Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

A random tag seems in keeping with my mood these days...

A few minutes ago I discovered I was tagged by The Pink Crab; since I'm newly recommited to eclectic blogging I figured I'd go for it--only I'm not going to tag 10 people because I don't want anyone to feel obligated who doesn't like this kind of thing. So, if you'd like to participate, just leave the blog name and url in a comment and I'll edit this post to add your blog for others to visit :)

Anyway, the tag is just to list ten random things about yourself, so here we go:

1) I have a food intolerance to wheat and any kind of dairy product, and the only meat I eat is seafood, so going out to eat with me is always, shall we say, "interesting" (thank god for asian food or I'd never be able to eat out).

2) Every time people find out I have 4 cats and 1 parrot they ask if the parrot is afraid of the cats--and are always surprised to find it's actually the other way around (Whizzer, the parrot, has bit all the cat's tails at least once, so they tend to leave him alone).

3) My undergrad is in the Humanities, my MA is in Literature, and I'm currently working on a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition--but I may not get a job that relies on any of these when I'm finished.

4) Yes, I teach writing. No, I'm not a grammar nazi. Go ahead and end sentences with prepositions or split infinitives all you want around me :)

5) Despite my lit degree, you're more likely to find me reading urban fantasy than literary classics (I'm actually working on writing one of my own).

6) I was deathly allergic to cats (and almost every other animal and environmental allergen) as a child. I almost died 3 times before the age of 5 because of my allergies.

7) I'm both a fan and practicioner of holistic medicine--massage, acupuncture, Reiki, supplements, homeopathy...you name it, I've probably tried it.

8) I first got involved in art when I was about 3, with my grandmother, who was a painter. Then my grandfather (on the other side) taught me to draw (he was an amateur cartoonist). Despite the family influence, no-one in my parents' or my generation (besides me) is really involved in art or crafting.

9) I actually do a lot more crafting and art that isn't cat-related--I just read stuff on etsy (and elsewhere) encouraging people to find a niche market, so I focused on my cat crafts for public consumption. But actually, my favorite piece of my art has no cats in it--it's this abstract black and white nude here. I also crochet, knit, embroider, and sew.

10) My husband is just as eclectic in his interests as I am (he's a teacher, research assistant, writer, photographer, wood-worker, antique-tool-restorer, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting right now), so our house is completely overfull with the byproducts of our various occupations (we don't have a garage, attic, or basement in our current home--but that's my main requirement for wherever we live next).

Monday, January 5, 2009

Getting going with my wacom tablet: Night Roses

primitive, folk, art, cat, yellow, purple, gray, green, blue, purrprints, night roses
I usually try to avoid titles as dull as that one, but I think my creativity level for the day got sucked up by my drawing and didn't leave anything behind for clever word play. So it will just have to be sincere Becca tonight--what a drag, I know .

So I finally decided to use my new wacom tablet (thank you again, Santa/hubby) to create a piece of art, and I'm pretty happy with the results.

Recently I've been sketching a lot of folk-ish primitive-y style cats, in a very different style than my prvious stuff, but I'd yet to transfer any of them to the computer and make a complete piece (my usual approach is to do the preliminary drawing with pen and paper, scan my original, and digitally colorize the piece). Tonight I skipped the scanning stage and just went for straight drawing into Photoshop via my tablet. I was particularly into the idea of using something so modern to create something that looked very rough and primitive--what do you all think?

Oh--and does anyone have a title idea for the piece? Titles aren't my strong suit :) (added later: thanks Mishkat for the inspiration--the title is now "Night roses")

So far I don't know how to use all the bells and whistles on my tablet, but I'm loving the ones I've figured out so far--like how the pressure sensitive tip will vary the width of my lines and how I can flip the pen around and use the "eraser" on the reverse tip if I draw something I don't like.

Anywho, that's probably enough sincere glee for one night--I don't want to make anyone feel queasy or anything :)

p.s.--I only have this listed as an 8x10 currently--but if you'd like a print version of this as a 5x7 or art card let me know; I'm happy to make it for you.

p.p.s.--Since a few people have asked: yes, a wacom tablet is a device with a digital pen and pad through which i can draw or write directly into programs like Photoshop.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Wordless Wednesday: Fleeting

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Introduction to the PurrPrints blog


PurrPrints is the name of my line of arts and crafts, most of which are cat-themed (my cats own me--you can see the effects of their bossy...err, inspiration on etsy, cafepress, and zazzle). After much encouragement from a few wonderful etsians I've finally come around to starting a blog. However, even though I'm certifiably obsessed with etsy, cats, and art/crafts I'm also way too ADD to confine myself to those topics alone--so there will also probably be entries on everything from academia (I'm getting a PhD currently) and writing (I'm a total word nerd) to random new musical interests and the wonder of squidoo.

I'll also try to be very responsive, so whether it's comments, entrecard drops, or requests, you can expect to hear back from me.