iPad SketchBook

We've had our iPad for about a week and I've played with it every day - reading, playing games, browsing the internet and checking twitter and facebook. After seeing the demos one of the main reasons I, personally, wanted the iPad was for the drawing apps. However the whole week went by and I barely looked at them. Then a friend posted a link to Jim Lee's sketch of Wonder Woman he did on his iPad while getting a haircut.

I'm no Jim Lee, but darnet, I am an artist and we have Sketchbook Pro too! It was the whole reason I wanted the silly iPad in the first place. So I decided to break it out and "get serious." My first attempt is a bit clunky and it's going to take a little getting used to drawing with my finger (I plan to get a stylus soon) but it's so much fun!

I love the splatter brush and I think it was a fun brush to play with to get started and just do a loose illustration. I went into it thinking I was going to do a perfect illustration but found that just playing around was fun and the outcome was still neat, if not polished and tight. I'll get there.

My only complaint (and it's not really a complaint) was that Sketchbook Pro "crashed" while I was working on it and I lost about 30 minutes of drawing. Not sure what happened. The screen just went black and came back up on the apps screen. When I opened the app back up it had reverted to the last saved version (which wasn't much). It appears the same rules may apply to the iPad as any other computer... SAVE, save often.

I didn't put quite as much detail back in as I had in the original... instead I experimented with different layers and brushes and just had fun with it. (after cursing and moaning for about 10 mins about how much I lost). C'est la vie. Live and learn.

The iPad is an amazing little gadget and after a week of the whole family taking turns (very patiently) playing with it, all I have to say is... Do you have one yet? =)

The World Looks Mighty Good to Me...

Oh, the world looks mighty good to me,
'Cause Mickey Mouse is all I see.
Whatever it is I think I see
It becomes a Mickey Mouse to me
Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse woohoo
Mickey Mouse I think I'm in love with you.
Whatever it is I think I see
It becomes a Mickey Mouse to me.

Ok, so perhaps I just went a bit overboard with repurposing the 1970's Tootsie Roll jingle. But it fit so well! It's true, I see Mickey's all over and if they don't exist for real, I make them. This is the wreath on my front door. I've attached three grapevine wreaths together and I change out the foliage throughout the year to correspond to the seasons. Christmas being the only exception... I made a Mickey head out of pine wreaths...

For Fall, I have pumpkins on the grapevine wreath. And of course the pumpkins are Mickey's too! They were almost as simple as the new ornaments I concocted.

It starts with pumpkin garlands (Check your local craft stores right now, most of them are on sale 50%+). The ears are made from wooden circles. You just carve a little niche in each side the pumpkins with an xacto knife (btw, the xacto knife is one of the "must have tools" in my craft box).

Glue the ovals in the slots and paint to match the pumpkin. I had to completely repaint the pumpkins this year because they got rained on last year and faded pretty badly. I recommend coating with a sealer or mod podge. Seems to have solved the runny/faddy problems this year. I also added a little sparkle to them with glitter.

You can see that the grapevine sections are loose and wonky, it's about 7 or 8 years old and in need of a little maintenance itself. Perhaps I can repair or replace after the holidays this year when the pine version gives it a break!

Happy Holidays!