Category: Art

Digital paintings with lil’ bug 2020 Jun-Jul

Alex / / Art, Lil' Bug

These are digital paintings done by Lil’ Bug with my help.

I couldn’t get the concept across to a toddler of a computer tablet corresponding to anything on the screen (for a PC). Instead she just used the digital pen on the screen as if it were an ordinary paintbrush painting immediately (or as if the screen were a touch screen). So I do this:

– give her a chopstick or something else long and pointy like a brush
– ask her what color she wants and take any color dictation she makes (which she does)
– pick that color and follow her “painting” motion on the screen with my own approximation

These were done in ArtRage.

ArtRage is available on iPad via touch or tablet digital pen, and this works much better on iPad if you disable controls a toddler would accidentally mess with via the Guided Access feature. (Dunno if ArtRage is on Android devices and if Android can disable controls that way too.) But even then she expects multiple touch gestures to make multiple paint strokes, and instead it zooms or shrinks or moves the screen beyond usability, and I spend half the time correcting zoom or pan, ha.

Springtime Splendor–art by Nem

Alex / / Art, Nem Nem Niamh, Pictures

Nem painted this. Click the thumbnail to open a giant-resolution original, free for personal use.

Abstract acrylic painting by a 9-year-old girl. Winner, Juror's Award, Provo City Library Amateur Art competition, Children's category. ~ Syndicated from, original, print and usage options at http://home.ussins.org
Abstract acrylic painting by a 9-year-old girl. Winner, Juror’s Award, Provo City Library Amateur Art competition, Children’s category. ~ Syndicated from, original, print and usage options at http://home.ussins.org

It was accepted for entry and won a few Juror’s Awards in the Children’s category at the Provo City Library’s annual homegrown art show in 2016.

It’s really, really hard to get a faithful film representation of art that has a highly textured surface–faithful color, intensity, brightness, and a good balance between shadow to show texture and light in the shadow so that the former three aren’t obscured. (I wonder how well Google does this with their friggapixel scans of hallowed art works.) Maybe it would have been easier if I started with studio light instead of sunlight 🙂 This composite from many photos (from two different cameras) is my attempt.

SAD BANANAS ON THE FRENCH TOAST LINES (looped 3x) | Weird Song #1 (video, with original art)

Alex / / Art, Audio, Mago Elf Liam, Songs, Video

By “Mago,” age WHAT?! As I write this. 11 years old. YouTube URL to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgCEiO0XryQ&feature=youtu.be

Original scratch project at: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/117727728/

Screen captured / ffmpeg encoded/looped by yours truly. You may download the video using this link.

LUK SMARTUR, Bea dumbor: silly artwork by Mago

Alex / / Art, Mago Elf Liam

I hope that syndicated copies of this blog post show the image inline. If not, click the link to the original post (at home.ussins.org/~) to see the image. To show the larger, original image, you may then click the image in the blog post.

Mago’s misspellings in the caption are deliberate.

Silly artwork by "Mago," with deliberately misspelled caption: "LUK SMARTUR bea dumbor - Brain injection; swell your brian"
Silly artwork by “Mago,” with deliberately misspelled caption: “LUK SMARTUR bea dumbor – Brain injection; swell your brian”

Rocket 8A3 (SketchUp model)

Alex / / Alex, Art, Mago Elf Liam

I’ve been playing with Google Sketchup.  I suggested to Mago he could draw a rocket and I could model it.  He drew out a complete kind of Art Deco design in 20 seconds flat (the entire concept apparently arrived for him in an instant, and watching him describe it with his hands, it seems like he could sculpt the thing with sufficient materials and help).  I tweaked and added to the design in 3D with his approvals along the way (though it came to a point where I understood his design in ways I hadn’t before, and I’m going to redo a version closer to his design).  The below links to an animation of various angles of it:

http://www.youtube.com/user/narfnarfsillywilly#p/a/u/0/H1vJPMs45Sw

As you may have noticed, this is replete with a ridiculously insecure steel tube chair and jumbo Atari 2600 controller to steer the rocket.  The chair, controller and afterburner fire are all taken from models in the Google 3D Warehouse.

You can download the SketchUp file here to have a closer look. To see the different angles in SketchUp, click the tabs with scene names above the display area.

Drawings etc. by Mago, May 2010

Alex / / Art, Mago Elf Liam, Pictures

Here’s some artwork Mago did using a painting program on our computer.  He’s also described and named these, which you’ll see in the captions.  The captions also link to full size images.

[svgallery name=”2010-05-Mago-art”]

Also, here is something he created at pbskids.org.

I know I had several other creations of his lying around in files somewhere, but can’t seem to find them at the moment.  I’ll post them if I do.

A technical digression.. [spoiler]New rule: don’t upgrade unless you know you need to.  I’m in a habit of automatically upgrading WordPress plugins when prompted to via the dashboard.  The new upgrade to the SimpleViewer Gallery plugin (sv-gallery) stopped displaying galleries, and stripped down adjustable settings (how to designers decide it is better not only to automate everything, but to completely prevent users from manually setting anything? Are not the science fiction stories about evil robots taking over the world warning enough?). It took me a few hours of frustration before this dawned on me (both that it was an upgrade and a broken one).  Fortunately I had an old copy of the plugin (this and so many other experiences with data gone bad (or missing!) – this is why I back up everything). I deactivated and deleted the plugin, uploaded the old one, put the settings back to what I want – and blammo! Everything back to normal. So: Do. Not. Upgrade. Unless you have good reason to believe that not upgrading may be the cause of problems. But keep backups – whether you upgrade or not.[/spoiler]

Aliens

Alex / / Alex, Art, Mago Elf Liam, Nem Nem Niamh

This morning I was listening to the finale music for the film SIGNS (a very favorite film, also featuring this very favorite music), and Mago asked me what it was. I told him it was from a scary movie with aliens where the people are in danger, but they (SPOILER if you haven’t seen it!) [spoiler]beat up the aliens[/spoiler]

Naturally, he said he wants to see the film, and I told him I’ll let him.. in many years. But I held him tight as the music progressed, as if we were endangered (as the music so well conveys).

In a while Nem-nem awoke and I sat with her and listened to the same music continuing. Mago looked at her admiringly and said:

Heh. She’s scared of the aliens. She’s like, I want to see the scary aliens!

I don’t know where he picked up that idiom, but it tickles me. He’s three years old on Monday.

Mago wanted to draw the aliens (which I explained to him are scary pretend monsters), and he did so. Here are three drawings of them. These are done with his left hand – he’s a southpaw like his dad – and like his uncle who shares his middle (real) name 🙂

You can right-click (on Windows – I dunno fer Mac, sorry) to see an option to view in a new window – larger. I don’t know why the first isn’t showing as large as the others – I like the first best.

svgallery=Mago_Aliens