Thank you Stephanie for telling us how you got your shot of Panther, and the program you used to get that special effect. It really is a wonderful photo! of course the subject matter is one of my favorites.
Hetty

Welcome Stephaine!
So glad you joined the talk about art,well mostly art.
I was hoping you would tell me all about the wonderful shot of the cat you took. If you want, please post it here, and a link to your etsy shop. Thanks Stephaine! Hope to hear from you soon,
Hetty

We had a visitor the other day. He was running around in our back yard, and when we were able to catch up with it, we discovered it was a Ring Necked Pheasant rooster. He is used to being fed by broadcasting grain, so we think he is some ones pet. (or some ones future dinner!) We have made a make-shift, temporary home for him in a large dog crate. It is the rainy season here so we are trying to keep both rooster and his food dry. We have posters up in neighborhood, and have contacted one of the vets and the feed-store to try to find the owner. We are going to try to find a new owner if that does not work. I love birds and think they are very beautiful and fun to draw, but I am very allergic to feathers so we can not keep him. Boo!
Did you know pheasants "hiss?" Every time our dog gets too close to the crate the bird hisses at her. I found that very surprising! And very funny!
I fed the rooster some Red Wiggler worms from our compost pile, along with his regular pheasant grain. He likes rolled oats too. Did not think much of the pieces of apple and carrot I put in his dish. I will post some of the pictures we took of him, as soon as I figure out how to up-load them.
Have a great day today, and I pray that God will bless you!
Hetty

Welcome Linda!
I am really interested in your art. What are you working on now? Are you taking any classes?
How do you even find the time to do any art work with all the work you do raising your wonderful alpacas? I hope people will visit your site at aussiealpacasnart.etsy.com. It is really interesting.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

Working on the Book

Well, I have started on the book. I have developed a format that I think will work. I spent part of the day developing color pallets for the different pages. I want very muted, soft colors. Almost monochromatic, but not quite. Lots of linen like colors. Also, greens, blues, wines, rusts and ochers. I want the pages to look like they are hand lettered in the calligraphic manner, like the monks used to do, on hand made vellum. I might even vary the value of the fonts in places, to make it look more like hand lettering. I have finished one page that has a fancy border, and a large initial cap, along with pine boughs tucked in here and there. I set the body copy in the font, and size I chose for that too.
I do not want to do a lot of illustrating on the pages, like some medieval works I have researched. Some of that work is really amazing. But I do want to give the pages a similar feeling of busyness.
I went online and found some really wonderful fonts for this project. Very fun. I spend most of the day yesterday choosing fonts for the different parts and pieces of the layout. Some of my ideas did not work the way I thought they might, but I found other ideas that would.
I also illustrated a new piece of abstract art for my etsy shop, called Singing under the mangrove trees. I started another today of a sleeping kitten. Very fun!

Hi,
Our newest project is a book. We want it to be hand-made, and to look like a Gothic or medieval style folio. My husband compiled a chronological account from the bible of the birth of Christ. He also included the prophecies given by God that for-told His coming.
I have been designing the book and doing the illustrations, which are mostly fancy initial caps. I'm learning the Adobe program InDesign, which is a great layout tool, for this project. I am finding the program Adobe Illustration helpful too, for drawing vines and scrolls. We want the pages to be 8.5 x 5.5. We think the cover and back will be hand made! (We may need to get others to help us with this part. There will be lots of cutting and pasting going on!) Sounds like fun to me!
We really want people to know what God did for us by sending His wonderful Son to us. Jesus Christ, lived, died, and rose again, to free us from sin, death, and hell!
Thanks for listening, and stopping by.
Hetty

Digital Brushes
Has anyone downloaded brushes for Adobe Photoshop? What kind of things have you done with them? How would you rate them?
I am using them on a project, and have been pleased with them.
I did not find the type of brush I wanted, but found some very interesting ones.
I wanted a brush that is like painting with oil paint. I wanted the color to blend as the brush is pushed around the canvas. I also wanted the paint to look like it is thick or thin too. I did not find one for Adobe. There is a very nice oil brush on Paintshop pro 9 which I have used in the past. I would like to find one for Adobe.
Blessings,
Hetty