Some Latest Artwork
I've managed to get out of the house for a few short periods in the past few days... and that was really nice... today, however, I'm back indoors and I'm not so sure I'll be wandering outside today.
I'm really worn out today... exhausted... and my spinal injuries are really bothering me. The pain started yesterday after overdoing my physical therapy the previous day. I knew I had overdone it while I was still doing my physical therapy! By nightfall, I was in considerable pain throughout my spine as well as having bone pain in my legs. Yesterday was a bit brutal so the only thing I accomplished was preparing and cooking baked ziti with garlic bread for the kids.
Needless to say, sleeping is not going all that well. Last night, my sleeping problems due to spinal and bone pain were compounded by being cold all night long. Although the room probably was slightly chillier last night than usual (I removed the air conditioner from one of two windows in the room so we had double the fresh air in the room last night... fresh, cool, damp air), my lousy health was probably contributing the most to me feeling so cold... add in the spinal pain... add in some bone pain... sleeping was difficult.
Today, I'm planning to take it slow and easy. I also plan to take a long nap this afternoon!
Since I am not wandering far and moving rather slowly, last night I decided to grab my digital pen and tablet to create some artwork. I haven't done that in a very long time... too long!
I quickly realized that I had not installed the driver for this input duo since I bought this new computer about a year ago (the old one died of old age... I seem to eat up computers every three years or so). Without the correct drivers, this pen and tablet will not function. Late last night, I was on an internet hunt to find the most current driver.
I installed the driver... opened up Photoshop... I couldn't get Photoshop to implement any pressure sensitivity from my digital pen.
I checked the bajillion settings in Photoshop... nothing (it still is entirely possible I am missing some obscure setting that is hidden deep within the menu). In hindsight, I spent way too much time screwing around with Photoshop trying to resolve this problem.
I checked all my driver settings... nothing.
I started searching online for a solution... every recommended solution I tried... nothing.
Then I decided to check some of my other art programs and I found that my pen and tablet were working just fine (why I didn't do this sooner, I don't know... perhaps I was tired and distracted by all the pain...). Actually, it seemed as though they were working more smoothly than I ever remember them working! I still couldn't get my pen and graphics tablet to work correctly with Photoshop brushes though.
After thinking about this for the past 12 hours or so as I sketched and painted using other programs, I've come to the conclusion that if I want to paint using Photoshop, I'll need to upgrade my pen and tablet to newer, better models. For financial reasons, I think I'll hold off on that for now. (Besides, I have way too much other stuff I need to get accomplished and very little energy to do it all.)
I've had a professional-level pen and tablet in my Amazon Wishlist for well over a year but there are just too many other things which take priority over this purchase. This new professional-level pen and tablet will have to wait.
In the meantime, I reacquainted myself with my older, entry-level, cheap import digital pen and graphics tablet. This method of data input requires some practice especially when talking about fluid and precise drawing and painting (rather than just replacing mouse input... which also is a nice feature but requires little practice to master). So, I practiced drawing curves... practiced straight lines... practiced hatching... practiced using increasing pressure on the tablet... practiced using decreasing pressure on the tablet... did it all over again using different brushes, pens, pencils, charcoal, etc.
After I was fairly comfortable using this digital pen again, I decided to put the pen and tablet to task...
There is no doubt in my mind that all the practice I did beforehand helped with this sketch but I could still use more practice and I definitely need to reacquaint myself with newly updated drawing and painting programs but this sketch turned out surprisingly well!
Software has changed a lot in the past year. Also... I quickly realized that I don't have any of my old collection of pens, pencils and brushes on this new computer... and I wonder if anything from my old collection is still compatible...
After my successes with painting/sketching this above piece of artwork, perhaps I should just start anew continuing on this path I am on now...
I'm really worn out today... exhausted... and my spinal injuries are really bothering me. The pain started yesterday after overdoing my physical therapy the previous day. I knew I had overdone it while I was still doing my physical therapy! By nightfall, I was in considerable pain throughout my spine as well as having bone pain in my legs. Yesterday was a bit brutal so the only thing I accomplished was preparing and cooking baked ziti with garlic bread for the kids.
Needless to say, sleeping is not going all that well. Last night, my sleeping problems due to spinal and bone pain were compounded by being cold all night long. Although the room probably was slightly chillier last night than usual (I removed the air conditioner from one of two windows in the room so we had double the fresh air in the room last night... fresh, cool, damp air), my lousy health was probably contributing the most to me feeling so cold... add in the spinal pain... add in some bone pain... sleeping was difficult.
Today, I'm planning to take it slow and easy. I also plan to take a long nap this afternoon!
Since I am not wandering far and moving rather slowly, last night I decided to grab my digital pen and tablet to create some artwork. I haven't done that in a very long time... too long!
I quickly realized that I had not installed the driver for this input duo since I bought this new computer about a year ago (the old one died of old age... I seem to eat up computers every three years or so). Without the correct drivers, this pen and tablet will not function. Late last night, I was on an internet hunt to find the most current driver.
I installed the driver... opened up Photoshop... I couldn't get Photoshop to implement any pressure sensitivity from my digital pen.
I checked the bajillion settings in Photoshop... nothing (it still is entirely possible I am missing some obscure setting that is hidden deep within the menu). In hindsight, I spent way too much time screwing around with Photoshop trying to resolve this problem.
I checked all my driver settings... nothing.
I started searching online for a solution... every recommended solution I tried... nothing.
Then I decided to check some of my other art programs and I found that my pen and tablet were working just fine (why I didn't do this sooner, I don't know... perhaps I was tired and distracted by all the pain...). Actually, it seemed as though they were working more smoothly than I ever remember them working! I still couldn't get my pen and graphics tablet to work correctly with Photoshop brushes though.
After thinking about this for the past 12 hours or so as I sketched and painted using other programs, I've come to the conclusion that if I want to paint using Photoshop, I'll need to upgrade my pen and tablet to newer, better models. For financial reasons, I think I'll hold off on that for now. (Besides, I have way too much other stuff I need to get accomplished and very little energy to do it all.)
I've had a professional-level pen and tablet in my Amazon Wishlist for well over a year but there are just too many other things which take priority over this purchase. This new professional-level pen and tablet will have to wait.
In the meantime, I reacquainted myself with my older, entry-level, cheap import digital pen and graphics tablet. This method of data input requires some practice especially when talking about fluid and precise drawing and painting (rather than just replacing mouse input... which also is a nice feature but requires little practice to master). So, I practiced drawing curves... practiced straight lines... practiced hatching... practiced using increasing pressure on the tablet... practiced using decreasing pressure on the tablet... did it all over again using different brushes, pens, pencils, charcoal, etc.
After I was fairly comfortable using this digital pen again, I decided to put the pen and tablet to task...
 |
| The beautiful Art Deco-style Chrysler Building in Manhattan. |
There is no doubt in my mind that all the practice I did beforehand helped with this sketch but I could still use more practice and I definitely need to reacquaint myself with newly updated drawing and painting programs but this sketch turned out surprisingly well!
Software has changed a lot in the past year. Also... I quickly realized that I don't have any of my old collection of pens, pencils and brushes on this new computer... and I wonder if anything from my old collection is still compatible...
After my successes with painting/sketching this above piece of artwork, perhaps I should just start anew continuing on this path I am on now...
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