Its Almost Here

The new January 30 x 30 run by Leslie Seata is HERE. I like to post as early as possible, usually the eve before. or the next morning.  Her site goes live at 10: AM so that when I like to link up. It's my habit. Maybe I should change my habit

This challenge will be completely new for me because I will be trying to draw/paint from within without using an outside influence and I find myself in a "frozen " state.  I have chosen my format; paper either white or brown, small sizes, chosen mediums; mostly dry pencils, crayons pastels, with maybe paint and collage. Hey, what's the problem? I have done some preliminary "scribbles" and tried to see, feel where they were taking me, but to me they were meaningless scribbles, not telling me anything.

I don't mind, usually, to post not perfect work but there is some sort of line there.. or is there? Hoping that this ranting will help me over the hump and continue a few that I drew over with my favorite black eraser.

Recently Dotty Seiter's latest post brought back nostalgia.  She and her friend discuss books together across 1000 miles, how cool is that. That reminded me that I took part in a similar project maybe 10 years ago when I was on My Janee's forum and a group of us decided to read through 2 of Katrin Eismann books on Photoshop; Photoshop Restoration and Retouching, and Photoshop Masking and Compositing, two fabulous books. We went through chapter by chapter, showing our work and helping each other in the process. We were a diverse group from Finland, Israel, US etc.  I really miss the "forum" as a way of connecting and not the current FB, Instagram, Pinterest etc, which I find a bit cold.

Well, these thoughts brought me back to the general forum as well and all the tutorials that Janee had on the site. It was here I first learned PS using Elements II. I was first introduced to Elements by my late brother that used it to make fantastic composites. Janee would have Monthly challenges and we would post our entries anonymously and vote. Janee would give trophies to the winners. That was so much fun, I was so proud to get one. My Username was caroled so see some of mine. These were my first steps back into my creative activities, so thank you Janee, with all my heart.

So here is one I found on an old CD, that luckily still opens of Jan 2005 challenge. The award page is down, but I think the challenge was about pets. I think I posted a digital drawing of my late dog Johnny.

Digital Painting\

Johnny

2005

We had to post our acceptance image which includes the trophy.

Johnny Won a Trophy

Acceptance statement

WOW!!!!! Look!!!! Johnny found a trophy!!!!

Thanks all who chose my Johnny....

Thanks to Janee for making this all possible.

Johnny was a stray that my husband brought home 6-7 yrs ago from the hospital grounds. He was about 6-7 months old and probably was mistreated because he wouldn't come into the house under any condition.  He has a huge yard to run and chase cats and crows[my other entry].

I don't know how many times I tried to "paint" him from lots of photos taken, without much success.  Last semester I took my first LVS course in digital art, thanks again to Janee, and it helped me get off to a better start.

Congratulations to All.... we are all WINNERS...

It was a GREAT CHALLENGE

Carol

Ending this with my digital crow painting.from the same challenge.

Black Hooded Crow

Digital painting

2005

Now back to my current challenge... enough procrastination!!!

Morocco 2015 Trip Day 1

Morocco 2015 Trip Day 1

I am going to stray from my usual format of showing what's on my easel or sketch book to a description of my wonderful trip to Morocco --September 25 - Oct 6....I had brought my sketchbook and pencils hoping that I would have time to do some on spot sketches... what a dream that was.... Everyday day was so packed that I hardly had time to breathe let alone sketch.. many times arriving at the hotel just in time for the dinner. I did take loads of photos  with my regular Canon G11 and my new smartphone Meizu Note2 which has a marvelous camera. The trip was integrated with daily Yoga class in the mornings. My daughter was the instructor.

At first I thought I would make some sketches from the photos... how to choose which one..there are so many and each day there were 3 -4 different experiences. I have yet to process the photos, I shoot mostly in RAW,  so I decided to make some compositions using 2- or more photos.... I did a course with some online friends of the book by Katrin Eismann  Photoshop Masking & Compositing so it will be a good chance to brush up on my Photoshop skills. So this will be more like my travel diary.

Day 1 was a long and tedious day traveling with about 3-4 hours left of daylight after processing our passports at Mohammad V airport in Casablanca. First an explanation.. I was part of a group tour from Israel to Morocco. Since Morocco does not have diplomatic relations with Israel  the visa process was long almost 3 hours since they had to process 6 large groups from Israel with only 2 clerks.

Waiting

Yael relaxing with a head stand!!!

That's me in the reflection!!!

After finally leaving the airport we headed to the Grand Mosque Hassan II.  It then really hit me. Here I was in a Muslim country..I was  greatly impressed with the wide open spaces, the patterns, the people and the beautiful day!!! I have uploaded a group on my Flickr account. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 metres (689 ft). Wikipedia

The main tower, the plaza, family groups

Mosaics and tiles

With not much time left we headed over to one the popular Boulevard de la Corniche and the Miami Plage for some refreshment before heading  to Marakech... 2 -3 hours away.  

Yael had coffee

I had ice cream on a waffle!!!

On the way we stopped for --rest rooms- and some refreshments at a gas station on the main toll road... like  "Yellow" in Israel... Moroccan style!!! 

On the way to Marrakesh

Required Assignment 3: Work of Art Redux (Track A) Coursera

Required Assignment 3: Work of Art Redux (Track A)

Live!: A History of Art for Artists, Animators and Gamers

We’ve done a bit of research and have identified at least thirty artists who created work based on Velazquez’s Las Meninas. See here for a short list. Now it’s your turn. Make a work or series of works, in whatever media you choose, that takes its inspiration from Las Meninas. You can: 

• take apart and put back together selected elements of the painting (as Picasso did). 
• riff on a theme of the painting (looking and being seen, reality and reflection, a moment in time, stillness, the painter’s process, etc. Note that many of these themes have actually been modules for this course). 

Both of the above are possibilities, but there are certainly more. At any rate your approach needs to be deliberate. Consider the difference between making a “copy” of the original, “appropriating” the original (as a creative strategy) and working “off” the original. Along with your images, post a short (2-3 sentence) explanation of why you did what you did.

After much thought   I felt that Las Meminas  reminded me of the pageants for young girls that sort of exploit their femininity and sexuality.  At my weekly workshop I noticed two Barbie dolls that my friend Riva was working on and photographed them to use on my assignment.  It is a riff on the some of the themes, exploitation,reflections, looking in and being seen and in this case the "photographers" process. A photo montage plus some digital sketching. 

Haunted by Family Portrait!!!

Required Assignment 2: One Thing and Then Another (Track A)
Live!: A History of Art for Artists, Animators and Gamers  Coursera

Instructions:

Choose an object or an image.
Turn it into something else.
Then turn it back into itself again. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a major project of deconstruction or manipulation. But it could be. Or it could be just a change of context, orientation, or point of view.
Document your process and post the results with a short 3-4 sentence description of what you did.
Some things to think about:

Your object or image can be in two (flat) and/or three dimensions.
You could make the objects or collect them from elsewhere.
Your "process" could be sequential or not.
Your documentation could be a photograph, drawing, digital image or other similar visual element.
Your documentation could be one or several images. (Note: Because of the limitations of the platform and in consideration of your peers, please consider limiting the number of images you decide to include. Between 1 and 6 images should be sufficient for this assignment.)

Haunted by family portrait!!!

I took a family portrait that has bothered me over the years... perhaps it sort of haunted me.  I looked so sad while everyone else is smiling... perhaps I was jealous... my brother getting most of the attention. Well after all is was his Bar Mitzva!!! Maybe cause I didn't like the skirt I wore... my mother had hand painted a rose on it.. So it was time for a little destruction and manipulation...  The painting was  done before the course but I felt it fir the assignment.. The photo manipulation was done in the same spirit. 

Original Portrait

Oils on grey pressed cardboard

Photo manipulation

Live!: A History of Art for Artists, Animators and Gamers Coursera

Live!: A History of Art for Artists, Animators and Gamers

For the past 9 weeks I took my first course or MOOC  at Cousera, an online site for learning from well known universities. This was run from Calarts  and was of a very high standard.  Last evening they had a closing hang out using google+ to sort of sum up the course.

At art school, RISD, I took several Art History classes but none really compared to this experience. The lectures were wonderful showing Art through various concepts rather than in the chronological fashion.  These lectures and exposure to a wide amount of art, some of which I was familiar and some quite new , seemed to trigger a wider view to research, like a seed growing new shoots. If this ever goes online again I would strongly recommend.  

I would like to share some three of the required assignments from the course. 

Required Assignment 1: World-in-a-Box (Track A)

This assignment is taken from an excellent book entitled Draw it with your eyes closed: the art of the assignment (New York: Paper Monument, 2012). It’s also listed in the course bibliography. I credit it to sculptor Rachel Foullon, who credits it to sculptor and teacher Jack Risley.
Instructions:
Using any means, materials and style you like, create a collection of objects and design a means of displaying them. Some things to think about:
Your objects can be in two (flat) and/or three dimensions.
You could make the objects or collect them from elsewhere.
They might belong together chronologically, or not.
Think about how the objects can be combined to make something that adds up to more than just themselves (or alternatively, how the collection “is what it is”).
Think about how the objects relate to each other spatially and how the means of display reinforces or complicates that sense of space and objects within it.

This is a photo montage using as a background on of my own fragmented oil  paintings and then pasting various sculptures from photos of Storybook land, a group of theme parks in Holon. The statues represent well known characters from Israeli  children's books. I put in the easel to sort of represent myself in this fantasy world. Also painted in the fashion of children's paintings,,,, example the sun etc.  Although these books are not known internationally I thought they represented a child's fantasy. It was not fully understood... in my peer evaluation they thought the rat with a suitcase was "unemployed" or "homeless"... homeless he was cause he wanted to rent a flat in the famous  Flat for rent by Lea Goldberg.