I was going to write an update post on the art projects that I’ve been working on. I started it and realized I don’t have that much of an update, so you get a mixed bag for this update.
On the art front. I finished a piece that was supposed to be two experiments and turned out to be just one. I wanted to do a piece that uses stippling and watercolor and chose a giraffe as my subject matter. Because I was going to add watercolor to the stippling I did it on watercolor paper. I will say, I like the watercolor paper for stippling. I like the way it handles the ink without dulling it. Anyway, I got most all the stippling done and decided not to add the watercolor to it. It looked really striking as it was, and I didn’t want to lose that. So, I didn’t add the watercolor, instead I filled out the stippling more to make it more intense.
That giraffe piece really turned out to be just one experiment, which was how the watercolor paper would work for the stippling instead of the two experiments that were supposed to be the paper and how things would turn out using watercolor paint with the stippling. I still wanted to see what happens when I add some watercolor to a stippled piece. So, a new subject was chosen. A butterfly from a picture taken by my sister. This time, instead of waiting to finish the whole thing, I decided to add watercolor when I finished the first section where I wanted the watercolor. I might have gone a little heavy with the color. I am thinking about trying to tone down what I’ve got when I do the color in the next section. I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole idea. I may need some background color or something like that for this one.
I solved my self-inflicted conundrum with regards to which application to use for digital painting. At first, I was thinking that the application didn’t really matter as long as I can use it on my iPad. The reasoning for that was because I hadn’t figured out how to rotate my canvas in Photoshop or Fresco if I use my desktop. Then I decided I might want to see what I could do with regards to using my Cintiq. I’ve had it for years and haven’t used it enough to remember what the shortcut buttons do. It turns out, they give me a fairly easy way to rotate my canvas. So, there is no longer a conundrum. I will just use whichever program I happen to have access to based on what device I am using. At some point I will likely gravitate towards one or the other, for now I have options.
Now for the music related news. I was perusing music books online (sheet music books) and found a book for solo “jazz” guitar of the music from ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’. This is one of my favorite collections of Christmas music. And while I aspire to play jazz guitar, I’m not there yet. However, this is written in standard notation as well as tablature, so I have a chance at being able to learn to play something from it. Which, of course means, I decided to purchase it. I was all excited at the idea. Maybe I could learn ‘Linus and Lucy’.
The book arrived and I eagerly opened the package and the book and got out the Gretsch that had been tucked in because I wasn’t expecting to be playing it for a while and I started trying to play some of the songs. I did attempt to play at least part of every song. Of the ten songs in the book there are three from which I could choose and learn maybe one by this Christmas. Of the seven left I think it would take me until next Christmas to learn just one of them. It’s going to be a while before I get through ‘Linus and Lucy’. It is a little beyond what I’ve been playing up until now. I think that is a good thing.
I have a few songs that are within my reach even though they are a little bit of a stretch. And I have songs that are goal worthy. They are just enough of a stretch beyond me that I have to get better to play them. That keeps it interesting and helps to keep me motivated.
And yes, I had tucked the Gretsch into its case since I was really just playing the Les Paul and the Martin. I got it out because it is a semi-hollow body guitar which just sounds awesome with jazz chords. And it just made sense. Now I have to rearrange the music room for it since I had made adjustments when I tucked everybody in for the time being.
I’ve learned a whole bunch of great stuff that I’ll fill you in on in another post. Stuff that you would think I would know, or stuff that I thought I knew but hadn’t completely grasp the importance of, or something.
I’ve also come across some great new to me music. Like Barry Gibb’s Greenfields. Yes, Barry Gibb as in the oldest of the BeeGees. He released a CD in January of 2021 called Greenfields where he re-recorded some of the BeeGees or Brothers Gibb’s songs. He partnered up with mostly country stars to record the songs as duets. I say mostly because one of the songs is a song, they wrote for Andy Gibb that Andy originally recorded with Olivia Newton-John who, Barry Gibb joins on the song for this CD. Anyway, as much as I love their duet on ‘Rest Your Love on Me’ I think the jewel of the CD is the duet with Alison Krauss on ‘Too Much Heaven’. Oh wow. Alison Krauss’ voice on that song is just beautiful. I also like ‘Run to Me’ with Brandi Carlile. And then there is ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ with Little Big Town and Tommy Emmanuel which sent me down the internet rabbit hole. I went looking for information about Tommy Emmanuel because the name was familiar. It should have been. That cool CD shop my friend took me to in Melbourne had several of his CD’s and I’m pretty sure my friend pointed them out to me. Sorry Dean. I was apparently a bit dense that day. I should have caught on to him being someone I really needed to look into. Ears are now open. That’s another one where learning to play his music is goal worthy.
Hopefully that updates you a bit. There is art stuff happening just not a lot to share or write about at the moment. There is music stuff happening and plenty to share, in another post. And after I get more of it sorted in my head so that it makes sense. I hope to have a little more art news soon. I do still have pieces I want to post as cards that I will share once I get them ready. So. Let’s see which I get done first, the cards posted or the music news in my head sorted.