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Posted 4 years agoHey, folks,
I haven't been on FA for a while (a year, maybe?), though I have been posting on SoFurry somewhat regularly and sporadically on Deviant Art. I have a lot more artwork that I haven't posted here yet, so I'll be working on adding those. I was concentrating on writing my books, though took a break to catch up on some art projects. I'm going to have to see what I've had on here so I'll know where to start with the new stuff.
My previous laptop died on my last summer and I had to end up buying a new one...which then I had to get new software because the new laptop's newer build of Windows 10 Pro no longer allowed me to use my old Adobe Photoshop v. 6.0 (from back in 1999-2000). I now use Corel Paintshop Pro 2021 Ultimate, though will be upgrading to the 2022 version (just have to download it and install). I also got a new digitizer, a XP-PEN Pro 22E Graphics Tablet/Remote Monitor, which is larger than my Acer Aspire 5 laptop. The XP-PEN Pro 22E works as both a digitizer and as a remote monitor -- what is displayed on my laptop's screen is also displayed on the XP-PEN Pro and I draw/paint directly on the image and see it happen on the laptop. Pretty neat. On top of that, I now have a Fusion5 Windows Pro tablet that is on the same level as my old laptop (a Lenovo N22) as far as processor, memory, etc. I have a bunch of other hardware, so basically, the laptop and the tablet are setup more or less the same and I can work about anywhere on either setup. Gives me more flexibility. If it wasn't for the stimulus money from the gov't during this pandemic, I would've been hosed as far as my art and book writing is concerned (and keeping up with people I know).
I've been taking some of my older character portraits and recoloring them digitally, along with making new character portraits. For those who have seen my work, I think you'll notice the improvements.
One other thing I've been doing is setting up high quality photo prints of my art. Mostly, I have 8"x10" and 20"x30" prints available on Fujifilm Chrystal Archive photo paper. I have template files created for both print sizes (I can make other sizes easily enough) that have a black background and a 0.5" margin all around. The portrait fits within the margin and I add a gray "glow" around it -- works out pretty good and is great for the frames I've been using for my own copies now hanging on my walls.
One of my big art projects is the Squadron VP-307 Calendar Project, which goes along with my "Daggers of Darkness" sci-fi novel series. The calendar is dated for the year 2514 (every date is on the appropriate day for that year), so when I get it finished, it'll be just like it would be in the story. I have 5 more portraits to make for the calendar -- currently (as of 2021-09-13) I have January, February, April, May, June, September, and October done (working on March now). This calendar will eventually be printed and will be able to hang up on a wall. I'm going to try to get it finished by December of this year. It features the portraits of some of the ladies in the squadron from different ships,
Well, that's mainly it for now. Again, I'll be posting some new character portraits on here soon that those who are not on SoFurry will finally get to see something new. :)
Later,
GSOTA
I haven't been on FA for a while (a year, maybe?), though I have been posting on SoFurry somewhat regularly and sporadically on Deviant Art. I have a lot more artwork that I haven't posted here yet, so I'll be working on adding those. I was concentrating on writing my books, though took a break to catch up on some art projects. I'm going to have to see what I've had on here so I'll know where to start with the new stuff.
My previous laptop died on my last summer and I had to end up buying a new one...which then I had to get new software because the new laptop's newer build of Windows 10 Pro no longer allowed me to use my old Adobe Photoshop v. 6.0 (from back in 1999-2000). I now use Corel Paintshop Pro 2021 Ultimate, though will be upgrading to the 2022 version (just have to download it and install). I also got a new digitizer, a XP-PEN Pro 22E Graphics Tablet/Remote Monitor, which is larger than my Acer Aspire 5 laptop. The XP-PEN Pro 22E works as both a digitizer and as a remote monitor -- what is displayed on my laptop's screen is also displayed on the XP-PEN Pro and I draw/paint directly on the image and see it happen on the laptop. Pretty neat. On top of that, I now have a Fusion5 Windows Pro tablet that is on the same level as my old laptop (a Lenovo N22) as far as processor, memory, etc. I have a bunch of other hardware, so basically, the laptop and the tablet are setup more or less the same and I can work about anywhere on either setup. Gives me more flexibility. If it wasn't for the stimulus money from the gov't during this pandemic, I would've been hosed as far as my art and book writing is concerned (and keeping up with people I know).
I've been taking some of my older character portraits and recoloring them digitally, along with making new character portraits. For those who have seen my work, I think you'll notice the improvements.
One other thing I've been doing is setting up high quality photo prints of my art. Mostly, I have 8"x10" and 20"x30" prints available on Fujifilm Chrystal Archive photo paper. I have template files created for both print sizes (I can make other sizes easily enough) that have a black background and a 0.5" margin all around. The portrait fits within the margin and I add a gray "glow" around it -- works out pretty good and is great for the frames I've been using for my own copies now hanging on my walls.
One of my big art projects is the Squadron VP-307 Calendar Project, which goes along with my "Daggers of Darkness" sci-fi novel series. The calendar is dated for the year 2514 (every date is on the appropriate day for that year), so when I get it finished, it'll be just like it would be in the story. I have 5 more portraits to make for the calendar -- currently (as of 2021-09-13) I have January, February, April, May, June, September, and October done (working on March now). This calendar will eventually be printed and will be able to hang up on a wall. I'm going to try to get it finished by December of this year. It features the portraits of some of the ladies in the squadron from different ships,
Well, that's mainly it for now. Again, I'll be posting some new character portraits on here soon that those who are not on SoFurry will finally get to see something new. :)
Later,
GSOTA
Update (2020-09-04)
Posted 5 years agoHey Folks,
I haven't been on for a while, though I've been keeping busy working on my latest book and either enhancing or completely redrawing some of my earlier art. I'll be posting some updated images along with some new ones -- I have several. :P
I've been living out in the country, more of less isolated from people, except for the occasional forays into town to buy groceries and such. Ain't this pandemic b.s. grand (* sarcasm*)? I'm old enough to be clumped into the "at risk" age group (I'm in my 60s), and I detest wearing those masks. Anyway, that might be a rant for another time or venue. :)
I've started doing more digital coloring of my character portraits and other art, using Adobe Photoshop v.6.0 (yeah, it's a 20-year old program, but it still works). I'm getting significantly better at digital work, even though I don't really have a proper setup for it. What I've been doing is draw the initial sketch on my usual paper (generally Georgia-Pacific's "Everyday Copy & Print" paper, 92 brightness) using a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil with HB lead, then once I get the outlines down to how I want them, I carefully go over them with a 0.1 mm Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen with black India ink. I then scan the sketch (generally at 800 dpi in 48-bit color) and open it in Photoshop to do the rest. I do this on a Lenovo N22 laptop (64-bit Win10 Pro) and an old corded Microsoft optical mouse (also about 15+ years old). I manage to put a lot of detail into my art, though because I have to size the images down so much for posting on here, I imagine that if one were to zoom in enough to see the details, they might start looking pixelated or fuzzy.
Another things I've been doing is getting 8"x10" or 20"x30" archival quality photo prints made of my color portraits, so in case anyone should be interested in one, send me a PM (because I'm out in the country -- no Internet, I might not be able to respond immediately, so allow me some leeway on that).
Keep an eye out for the new or newly enhanced art. :)
Later,
Grandsire of the Ayoona
I haven't been on for a while, though I've been keeping busy working on my latest book and either enhancing or completely redrawing some of my earlier art. I'll be posting some updated images along with some new ones -- I have several. :P
I've been living out in the country, more of less isolated from people, except for the occasional forays into town to buy groceries and such. Ain't this pandemic b.s. grand (* sarcasm*)? I'm old enough to be clumped into the "at risk" age group (I'm in my 60s), and I detest wearing those masks. Anyway, that might be a rant for another time or venue. :)
I've started doing more digital coloring of my character portraits and other art, using Adobe Photoshop v.6.0 (yeah, it's a 20-year old program, but it still works). I'm getting significantly better at digital work, even though I don't really have a proper setup for it. What I've been doing is draw the initial sketch on my usual paper (generally Georgia-Pacific's "Everyday Copy & Print" paper, 92 brightness) using a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil with HB lead, then once I get the outlines down to how I want them, I carefully go over them with a 0.1 mm Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen with black India ink. I then scan the sketch (generally at 800 dpi in 48-bit color) and open it in Photoshop to do the rest. I do this on a Lenovo N22 laptop (64-bit Win10 Pro) and an old corded Microsoft optical mouse (also about 15+ years old). I manage to put a lot of detail into my art, though because I have to size the images down so much for posting on here, I imagine that if one were to zoom in enough to see the details, they might start looking pixelated or fuzzy.
Another things I've been doing is getting 8"x10" or 20"x30" archival quality photo prints made of my color portraits, so in case anyone should be interested in one, send me a PM (because I'm out in the country -- no Internet, I might not be able to respond immediately, so allow me some leeway on that).
Keep an eye out for the new or newly enhanced art. :)
Later,
Grandsire of the Ayoona
Giving a Highly Talented Lady a Boost
Posted 7 years agoThere is a really neat lady who writes, produces, and performs truly beautiful songs...her name is Sylia Twolands. Her songs have been inspiring my story writing. "Prayer" and "Where Angels Cry" have been the direct inspiration for scenes in my latest "Daggers of Darkness" novel. I told Ms. Twolands that I'd give her music a boost on the sites I'm on, so please check out her music on YouTube! Here's the link to her channel on YouTube...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA.....mdocGDASmmzD-w
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA.....mdocGDASmmzD-w
