crap, it's because you've discovered a different insight, bravo, work wid it.

Computer art is............

There are the kind of persons in any endeavor who does one thing well. Hats off to them. BUT, the old saying, "a jack of all trades and a master of none", sort of sums up the handyman spirit that has colored our country. Every team sport has second strings, pinch hitters, relief pitchers and substitutes, companies engage in cross training employees as backups. In the arts we wear the blurry title of multimedia artist. Because we've discovered we are not annoyed by other media and methods encroaching into our unique specialty, we have realized that the expanded pallet of ways and means fits our handyman mentality.

Example, my concept of a computer artist was drawing with a digital pen tablet the same as I would draw on paper and an ink pen. I am a trained instrument draftsman not a freehand drawer, so that concept means anxiety and envy constantly. I can do sketches comfortably, yet finished drawings elude me because spin-offs and variations abound, also color and detail is a challenge. The computer allows for obvious advantages, the best one is to change my mind, record it and keep on working along the original thought. When you see my finished work it is an inkjet print, but the process is multimedia. I can sketch a sketch on paper, scan it into my computer, then alter, adjust, manipulate it, then print it.

Oooh man, that's cheating! No, every media has its own set of rules, to draw with charcoal is to draw with charcoal. Charcoal drawing has its feel and look. A computer can emulate that look but not that feel. Even if you put a chunk of coal in the plotter, it can not intuitively turn it to get the "good" edge or adjust the pressure to get the moment by moment nuances of human drawing interaction. The act of drawing is the art for the artist.

Computer art is different yet the same. You have to pick a path to get to the end result. You must be careful how you alter and edit so as to not mess up the continuity of your work. If you sketch on paper, scan in, then edit, does your computer fixes mesh with your hand drawn scanned work, or stick out like a patch on a tire? On the computer many paths have been outlined by their overall usefulness. Like photo editing or desktop publishing or CAD (computer aided design). The tools in the software haven't changed, but the application of them is glorified in certain processes. In reality you use whatever tools gets the job done.

I have picked a sub-set of all the things a computer can do. By focusing on what I know, I don't get overwhelmed by complexity and it leaves room to learn more stuff as I go along. Don't forget if you know too much the only thing you can do tell others what you know. That can take you right out of the doing. I know this because old guys are expected to pass on their experiences to the younger generation. But at art I am still a new guy!

As you all know I promote Free Open Source Software especially for artist. It may not be what you need for commercial professions where commercial software dominates and is the norm, but for you who are exploring, learning, free lancing, have no qualms, want to try it out, and do art with your economics in check, there you go. 

Back to the art of art

Well folks, the designated black history month is over but ever continues in the background. Too much info and not enough mind to comprehend all you'll never learn in school. So back to the regular stuff.

Your Linuxville guide has done it. I have my new but used laptop with Ubuntu and open source apps on it. Then I took one of the PCs at the art center and loaded open source apps on it to match what I have on my laptop. The art center desktop runs Win XP. So I now have GIMP, Inkscape, MyPaint, Scribus, TuxPaint, Wings 3D, Libre Office, and Google's Sketchup on both machines.

Here's my plan. Introduce folks to Open Source Graphics Applications to learn what they can do with free software using the same tools and techniques as used in commercial software. This is basic stuff. The caveat comes when you want to step up to the next level. Do you buy the commercial software or learn the deeper skills on Open Source? Most Photoshop folk don't like GIMP and vice-versa. Familiarity and habit are the culprits. You do what you need to do but if you must learn both, I hope you've got a wide bandwidth. I think the key is knowing you don't have to know everything, just what you need to know, huh?

I haven't used the digital pen and tablet to draw, still haven't got into that. I have drawn on paper, scanned it into GIMP to tweak it, then imported it into Inkscape. In Inkscape there is a bitmap tracer that works great. I am also using GIMP/Inkscape to make textures for a Sketchup project. A few simple techniques can give you lots of mileage. Then when you learn something new, your repertoire is enlarged. I am so tempted to revisit older projects to capitalize on new skills. Don't make a habit out of that though, you never get any new stuff done. Man, if I only knew then what I know now!

I love the idea of the print. If you've done silk screen or lithographs or block prints, you know what I mean. The print can be a blast or the source of anguish. In the digital print world you have to learn to accept what it is, a print. Inkjet has it's character. It is not appreciated in the fine art sense the way inkjet print photography is. So a lot is riding on color and composition if the print device can spit it out. Yeah, you've got to work the software and the printer. I had a guy see my stuff imagining them as big paintings. When he saw they were small prints, what a let down. I am disappointed too, I told him. While I can do the artwork for free, the big prints are costly. My printer can print 13" x 42", I use a service like OfficeMax for larger prints. So printing big has no advantage over doing an acrylic painting the same size, where you have to buy paints and canvas and stretchers and frames, etc. Digital is cool though when it comes to reproductions, they all are originals.

I'm getting too busy doing things other than making art. Making artistic persons is time consuming. Still gathering hardware to have classes. We are looking for PC monitors now. Still having fun.

last day of the feast

Today is the last day of the scheduled Black History Month. I didn't celebrate with others like other descendants of immigrants in this country celebrate their points of origin. We have big celebrations for being American and then slightly smaller celebrations for various ethnic groups. When Black people's time comes around there are isolated public displays, perhaps a rally and a picnic, but it's not like a national public display. We have a history of being shamed, even lynched in public, we are leery of open displays of pride. Safety in numbers huh, whats to stop the squashing of even a million man march, if it suits an end game.

I was in college in the 70's, we tried to have a celebrate Black heritage week. We sported our dashikis and fros (real hair not wigs), we had drum troops, stepp'n troops, dance and singing. We did rap before it became cursing and dissing. We talked Malcom and MLK and Douglas. The first year it was glorious, the second a ho-hum, the third a what the hell was that. To "celebrate" Black History never catches on really, there is too much effort to rekindle it every year, sparks but no fire. There is something wrong, something missing, hidden, unexplained, covered up.

Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 in the Bible says a certain people will forget and be forgotten, forget their God, heritage, and ways. Psalms 83 speaks of a collusion of crafty council to make you forget and wipe you out of remembrance (the Willy Lynch letter). We are a people who as a whole can't say who we are or where we are from. We can't point to our origin, don't speak our original language and can't figure if the things we do are whispers of our forgotten culture or not. Black scholars and truth seeking individuals have posted so many identifying clues but as a group we don't identify enough with this information to link, bond and have a cultural remembering as a group. Oh it can't be that!!

Remembering, remembering, remembering. When I get out of my car at the grocers, walking to the door, I look at every face. I look for remembrance in every Black face. Almost all have forgotten, perhaps one or two might give a sign of knowing. Some are still waiting, some have given up, some given over. It doesn't matter, so what, who cares. The ones who have it can't pass it on because younger ones can't receive it. We can't even say if what we have discovered is real. Can't trust the establishment who lied. It's hidden in plain sight, we still don't believe what we are seeing. It's so hard to remember when you've been cut off...............reparations won't restore knowledge of self.

working preference

OK, we can maneuver in the various camps via common hardware and cross-over Open Source Software and user activities. And we know that if you can do what you do on any platform, there must be a reason why Linux is your personal choice. Yes besides the economics, I like what I have become familiar with. I know what to expect in this Linux environment. I kind of know how to fix somethings beyond average user knowledge, yet I am not a Linux engineer or a system administrator (able to run a server room). I can manage my Linux PC. This is an essential part of owning a Linux PC because there are few desktop technicians trained in Linux PC support of consumer desktops, corporate networked systems yes, personal Linux PC support no.

Linux does have it's hassles like unfamiliar application names and too many variables within some applications.  It's not necessarily more complex, mostly not throughly enough explained (in a simple manner!). This is further strained when most documentation is down-loadable or on line only. Oh, the comfort of a printed book in your hands! Now Linux does have a fair share of point-n-click applications, but for the most part Linux users expect to tweak things to make them work closer to their needs.

OK, repeat after me, "the tools are the same, the names have been changed to keep the copy-right protests (of the other camps) at bay." Campbells has a trademark patent on their name. If they were to copy-right the word "Soup", then anyone who makes a similar concoction would have to call it "********'s broth with various stuff in it." We don't like copying because it robs somebody of potential sales. Now, "soup" is a publicly accepted, widely used description of "broth with various stuff in it". That's public domain, in common use! Campbells can patent "Campbell's Soup" but not "Soup" by its self. I think Microsoft has been accused of trying to patent "soup" for years. Linux has from the get has offered "broth with various stuff in it", we all recognize it's soup, it's implied. MS still doesn't like it. To add insult to injury Linux and MS run on the same hardware. Good thing there is Open Source Software.

Be happy with your MS powered PC, peaceful even. But do give Open Source Software a try especially if your budget is strained. As for me, I've found the quality, utility and fun of Open Source Software enhanced on the Linux PC and it serves me well. So, Linux is my preference. I recommend Open Source because it is available for Linux and MS PCs. Many folk don't have a choice of PC (like at work), some use what they bought or outright choose MS.  I say this so when the Linux fanboy flag is hoisted over the Linuxville guide chateau, it says I am mainly for Linux, though I keep my passports to the other camps in order.

visiting other camps

It is a problem I face everyday, visiting other camps. I am a Linux guy and I have friends who are of the Mac camp and mostly in the MS camp. It is hard to describe to them what it is like in the Linux camp. They don't spend any time there, they really don't know. I try to say I am doing the same as they are in their respective camps, the push-back is always one of unfamiliarity. Many say "I thought, I heard........?" and "yeah but....." They expect others they meet are using MS PCs, Mac users often evoke interested surprise, but Linux users bring out the "Oh, what's that?" and the "I never messed with that!" remark. There is a geek envy but suspicious concern, "does he really think he knows more than me?" I've had MS based techs try to fix me (I should comply, conform or buy a Mac).

So to put all rumors to rest, it is all the same. There are shallow mouse clickers and deep code heads in every camp. All you know that is exclusive to your camp is similar to the same in the other camps, why? Because computers are the same. Macs design their own hardware, yes, but if the little difference was removed there'd be no difference. MS and Linux run on the same hardware, though MS is always trying to get PC hardware vendors to lock out other platforms (like Linux). How dare you buy a machine with MS on it, wipe the hard drive or repartition the drive or add a drive to install Linux along-side MS or to replace MS altogether! Then users don't want to pay for a MS they are not going to use. "Remove MS and you void your warranty!!" The typical consumer doesn't face this but this is normal for Linux users. Linux is still mostly a not on-the-shelf, after-market alternative. But, there are a few vendors that do offer Linux pre-installed on PCs (yeah man!).

Being a tech means fixing basic PCs from the MS camp. I don't mind hardware repairs, software repairs however requires me to be familiar with MS OS and software. I don't have time to live in both MS and Linux camps. My knowledge of MS stuff is limited. Usually knowing what tools finds the problem, the steps to fix it, the steps to keep it from happening again, helps big time. From my experience its fix the PC then the PC user habit (stop that!, please).

What is cool is Free Open Source Software that runs on the various platforms. Of course you can't take GIMP that runs in Linux and put it on your MS or Mac. GIMP is recompiled or re-coded to run on other platforms. The code is made platform compliant but the functions and interface or desktop you see and use are the same. So you get the version of GIMP that is made for your computer, it will run, you can use it. Mileage may vary is also the word of caution used in this cross camp pollination. The quirks of particular camps can cause camp specific glitches. It's not a perfect world. If it were there'd be nothing to fix. Hey, are you still grumbling my doing art on a Linux PC? You been in your camp too long, got to get out more.

we're fine, we are all fine, aren't we?

I want to say we are all fine here at the Linuxville chateau, not. I am getting overwhelmed. Focus, focus, dang! Just burnt a hole in the curtains. LOL, you know using Open Source Software programs can't be as complex and serious as using the commercial pro-ware. It's even worse! I now know just enough to get by in GIMP, Inkscape and non-OSS but free Sketchup. The things I want to do requires deeper experience, deeper study and major play time. I also know if I had to buy GIMP and Inkscape and the other Open Source stuff I might could afford a couple but not all of them. I got them all and each one is a profound world on there own. Time, I need time!

I am thinking of teaching some classes at the art center when we get some PC's. I probably don't know as much as some students but I am willing to bet most haven't even considered Free Open Source Software. After a long introduction to Open Source Software and uncovering a flood of free resources to boot, what to teach? I am thinking of a tea/coffee party where each student draws the cup, saucer and libation in the various artist programs. Drawing forms, solids and liquid, light and shadows and making it appealing so you can almost smell the aroma.

Actually, in Inkscape how to use bezier curves is most useful. Most don't go beyond simple shapes and text. You guess right I am a simple shape kind of guy. In GIMP to be able to sketch like drawing on paper or paint same as using oils or watercolor would be cool. I will have to tell my students I am a student like they are, exploring and discovering myself. The biggest help is all the on-line videos. So I am thinking about using a studio lab scenario rather than a classroom all follow the teacher program. Layers and masks are essential knowledge. Art can be abstract, sort of realistic to photo-realistic. Also art can be decorative or illustrative and can be the vehicle for other arts like book art and movie art. Sketchup is a 3D program, that for sure is another world and rendering is alien science.

The basic stuff, hmmmmmmmm! Simple lines, circles, shapes with a mouse and digital pen. Also all those drop down menus and keyboard shortcuts. Tools man, it's all about the tools, then moves. Moving the mouse, the pen, getting that muscle memory and that feel and that eye. Know what to expect out of your software, also your discovered biases, strengths and weaknesses. Being familiar is half of being comfortable, being accomplished or experienced is the other half. The strangest thing is realizing you don't need to know everything about a software. Some things you might not ever use. And there are usually hidden functions or combinations of functions discovered by other users, very helpful at times. Yup, if you fall this way, and are in for the long haul, you'll learn way too much.

about that bandwagon

Think about it, the latest Hamster rock commercial for Kia's Soul is not only catchy but many people who winced at the Soul now think it is sort of kind of cool, maybe wink!! Ever since I got my first computer and browsed the net to see what the digital artist were doing I was sucked in. There was fantastic art, the equipment used and the software. OH, I had to have it to be able to do it. I've never been able to get that level of equipment or afford the software. So my skills were never nurtured from the beginning the way I had hoped. I became a electrical drafter of the pen and ink era, then a CAD (computer assisted/aided draftsperson/designer). I even designed printed circuit boards for a little while. That was a practical end as opportunities for my passions did not present themselves. Livelihood occupation yes, passion no. You can't put stuff on the back burner forever. 

It is a weird state of affairs when you do your job with conviction and your hobby with zeal, passion and great satisfaction. Sometimes if the hobby becomes the job you lose the heat. The gotta get a buck to payoff something is an awkward thing to manage at times. Back to the bandwagon. I got a reasonable PC and desire to draw. Finding reasonable software is hard. There is free-ware of questionable quality, trial-ware both feature limited, output crippled and full-featured time limited software, and the pro-ware. Talk about exasperation, I hate the idea that the usefulness of what I downloaded and installed will run out before I even get to learn it. Oh yeah, I forgot beta-ware. I had Rhino 3D when it was a trial beta version, man was that cool. Free and easy to use, all I had to do was supply the key code. When the beta period was over, so was free and somehow I lost one of the original six floppy's it was stored on. I went to the Rhino 3D site and it was $$$$ to get the real thing. There was a time-limited trial version however.

In walks Linux and Open Source Software. Now I'd been using Linux for a while and playing with the artist applications. I occurred to me, I was using Open Source art apps but still looking and comparing them to commercial apps on the MS and Mac platforms. This was stupid because I didn't have any intention on buying a Mac and MS software was also an economic strain. Let me look and see what I have already.

GIMP is sort of like Photoshop, emphasis on sort of like. Replacement is not accurate and alternative is not with exact duplication in mind. It has lots of the same tools, abilities and techniques, more and less.

Inkscape is sort of like Adobe Illustrator in the fact it handles vector drawing. Again replacement and alternative is a mileage may vary kind of thing.

My Paint is a natural paint app, it is what it is.

LibreCad is a drafting app, I think better than Qcad because it is closer to AutoCad in function and file formats.

There are many other Open Source Softwares that run in Linux and the Microsoft platform and some on the Mac. My point is the tools, same tools. Techniques may be different, better, worse, probably similar. Usually the main points of concern are file formats and support from users and vendor/developers. And above all Open Source Software is free to download, to install and use. Also free to change the code if you have that ability, you might even improve it for others. Any caveats? Well if you are born and bred in the Mac and Microsoft worlds, thinking what else is there, as if there is nothing else...............sorry you are wrong, incorrect and misinformed. I fact I'd say you were rock'in to MS and Apple's hamster commercials. I didn't know either, but now I do and so I tell you. Open Source Software, especially the artist apps can get you drawing today, no waiting to buy, no trial time-ou...........................

fresh off the bandwagon update

OK OK I heard you, you want an update cause my last rendering was lame. Come on, you know it takes time to learn something and get good at it. This is the big problem with art, it is manual labor, especially if you want 2 things, originality and quality. So it is with Sketchup, you just can't get up to speed by looking at it or watching someone else do it. All those those options to choose from and concepts to learn (by doing!).

I watched a few video tutorials and tweaked a few settings and rendered again. Here's a screenshot just for you.

I re-imported my painting, this time as a texture, added some clarity and reflection to the glass. I don't understand this glass thing yet. The rendering took a couple of minutes. I'd say it's not bad to start. I utilized both cores of my Centrino CPU. This is not a complex picture, there are not a lot of geometry here. I have done ray-tracing on a 486 CPU computer, it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r for a drawing as simple as this. So a reasonably fast multi-core processor, plus as much RAM as the PC can handle and a descent videocard and "I see you have constructed a new light saber, your skills are complete." Still you must face Vader. So take the red pill to know the truth, dance on the yellow brick road shouting "Party Rock!", ''we gonna fly like a penguin in the sea.....fly fly fly like a penguin.....it's a Linux thing. The cool thing is when you can model odd intricate shapes and develop scenes. We are progressing albeit slowly.

That's it for now gotta get some work done and don't forget Free Open Source Software (FOSS) can be your strong ally in your computer life. As for Google's Sketchup, the free version makes me want to progress and get the pro version. And a big shoutout to Kerkythea for being whizz-bang cool and simple for this fool to use.

open to open source

The Black history mystery continues to unfold (so brace yourself), but we must also be about the things you visit here for, Open Source and Linux. I have been busy busy helping friends do practical things. That's rebuilding a bathroom and all. But another friend was locked out of her trial version of Microsoft Office (timed out). She couldn't even get to her schoolwork on her laptop. I whipped out my "Open Disc" DVD and installed LibreOffice onto her MS Vista system. It didn't work. This was because it required a JRE (Java Runtime Environment). I downloaded and installed a JRE from the net, fired up LibreOffice and did the penguin dance. LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice, same but different, as they say. Gotta love Open Source!

Also I have had the limitations from my old laptop put to rest. I am now running Ubuntu 11.10 with Gnome Shell desktop in 4gig of RAM. And have installed Wine because MS XP as a virtual machine was too easily mangled. To my surprise Wine is working fine. I have installed Google's Sketchup the free version. Sketchup is by far the easiest to use 3D program anywhere. Easy to navigate, easy to construct stuff and fun, especially after the bandwagon music stops playing. Want to see?

 This is the Sketchup desktop and my second construction. I drew each board, arranged them together, drew, pushed and pulled boxes to make the room. Then imported some furniture from the Google 3D Warehouse. The painting is one of my own imported in. I set in some shadows and installed a program called Kertythea which does photo realistic rendering as shown below.

Now this shot was done without tweaking any values just to see if I could get something out of it. Hey, what happened to my painting? Yeah I am still learning. Now there are feature-trimmed free versions of Sketchup and Kertythea, but they have enough power to bring out drooling in you. I am not knocking any Linux graphics app but Sketchup is the better BOMB! Though it doesn't run natively on Linux systems, with Wine and enough RAM it works very nicely, Kertythea also. Oh yeah, Wine is a Linux program, a Microsoft Windows compatibility layer that allows (some) Windows compatible applications to run within a Linux environment. It is not flawless for all Windows apps.

As for my kind of art, the decor/architectural thing is kind of my taste. Art that people can live with. Computer graphics from CAD and photo-realistic to digital painting is a big world. Tools man, it's all the tools. If you are doing the work, it's all about the tools. Then it's about the file formats. The tools are the same on the free Open Source applications as the commercial professional applications. The package the tools come in is the diff, plus tax, title, license, support, stigma, fanbase and purchase receipt, LOL. Anyway, my suggestion is learn all you can on the free Open Source stuff, save the dough and if you have to go pro, spend the dough!

black history month commercials

Actually February's first two weeks are all about Valentine's day, of course there are little segments about this black person and that. Put what we already know on the TV and that will keep the not natives happy. After the love fest is over the last two weeks try to make up giving us lots of MLK and Rosa Parks spots. You have to accept the fact that the ones who run the networks only know and acknowledge so much. The breath and depth of Black History would be controversial even for educational TV. Poor Tavis Smiley after all these years still is not aired in a real prime time spot. That man is as brilliant as they come and his guest and the way he ferrets the dialog is far and away better quality than any popular news talk show I've seen. We are still waiting on Oprah, but I don't and won't have cable. So, of the airwave broadcast channels on my free TV owned by non-blacks, nothing new, every year.

I will remember this when St. Patrick's day comes and say sorry, green or no green I am not Irish. And don't you dare wear brown/black or red/black/green on MLK day, blackface or claim you got "soul" too or call me brother. There are parts of my history that still are a festering blister eating at my soul. Why is the pain passed on from generation to generation but the cause of the pain ignored. Please feel guilty on my behalf but don't muster up solutions to try to make me educationally or economically equal. The life we all live in this country is built upon lies, if we flinch the wrong way it all crumbles. The main problem is identity ie the Willy Lynch Letter. History, Black History was cut off by reason of the enslavement and perpetuated by gov policy and public sentiment. Generations following the slave era were taught the waning reasonings till this day. They enjoy the aftermaths and shrug the shoulders at the notion of involvement. Strange American thinking, we take societal action but deny personal involvement. We are guilty but I myself am innocent. This is normal thinking in America, we did this as kids. Yeah, we did this but I am not guilty.

Blacks here are not all African people, though many of us were taken from the continent by that name. We had specific nations as our source and evidence points of migrations and dispersions because of famines, persecutions, political captivities resulting in colonies and settlements, and enslavements. The who's who of nations of origins is hidden in plain sight. Lie upon lie has augmented history and this augmented history is taught to each generation. When history is researched, it is with the lies in view. It is so hard to disprove what you've been taught. One lie dispelled calls to question the other things surrounding that lie. Most would not even bother, but eventually when confronted, the same rage as others. It is like grieving, you have to work through the process, no one escapes the process.

We have one book that won't go away easy, the Bible, the Holy Bible. Much has been done to explain it away, even whole nations stealing the ID of the people who are the subject of it. It is a good thing the thieves and the real subjects of the the Bible are identified in the Bible. People don't read the Bible. They get their understanding from learned men who were taught lies and are trapped by their own sincerity. They are placed in authority and trusted for their speaking. The hearing public never questions them, never reads the book for themselves. I was taught by learned men,  commentaries, got sick of all the explanations and expoundings, am reading the bible myself. There are no Christians in the bible, Christian as a way of worship and religion didn't happen till after 325 AD at the non-Hebrew and non-Christian Roman Emperor Constantine's meddling. This was not a good thing. All the Bible people of the faith of Abraham/Issac/Jacob (Israel) were/are Hebrews. Some gentiles were added in the New Testament time via the gospel of Christ. Rome squashed Jerusalem in 70AD, killed, enslaved and scattered the Hebrews. From 70AD till 325AD Rome orchestrated a takeover of the Hebrew faith and invented Christianity. The belief was changed to merge the faith in Christ with the pagan beliefs and prolong the Roman Empire (till this day!).

The truth is in there, but every year the Bible is re-translated and re-interpreted and re-printed. It is so called made easy to understand, made palatable to English speakers and Western thinking. Every year words, verses, entire passages are changed or removed. I have friends who insist that God can preserve his word and has done so throughout the ages, as if God's adversaries aren't able to operate a word processor and printer without God's say so and change what is printed then handed to you. The Jewish scribes have done this very thing during/after the Babylonian captivity when hand written docs were done.  Plus words themselves mean one thing to the originating Hebrew audience and another to todays varied readers. Even biblical dictionaries which are not "God's Word" are subject to change and have changed. If definitions change, then your understanding changes also. Christians are far too superstitious concerning physical reality by trusting in faith and "God" where due diligence in study is the more appropriate tool.

We are talking Black History, am I saying that Black History and Biblical History coincide? It is the same history, especially if you link the whole story and prophecies together and not pick out a few incidents that might relate to glory seeking national pride. The present state of the descendants of the Biblical children of Israel is not one to boast in at all. There is no power or glory, you can not disobey God and yet bare God's glory by reason of a name or an assumed history, or occupy a Biblically promised land area, this is not Indiana Jones. We have all been taught to be Christians of some sort. There are no Christians in the Bible. Who are the people of the Bible? Who are their descendants? What are the covenants written to them and for them? How are the gentiles related to them, added to them? When gentiles are added to the believers are they Christians (as Rome has called us since Biblical times) or Israel as God has called his people since Jacob?

Out from Christianity has come confusion and uncertainty. If Christianity identifies the true Hebrews for whom the promises and covenants are written for according to the Bible, things will start to straighten out at Christianity's demise. But the gentile believers in Christ will have to realize they are grafted into Israel, not spiritual Israel, but a real actual people of God whom God called Israel.
You must ID the real Israel, they are scattered throughout the world today. They have forgotten their history and heritage, language, it's been bred out of them. This also is in the Bible. Also in the Bible is the restoration of the people Israel and then the restoration of the nation in the land by the same name. If all the elements of this story are overladed onto the present reality, you can see why the world is in chaos.

Open Sourced Black History Month

We take a break in the normal push to acknowledge and comment on the thing known as Black History Month. My bone to pick is when other cultures in this conglomerate of immigrants called the US display their heritage, there is a recall of ancient times and the unbroken trail to get here. When US Black folks do the same we only talk of the boat that brought us and what we did since we got here. There are no ancient times, but then again we weren't immigrants either. Much has happened to wipe the memory of our past from our knowledge banks, common conversation and replace them with disconnected snippets of truth, half-truths and out right lies. At first the idea was to make us slaves, then subservient citizens, then reluctantly allow us to blend in till we don't care anymore. I know, I have a blended family, it is a good deterrent from seeking the truth.

Truth seeking is a hard game, names and times change so often it is easy to get confused.  Academic ego poisoning has turned fact researchers into racist dogs. Imagine discarding truth because it doesn't support what you arrogantly and erroneously believe. They find it more glorious to say we invented it rather than we learned from others and developed it further.

Fact finding takes a thousand eyes from many sources. Common threads abound and what was recorded in one country is also recorded in a different way in other involved countries. Sometimes it a cultural link, a language, a practice, or an event, a series of events. For me it is backward questions. How did we get to the boat, the field from where I was captured? What was I doing there? Where was I before that? Was I indigenous or migrant? Were we fleeing war, persecution, drought, on trade routes? Were we carrying products or were we the products? Who were we in every exchange and name change? What did we encounter along the way and what did we leave behind when we moved on? What is the span of time these things took place? Can a people still be considered a people after such a long span of time? We are talking 2000 years and multiple generations, blending with other peoples, us and others forgetting who we were/are.

It started with the very thing I was supposed to be ashamed of, my skin, and a picture from the Bible. Moses put his hand into his bosom, pulled it out and it was leprously chocolate brown. No, it was already brown and turned leprous, as white as snow. I also found the famous De Vinci and Michaelangelo competed for a commission to paint Roman (white) faces on religious artwork (the Renaissance). No animosity toward anyone today, we've all been lied to. Many believe the lies, live out the lies, regard the lies as truth. No need to check it out, right!? And when the truth is revealed, there is rage, the change is monumental and how dare you challenge what we all have accepted as true, you are lying and cursed and deserve to be killed, blasphemy, blasphemy!! The white guys in the Bible were really brown guys!? I could be a Hebrew, the pieces seem to fit. The world history and biblical prophecies concerning the descendants of the Children of Israel seem to fit. It is a prophecy that we would be enslaved, forget and be forgotten and our ID would be assumed by others.

Yeah, we invented the oil jiggy, the hair curler upper and the electric traffic cop.

please, overcome your FOSS asumptions

What's driving the home grown and grass-root digital arts effort. You'd think it's the same thing that's driving the professional digital art world, after all that is the standard, right. Well yes and no. Yes, the art world as we know it is entrenched, most get schooled for jobs down the road and the notion of art preservation has paved the way to museum walls. On the other side of the coin is portable art, disposable art, art on every object bought and sold by humans to humans. Well............ it turns out that, and we are talking software here, that Free Open Source Software (FOSS) can do the same things that commercial software can do.

Poor Johnny can't draw on his PC because his Photoshop trial version time limit has been reached. Purchasing power has not been bestowed upon him. Maybe he can get another trial version or get a crack (oooh Johnny?) to turn his Photoshop clock back. Meanwhile, his friend and friendly fire rival neighbor has been drawing steady for months, no sweat, with Open Source Software. Now multiply this incident by your classroom of art hungry digital art students. The waiting for resources vs the getting down to draw (with the same tools) today. GIMP today, Photoshop tomorrow or when ever. I am tell'n ya, save the Photoshop for advanced work towards the professional if ya want to go that way.

Meanwhile in a garage across the street from the well established but restricted budget school of sport and ARTS cuts, a dozen art frenzied kids are slinging pixels. Older PCs, XP and Linux powered with Open Source softwares in a low budget operation. That's what I see anyway.

I have a more powerful laptop as I told you all, it is running Ubuntu Linux 11.10. I don't care for the Unity desktop and installed the Gnome Shell and I love it. Having more resources I tried to install XP as a virtual machine. It worked at first, then got messy and I couldn't recover. Instead I have installed Wine, billed as not an Windows emulator, allows you to run some Windows applications in Linux. I've tried this on my old laptop, it didn't work well at all. Now with better processor, more memory, Wine works really well, so far (I'm cautious). I don't want to run every free art app I can find, they don't all work in Wine and who's got that much time or bandwidth. You can only get good at or find useful just so much. The big Windows app I wanted was Google's SketchUp. There is a free version and a feature rich paid version. You can find open source software that does similar but Google's SketchUp is established, has resources, pre-built models and lots of fans. Sketchup works well in Wine, but I am guessing you got to have enough RAM memory and a descent processor. SketchUp is well explained, easy to learn and can be as advanced as any professional CAD system. I would have made SketchUp a Java app like SweetHome3D. SweetHome3D is a Java app that runs on any PC with Java. You draw a floorplan and it draws the walls in 3D, then you can put 3D furniture in there.

So art on the PC can be doodles, paintings or CAD, 2D, 3D and it's all about the tools, not how the tools are packaged. It can be done in Free Open Source Software at low to no cost, nuff said.

why fi, when you can face to face

I was a teenage artist, doing my thing and looking for an avenue. I wasn't an "art student" or under tutorship in some program. Most of my artist pains were from being alone. None of my friends were into drawing, it was Motown and girls. One day at school I went into the "other" student lounge during lunchtime. A group of guys were huddled around a table and butchering some Motown tunes, street corner crooning style. Then they hit on a tune just right and the harmony shook the room. Immediately the other kids gathered around the table, ears wide open. It was sweet, live, impromptu. Then the crowd went back to their places, they missed the interesting part. The guys then whipped out their specialties, a couple of poets, a couple drew black super hero comic book characters, one drew custom cars, a couple were into fantasy football via those plastic men on buzz boards. I brought out my sketchpad and showed my house drawings. I got oohs and aahs and critique and encouragement right then and there. I didn't even have to ask can I join, I was in. Couldn't sing, but I was in. Thus I took my talents as far as I could in that time frame, challenging my self to have something new and better to show the group. Then my family moved to a different part of the city. The new school had no such group to hangout with. It was back to lonely artist pain.

In college I was awash with stories of Silicon Valley, the tech culture. Folks  there literally worked out of their garages. Tech people hung out together to trade stories, theories, to boast-n-brag, to find collaborators, make deals, etc. Today folks don't have confidence in the possible idea, or trust in other like minded persons. Other persons are adversaries, competitors, conspirators. To work with others today you need a prenuptial and a stack of disclaimers.

The cellphone is a wonderful connection device, but it is a stall, a virtual stall. Like being in a cubical, toilet, elevator, or closet, you are virtually private. There should be a law never look at a person on the phone. How many people live on their cells? Maybe I should open a "no why-fi zone" restaurant, in fact no media in it. Hey, rno's got a new place where people actually talk to each other face to face. Woe, do people do that any more? That's gotta hurt to watch eyes, moving lips and body language all at the same time. Dag, that's like being married, that's too close. You think I am funny? My wife no longer yells up the stairs after me, she calls me on my cell.

Hanging out is an art. Finding like minded souls is a bliss. They are your toughest critics and your strongest encouragement to get your art done and out there. This is the grass-roots that makes it all go.

The difference is where you are standing

Stand in the middle of a field and dream a little. Then walk to the edge, take the whole field into view. The change in perspective should be profound. Using the arts to revive a town should not be based solely on the success of another city but also on the potential of the town you're in. This is because the players, the landscape and the times are different. It is not about bringing a franchise in called artist revival. There needs to be serious grunt work. Some give up practicing the arts in order to support the arts. There is a lot to happen behind the scenes to make art visible. Turning art from school projects and pastimes into businesses or any kind of economic engine takes numbers of art interested and art involved persons.

When I was in college there were a number of businesses that sprang up on campus. An old carriage house turned into a swanky pizza and wine restaurant, a shop that sold posters and dorm room decor. My favorite was a hole in the wall restaurant that had steamed brown rice-n-veggies, bean soups and open-faced sandwiches. There were coffee shops and book shops. I don't believe any of them were franchises. They had uniqueness, were not scripted, polished, canned, homogenized and sanitized.

We have generations that don't hangout like in the past. Online global networking gives the illusion of being connected to anybody and everybody, but when we only meet via this media all the safety conventions and cultural seasonings of face to face are lost. We must recover local networking and reach out from there. We have abandoned union halls, veteran halls and cultural center halls all over town. Declining numbers of old folk still go to these places but the young folk don't identify with cultural/race the same way their elders do. If you don't locally gather at a church, school or a rec center, life is isolated. Work is not a social activity, not like in the past.

We have a computer user's group in town, mostly older folk. Young folk aren't interested in computers the same way. There has to be some faddish thing for young folks to get excited. They are hooked on the games not the hardware, playing around not doing something practical. I bet you a smart phone group would be a hit, but I also bet you couldn't get young folks into one room for a formal organized club meeting.

Art is still a hands-on activity, handling the physical world and making the world a more livable place. Art can be simple or complex, performed by a young person or an older person. Talent aside, art is a great agent of therapeutic results and academic possibilities. Art still has a shape-shifting definition in both the object itself and the beholder. Art is faddish and timeless at the same time. Art slips into places where social, political, religious and economic stubbornness have all but closed the door to what is still good about us that we care to share with each other. Art is still locally produced and shared. Home grown.

pretty carp to being outstanding in your field

If Mac users are hungry whales, MS users veracious sharks (duh duh, duh duh...), then Linux users in mass are drooling penguins. I try to herd them past the Koi tanks, "For Show Only, Not for Lunch" I say.  They drooled so bad everyone was slipping-n-sliding-n-falling. Hard to get predators to read the liner notes, Koi are fresh water fish you salty dogs. Koi are a cultured lot, the cream of the Carp, not a glorified Guppy. Besides I think predator taste buds are in their stomachs, they don't even chew their food. Slow down, saver the flavor!..........and dibs on that.

What has this to do with art, digital and otherwise. Here in my post-lost of industrial base town. We are trying to revive via the help of local artist. We have discovered that competition for recognition and rewards and resources have reduced artist to individual feeding frenzy crazed I am somebody worthy to be paid well and dang near worshiped maniacs.

Let me make it plain. Town or neighborhood recovery requires grass-roots effort. The grass on top that is visible to all needs cut/trimmed regularly. This controls the grass and the WEEDS. The roots that are invisible (underneath) are what remains and sustains. Artist are used in recovery work because they have a work-flow that is integrated into their lives. Often their work needs and living needs are the same needs (work in the home). This creates a tension which fuels local economy, social networks, community concerns and resolutions, cultural identity or character of the community, etc.

To start, artists need to communicate, collaborate, establish the community, grow commerce, then compete. Competition is about friendly fire not destroy all comers. Why because some artists are supremely gifted and some not. Then some artist are well received and some less. If you create a healthy environment, all the milk is enjoyed, the froth, the cream, the milk, the milk mustache supports the napkin industry, the milk residue fuels the dish detergent industry, yogurt and cheese and milk flavoring, latte and lactate free. Besides the industry of art itself, artist possess a work ethic. Somehow if a town languishes too long, the work ethic drains away. Easier to steal from your neighbor than work for your own sinks into many towns.

Jobs are scarce near where I live, I keep my chin up while I look for work by doing art projects. Keeping busy wither getting paid or not helps keep the work ethic alive. I get up, get busy, plan, work at it, finish it. I joined with other artist doing the same thing. We struggle with where we are going with this. We hope for other artist joining in to become aware of a community of necessity, establishing the roots on the bottom while cultivating the grass on top. Once the grass is growing strong, weeds can be tolerated and managed. Before then weeds overwhelm, drain the nutrients and look like hell. Please note, there are not enough weeds to make bio-fuel and challenge the oil industry. If heavy industry comes, OK, if not we will roll with what we have and be successful with that.

dead trophy fish or koi

How do you art? I have my ways. As much as I want to draw on a computer the same as I would on paper, that is not my pattern. Being a draftsman for years does something to you. I am used to drawing with instruments, using templates, keeping a library of reusable parts and symbols and recycling drawings. I usually don't do sketches on the computer because it's not reflex enough, fluid enough. Pen and paper is so.........natural. When I come to the computer I am fitting together pieces of ideas, tweaking, editing, altering, arranging and formatting. So yes, scanning is a big part of what I do. I will draw something, scan it, save it for later. When I review the scans I find a use for the scan.

I used to get guilty over my process till I watched someone do a block print from beginning to end. Then I saw them ink up in other colors, combine the block with other blocks, even alter the block. My computer is similar to that block, I can print over and over the same file or make a new altered file from the old file, saving both the old and the new, then reuse them, combine them. I say the process is my art, the outcome is your art (that is the part I show you).

Now let's flip the fillet from man eating fish to show fish (like koi). You know many cities try to use artist to revive and recover old neighborhoods. This works fine if the artists are a community. They rent spaces to artist for studios and living that need remodeling, many times spaces that other people would turn their noses up at. The art of making space livable and living there is fraught with legal wrangling and physical alterations. This is all weathered if the artists are a community and not a band of squatter gypsies. The difference is the level of giveback to the larger community.

Artist need to acknowledge themselves, then each other and become economic partners instead of competitors. You need places to hangout, a newsletter (grass roots thing), resale shops, galleries, art services, etc., etc., etc. Above all independent thinking must make space for group concerns. It's not just you, it's your neighbor too. We fight for credit, glory, power, money, all to get ourselves elevated at the expense of other community orgs in the same hood. Wrestling for control, political advantage, a name for ourselves and to have the prominent ego might be fine down the road, but you don't want to start off like that. Artists work hard at their arts, but they must be unencumbered from the pace of competitive madness. It doesn't take that much to live. This is why artist can recover a community where others can not. Recover the community first, fight for economic advantage when you have a community that can deal with it later.

fish heads and fish tales

The concept of what is art is vague to many. Those in the various arts might have general assumptions about what others call art, but ask them about their own art workings. Ah, there's specific and personal involvement.

I was talking to a friend at a gathering, she introduced me as an artist to her friend. The friend exercising her concept of art and of artist, immediately invited me to do a portrait of her and her family. I almost blurted out "Go buy a camera!." Calmly I explained, I do digitally manipulated drawings of patterns for use in interior design and decor. I saw the frustration on her face so I recanted and said 'I do abstracts.' The conversation was over, she was sure she understood and frustration was now on my face.

So if you are an artist, forget the business card. Print up some post cards with a sample of your work on them. There will then be no misunderstanding. Show-n-tell works for kids and especially adults. One picture = 1000 words, two pictures will blow them away!

Admiration and envy plagued me for years. I let ones I admire influence my work. If I envy them I steal from them, wanting to be them, do their work like them. So, I don't intensely study another's work. Overtime I become familiar by glancing here and there, gleaning and understanding. I figure out what my own interest are and what my own directions are.

The biggest thing is to review my own history of sketches. I took all my sketchbooks and scanned them into my computer, a little each night. Then I used Picassa or Fotoxx or another photo management software to review. It's like your life flashing before your eyes, what insight! There is a nature of your own work that is your work, a character. You might not like it, but if you understand it, embrace it, you can then adjust it, improve it or just use it. It is not going to go away, it's you. Tell yourself, 'It's not a flaw, it's a feature! Then say 'Others don't see this much of me.' You tell others what you want to tell them. If then they want more they will have to know you personally or see a retrospect of all your works.