Sunday, May 22, 2011

Energy Art using Gimp's Airbrush Tool




Work in Progress by Primal Painter

I've started to do some actual rendering with Gimp as opposed to my usual freestyle happy accidents.  This is one of my first attempts.  I came up with a happy accident, then went into it with the warping tool and starting moving things around and painting with the airbrush tool.  If you enlarge it, you can see the details better. I'm torn between making the details in her face more distinct or making them even more vague.


 I'm really clumsy with that darn mouse, I wish I had one of those tablets where you can use a pen to draw on the screen.  Wow, I could really do some awesome things with that, but alas, it's out of my reach financially at the moment.

Now for a little something I don't normally do.  Sara, a wonderful painter who creates very inspirational work, tagged me on her blog Simply Sarafina Paintings to fill out the ABC's of Me questionnaire. I'm not usually into that kind of thing, I might moan and groan a little at the thought, but I didn't want to let Sara down.  Copy and pasting wasn't working, and after answering the questions twice (TWICE), I finally gave up.  So Melinda from Inspiration Earth, sent me a pdf file and lo and behold, I think it's going to work.....(groan...just kidding).


So for the THIRD time..............

A. Age:  50 (what?) Did I say 50? I meant 49
B Bed size:  Twin size which is right next to my boyfriend's queen size. Weird, you might say, but frankly I got tired of being bounced around all night like I'm riding in the back of an old pickup truck driving really fast through a bumpy pasture.  (That's fun, by the way, when I'm AWAKE)
C. Chore you hate:  All of them, especially dishes....and vacuuming.....and dusting......
D. Day:  Today or maybe tomorrow
E. Essential start to the day:  Doggy kisses.  Boyfriend kisses? Eh, not so much (just kidding, that's too mean....heheh.)
F. Favorite color: All the shades of purple
G. Gold or Silver:  Gold.....or silver
H. Height: 5'8"
I. Instruments:  Piano and saxophone when I was a young whippersnapper. Actually I wasn't a whippersnapper until I was in college...What is a whippersnapper anyway? Is there any whipping of any snappers going on? hehee (don't go there, Laurie)
J.Job title:  Professional....uh.......Bum?  Oh I meant Professional Artist
K. Kids: A 21 year old daughter, Andi and a bunch of furry, feathery kids - 5 dogs, 3 cats, 2 goats, 2 bunnies (down from 28 when I realized the meaning of humping like bunnies), 9 chickens
L. Live:  Yes, I Live, some days more than others.
M. Mum's name: Velma, she passed on from bone cancer in '99
N. Nicknames:  Laurie Belle, Mama Cat
O. Overnight hospital stays:  4 overnighters
P.Pet peeve:  People who eat crunchy food with their mouths open, like Doritos (Gah! I'll keeell you!!)
Q. Quote from a movie:  "Ai-Yi Yi Yi Yi Yi Yi Yiiiiiiiiiiiii"  from the movie Avatar
R. Right or left handed:  Right
S. Siblings:  Older sister and brother Nancy and Steve, a younger brother Eric
T. Time you wake up:  6:30 to 8:00 a.m.
U. Underwear:  oh uh, (blushing), no thank you
V. Vegetables you dislike:  slimy cooked spinach like they used to serve in the school cafeteria (grrr-ossss)
W. What makes you run late:  My dogs chasing the car down the road then having to turn back and put them in the house, forgetting something and having to go back, putting things off until the last minute, not accounting for traffic, photo ops
X. X-rays you've had:  tons which may explain my unearthly glow
Y. Yummy food you make:  Hahahahaha, I don't cook (at all) but sugar snap peas that I've grown in the garden are the best
Z. Zoo:  Zoos suck


Well I did it!


By the way, I got the most amazing package from Melinda, Taylor, Jordan, and Riley yesterday.  It made tears come to my eyes it was so sweet.  Melinda sent me some orange flavored lip balm and my lips still feel soft from yesterday. She also sent me some Invigorating Hand Sanitizer made from witch hazel and essential oils...it's really amazing stuff, and so is she.  The handmade cards she sent are absolutely gorgeous....and I mean gorgeous!  Taylor sent me a lovely purple bookmark with my name on it, Jordan sent me a super cool handmade card and four of her needle felted acorns (so cute! I have the perfect little bowl).  Riley sent me a handmade zebra card and a sweet note.  Let me take a picture real quick.......




That photo doesn't really do those handmade cards justice, they're extremely well done and appealing! Thank you so much Smitten Family.  It wasn't expected or necessary, but I'm thrilled and touched!


Now for a couple of pictures of the things I smell when I walk outside (in addition to dogs and goats....)


 Orange Blossoms are loaded this year....

 Nothing is better than honeysuckle!

 Mini Holliehocks are gorgeous!

Wild roses....yum.....
I think I forgot to size all these photos down.  Does this page load super slow because of it?


Have an Awesome Sunday!!!


Laurie

9 comments:

  1. I looove love love your work in progress! It's beautiful and I couldn't stop staring at it!

    Yay! I'm so proud of you for doing your abc's :) I'm even more proud of you for doing them 3 times!!! That's impressive :)

    What a lovely package from the 'smitten family' (lol... love that!) I have to agree with you about that lip balm.... a.maz.ing.

    Your pictures are beautiful, I can almost smell them from Oklahoma.... And no, your page didn't load slow at all :)

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  2. Beautiful work in progress, Laurie, the colors are GORGEOUS! And I'm so glad you liked the bookmark. <3 I figured purple would be a safe bet for you! ;)

    Oh, and I enjoyed reading your ABCs... you got some laughs out of me! :) Hugs!

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  3. The picture if gorgeous, so far!! I think you should keep the face how it is... :) It has a lot of detail, but not too much! Love it!

    Yayy!!! You did it Laurie!! Hehe- I'm so glad you didn't give up ;D

    I'm so glad that you liked our package!! :D I thought my card looked like something you would like ;D

    Lovely flowers!! Mmmm... I LOVE Honeysuckle! <3

    xoxo
    Jordan

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  4. Mmmm I can smell the honeysuckle just looking at that picture (and no, it didn't take any time to load!) I'm so glad you did your ABC's!! I had to help because I knew you would make me laugh, and that you did!! You are something else ~ something completely wonderful!! :)

    I am chagrined that you got your package up before I posted and shared the lovely photo I purchased from you. Boy, if I could manage to blog everyday I'd really be on top of things... alas, it doesn't seem to happen! I'm so happy you liked your little surprise package, we all had a blast putting it together, coming up with ideas for you. You were so generous with us, we felt compelled to share with you. :) Thanks for the laughs this evening and the lovely photos. Show some of your pets sometime... :)

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  5. I love your comments, very funny! and I like the idea of the the 2 big beds together. wonder if my hubby would be into that? I Havent got as far as playing with gimp yet (just photo editing) but I love your image. And the perfume of honeysuckle? Ah..... I have to wait for Spring, but we have the last of our Autumn roses, and they are heavenly!

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  6. I think her face is perfect. I like her a lot.
    I enjoyed learning more about you!

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  7. Too funny..love all your comments..was fun to learn more about you and the pics of the flowers are great.. I have those mini hollyhocks.. didn't know what they were.. thanks..lol...like the 2 bed idea.. maybe then I'd get blankets.. Lucky you.. what a lovely package from the Smittens.. I know I love my lip balm too... have a great day!!!xx

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  8. Hey Sara, thanks for the feedback on my little energy nymph girl. It wasn't so bad doing those ABC's, I forgive you, lol.

    Thanks Tay, I like those colors, too, but I'm not sure about the rendering of the body, maybe she's a little too cartoony. I'm going to start visualizing the money I need to buy one of those computer tablets so I can actually draw with a pen. I'm using your bookmark right now in the book I'm reading, thanks again!

    Hey Jordan, I thought your card was super cute, and so were the acorns. They're in a little dish right now lookin' so cute! I can't believe I forgot to include links to you girls' shops! My brain, my brain.....

    Thanks Melinda, the smells outside are so nice right now, the honeysuckly almost overpowers the goats! I did love the package, and don't think I didn't notice all the purples! It was such a nice surprise and I love it ALL!

    Sesenarts, putting the two beds together made a world of diffence in the quality of my sleep, of course, our bedroom is not much more than one giant bed right now, but it's worth it! You still have autumn roses? Wow, that's crazy! Are your seasons opposite from ours?

    Finding Charm, thanks for the feedback on my little naked nymph's face! I think I'll get better at painting in details eventually, it's awkward right now. The cool thing about gimp is that I can come up with images that make great references for paintings on canvas or wood.

    Kathy, thanks for commenting! Those hollyhocks are so pretty aren't they? I only have one this year, but I know they're self seeders so I'm hoping they spread next year. So the hubby steals your blankets, eh? Darn men....

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  9. Whoa, giant change in design! Great job! :)

    And good idea - I should start visualizing money. I want a camera! And I owe my savings account some money... LOL

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