Friday, June 15, 2012

Playing with new programs

This week, I discovered a new program that is kind of fun.  I especially like it for manipulating doodles that I'm not that crazy about into potentially more interesting pieces. 

Recently, I got some Copic markers.  Everyone seems to RAVE about these markers and I was swayed by how others used them to create gorgeously blended works of art.  But... these markers seem to be an industry unto themselves.  There are many classes out there taught by certified instructors, etc.  I have not taken any of them.  So, I've been a little disappointed that my own attempts to blend with them are not quite ready to hang in the Louvre (heck, they're not ready to hang in the local Motel 6). Perhaps I'm giving up too soon, but I think I prefer my paints and pencils.

Anyhow... I've been on a bit of a daffodil kick lately and so I attempted a lone daffodil with these new markers and, alas, found it quite one dimensional and cartoony (to be clear-- this was my deficit, not the markers!):





In an attempt to add something to it, I doodled up a few words from Wordsworth (off the top of my head, so I don't think they're quite right) and was equally unhappy with the uneven mess my pen created there, as well. 

That's where this cool little app came into play.  It's called Superimpose and it's for the iPad.  Some of the articles about it lead you to believe that its best use is for things like putting your dog's head on your grandmother's body, but it has some cool features that allow you to manipulate your work digitally-- something new to me.

Originally, the words I wrote were in solid black pen, but they were clunky and uneven.  With this program, I was able to create an outline view of the letters:



Still uneven, but not quite as clunky since they're not as dark.

And then I overlaid them on the daffodil:


Still not a great work of art... and I think I should have made the writing slightly less transparent and not stretched out the flower so much, but this tool might have some interesting potential for other projects.

Linking up to Paint Party Friday.  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

8 comments:

  1. gorgeous flower - and LOVE the type treatment!! I'll have to try those markers someday...

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  2. The flower turned out beautiful! And I haven't had great results with my copics, either...I got sucked in by all the hype...but I probably need to take a class too. This turned out lovely!

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  3. If we don't experiment we would never know, its all about the adventure. Happy PPF, Annette x

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  4. I have to admit that I have never had much success with copics, and I am firmly in the paint camp, but I am sure if you hang in there you will do a great job, because your disaster is better than anything I ever produced!!!! thanks for sharing all the experimenting....xx

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  5. Thanks for sharing! Your flower is delightful as there is a beautiful blending of color. I also really appreciate hearing about Superimpose. May look into it. Thanks!

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  6. I love your sense of humour. It might be quite funky to have an art show in a motel six! Something to strive for. Wonky flower with a hint of words = interesting art. keep playing you are sure to turn out something you like eventually. practice, practice, practice. We keep getting better and better.

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  7. I don't think the deficit is really yours. I think you need to have like 100 colors of these markers to do the kind of stuff I've seen. And I don't know how anyone affords that many of them because they are so expensive! I think I own 2, LOL.

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  8. I love the shading on your daffodil! you've done such a nice job!

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